Meet Ben Hoffer | Chef/Owner of High Rise Pizza Kitchen

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ben Hoffer and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ben, what is the most important factor behind your success?
Quality over quantity. Hands down this is our core philosophy. In a world that caters more and more to instant gratification and convenience – we strive to do things a little different. Good food is a labor of love and we take the process of making everything we possibly can from scratch to heart. Our dough, for instance, is a 3 day process. It’s composed of 5 ingredients: Flour, water, salt, yeast and olive oil. Not only do we source the best of each that we can afford, we make the dough on Monday that we will use on Wednesday. This long fermentation process is vital to any good bread and pizza dough is no exception. A lot of places make and use the dough the same day, some might make and use the next day. Our process is a reflection of our commitment to doing things the right way, not the easy way. Aside from that, we are making our own sausage in house – something almost no pizza restaurants do and again, we are using extremely high end ingredients to do so: Heritage breed pork, imported Calabrian peppers, Spicology spices, good honey etc. All of our salad dressings, croutons, sauces, and meatballs are all made in house from scratch as well. The results speak for themselves. Due to this mindset we are unable to produce 500 or 1000 pizzas a day like a lot of big chains or other places. there is a limit to how many we can make and when we sell out we are done for the day. We would rather make 150 REALLY amazing pizzas than 500 mediocre ones. Hence – Quality over quantity.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a chef at heart. I love food more than I could ever describe in this short paragraph, Not just certain types or cuisines but FOOD as a cultural window into peoples history and heritage, The evolution of the craft from when human beings discovered fire and cultivation. The way food transcends language barriers and brings people from all walks of life to the table. There are so many facets and nuances in the craft that one could live 5 lifetimes and still not claim to be a true “expert” or know it all. It’s subjective, artistic, interpretive, sensory and personal in way that almost no other medium can be and it fascinates me to no end. I don’t know if that makes me different or special but I can say that I get to do what I truly love everyday and that, I believe, is special.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Denver and downtown Colorado Springs for the food scene. Rocky Mountain National Park for the wilderness.
Elevenmile canyon for some fly fishing.
Pagosa Springs for some hot springs.
Manitou because its my home town and I love it.
Garden of the Gods because duh…

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Betsy Oliver – The owner of Olivers Deli. Betsy is one of the hardest working and kindest people I know. She has been in business for over 38 years and is still HIGHLY involved on a day to day basis with her business. She helped me open and is a continued source of inspiration and support for me.

Website: highrisepizzakitchen.com

Instagram: @high_rise_pizza_kitchen

Facebook: High Rise Pizza Kitchen

Yelp: High Rise Pizza Kitchen