New Orleans pizzeria owner wants to launch chain from Crescent Club

The restaurateur behind the Uptown college hangout The Dough Bowl and Crescent Pie & Sausage Co. and Huevos in Mid-City plans to open a new pizza joint in the area, this time with franchise aspirations.

Pizzicare is currently completing its build out and hiring employees. The restaurant will be the newest tenant in The Domain Cos. retail development on Tulane Avenue. The $5 million, 15,000- square-foot development sits across the street from the developer's Crescent Club apartments. Other tenants include Subway, a wine bar and a nail salon.Baron also looks to team up with the Capital One Bank, which has branch in the Crescent Club development, and the Tulane University Freeman School of Business to offer business development resources for aspiring franchise owners."I think that's there's room in our city for that," Baron said."I'm going to be bringing in people that not only want to make pizza but also have their own place," Baron said.Instead of offering highly-prepped pizzas, Baron said Pizzicare - the Italian word for pinch or pluck, referring to the pinching of pizza dough - will be a nod to the New York pizzeria, with handmade dough and sauce draped with cheese and disc-sized slices of Boar's Head Brand pepperoni.Baron said the first Pizzicare restaurant will also be a stepping stone for franchise locations throughout the city.Jeff Baron will open Pizzicare next month in The Shops at Crescent Club development at 3001 Tulane Ave. The 1,500-square-foot restaurant will combine the epicurean approach to pizza making taken at his other restaurants but with a quick-service and delivery twist.

"I think that's there's room in our city for that," Baron said.