Mario Martinelli says he's so determined to create the best pizza this side of Glasgow or he'll die trying.
The second-generation Italian may be jesting but his unwavering passion to the hospitality industry is no joke.
The experienced chef went to one man for advice on opening a pizza and wings restaurant in his hometown of Kilmarnock and ended up with a business partner.
Mario, 37, approached Jordan Yates, 36, founder and owner of Kilmarnock store American Munchies, to ask how he built his wildly successful shop from a fledgling home delivery service born in lockdown.
Seven months on from that initial chat, the pair will open Pings Pizza and Wings this Friday in the former Memory Lane venue on Bonnyton Road.
Mario, who'll be Pings' head chef, said: "I was at a bit of an impasse with a few things. I didn't feel like there was an end goal to where I was previously and I decided to reach out to Jordan on a whim and I asked him how he started his own business.
"I literally said 'how did you start the shop?'. He started American Munchies in lockdown delivering imported sweets and crisps door-to-door. He went from that to a shop, and now to a bigger shop.
"He asked me what I was doing and I said to him that I'm trying to make the best pizza this side of Glasgow or die trying."
Jordan, who'll be working front of house and handling logistics and marketing, added: "There's been so many points that have felt serendipitous.
"Mario, bumped into Mikey [Lennon] and Gareth [Kelly] from Kadikoi in town one day and that got the ball rolling with us coming in here as they didn't know what to do with this part of the business after refurbishing the pub next door and now here we are."
Pings will employ 10 people and has 58 covers in a venue that is unrecognisable from its time as Memory Lane.
Mario's first foray into hospitality came while working at the former New Oak pub on Dean Street where he watched two women 'get heated' over who got to sing Proud Mary during karaoke.
Since then he's worked in pubs and restaurants with his stint working in the Bill Costley-owned Cochrane in Gatehead described as "one of the hardest environments" he's worked in but credited the experience as being invaluable.
"This is my dream," Mario said. "I've always wanted to try do something on my own and it's more like an investment in the future for myself.
"This is me trying to build myself from nothing and create a future for myself, my family and everyone else involved. And I want to be a good employer of people too."
Jordan takes the credit for the creative name of their restaurant, admitting that it has generated a lot of debate.
"I came up with the name," Jordan added. "It's a bit marmite to say the least. A few folk have said to me is the 'ping' because we'll be using microwaves but there's not a microwave in the place. But as long as people are talking about us and the name's memorable, that's all that matters.
"I love wings. I regularly go on 120-mile round trips to Edinburgh to get wings. Nowhere else does them the way that I like. So that was a huge part of the appeal.
"I go on about pizza so much that my pals just said to me, 'can you just stop going on about pizza?'"
With the hospitality industry in a fragile place because of the cost of living crisis, the risks involved with opening a restaurant have never been greater.
Mario said: "The cost of living has been a massive consideration. Even when we had this idea six months ago, it wasn't as big an issue but it was starting to creep in.
"It's changed the way we're perceiving how to start the business - who we can employ, how often we can employ them. We now have to get a very fine balancing act together with how we move forward.
"We've done that by making the menu fairly concise. The majority of the menu starts from a single base item - we have 12 pizzas but they obviously all start the same way with the dough and that's the same for the chicken wings too."
The eaterie will have gluten free alternatives and a number of vegan items on the menu too.
Pings opens this Friday from 4pm to 8pm and will be open on Saturday 12pm to 8pm and Sunday 12pm to 7pm.
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