ZACHARY’S ARTIST PROFILE: STEW ELLINGTON

The walls of our restaurants are filled with one-of-a-kind Zachary’s Pizza Art. We held our first art contest in the late 1980′s and the tradition has continued every couple of years since. We love our art and the artists. We are excited to be able to use our blog as a medium for our community to get to know our artists better. Meet Stew Ellington!

For the first 30 years of my life, art was hugely important to me. At one time I had wanted to be an artist for a living. I made art in all sorts of media and in 2001 earned a master of fine arts degree in painting. After earning my degree, however, I completely lost interest in painting and avoided it for about 15 years. In fact, the poster I made for the Zachary’s contest is the first painting I’ve done since grad school! In the meantime, I’ve filled in the creative gaps of my life with photography and writing; I’ve designed and published two cocktail recipe books, among other creative projects.

I had wanted to enter the Zachary’s poster contest for years but could never think of an image I wanted to use. Plus, I was loath to pick up a paintbrush again for fear I would have lost my skills! Finally, it occurred to me I should just paint something I’m passionate about and make it work for the contest, and I happen to love vintage Italian Vespa scooters. The idea to create the front wheel out of a Zachary’s deep-dish pizza popped into my head and, eureka! I was on my way. I crossed my fingers and hoped I could still pull off a reasonably convincing painting after a 15-year hiatus.

I love how the Italian-ness of the scooter reflects the Italian(ish)-ness of pizza. I had a great time creating my poster in the style of vintage Vespa ads from Italy, with lots of bright, primary colors and cartoonish renderings. The official slogan of Vespa, “Not just a scooter… a lifestyle,” lent itself well to referencing Zachary’s pizza and providing a title for my piece. I’m really glad I was able to break my painting dry-spell with one that was so purely fun to do. Thanks, Zachary’s, for the opportunity and for years of awesome pizza! I’m so glad to finally be a part of this community event.

ZACHARY’S ARTIST PROFILE: ZOE BOSTON

 The walls of our restaurants are filled with one-of-a-kind Zachary’s Pizza Art. We held our first art contest in the late 1980′s and the tradition has continued every couple of years since. We love our art and the artists. Ladies and Gentlemen, meet Zoë Boston!

My name is Zoë Boston and I have been creating art of many forms since I was a little girl. Currently, I am a singer/songwriter/rapper/painter and am in a music group called “Team Zoe”. We perform down town every month at Oakland’s First Friday’s!
“Walking on Sunshine” was inspired by my passion for food, visual art, and fashion. I love the challenge of combining the three to make tasty looking masterpieces. I believe Great food, great art, and great fashion have the power to uplift your spirits and truly make you feel like you’re walking on sunshine! I’m so pleased in knowing that my art was chosen to grace the walls of one of the best pizza places in the Bay Area.
I was born in Los Angeles, CA, raised in upstate New York, and have lived in the Bay Area for about four years now. I love almost everything about the Bay Area. It’s beauty and diversity is something truly unmatched and the food, culture, and fashion are eclectic.
My favorite go-to Zachary’s pizza is a  medium deep dish with pineapples, sausage, and ricotta cheese. I always put ranch and extra parmesan cheese on top! So good! I enjoy treating my friends to some Zachary’s over a good conversation. I will continue to enjoy Zachary’s and plan to participate in the art contest for years to come.

BAH HUMBUG 5K!

Twelve of our awesomely energetic employee owners participated in San Ramon’s Bah Humbug 5K Run and Walk! They ran, they walked and they had a blast doing it!

Rewards were given out for best group costume. The Grinch Who Stole Zachary’s and our Who-Crew came in second place!

Long time employee owner, and Assistant Manager in our San Ramon and Pleasant Hill region, Lobsang Dharchen, said, “I am proud to represent my company… Doing (the) 5K with my cowokers feels like I am having fun with such a great team!”

We are super proud of this fab running crew! Keep your eyes peeled for them at the 2018 Oakland Running Festival!

ZACHARY’S HOLIDAY PARTY 2017!

Zachary’s celebrated the holidays at Lake Chalet in Oakland! We ate, we laughed, we took too many photo booth pics and we danced the night away! It’s always a blast to see everyone gussied up for a special event. We are truly lucky to work with so many AMAZING employee owners!

ZACHARY’S WINS BEST PIZZA FROM SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN

Woo-hoo! We are pleased as pie (!!) to share exciting news from Bay Area Guardian: We won Best Pizza! We feel super honored to receive this award, especially since we don’t have any locations in San Francisco… a city of amazing food and delicious pizza!

Check out all of the winners here. There are some pretty amazing spots on this list! Time to map out our dining-destination-desires for 2018! We could not be more excited.

Naji and Sammi accepting our award at the Best of the Bay Winner’s Party

BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH AT ZACHARY’S

It’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month! For the entire month of October, Zachary’s will be selling pink t-shirts! We started selling pink t-shirts in 2014 after a group of Zachary’s employee owners participated in the American Cancer Society’s “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer” walk in San Francisco. The walk was inspirational, a great place to learn and LOTS of fun.

Since 2014, we have continued the tradition of raising money for the American Cancer Society with our pink t-shirt sales. This year, t-shirts will be sold from our Oakland location on College Avenue and our Pleasant Hill location. All proceeds go directly to the American Cancer Society!

ZACHARY’S CREW SUMMER PARTY

Every summer, Zachary’s likes to do something to celebrate our fantastic, fun-loving, hard-working, and oh-so-wonderful crew! This summer, we had a blast celebrating summer in Castle Rock Park!

On two separate days (we have to keep the restaurants open, so we have to have two parties… poor us, huh?!), we played basketball, cornhole, ladder golf, tossed around a football and ate way too much BBQ. We also got to enjoy the pool, which was perfect since it was HOT in Walnut Creek! For many, the highlight of the day was a relay race that culminated in Zachary’s Trivia! Major congrats to the winning teams!

Our crew is the best and getting everyone together always results in a lot of laughs, a lot of fun, and a truly joyful celebration of the best part of Zachary’s.

 

ZACHARY’S BOCCE SQUAD: DOUGHBALLS!

The Zachary’s Bocce team has been living it up in the Pleasant Hill Parks and Recreation Bocce League! Check out some team members/employee owners in action!

Luis!

Kate!

Tyler!

ZACHARY’S MUSIC ON THE PATIO – PLEASANT HILL

Our patio music series is in full swing! We are excited to be able to host such a fantastic line up of talented artists! In celebration of our patio music evenings, we also prepare our deliciously fruity Sangria! Come join us for some yummy adult beverages (we have Shirley Temples too!), your favorite Zachary’s pizza and some phenomenal local musicians!

 

6/28: Frankie G
7/5: Billy Schuab
7/12: Paul Cotruvo
7/19: Rick Mickaels
7/26: Dan Deshara
8/2: Bruce Brophy and Paul Trombetta
8/9: The Bell Brothers
8/16: Kyle Jester and Frankie G
8/23: The Lost Weekend

All patio music starts at 6:30pm.

EAST BAY SPCA: GROWL, MEOW AND WINE

Every year, the East Bay SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) hosts a major fundraising event, “Growl, Meow & Wine”. This year, Zachary’s sponsored at the “Cat’s Meow” level and we got to send seven very lucky employee owners (and one even luckier Zachary’s spouse!) to the event. From the EBSPCA website, “The East Bay SPCA is committed to the welfare of cats and dogs in the communities we serve. We strive to eliminate animal cruelty, neglect and overpopulation by providing programs and education that support people and companion animals.”  Check out their site!

The event started with a silent auction and was soon followed by an energetic and exciting live auction. Our employee owners rocked the silent auction walking away with a huge gift basket of doggie treats and toys, a visit to a Healdsburg winery and some Giants tickets! Zachary’s VP, Leandra Schuler, was particularly fortunate; she walked away with two Southwest airline tickets in a nail-biting raffle!

 

Despite all of the fun and success that the humans enjoyed, the big winners of the day were the animals who benefit from all of the amazing services the EBSPCA offers. We were very proud to be a part of a such a fantastic event!