BY ADAM HEATER
Chef D’s Rock Power Pizza sets the standard for treating customers like family.
After you’re seated, Chef D will come out of the kitchen and personally introduce himself, and if you don’t mind, he’ll tell you his story.
Chef D tells you about how he once was homeless, on the streets of Detroit and walked into a Greek restaurant.
Chef D asked for a job with no resume, no qualifications and no prior experience and only carrying a willingness to work.
Chef D speaks of how thankful he is to that one man for believing in him and giving him a chance.
Now Chef D’s goal is to help those people, in the format of making some killer pizza.
The family-run joint makes all their own sauce and dough from scratch, and makes some of the best pizza in Des Moines. But you don’t just come to Chef D’s Rock Power Pizza for the good eats, you come to support something bigger than yourself.
The restaurant staff doesn’t take tips, they’ll take what would be tip money and put in the donation jar for when the restaurant closes on Monday nights.
Every Monday night Chef D organizes “Meals to Heal,” where Chef D makes and gives away a home cooked meal to anyone who needs it, while giving them a warm, clean place to eat it.
But Chef D’s charity isn’t limited to Monday nights: every day of the week, people in need can come and ask for basic necessities which are donated from the community, which can include soap and canned food items.
On your way out of the restaurant, Chef D comes back out of the kitchen and hands every lady a bouquet of flowers, because “every girl deserves to be given flowers.”
And he’ll ask to take a quick picture with you, which he puts on their Facebook page, and he thanks you for coming to visit, hoping that you visit again in the future.
Chef D is all about giving back and cultivating a sense of hope and inclusiveness in the community in the form of some of the best pizza in the city.
