George Schenk doesn't think of himself as a local phenomenon, wave rider or gourmet guru, even though that's what he's become. He's just a guy who deeply believes there's a mystical process and power in making food with respect and the best and freshest ingredients. Today, using a production system that's purposely, almost incomprehensibly, anti-commercial, his Waitsfield company bakes 4,000 flatbreads a week, freezing and shipping them up and down the Atlantic seaboard and as far west as Chicago. He started serving his unconventional flatbreads to diners at the Tucker Hill Lodge, using an outdoor oven he built in 1985. Schenk is not content to be just a frozen pizza purveyor with a twist, however.
Locals love to bring friends.
For the freezer shelf, American Flatbreads are made in three 12-inch varieties. Schenk says the labor-intensive manufacturing process, plus lack of supply and health department rules, prevent using many ingredients on the frozen pizzas that are used in the restaurant, like the homemade sausage made with locally raised pork. To his knowledge, no one else makes handmade, wood-fired organic pizzas for the frozen food market. This is hardly surprising once you see what it takes. American Flatbread has two shifts of nine people working each day to meet weekly production, and every single one of those 4,000 flatbreads has to spend 4 to 5 minutes in the lone oven, which is constantly stoked with wood to maintain 700 to 800 degrees.