We were lucky to catch up with Jeremy Clemens recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jeremy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

Gabacool started in our living room during the early days of the pandemic. I had been a fine dining chef for nearly 20 years — working long hours in high-level kitchens, managing ambitious hotels, and always chasing the next opportunity to grow. When COVID hit, I had my salary slashed by 30%, but was still going into work every day — masking up, doing busy work in an empty hotel, making focaccia and donuts just to feel useful.

Meanwhile, my partner Michele had been furloughed. We started watching The Sopranos together — a show I had always loved, and she quickly became obsessed with. The name “Gabacool” came from one of those nights. We were laughing on the couch, drinking beers from a local brewery, and tossing around names. She said, “What if instead of ‘Gabagool’ we called it ‘Gabacool’?” — and it stuck. It was funny, nostalgic, a little weird… and somehow perfect.

At the same time, I found myself craving the kind of pizza I grew up eating — soulful, cheesy, a little greasy, and made with care. But I couldn’t find it anywhere around here. It felt like the only options were either overly fancy or completely phoned in. That’s when I had the first spark. I started seeing more pizza pop-ups using outdoor ovens — especially one guy at a brewery who looked like he was just vibing and making pizza. I turned to Michele and said, “I could do that.” And the idea never left.

We both knew we had something special. I had spent my whole career in kitchens. Michele had spent hers in hospitality, design, and event management. Combining those worlds — food and service, creativity and execution — felt like the missing piece. We weren’t just starting a pizza pop-up. We were building a whole experience.

I started reading every forum, watching every YouTube video, and working jobs that got me closer to the pizza world and further from the ego-driven fine dining scene. Eventually we bought a little Ooni oven and started testing dough. I’d run the kitchen at my day job and make Detroit-style pies on the side. We gave away slices on Halloween to our neighbors. The feedback was good. Eventually we booked a date at a local brewery. We had no gear, no systems — just a tent, a dream, and two Gozney ovens. That first pop-up we sold 30 pizzas. The dough was stiff as a board and we had no idea what we were doing — but we were hooked.

Gabacool was born out of burnout, necessity, and a desire to cook with love — for our neighbors, our friends, and ourselves. It’s pizza for the people. It’s nostalgic, funny, and deeply personal. And somehow, it’s also the best job I’ve ever had

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

We’re Gabacool Provisions — a two-person pizza pop-up founded by myself, Jeremy Clemens, and my partner Michele Querin. We do everything ourselves — the dough, the prep, the design, the marketing, the loading, the unloading, and the cooking. No fluff. Just love and flour.

We’re not a typical business. We don’t have a staff or investors. But we’ve built something that matters — something people look forward to. We’ve become part of people’s weekly routines. We see the same faces every weekend — folks who simply enjoy lining up to snag a hot pie in a local brewery parking lot. Families. First dates. Brewery regulars. It’s real hospitality: human and consistent.

Gabacool isn’t trying to be a franchise. We’re not chasing scale. We’re focused on doing things well, staying rooted in our community, and building something sustainable. We’re redefining what success looks like to us — personal, creative, and connected. And we were proud to receive the Slow Food Snail of Approval for our commitment to local sourcing and community engagement.

Michele grew up in Napa and started doing events with her family years before it became her full-time career. She’s a graduate of FIDM with a degree in visual communications and has worked in fashion, design, and hospitality — including time with Hotel Yountville, Cavallo Point, and even Pixar. She brings a level of organization and brand integrity that elevates everything we do. Her background in events and visual storytelling is the backbone of our vibe — from the tent setup to the weekly posters to the merch graphics.

I (Jeremy) came up through fine dining. I graduated with honors from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY and spent nearly 20 years in professional kitchens — from Restaurant Eve under Cathal Armstrong, to MacArthur Place in Sonoma, to serving as Executive Chef of The Stavrand. But eventually I got tired of the ego and burnout in fine dining. I wanted to cook for people again — not critics. And I couldn’t find the kind of pizza I really loved out here. So we started making it ourselves.

In the early days of COVID, we were just two people stuck inside with a lot of ideas and a love for The Sopranos. That’s where the name came from — a joke on the couch after a few beers: “What if it wasn’t Gabagool… but Gabacool?” It started as a riff and turned into a purpose.

We saved up, bought our Gozney ovens, and launched our first pop-up with zero experience and a dream. It was chaos. The dough was stiff, the setup was bare bones — but we were hooked. Since then, we’ve refined the systems, upgraded our equipment, honed in the menu, and turned it into something that feels truly us.

At the end of the day, Gabacool is about hospitality. About craft. About connection. We’re doing everything we can to bring joy to the folks around us — through great pizza, a little humor, and a lot of heart. It’s not glamorous, but it’s deeply rewarding — and it’s ours.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

Gabacool wasn’t something we planned to turn into a full-time business — it just kept growing until it had to be.

It started during COVID, with no business plan — just a little backyard setup, a craving for the kind of pizza we missed from back East, and a name that made us laugh. We were burnt out from the restaurant and hospitality grind — me from fine dining kitchens, Michele from hotel events and the wine industry — and playing around with dough became a creative outlet. It was fun. Low-stakes. Something that made us feel excited about food again.

Once we started doing small pop-ups, though, we realized there was a real appetite for what we were offering: pizza that felt nostalgic but was made with care. We said yes to one event, then another. Each one got a little more dialed. We taught ourselves how to load the van, streamline prep, run service as a two-person crew, and build a menu that could thrive under pressure.

Michele’s background in hospitality, event logistics, and visual storytelling made the brand feel legit. My two decades in professional kitchens gave us the systems and consistency to execute.

Eventually we hit a tipping point — the pop-up was getting too big to juggle with our day jobs. We were working nights and weekends, fielding DMs about where we’d be next. People were showing up in the rain, bringing friends, building their weeks around our schedule. That kind of support pushed us to go all in.

In 2024, we left our jobs and launched Gabacool full-time.

Since then, we’ve:
    •    Celebrated our first full year being self-employed
    •    Earned the Slow Food “Snail of Approval” for our commitment to local and sustainable sourcing
    •    Seen Michele honored with the Women in Pizza scholarship
    •    Joined the Gozney Collective and represented them at the Pizza Expo in Vegas

We don’t use delivery apps, we don’t take phone orders, and we don’t have a brick-and-mortar space. Everything we’ve built has come from word of mouth, hustle, and a deep love for what we do. It’s a two-person show — just us, a couple of ovens, and an Instagram account. And somehow, that’s been enough

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

We’ve kept it simple — and very real.

We don’t use third-party delivery apps. We don’t take phone orders. There’s no online ordering platform, no paid influencer strategy, no Yelp, no SEO budget. It’s literally just the two of us, a tent, and an Instagram account.

We’ve grown our customer base by focusing on three things:
the quality of the pizza, the vibe, and the scarcity.

The pizza speaks for itself — we’re obsessed with dough, fermentation, ingredients, and technique. But it’s more than just the food. People show up because the experience feels special. It’s casual, a little chaotic, and deeply personal. You can hear the music, smell the ovens, and talk to the people making your food. It feels like something that matters.

And scarcity plays a role, too. We’re not open every day. We’re a pop-up — we do a few events a week, sometimes we sell out early, sometimes we post the menu the morning of. That creates a natural urgency. You can’t just pull up a delivery app and grab a Gabacool pizza — you have to seek it out, and people love that.

Everything we’ve built has come from word of mouth, genuine support from our community, and sharing our story through social media — no gimmicks, no PR team. Just showing up consistently and staying true to who we are.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://gabacoolprovisions.com
• Instagram: @gabacool_provisions
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61557383763722
• Other: [email protected]

Image Credits

All images were shot by @ct_crunchh on Instagram