A Taste of Passion and Fitness with Annette Cobb of Marckesano's Pizza

Have you ever wondered about the person behind the pizza? Join us on a journey into the world of Marckasano's Pizza and discover the inspiring story of its owner, Annette Cobb. Originally a Kentucky native, Annette took a detour to sunny Florida before returning home with a newfound dream - to own her own restaurant. With a loving refurbishment of Marckasano's, she and her husband, Ryan, have brought a slice of Italian heaven to Walton, Kentucky, introducing online ordering, a tempting dessert case and even a kids menu! Annette's passion doesn't stop at the dough - hear about the incredible charity work Marckasano's is involved in, and their commitment to their community.

From the perfect pizza to pounding the pavement - tune in as Annette shares her surprising love of Disney races and her transformative weight loss journey. With this experience, she became a health coach, helping others on their journey to wellness. As a result, Marckasano's has also adapted to cater to healthier lifestyles. Fancy a cauliflower crust? Or maybe a salad or a wrap? They've got it all. Whether you're a foodie, a fitness enthusiast, or someone who loves a great American story, this episode is one you definitely don't want to miss. Discover Annette's inspiring journey and the magic that makes Marckasano's Pizza so special.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

This is the Good Neighbor podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Mike Murphy.

Speaker 2: 0:14

Thanks, charlie. I appreciate that. I am Mike Murphy, the host of the Good Neighbor podcast. We use this podcast to introduce local business owners to the community at large here in northern Kentucky, and today I have with me Annette Cobb. Annette and her husband Ryan. They are the owners of Marcosano's Pizza. Marcosano's is in Walton, kind of on the border of Union and Walton. They're on Clay Drive. Many of you have driven past, some of you have eaten there many, many times. Some of you have never eaten there. But we're here today to talk to Annette so that she can just kind of help us understand her story, how she came to own Marcosano's, and then just kind of get to know her a little bit. Annette, welcome to the show today.

Speaker 3: 1:05

Oh, thank you, Mike. I really appreciate you having us on this podcast today.

Speaker 2: 1:11

Well, I appreciate you taking time this morning because I know, being a wife, mother, business owner, fire putter outer, you have a lot of stuff going on. You've already had one disruption to your morning, and so you and I we're going to get through this, I'm sure, in the next 15 minutes before you go back about your chaotic day. But, seriously, though, I hope that the rest of your day is going to go smoothly. So, for people that don't know you, why don't you introduce yourself to the community and tell them how you came to be an owner of a restaurant?

Speaker 3: 2:02

Well, it's a real long and short story all at the same time. So I've been in the restaurant industry for many years and I had lived in the union community since 2008. However, we did take a small break and did try to move to Florida for three years and the pace of Florida just wasn't Kentucky. It still just didn't feel like home. And last summer of 22, we moved back from Florida back to the union area and landed here in Triple Crown and decided we just needed to really put a little bit more roots down in the community. So we decided to finally fulfill our dream of owning a restaurant and had been shopping around for a restaurant that we could purchase and there was a post on our local community page they're in Triple Crown saying that the local pizza shop was up for sale. And so we just ran down there and it was very convenient to have this little Italian shop, which we'd always anticipated to own an Italian restaurant and spoke to the prior owners, realized we had a lot in common, had the same goals for the restaurant and Marc Asano's just seemed to be the perfect fit. So the prior owners, of course, are the Schwartz's, and Tom Schwartz, who had owned Marc Asano since 2004, was the second generation pizza owner and restaurateur, his father, of course, being the owner and operator of Tom's Papadinos in Florence, and so there's been a long history of Marc Asano's and Tom Papadinos here in the community, and so there was no need to reinvent the wheel.

Speaker 3: 3:54

It was just a matter of making sure that the community's favorite pizza continued to live through Marc Asano's, here, of course, right behind Triple Crown, and serve the people of Walton and Union. So we've been proud to be able to continue to do that since March of this year. So, of course, we did make a few changes. We updated the dining room, we brought in online ordering, we brought a dessert case in, we have a kids menu. Now as well, we're offering catering and party rentals. We've actually got a private party coming up on Saturday, where we've rented out the restaurant for a birthday party. So we've got a lot of opportunities to continue to serve the community with the best pizza and Italian in the area.

Speaker 2: 4:48

That's a great description of the business and the story, but I was surprised by the fact that you were gone three years. I knew you were gone. It seemed like maybe a year, but it was actually three years.

Speaker 3: 5:03

I think we've got that COVID fog. I think a lot of us are just jumping. I think we went from 2019 straight into 2021, 2022. And those years, like you said, they just flew by, those COVID fog years where time stopped for us. But, yeah, it's hard to believe that we had been gone for three years. But now, of course, we've been back now a little more than a year, almost a year and a half and we're totally excited to be back in Union. It definitely feels like home.

Speaker 3: 5:36

So we're glad that we've able to be a bigger part of the community by, like I said, owning the restaurant and helping with the community. We've had an opportunity to do some charity work and donating pizzas, and we've got some other community drives coming up in November and December as well. So we're just, like I said, glad that we can help the community, provide a great product to the community and welcome people as family, and that's kind of just always our goal and that was our goal with owning a restaurant is just bringing people in like family. So we just love it. It's been a really great transition, even though it's been a few challenges here and there. It's just it's been really great and we've been super welcomed. So we just continue to provide the best pizza in Italian as we can.

Speaker 2: 6:31

Yeah, when somebody walks into your restaurant it does feel like family. It feels like you're supposed to bring you know mom, dad, all the kids and sit down and have a meal together. So we know you as Marcos Anos Pizza many of us do but you are far more than pizza. You have a deeper menu. Do you have anything outside of pizza that you maybe take particular pride in? Do you have a signature dish or maybe something that's your personal favorite?

Speaker 3: 7:05

So, of course, on the marquee it's Marcos Anos Pizza, but, like you mentioned, we are definitely trying to expand a little bit more beyond pizza. We have always had appetizers, hoagies, pastas, salads. However, recently, the few additions that we're looking to add is we do have a new meat sauce for our pasta. Now, that is actually something of our own family that we're bringing back into Marcos Sanos. That was my father's recipe and we do make that in-house with all fresh ingredients. It's been a real favorite with those who have known Marcos Sanos but are looking to try something new, yes, I would encourage everybody to at least try to come in and try our signature spaghetti and meat sauce at some point. We are looking to put out a new menu soon. We have found what is working and selling there at the restaurant. We are also trying to meet the demands of our guests as well and bring in a few new signature pizzas, and a couple other new pastas should be coming out soon.

Speaker 3: 8:29

We'll be bringing in flavors of the month or seasonal favorites over the season. Right now, we did bring in a new godfather pizza, which is going to have pepperoni, sausage, salami, tomato and black olives. That's gone over really well. We also brought in a new buffalo chicken ranch pizza as well, based on the demands of the flavors of our guests. I encourage you both, or anybody, to come in and try those.

Speaker 3: 9:06

We are also launching a couple of our salads with a new twist by putting them in a wrap. Now you can take your salads on the go. We have an anti-pasta wrap, which is just like our salad but served in a really great pesto wrap. We also have a chicken Caesar wrap as well, which will be coming to the menu. There are definitely new things that if you haven't tried us in a while, I'd encourage you to come in and give us a try again. Like I said, check back every so often to see what new flavors we were bringing in. Our seasonal dessert case also changes. We've partnered on occasions with Kelly's Cakery here also in the Florence Union area, who is a local neighbor and friend of ours. She'll be having some new desserts in our case that she's brought in for the season. If you love Kelly's cakes, then come in and try some of the desserts. We've got them here at Marcos Sanos at Well.

Speaker 2: 10:16

I know Kelly very well and I did not know that you had that connection with her. That's kind of exciting news from my perspective. I think that's a great fit. I've been to your place before and was given a couple cannolis to take home and my wife became addicted. And you mentioned the Buffalo chicken ranch pizza. I think I'll be sending my daughter in for that. That's kind of her thing, buffalo chicken.

Speaker 3: 10:46

It's really great we actually had our own employees come up with that. It seems to be the flavor of the next generation. They love a little bit of heat and then they love, of course, the sweetness of that ranch. They got a little creative back there on the line and it seems to be going over really well. Of course, we start with a base of buffalo sauce and then we've added in bits of chicken and jalapenos, red onions, banana peppers, and then top it with cheese and bacon because who doesn't love bacon? Of course. When then it comes out, we've got a nice ranch topping to put on top of it. It shows really well and it's got just the right amount of heat, but it's not too much. Like I said, it's gone over really well so far.

Speaker 2: 11:45

Well, it's a family restaurant and it's family-owned. Do you have family working at the restaurant alongside you? And Ryan?

Speaker 3: 11:55

Definitely. I think the key part of even owning a restaurant was giving an opportunity for not just family to have a place to work and to learn personal skills and talents, but to also invite friends in as well. So a lot of the staff is made up of family. I have five children and three of my older sons do work there and help manage it with me. I have a 26 year old son and his spouse work there as well my 21 year old and 19 year old and they've all grown up here in the union community, so they, of course, were able to reach out to some of their own friends and get them to work. Everybody, like I said, we'd like to have our guests feel like family, but of course, that's because we are all friends and family who work there as well. So I think it's been a really great work environment for a lot of us to not have to, you know, feel like. You know we're not connected. Everybody has a great time on shift.

Speaker 2: 13:10

I know, when you're not at the restaurant, there must be some ways that you can blow off steam. What do you do for you? What's fun for you? How do you reset yourself?

Speaker 3: 13:26

Well, there's not as much downtime as I used to have, that's for sure. But you know, I think everything is about a work life balance, and so you know when you, when you work hard, you've got to play hard. So in between working, you know, the lot of things that our family loves to do is is we are actually Disney people, we love Disney. We are still actual, very active annual past members, and that, of course, probably came from living in Florida and that was a big part of enjoying Florida. When we were there for three years was going to Disney. So we do do a lot of downtime at Disney. So if we're not usually at the restaurant and working, we try to see if we can escape and get down there, and when we're not there, most of the other time I'm actually out running races.

Speaker 3: 14:20

So I picked up in Florida as well the love of running, and so I.

Speaker 3: 14:26

There's nothing been better than combining my love of running in Disney. So I'm usually running a lot of Disney races, run Disney races, and so we've got a couple of those planned coming up in January again, where I'll run a full marathon at Disney World and then I'll turn around a week later and fly to California and actually run a half marathon at Disneyland, so that'll earn me a coast to coast challenge, which this will be the first race back at Disneyland in several years since before COVID, so we're super excited. We're going to make this a big family event. My 19-year-old son runs with me as well, so, and even my smaller children have run Disney races with us. So we just love, like I said, disney running and, of course, that gives us an opportunity to live a healthier lifestyle as well, and I just found that running just helps balance my mind and body. So we're just totally excited for the upcoming season and running and spending time with our family doing the things that we love.

Speaker 2: 15:34

So Well, I think I've seen you also coaching and counseling people as well on healthier eating, weight loss, and I've seen some of your posts and I've seen some of the help you've given people. And I sit there in my guilt with my carb addiction and I will say that, you know, the last time you and I sat down, you kind of inspired me. You didn't realize it in the moment, but I kind of adjusted my eating patterns and I've lost 15 pounds just by cutting back on my carbs.

Speaker 3: 16:07

That's wonderful.

Speaker 2: 16:09

I love pizza, I love all things carbs, you know. But we can have our cake and eat it too. You just have to do things in moderation, I assume.

Speaker 3: 16:17

Correct, correct, I think yes. Several years ago, I started my own weight loss journey and lost 48 pounds in four and a half months, which encouraged me to then become a health coach and help several other people and friends and family lose weight and create healthier habits and healthier habits of motion. Like I said, now I'm starting to run, but the running isn't what keeps my weight off, it's not what motivates me to stay healthy. Like I said, everything in moderation, everything about making small habit changes, will definitely create a healthier lifestyle. It was a little bit of an irony that, of course, I bought a pizza restaurant when being a health coach and I've helped a lot of people lose weight, and of course, I'm talking about our dessert case and so on and so forth.

Speaker 3: 17:14

So you know, I think same thing, I think people who have got bad habits and eating or learning to deal with stress by either eating or having other bad habits it can affect us. So you know, learning to work in this environment and have the stress, because I'm a stress eater. So you know, owning a restaurant and owning a restaurant that has a lot of carbs and trigger foods like pizza and cakes and cannolis it's been a little more challenging to say no to that. But you know we do offer even a cauliflower crust. So we've got a lot of people coming in who are a little bit either more carb conscious or might have dietary restrictions on gluten, and we can definitely accommodate that as well. So I think that's why we decided to bring in a couple of these salad wraps. They're not as heavy, still gives you an opportunity to have something a little lighter and healthier and enjoy marcosano. So you're not feeling that, you know, the only thing that's bringing you in is the pizza.

Speaker 3: 18:27

So, like I said, you know, come in and try some of our wraps, our salads, which are really great, or even that cauliflower crust. So I've had great reviews on it that it tastes really amazing. So it's actually one of my go-tos as well, if I need to get a little bit of pizza in my system. So you know, as a health coach, I do still coach on the side, you know it's been more based on referrals or past clients who are coming back trying to, you know, just get a little bit of a refresher and encouragement on their health choices and health goals. So you know I try to lead by example and I think all the time that you know we can, like you said, make small choices. They really do add up in the long run. And congratulations on those 15 pounds, because you know every extra pound encourages us to wanna stick to these healthy habits, because we're seeing the results. So way to go, buddy.

Speaker 2: 19:33

Well, thank you very much. You know I really appreciate the way you educate the community while feeding the community, and so I look forward to the rest of story. You know that's about to unfold for you and Ryan and the family. I'm definitely going to remain a customer. The cauliflower crust I had no idea, but sign me up and I appreciate that you've done that for those of us who are on that journey.

Speaker 2: 20:07

Well, I wanna let people know that you know there's an ad running in the neighbors of Union Magazine and the neighbors of Walton Magazine. People can scan the QR code to go to your menu, but they can also go to marcosanospizzawaltoncom, to your website, to see the menu and to order. You're right there at 11.065 Clay Drive in Walton, the strip mall right there behind Triple Crown, so people can come in and see you or they can check you out online, but as long as they come by and try your food, and I'm looking forward to trying that meat sauce too. So I appreciate you spending time with us and that our time together is over for the day. But I wanna thanks for thank you for coming by, and I want to thank the listeners for tuning in. I will say to everybody out there. Be good to your neighbor and until next time. Bye everybody.

Speaker 1: 21:11

Thanks for listening to the Good Neighbor podcast Union. To nominate your favorite Local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNPunioncom. That's GNPunioncom, or call us at 859-651-8330.