Out of a combination of respect and keen business sense (his landlord is Greek), Tony kept the name. When it opened, Zante served good ol' New York pizza-by-the slice, like Gloria, but Tony soon found himself experimenting. "I started making pizza for the staff, doing different things," he says. "They don't make the dough like I do. They don't know. That's my secret," His tone turns conspiratorial: "You can put anything you want on a pizza."

The four pizzas on offer at Zante can usually be had by the slice, but the monster order volumes tech companies are ordering in moneyed San Francisco makes reserving a whole pie a more practical choice. "Best Indian Veggie Pizza" and "Best Indian Meat Pizza," both longtime local favorites, sit aside chicken and paneer tikka masala versions, which showed up on the menu sometime in the late 90s. Tiny chops of bright red tandoori chicken, green spring onions, eggplant, and cilantro lie with other Indian staples on a spinach curry sauce base, looking roughly like some benevolent toddler exploded a confetti cannon onto an oven-fresh Famous Ray's 18". Simple tamarind and mint sauces arrive with every pizza in tiny metal ramekins if you're wise enough to take a seat at the counter.