In a couple of months, restaurateur and chef Tom Gray will introduce a pizza concept to his family of restaurants when the former San Marco Theatre at 1996 San Marco Blvd. is converted to Electric Dough Pizza Co.
It’s a pizza restaurant with a twist.
His pizza combines a Roman Taglio-style dough with a Detroit-style presentation.
It’s unlike anything available in Jacksonville, he said.
Gray and his wife and business partner, Sarah Marie Johnston, own Prati Italia at 4972 Big Island Drive in the Markets at Town Center and Town Hall at 2012 San Marco Blvd. in San Marco.
If successful, the new restaurant will be the first of several Electric Dough Pizza Co. locations, Gray said.
He discovered the style of pizza dough through his European travels. It ferments for about 30 hours. The damp dough produces a light crust. Detroit-style pizza is made on rectangular sheet pans that have a generous amount of toppings all over the pie. The crust is about a half-inch thick and not to be confused with the dense and thick Chicago-style pizza.
“I developed this recipe that was so unique and light and airy. It is a long fermented Roman-style dough. Then with a modern Detroit edge, that is crispy, cheesy and caramelized,” Gray said.
“It has been so well received, I quickly realized that this could be its own thing, its own brand, its own concept.”
Once he perfected the dough recipe, he was encouraged by the feedback from customers who tried it at Prati Italia. It remains on the menu there.
The process is in the name. Gray, who used to use a wood-fired oven at Bistro AIX, is employing electric ovens to give him more temperature control. A wood stove burns too hot for this style of pizza.
“Electric ovens are more conducive to this style. It’s also what you see a lot in Italy,” he said.
Building owner TSG Realty did major work to refurbish the building’s infrastructure after the theater closed Dec. 31, 2022. TSG Realty committed to retaining the historic facade.
Restaurant owner Al Mansur announced plans to convert the theater into a Flying Iguana restaurant in August 2023, but later decided to become an investor in Electric Dough Pizza Co.
There have been plenty of challenges. The building needed a new HVAC system and duct work. The 21-foot ceilings have been dropped to 18 feet to accommodate new ducts and other improvements.
“Anytime you’re in a historic, older building – you’re taking it from 1938 to 2025 – you’re going to have a few items to tackle,” Gray said.
He declined to discuss the cost to refurbish, equip and open the restaurant. Permits issued in July estimated construction costs at $1 million to renovate the 4,642 square feet of space.
Atlanta-based ai3 is the designer. Urban Partners Construction of Jacksonville is the contractor.
In addition to restaurants and a line of frozen food, Gray has a restaurant consulting business called CuliVino Hospitality Management and Consulting. He is collaborating Shaping America’s Plate, a restaurant consulting group from Orlando. CEO Pam Smith and Culinary Innovation Partner Chef Cliff Pleau have helped Gray develop his own restaurants as well as others.
Electric Dough Pizza Co. will have a full bar and sell salads and gelatos. There will be a retail shop selling the Chef Tom Gray line of products that are available at Native Sun Natural Food Market in Jacksonville Beach. Those items include scratch pastas, sauces, dips and frozen and ready-to-bake pizzas. He will be importing canned tomatoes from Italy that will be used on his pizzas and sold in the retail space.
Electric Dough will seat about 150 inside and under the theater marquee. Later, Gray hopes to expand outdoor dining on the side of the building facing Balis Street. He expects to hire about 30 employees.
Takeout and delivery are part of the business plan.
“We feel like that’s going to be a really big component of the business like this. This pizza travels really well,” Gray said.
Because presentation is a big part of the concept, pizza will not be available by the slice. He will sell six-piece and 10-piece pies.
Gray is still experimenting with what toppings he will feature. What interests him is that the Detroit style allows all of the toppings to be incorporated into every bite.
He is open to a variety of ingredients, even the much-debated pineapple.
“I am not ruling it out,” he said.