(rhythmic synth music) - Pizza is good, it's so familiar and like, inviting. This pan pizza, it had a
special place in our hearts because every Friday we
had it at school, you know, special occasions we had in
the penitentiary, you know? (laughing) So it was like,
always a pan-style pizza. What better way to break
into the culinary industry than with pizza. (deep rhythmic music) - So I use warm water first,
infused with yeast and sugar, to activate the yeast.
(water splashing) (whisk clanking) The whole thing, as far
for us and the dough, it's not like it's a secret
ingredient and all that, it's just the process of doing it. You got flour, water,
oil, sugar and yeast, basic things to make a dough. (liquid splashing) If I was to use like,
cold water with the dough, it would be hard to pull out. But when you're using a certain
type of temperature of water it makes the dough easy to proof, easy to rise, easy to manipulate. (bag crinkling) I'm gonna add the flour. 50-pound bags of flour. (bag crinkling) I've dealt with dough before, but not as far as like this. (gentle music)
Mike, he had a whole idea as far as doing the dough different than from what other pizza shops do. Can't say exactly what that is, but it's what separates our
dough from everybody else. (upbeat synth music) So now I'm gonna add our oil. - Our specific type of
dough is super hydrated. Our dough is so resilient under the temperatures that we put it in and it remains soft. - Yeah, well we used to do this a lot, so I got to do it a lot with 'em. But going through trial and error, "Yo, let's try this, yo, let's try that." And just try to keep
finding ways of tweaking it then making it better. I get all night to do it. I got 10 hours to knock this out. (upbeat synth music) Being in here at night, all
I hear is hand-chopping, maybe rain against the window, the dough. (machine humming) If you listen, you can hear it talking. (machine humming)
Like that screeching? It's the dough, it's pulling from a-- You hear it? Like it's pulling from the inside of the
cylinder of the mixer. So now I know it's properly mixing, it's pulling from the side. Our dough rats. (rhythmic synth music) The salt we're gonna put in as far as going near the end of the spin and we don't wanna kill
the yeast too early, 'cause we want it be
able to proof properly. When I let the salt blend in,
it's really gonna smooth out, like a ball, and I'll
be able to pull it out, get to whammin' with it. (melodic, rhythmic synth music) This is mthe funny part,
when I gotta grease all up, so the dough don't stick to my skin. (melodic, rhythmic synth music) I got the burns and everything on me from going deep in the
oven and I put oil over it. Then the fun part is when
I gotta stick these hands, that's covered in oil, back in the oven. (Mar laughing) (rhythmic synth music) The funny thing is, as I'm pulling it out, the dough is fighting to get back in. From the tension and the
resistance from it, yeah. - Actually, the overhydration
came by mistake. Especially like during the
summertime, making the dough, like you got the humidity
in the summertime, so it was really about finding out how much water we had to add. And then once we hit that
ratio it was like, we're here; "Mortimer, we're back!" (staccato synth music) - This is about 80 pounds. See how that happen? (laughing) (rhythmic synth music) So there's a certain amount of grams as far as we go for each dough. So these pans are like
the old Detroit motor tins that they used to use back in the day. I'm gonna grease them up
and get to whippin' with it. We're not just in it
just to make a dollar, 'cause as far as what our mission is, as far as what our premise,
as far as what our goal is and it's to make change. You know, we already got
the label on us anyway. A lot of things they don't
be wanting to hear period; skillset, nothing. Shout-out to Muhammad. You know what? We don't hire nobody unless
they're previously convicted. We take care of ourself,
we provide for ourself and we love ourself. Like a lot of us came a long way; 10-years ago to think I'd be doing pizza. (laughing) You know what I mean? Talking to y'all, this,
that and the third. (tsking) We was in dark places,
it's like a good thing for us to be able to come here,
you know, do something good. I got five sons, I'm like,
I'm trying to leave something, be a part of something
that they could say, "Yo, yeah, my dad did
that yo, that's my dad." Be able to provide to 'em, so that- You know what I mean? They can achieve better,
that stepping stone, something that somebody never left for us. So a lot of people wrap their dough, and I was sitting in here one day and somebody had the heat on blazing. That's like, proofing faster. So that's just one of the secrets so as far as with the dough; I
turn the heat all the way up, it's saving me a step, happy dough. (rhythmic synth music) - The thing that the carceral
system has evolved in is like a big, big business. You know, the second largest
employer in the United States. You can get people to do things for a fraction of which
you would have to pay 'em if they were out here on the street. You know, a lot of everyday things are made within the prison. Over time, seeing the benefits
of utilizing these people, you know essentially as
an extension of slavery, we're trying to just mitigate a lot, people going in and out of the system. - Who has joined us is the
executive chef, Mike Carter, the man behind the dough. I just make the dough, he made the dough, you know what I mean? I'm happy 'cause you here. (laughing) Please keep in mind that we are previously convicted, so we strongly are about ours. We are happy, we are smiling,
but we are serious about ours. (rhythmic synth music) - So right now I'm pressing the dough. You ever get a piece of pizza and it has like that
big-ass air bubble in it? So what I'm doing right now is pressing this out and
basically condensing it; that's where you get the
chewiness of the dough at. People have to understand like, in order to get this perfect square pie, you have to press it into the corners. Like, it's real laborious
work, but it's worth it; it's part of the craft, you
gotta put that love into it. Mar used to be my boss, man. - No, no, no, we don't use
words like that at Down North; "previously was working with Mike." - But he used to give me hours. (laughing) So, like basically the same
part that I played for him once upon a time, like
he play that for me. Mar was one of the first people I called, and we've been rockin' out, Scarface and Manolo
minus Gina, ever since. (discordant synth music) - We don't have no outside,
everything is in-house; this is a hundred percent
private, it's ours. (staccato synth music) - I think this style was
more of Muhammad's push towards the nostalgia where
he was talking about like, when we grew up off Elio's
and that school pizza of all you had to do is
come home from school, set the oven and there you go. There is something about pizza, man. (rhythmic synth music) You can see how it starts
filling the pan up, like rising all the way up; it's all the way into the corners. It's ready to be a canvas. We got Blodgett Deck ovens, they go up to 650, and
they're hot as shit; I got the proof (laughing) an all that all the way up to the top of my arm. We always bake 'em off prior to orders, so that we're ready to fire. (Michael exclaiming) - [Producer] It turned off? - Yeah. The oven repair guy, I watched him enough that I do it myself now so we
don't have to call. (laughing) Learn how to fix your equipment. I opened this restaurant with
the top oven not working, it just went out on 'em, and
I still had to make it happen. Everything was down here and
I was doing so many squats, (laughing) my legs
started locking up on me. When you talk about hard
work and dedication, I can literally kick doors off the hinges. (gentle music) (Michael laughing) (gentle music) See, a lot of people go by the dictionary definition of recidivism, which is somebody who comes
from prison and re-offends, but recidivism is a system that works to recycle people back into the system. And in 2017, I actually caught a case. The officer in my case was
shot in the line of duty, so they postponed my case for 27 months. I only owed the state six
months for a violation, an absconding violation. They were able to hold me
without bail for 27 months. Every judge that it went in front of, "Nuh, we're gonna hold
it over for the officer." And then I get in front of
this lady and she's like, "He been sitting for 27
months and the only reason he's still in here is
because he's on parole for something that
happened when he was 19? Man, dismissed with prejudice." That same officer, he
retired two years after that, he never came back to the line of duty. So technically, if I didn't
get in front of that one judge, I woulda sat for five years on a case I was never convicted of. So can't have a hotel
that's full of vacancies, you gotta fill it up, and that's what we deal with every day; one foot in the jail,
one foot out the jail. (gentle music) (can opener clicking) As you can see, I need to
get a better can opener, but I make it happen. The North Sauce is our
signature tomato sauce; spicy, smokey, sweet, savory sauce that's better than anybody's sauce. (upbeat gentle music) We're about to dress
this sauce up real nice. This is the sauce that
I use for my lasagna. This is the sauce I use for
my spaghetti. (laughing) Arrabbiata sauce, the angry sauce? I had that at a restaurant
when I was younger and it was just like,
"Yeah, I like it like this." Even when I lived with
my Grandmom, I'm like, "Mama, can I get a little,
make my own little spicy here?" She's like, "Y'all love some spicy stuff in your mom family." Yeah, we do. It's just that I grew up eating hot shit, like, my whole family. Like, we've been eating hot
sauce since we was babies. It's art to me, it's like
I was always an artist, an artsy kinda kid; I just
fell into the streets, more or less a survival-type
situation, economical. My whole life I've been
around chefs, cooks; we always sat around the
table and we broke bread. I'm grandma's baby, so I'm
always inside of the house, "Mama, what you making?
Mama, let me taste that." And Mama making macaroni and cheese, I'm stealin' the cubes. I was that kid so like, this has always been a
part of me, like, cooking. Before I got locked up when I was 19, I was registered to go
to the restaurant school at Walnut Hill and it's the way I survived when I was in jail. Even when I was incarcerated,
it was always like, what can I make with these
soups and these crackers? Oh, pizza dough. Like, that's my original pizza dough that I was making when I was locked up; I was using ramen noodles
and Cheez-Its (laughing) with a water circulator and a bucket. (Michael and producer laughing) (gentle music) But this is normally
how I like to start off. I try to get, keep all
cheese on the dough, and cheese is the primer. (chuckling) (gentle music) So we have a four-cheese blend, provolone-mozz blend, Gran Moravia; it's like a Ukrainian
Parmesan, same funky effect. All of 'em use the same type of cheese, except for my vegan pies. With a No Betta Love, what
perfect name for a cheese pizza, 'cause everybody loves cheese pizza. So this is the No Betta
Love, our top-seller next to the Roc Da Mic, which
is the beef pepperoni one. - You need basic necessities, you need food, you need shelter. When so many doors are being shut, essentially y'all just
giving them a basket to carry water in. For you to be pigeonholed
to something that happened while you were figuring out
life for the rest of your life? That's not fair, 'cause
people are constantly growing. The common misconception
about returning citizens is that they are not trying to evolve, they're trying their hardest. Before they, you know, come out, they're talking about what they wanna do. Anything as simple as
interaction with a police officer is considered a violation
that could put you back in. (rhythmic synth music) - This is the Roc Da Mic. Roc Da Mic, that's our beef pepperoni pie, all our beef products are halal. All right, we coming out
with the Uptown Vibes. Uptown Vibes, that's our veggie pie. I've had to lie my way into
every kitchen I ever been into; like, I mean, you get that
big work gap in your resume. I was working at SCI
Greensburg in the kitchen. Here, you don't have to
lie about who you are, it's just like the same struggle that people don't know about. It bonds us. I mean, like, we've been
humbled in the worst way, so like when people see us,
a little antisocial to them, but it's like, it's normal to us. Like, we've been dehumanized, we're tryna like, re-humanize
us to like, society. We joke all day, all games,
laugh, play and it's like, we wouldn't get a chance to
actually be our true selves in another work environment
where we gotta hide that. Okay, this is the Roc Da Mic. Like a big part of Down
North opening up I'm like, "Um, it's illegal for us to be together." Like my guys, we all working together, it's a parole violation to be in the company of other felons, so we're gonna need a lawyer. He made sure, "Yeah, we got a lawyer." - The foundation, the support, the resources that we provide. One thing is giving them a job, we also have apartments that we have that they have access to if they need 'em. We want to amplify that and
put that on the forefront of what we do and why we do it, 'cause a lot of it boils
down to lack of resources. Given chances, given resources, how they can turn things around; a place where they can be
the best version of they self because they are being themselves. (rhythmic music)
- Ooh. That's the Break You Off right there. Gettin' that? (Michael laughing) Now the Break You Off is a white pizza, so I got a lemon ricotta
base that I start with then my traditional, four-cheese blend. We got a spicy lamb sausage. My guy Miles, he wanted to do
this lamb sausage situation; it was just like, I had
some garlic honey up there that I had sitting for
months and it was like, it was so pungent and garlicky. And so when we pulled it
out, it was just like, at first we were just gonna
put za'atar on top of it and then it was like, "Eh,
let's put this on there." And it's like... (gasping) we got it. (rhythmic music) We put it out on Thursday and we were sold out by Saturday afternoon and it's been a staple ever since. And can't forget that cheese fence. Crown in the industry, but it's the fence, 'cause we're combating recidivism. (pan scraping) Okay, so this is... the Flipside. (bright pleasant music) Economically, like, just
neighborhood is impoverished so you have people that
do whatever to survive. So when they get a chance to actually see some entrepreneurs coming
to the neighborhood that actually care about the neighborhood and they're outside sweeping,
they're cleaning up... That's dope, 'cause I feel
like representation is big and a lot of us are underrepresented. (oven door clanking) (Michael whooping) Okay, it is time. We have a special right now. Only reason I didn't put it
on the menu 'cause it's like, it's Philadelphia, they expect us to have a cheesesteak pizza all the time. So the My Side of Town,
I got a shaved rib-eye, some fried onions on top... and a house made a wiz, so it's like a wiz with pizza. Tales of a hustler, I'm from West Philly, so young Sparks from the backstreet where them grams are slow. (laughing) (dramatic rhythmic music) I feel like that song, for
our era, my generation, was like the anthem for Philly. I like to call it North Philly
Pan Pizza, Detroit Pan Pizza, you know what I mean? 'Cause
we definitely made it our own and every pie is named after
a Philadelphia hip-hop song or a Philadelphia song. I feel like it relates to the people. The food may bring you in here, but you going get the mission
and the culture of the city. We're here to show people,
people that offended came out here, built
something from nothing and actually helped the community. Down North is doing this
like we're being the catalyst to that change. (rhythmic hip-hop music)
