[Music] - My name is Gabe Barker, and I am the chef and owner here at Pizzeria Mercato in Carrboro, North Carolina.

Most of my formative memories revolved around food.

I just was taught from a young age what really good, well seasoned food tastes like, and it just built a huge base for me.

I remember going to the farmers market with my parents as a kid and them kind of being in the moment and what was available.

And I think when the grill was originally open in the late 80s, they brought an attention to detail a thirst for learning.

I think it's one of the biggest things, maybe that that restaurant kind of like that helps set them apart, but they were so inquisitive about reading that they were cooking with ingredients or combinations of flavors that around here just weren't happening at that time.

I'm not sure if I was ever expected to be a chef when I was growing up.

If anything, I think my parents almost tried to dissuade me from the industry because these are hard jobs.

You're on your feet.

You are working long hours, it's nights, it's weekends, it's holidays, but they also were running a wildly successful, busy restaurant that kind of was a juggernaut there for a long stretch of time and it required a ton of his attention.

And so I remember really concretely probably as a junior in high school and kind of thinking about what the next steps were.

Nothing really was catching my thirst to just really strive for and that's when I told my dad, I was like, "What do you think about going to culinary school?"

And they're like, "You sure you really want to do that?"

[music transitions to upbeat] - You must be out of your mind, you grew up with us being in the restaurant business, you know what it requires to be successful.

So we suggested that you go work for someone else, not us, for a year.

And if he still felt convinced that that was the track, he wanted to follow them and support him in that.

We set him up with a friend of mine who had restaurants in San Francisco and sent him off to cut and burn himself.

[jaunty music] - They introduced the idea of going to work for Annie and Craig Stoll, who owned the Delfina Restaurant Group, which was a really, really well-run business.

They did a great job of building culture there.

You know, I had an opportunity to work because they had multiple restaurants in the city and I just fell in love with how casual their pizza place was.

So seasonally focused with a huge high standard for consistency.

You know, we took the recipe that I had learned when I was out in California and really kind of made it our own when I moved back home.

My mom had a sourdough starter that was a couple years older than me and we like tinkered around with that a little bit while we were adjusting the recipe.

There is something special about pizza because I feel like it can be so representative of somebody's thought process and style and it's all kind of the same thing, right?

It's bread with stuff on top of it at the end of the day.

But within that, there's just so many different layers.

I think what makes a great pizza, and this is where like the versatility of what pizza is, I think plays such a big factor.

I think at the end of the day, if you've got somebody that is passionate about making the pizza, that's what makes the best pizza.

Then I think that's where the biggest learning curve is, is people seeing the difference between the chain brand that is pumping out, you know, machine-created product versus the people that are really in there doing and like making those sorts of adjustments every day to try and give you the best possible product.

But you know, like my main pizza guy, Joey, he's been with me for 10 years and he is a master at his craft.

You could put him anywhere in the world right now, he could pick up and move and go probably be one of the best pizza I always in wherever he was living.

I mean, you can see him when he's working during lunch and he knows how much time he has to like stretch pizza dough before he needs to turn around and move things around in the oven.

[joyful Italian music] So when we first opened in 2016, I wanted to be, I guess, almost a little bit more authentically Italian.

That sort of less is more mentality.

And as I've grown as a chef personally and as the restaurant is growing older, I've tried to let myself be a little less restrained by traditional Italian cooking.

So now when I read in particular, I'm looking for like jumping off points and how I can take that very inherently classic dish and then give it my love and my inspiration.

And that's really fun to kind of take a dish that is very classic, just completely spinning on his head and have it still be received and loved the way that maybe that classic dish is really kind of rewarding.

[piano music] We always keep at least one fresh pasta on the menu and then we always keep at least one baked pasta on the menu and that is one skill that I still am in love with to this day.

Every day in our restaurant and operation, I still like to make the pasta.

It's just something that I enjoy the process of that transformation of like, again, very humble raw ingredients into something that truly displays someone's skill.

We play things pretty rustically here at Mercato.

I am not a tweezers guy.

I never have been.

I can value and appreciate it and I've been fortunate enough to eat some really talented chefs work throughout my life where things are very carefully plated and kind of ornate.

But I want to take really good base ingredients, let those be the beautiful part.

[transition to upbeat music] And Carrboro is a wonderful community.

I feel really fortunate to have landed here on the way back.

People around here are invested in the food they eat.

It matters to them for a lot of people that live in the community.

They appreciate our vegetable driven approach to cooking at Mercato that, you know, we're not going to shy away from cheese and butter and all the things that make restaurant food fun.

But I don't want you to ever walk out of here feeling gross, unless it's gross with pleasure.

[rap music] The Carrboro of Farmers Market, which is the reason why I chose this very unattractive brick shotgun building, which is directly across the street from us, is a wonderful farmer's market.

I mean, the growers that we have around here are very invested and very talented.

- You know, I patronized the Carrboro Farmers Market even though our restaurant was in Durham because it's the market I had grown up with as a cook starting in 1981.

I was leaving the market one Saturday and there was a for rent sign in the window of this building.

It just struck me as its proximity, its corner location.

We absolutely glorious vista of two gas station seven-elevens, all those things that to me, just what could be a better place.

[upbeat music] - It was one of the most exciting parts of opening this business with my parents 10 years ago, was I've always enjoyed pastry and I never knew how to bake.

And my mom was such a prolifically skilled baker.

So when we first opened, having that person work with me on our dessert menu and then even like training, you know, our first dessert pastry person was a leg up that I feel very thankful for.

And so trying to keep her as a part of what we do here is obviously a pretty powerful thing to me.

It's a way that I get to still be with her every day.

♪ - The really special thing for me to see is how his mother left him with a litany of her desserts that fit this place and he's continued to develop his own skill set with that.

He cares about the whole package and that's notable.

[gentle guitar] - Considering we're on a four day schedule here in Mercato and only operate those four days a week.

There are people that eat here once or more per week is the greatest compliment.

I think I feel on a regular basis.

There are certain couples that walk in here and, you know, Joe will look over at me and tell me what they're going to order before they ever put their order in.

Those are like, those are pretty powerful moments because that person is so invested in what we do.

It makes me feel really prideful of my team for creating an environment that people want to be here that often.

So we're really lucky that people choose to work here for as long as they do because it just gives them, it gives the guests someone other than me to be excited to see when they come in.

And I think that's cool because it's more, then it becomes more than about just the food.

And you have that person that you're excited to see.

♪ - There's a Yiddish word called "kvelling".

It's super, super proud of your kid.

I know that his mom would be and I know that I really am.

He's a great leader and a really good cook.

Those are big things.

And so to be successful in your chosen profession is a good measure.

To be successful and to be one of the anchors in your community is a, that's a decidedly profound and special place to me.

And so that really does, it makes him distinguished to me.

It makes this restaurant distinguished.

It's cool.

♪ - Pizzaria Mercato is at 408 West Weaver Street in Carrboro.

To learn more about their menu or make a reservation, visit pizzeriamercatonc.com.