Mick Mahan All Fired Up For Parma Pizzeria Napoletana

THOUSAND OAKS, CA — Maybe you were born in Brooklyn and swear there’s no better pizza than a New York slice of heaven. Or, perhaps, you’re hankering for a Detroit pie, or an Ohio pizza so rich in flavor it tastes like home.

No matter what your pleasure, there’s a pizzeria in Thousand Oaks, CA, Parma Pizzeria Napoletana — owned by Mick Mahan, longtime bass player for Pat Benatar — offering a sumptuous selection of regional styles that conjures up memories and brings guests back to their collective roots.

About to mark two years in business and garnering acclaim, the pizzeria symbolizes a longtime dream turned reality for Mahan, who brings the same artistry and passion to pizza that he continues to lend to the stage after years of working with some of the top names in the music business.

As a bassist, Mahan travels the world and the United States, wowing crowds with his musical finesse and steady dedication to honing his craft. Along the way, he’s ridden on his share of tour buses as he and the band wended their way across the nation, playing at a wide range of venues from arenas to intimate city spaces. Crisscrossing the country, one thing has remained a constant in Mahan’s life — the quest to sample the quintessential pizza.

Since he was a child, Mahan, born in Youngstown, OH, said pizza has played a front and center role on his own culinary canvas.

“We had a million different pizza options in Youngstown, and we took advantage of all of them,” Mahan said in an interview with Patch.

Growing up Catholic with a single mom — his father passed away when he was just three years old — pizza was a staple on no-meat Fridays and always an accessible option.

Reflecting on Youngstown pizza, Mahan said while delicious, it was simple, with no array of chef-inspired toppings. “It was as blue collar as you could get,” he said.

But it’s the dough that means everything, the foundation of the pizza upon which all else is built, Mahan said.

“That’s why, when I try pizza for the first time, I get plain cheese; that’s where you start. If that’s good, everything else will be good. The plain truth is that’s what it is — dough, cheese, sauce. End of story.”

Mahan, who still spends many late nights on the road while touring, is now up before dawn at his pizzeria when back in Thousand Oaks, preparing the dough for the days ahead.

After dough is created, it must be “proofed,” a process that allows it to rise and become lighter than if it were sent straight to the oven. Mahan makes five doughs daily, an exacting process that involves precise calculations and attention to chemistry and detail.

“It’s a lot of experimentation and investment in time,” he said. His education as a pizzaiolo came, not straight from books, but from immersing himself in the process firsthand, much as his hands innately guided him to learn the bass, feeling the emotion and passion behind the process in a tangible, visceral way.

“I traveled to every one of those places and studied with the guys that mastered those styles. This is not out of a book, it’s hands on,” he said.

Months on the road every year afford him the chance, not to engage in the proverbial stereotypical rocker behavior so many expect of musicians, but to follow his passion into pizzerias on his days off, picking up skills and learning from pizza greats under whose tutelage Mahan’s dream took solid root and shape — leading to the day when he opened the doors of his own pizzeria in 2017.

Entering Parma Pizzeria Napoletana, the first thing a guest sees is a framed photo of Mahan’s mother, Parma, for whom the business was named, and from whom he learned a lifelong lesson — that love and cooking are forever intertwined.

The eatery is so warm and intimate it could be nestled in a village in Italy.

His mother, Mahan said, wasn’t a businesswoman; although she worked before his dad died, she was a full-time mom who relished caring for her family.

“She had to do both roles — and she was the epitome of a Sicilian mother, in terms of preparing her food with so much love, and wanting to feed people, that whole Italian tradition,” he said.

His mother invited Mahan’s friends in to sit and eat, always smiling, always opening her heart and kitchen.

While she had a nurturing spirit and a heart of gold, Mahan said his mother was a taskmaster when it came to ensuring her family meals never faltered.

“Everything had to be perfect,” he said. “It wasn’t like she was weighing out ingredients like I do — it wasn’t scientific — but everything had to be of perfect quality, that was so important to her. There were very few times when my mother got upset but she was upset with the butcher if he was not giving her what she wanted. She had to go to a specific store for ricotta — it was an arduous task, because she felt her food had to be phenomenal, even if it was just a hamburger.”

Reflecting on his childhood, Mahan remembers Sunday dinners with his extended family, including his grandmother, aunts and uncles. “We’d get together every Sunday at Grandma’s for dinner, after church — it was Italian hour. We’d eat all day. I wouldn’t change anything about my upbringing.”

Today, that love of family and food is rich at Parma Pizzeria Napoletana, where Mahan not only prepares his mother’s meatballs but has carried on her legacy, her love for gathering family and friends together for a delicious meal.

On a recent sunny Sunday, laughter rang out amongst patrons at tables as they sampled pies and argued good-naturedly about whether they thought Detroit or New York pizza styles took top honors.

From the New York style pizza, with a perfect balance of cheese, sauce, and the quintessential crust, to the Detroit style — the Bissonette, named after longtime musical colleague Gregg Bissonette, drummer for ELO and Ringo Starr and his family, is handcrafted with spicy sausage, smoked pepperoni, cherry tomatoes, burrata cheese and topped with fresh basil.

The New York slice is so good it’s better than pizza in the Big Apple, many who’ve reviewed the pizzeria on social media agree.

The menu offers a sampling of pizza styles and specials, with new ideas for future recipes emerging daily.

Beyond the artisanal pizza selections, it’s the ambiance that distinguishes Parma Pizzeria Napoletana; the eatery reflects Mahan’s vision of sharing the best food with family and friends; the space exudes warmth and welcome.

His is a family business, with his sons Michael and Gianni working by his side.

And the eatery’s space on E. Thousand Oaks Blvd. is also a homage to Mahan’s rich musical roots, with autographs and drum heads from musicians including Toto, REO Speedwagon, Chicago, Stone Temple Pilots, Elton John, James Taylor, Phil Collins, Michael Jackson, Ambrosia, and the Benatar group lending rock and royalty cachet.

Mahan’s own purple bass guitar hangs on the wall as he steps out from stage left and takes his place, front and center, in this new chapter of his life’s journey.

The path to opening his own pizzeria was graced by pizza greats, including pizzaiolo heavyweight Tony Gemignani, a master and World Pizza Cup Champion based in San Francisco.

Mahan said he conceived of the notion of offering a variety of pizza styles about 12 years ago. “I got tired of arguing about it,” he laughed. “Everyone in the world says the pizza they grew up with is the best. Instead of arguing, I said, ‘I’m going to do a place that has multiple styles.’”

Armed with notes and research, Mahan found Gemignani. When the two met at a Pizza Expo, Mahan attended his seminar. “Afterward, I went up to him and said, ‘Hey, man, you stole my idea.’ He started laughing.”

And in that moment, a mentor was born. “He took a liking to me and he asked me to come up to San Francisco and just hang out. It was like being thrown into the deep end of the pool,” Mahan said.

The staff at Gemignani's popular eatery, Tony’s Pizza Napoletana, welcomed Mahan, putting his feet right to the proverbial fire. “He would have his assistants show me something, and then they’d walk away and leave me,” he said, incredulous. “This is a restaurant, open for business. And people are standing in front of an open kitchen, watching you cook.”

But Mahan, with typical aplomb, rose to the occasion.

Soon, Gemignani invited Mahan to attend his International School of Pizza, an intensive course that included classes and real-time training in crafting Neapolitan pizza.

Neapolitan pizza, which originated in Naples, involves strict guidelines: baking the dough at 900 degrees, San Marzano tomatoes, a specific mozzarella cheese, fresh basil, sea salt, olive oil — all coming together in a pie that’s crunchy on the outside but chewy in the center, with to-die-for charred spots, called “leoparding.”

According to Associazone Verace Pizza Napoletana, the pizza must be cooked in a wood-fired oven — Mahan’s gleaming red beauty is imported from Naples —for 90 seconds.

It’s an exacting work of art, an exercise in chemistry, but sprinkled in amongst the ingredients is a bit of magic, of love— the secret ingredient that transforms an ordinary pie into a star in the culinary stratosphere.

Creating the perfect pizza, Mahan said, mirrors an important life lesson: “It’s all about balance.”

Just the right amount of cheese, sauce, it’s the balance that makes the final product a stand-out.

After his certification was complete, Mahan, who lives in Newbury Park, began setting up shop in Thousand Oaks.

Those first weeks symbolized a literal life shift, having to balance his high-profile musical career with a second gig as a dedicated community business owner.

“It was terrifying,” Mahan said. But Gemignani came to help, more than a mentor; now a lifelong friend.

“The place was in studs,” Mahan said. “But he came down and we made 80 pizzas, a ton of dough, even though we’re in a restaurant with no walls. He’s helped me with everything. And this is a man — if you go to Pizza Expo with Tony Gemignani, you’re there with Jimi Hendrix. Doors open. Seas part.”

The sharing of knowledge in the pizza world was a revelation, Mahan says.

“To be front and center in this community of pizza people who are so encouraging — to be recognized by someone of Tony Gemignani’s stature . . . I’m a newbie. I should be washing their dishes. It’s such an honor.”

Mahan, with his forthright personality — “What you see is what you get” —and a tireless work ethic that has him dashing from a months’ long tour, to making dough at 5 a.m., then recording sessions, playing gigs locally where he’s formed friendships that span decades, and in the midst of it all, parenting his two sons, is a man well respected in all arenas.

He’s gained the respect of A-list talent in both the music and pizza worlds because he espouses core values including integrity, professionalism, and a tireless work ethic.

It’s his fierce desire to learn and his respect for those who’ve walked before him that has colleagues including Gemignani and the Hunt Brothers, also world-renowned in the pizza industry, with an emphasis on Detroit-style, sharing willingly their collective knowledge and expertise.

And judging by the delighted faces of the fans he always stops to meet after a show after a Pat Benatar concert, no matter how tired he may be, or the diners at his pizzeria whom he welcomes with an unfailing greeting, he’s the real deal.

He’s fast become a member of the close-knit Thousand Oaks community, opening his doors for local organizations — and hosting fundraisers after a recent mass shooting and the devastating fires that left residents reeling.

The business has evolved into a meeting place for neighbors, friends, families, to talk and share.

Above all, though, they come for the pizza, because the pizza is good. Really, really good — what some call a rarity in southern Cali.

No matter how busy Mahan and his son Mike are, manning the ovens and carefully handcrafting the pies for a packed house, they never fail to stop and talk to guests, sharing stories of pizza and Benatar alike.

In fact, Mahan says, whether creating pizza or riffing on the bass, music and food both nurture the soul — both involve artistry.

“There’s a performance aspect to this thing, too,” Mahan said. “Anytime an artist does anything, that’s your mindset — you want to get people excited, or hungry . . . get them in a state of appreciation and acceptance. You want to make something nice for people.”

There’s a symmetry, a definite balance, between Mahan’s two worlds. His mother’s son, cooking for the ones he loves comes naturally. “This is really the only other thing I’ve done in my life that I didn’t feel like a fish out of water,” he said.

Working at anything else to pay the bills, Mahan said he was miserable.

The siren song of music, however, was in his blood since Mahan was a boy. His uncle gave him his first guitar at 10; he was in his first band at 11 years old.

Ironically, music was the only class he ever failed. A third grader, and “obstinate — I’m Sicilian and Irish, don’t wind me up” — Mahan refused to cooperate with the nun and got an “F.”

Luckily, that “F” carried no weight for the boy who listened avidly to records, learning by ear, idolizing Motown, bass player James Jamerson, Led Zeppelin, John Paul Jones.

“John Paul Jones is an R & B guy that plays rock,” he said. “I love soul music.”

Growing up, he said, “I concentrated very heavily on emulating the feel of the bass. No one wanted to play the bass so I picked it up and I fell in love with it.”

After graduating from Kent State University, Mahan arrived in in Los Angeles and realized he had a lot to learn.

”Music theory wasn’t in my wheelhouse,” he said.

Undeterred, he immersed himself, studying with the best in the business and enrolling in the Dick Grove School of Music.

Later, he began teaching, a self-professed “jazzbo” who didn’t want to play rock. Until the night some friends were opening for Foreigner and he stood there, saying, ‘What the hell is wrong with me? I don’t want to play rock and roll?'”

A friend told Neil Giraldo about him and he went to audition for Pat Benatar. At the third audition, during which he’d had a chance to showcase his skills, he said, “Patti walked in and said, ‘Let me see your socks,’” he said. He jokes that the white socks, also worn by Neil and Myron Grombacher, Benatar's former drummer, won him a spot in the band, a gig he’s had for 25 years.

His career also saw him reach pinnacles as he worked as an arranger with Prince on “Under the Cherry Moon.” He is also a founding member of Danny Seraphine’s band California Transit Authority, or CTA; Mahan has toured/recorded with a dazzling array of talent including Phillip Bailey, David Foster, Sheryl Crow, Martina McBride, John Fogerty, Alan Parsons, Keith Emerson, Steve Miller, the Dixie Chicks, Barry Manilow, Ambrosia, Toni Childs, Alice Cooper, Rick Springfield, and many more.

The exhilaration of making music and pizza have parallels, Mahan said.

“The joy of music, it’s extremely powerful. Whatever it is you do, do it right,” he said.

Making music is something that’s in his blood; he speaks with excitement about potential new collaborations and gigs still to come.

What makes the pizza venture especially meaningful, though, is that it’s something he’s sharing, and building, with his sons.

Busy making pies in the kitchen recently, Mike, when asked the secret to crafting the perfect pie, echoed his father’s philosophy: “Balance is the most important thing. Paying attention to what you’re doing. Really distributing toppings properly. Not too much, not too little of anything.”

Mike added that working closely with his father has evolved into seamless teamwork as they run the family business together.

“It’s nice. Just having something that’s mine,” he said. “I have control, which is nice.” And, he said, “I’m very involved with it. I feel like if I do this the right way now, it will pay off. That would be ideal.”

His boys, Michael and Gianni represent the heart of the business, the reason Mahan is up at 4 a.m. after touring packed venues with the band.

“I’m building this for my boys,” he said. “It’s beautiful, that both my sons are in this business with me. They’re counting on this business.”

And the hard work by all involved is reaping rewards: Parma Pizzeria Napoletana has received recognition for excellence; the eatery will also be featured on an upcoming episode of “Food Paradise” on the Travel Channel.

Of seeing his dream realized, Mahan said, “It feels good.”

He’s got some wisdom to share with other who might want to take a chance on a vision.

“If you want to do something, just do it,” Mahan said. “Try it out. I didn’t know when I was five years old that I’d turn out to be a lifetime musician. I never knew that I’d be in the pizza business, something I’ve thought about since childhood.” He paused, reflecting. “It’s amazing what we’re capable of, things we don’t even know we can do. I don’t know how it happened. I just kept pushing.”

Parma Pizzeria Napoletana is located at 796 Thousand Oaks Blvd, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360, (805) 370-1370. To find them on Facebook, click here.

Patch photos by Lisa Finn. Photos of pizza by Mick Mahan.