Siler Chapman , owner of King of Fire Pizza in Charlotte, NC, was already a world champion long before he went to Naples this year. Nevertheless, he earned the title back when he was a 20-something kid obsessed with acrobatic dough tossing and showmanship as part of the US Pizza Champions Team. Now, twenty-two years later, he's a serious business operator and a mentor to a new generation of up and comers, and he wants to be known for his pizzas and not just his acrobatic skills. Hear all about h...
Sep 01, 2024•36 min•Ep. 1
Welcome back to Pizza Quest with Peter Reinhart. We wrap up our summer season of Golden Oldies with a special replay of our panel session at the Atlantic City Pizza and Pasta Expo Northeast, recorded October, 2022. The episode is entitled “Tinkering With Your Dough .” Peter and guest panelist and pizza master John Gutekanst of Avalanche Pizza in Athens, OH, field questions from an audience of over 100 professional and amateur pizza makers from across the nation. We expect you will find some ques...
Aug 25, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 22
Back in September we aired this show with guest Scott Deley . Here's what we said back then: There is no question that Ooni Ovens have taken the world by storm, even eclipsing their worthy competitor RoccBox, which had a nice head start. How have they done it? Fortunately, Scott Deley, who just published a book called The Ooni Pizza Project , joins the show to tell us all about it. The book is loaded with inspiring recipes created by Scott (but inspired by his many pizza heroes), who has been on...
Aug 18, 2024•1 hr•Ep. 21
Peter’s guests this week are Noel Brohner of Slow Rise Pizza , who has appeared on the show in the past, along with his colleague, molecular biologist James Gaffney . They have been working, along with a few other microbe geniuses, to create a powdered wild yeast sourdough starter that can be used just like instant yeast to make sourdough breads and pizza doughs without the need of keeping a starter in your fridge. How did they do it, when will it be available, and what are the implications of t...
Aug 11, 2024•35 min•Ep. 20
In our never-ending celebration of artisanship wherever we find it, this week’s episode turns our lens onto one of the truly great American crafts, distilled whiskey, most notably, bourbon. On the show to explain it all is Peter’s long-time friend, culinary educator, and award-winning author Albert Schmid , whose newest book, Bourbon 101 , was just recently released by The University Press of Kentucky. In this episode, Albert takes us through a tasting of four distinct versions of corn mash whis...
Aug 04, 2024•59 min•Ep. 19
In this episode, Steven Raichlen shares with us his long journey from Reed College, to writing for an underground newspaper in Boston, to landing in south Florida where he has since authored 32 books and won numerous James Beard Awards — all driven by his global quest in search of every known iteration of cooking with fire. His books have sold millions of copies and his public broadcasting cooking shows have inspired us all and opened a world of international flavor possibilities. I often refer ...
Jul 28, 2024•56 min•Ep. 18
This week we celebrate the one-year anniversary of our conversation with the renowned expert on everything grilled, smoked, and cooked with or over fire, Meathead Goldwyn . Grilling season is still in full swing, so these evergreen tips and tricks from the master will serve as either new or refreshed information. Meathead: The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling , is his award winning and best-selling book, and he loves sharing his extensive knowledge with all of us, as you will learn during ...
Jul 21, 2024•53 min•Ep. 17
As we review and repost some of the most popular shows of the past year, the bagel theme is still the hot nationwide trend. In this episode, our beloved pizza Yodi's, John Arena and Brian Spangler , return to explore their latest obsession. They are joined by the "Bagel Whisperer," (or maybe, better, "The Gandalf of Bagels"), Philip Korshak , who was recently on the show to discuss the closing of his legendary Philadelphia shop, Korshak Bagels. Together, these pizza and bagel wizards geek out to...
Jul 14, 2024•58 min•Ep. 16
Previous Pizza Quest guest Chef Wylie Dufresne recently had an extensive cameo in the momentous season ending episode of "The Bear" on Hulu. The episode features appearances from many of the chefs (both real and imaginary) that inspired the restaurant in the show, so it seems timely to look back on our conversation with Wylie from the Fall of 2023. In the episode, he described his move into the pizza sector with his new restaurant called Stretch Pizza . Let's see if we can find any "Easter Eggs"...
Jul 08, 2024•47 min•Ep. 15
Korshak Bagels , nestled in the heart of Philadelphia’s historic Italian Market neighborhood, was like the mouse that roared. Producing only 1,000 hand-shaped sourdough bagels a day, Philip Korshak ‘s love-child of a bagelry garnered national press during its brief two-year run, and elicited deep mourning and lines two blocks long during its final week, even when folks were warned they could buy only two bagels per person. Was it Phil's viral Instagram poetry posts ( @korshak.bagels.poetry) , or...
Jun 30, 2024•41 min•Ep. 14
We are joined this week by Charles Wekselbaum , owner and head salumeriest for Charlito's Cocina , makers of fine charcuterie. Is it salumi or salami? We'll find out, as Charles guides Peter through a tasting of three of his most popular Spanish-influenced products, and explains how he transforms fresh meat products into cured and fermented dried meats in which his goal is to evoke the full potential of flavor trapped in the meat through application of his charcuterie craft. Together, Peter and ...
Jun 23, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 13
This week's guest is a long time friend of mine (we go back to 7th grade together, circa 1963), Tim Lorsch , Nashville musician/sideman, who has created a one-man performance piece called " The Suitcase ." The show was inspired when Tim unexpectedly received an old suitcase that had formerly belonged to his great uncle before being sent to Auschwitz, where he was killed by the Nazis. The suitcase triggered a flood of family memories and emotions, so Tim packaged it all into a one hour performanc...
Jun 16, 2024•53 min•Ep. 12
Peter's brother Harry was with Peter the day they discovered Pizzeria Beddia about eight years ago. They watched together as Joe Beddia rocketed to superstardom in the pizza world (not because of us, but our timing was pretty good). So, when Harry called Peter a few weeks ago, excited to have found "the next Pizzeria Beddia," he was taken very seriously. Harry then introduced Peter to Dave Ravanesi , the founder and solo pizzaiolo of Ravanesi Pizza Napoletana in Glen Mill, PA, just outside of Ph...
Jun 09, 2024•59 min•Ep. 11
Welcome back to Pizza Quest with Peter Reinhart. Our guest this week is Domenico Tolomeo , World Pizza Champions team member, owner of Taglio Pizza in Minneola, NY, and corporate chef for Orlando Foods (importers of Caputo Flour and many other made-in-Italy food products). Domenico, affectionately known in the industry as Mimmo, shares with us his journey from paying his dues during his years as a deli meat guy who then fell in love with pizza, to being mentored by Roberto Caporuscio at Keste in...
Jun 02, 2024•28 min•Ep. 10
In this episode we welcome Paul Tiffany , director of product engineering at Lloyd Pans , to update us on the latest new pan pizza products and to explain the unique manufacturing process that allows Lloyd Pans to respond and customize pans so quickly for the pizza and other food service industries. He also shows us a very cool new product for making handheld Detroit-style pizzas, about the size of a hotdog or burrito, that holds great promise as a concert or ballpark product. I actually made a ...
May 26, 2024•50 min•Ep. 9
Welcome back to a new episode of Pizza Quest with Peter Reinhart. A recurrent theme in our shows during these past few months has been the emergence and growth of the Women in Pizza movement, and this week's guest is one of the key driving forces in all of this. Ironically, Anna Crucitt didn't start out as a pizzaiola, but as a gelato queen. At Mercurio's Creamery and Pizzeria , she and her brothers, Joe and Michael, are makers of both award winning artisan gelato and Neapolitan pizzas at their ...
May 21, 2024•23 min•Ep. 8
Our guest in this episode is long-time world pizza champion, Joe Carlucci . So, you might ask, how did a nice New York area kid end up running an iconic, destination pizzeria, Valentina's Pizzeria and Wine Bar , in Madison, Alabama? It's a long story, and one best told by Joe himself, including the many life lessons that allowed him to crash and burn (and rise from the ashes) many times. On his journey, he finally found the right work/life balance while dialing in on the formula that has establi...
May 12, 2024•59 min•Ep. 7
This week, Peter is joined by the legendary Antimo Caputo, along with his nephew and head of milling, Mauro Caputo. Caputo Flour has carved out a beloved place in the hearts of Neapolitan pizza lovers everywhere. But the company, under Antimo's leadership, produces a lot more than just their signature "Italian 00" pizza flour. In fact, a number of American-style pizzerias are now using new flour blends developed by Caputo specifically for their NY and Americano pizzas. Others also use Caputo's p...
May 05, 2024•30 min•Ep. 6
This week's episode features two of the founders and leaders of the Women in Pizza movement, Giorgia Caporuscio and Azie Mortati . What started out as a informal fellowship and way to acknowledge the growing role that women are playing in the pizza world, has grown into a dynamic education and philanthropic network that is helping to shape the future of pizza both in the United States and abroad. Hear all about it this week's episode of Pizza Quest! Click here for the video versions of Pizza Que...
Apr 28, 2024•34 min•Ep. 5
Peter's guests this week are Noel Brohner of Slow Rise Pizza , who has appeared on the show in the past, along with his colleague, molecular biologist James Gaffney . They have been working, along with a few other microbe geniuses, to create a powdered wild yeast sourdough starter that can be used just like instant yeast to make sourdough breads and pizza doughs without the need of keeping a starter in your fridge. How did they do it, when will it be available, and what are the implications of t...
Apr 21, 2024•35 min•Ep. 4
We often focus on independent pizza makers here on Pizza Quest. But, only 50% of the pizzas sold in this country are made by the thousands of independent operators; the other 50% are sold by the many pizza franchise chains, and most of those are from the top five brands. Marco's Pizza has recently climbed into that top tier (along with Domino's, Pizza Hut, Papa John, and Little Caesar's) , as it now boasts more than 1,000 locations, with over 100 more coming this year alone. Peter sits down with...
Apr 14, 2024•34 min•Ep. 3
Chef Michael Friedman grew up in a New York area Jewish American household (in Westfield, NJ, to be specific) and, like me, was nourished by lots of Chinese and Italian food. Also like me, he attended Boston University's School of Communications, so we share a kindred spirit connectivity. After paying his dues in fine dining restaurants around the world (including stints with Rich Melman's Lettuce Entertain You restaurant group, as well as with Chef Marc Vetri in Philadelphia, and also with Chef...
Apr 07, 2024•50 min•Ep. 2
Peter just spent a few days at the 2024 International Pizza Expo, where he sat down with the "Energizer Bunny of Pizza," and frequent guest, Scott Wiener , who seems to know everyone in the pizza mega-verse. Together, they cover everything from emerging trends (based on this year's pizza competition at the Expo, where Scott was a lead judge), the growing impact of Slice Out Hunger , the non-profit hunger relief program formed by Scott a number of years ago, the ever-popular pizza tours that firs...
Mar 31, 2024•39 min•Ep. 1
Our guest this week is Inja Radman , co-founder of New Culture Food , a company with a mission to provide the world with animal-free cheese, beginning with mozzarella, that actually tastes and performs like the milk-based originals. Even those with lactose or dairy sensitivities have a love-hate relationship with the current options of faux cheese, usually made with nut and seed milks. New Culture's breakthrough came by breaking the bio-chemical code of milk cheeses and to zero in on casein as t...
Mar 24, 2024•52 min•Ep. 50
This week's episode features Jillana Miller and Ahmad Butler who, together, are the dynamic team known as MillerButler , a sizzling-hot mobile pizza and catering company, based in San Pedro, California. Ahmad competed against Peter and 10 other finalists at the Real California Pizza Contest in Napa back in August, where they first became friends. That's when Peter learned how MillerButler took on the ultra-competitive Los Angeles marketplace, survived the pandemic, and were soon cooking for the ...
Mar 17, 2024•47 min•Ep. 49
Lloyd Pans has emerged as the leading supplier of pans for every style of pan pizza, and Paul Lackey is their Director of Operations. On this week's podcast, which was recorded at the Northeast Pizza and Pasta Expo in Atlantic City, Paul describes the manufacturing process that enables Lloyd Pans to respond to the ever-changing needs and trends in the pizza industry with durable but lightweight and affordable pans. As Peter notes, watching the sales charts of the various types and styles of pans...
Mar 10, 2024•18 min•Ep. 48
Sometimes it just takes moxie. Shannon Mangini is living proof of that. In just a few short years since graduating from U Penn's Wharton School with a degree in economics, entrepreneurship, and finance, Shannon has brought DiFara Pizza to the North Fork of Long Island. In addition, she has been serving as Senior Director of Brands and Partnerships for the OTG Management Group , which owns and operates food concessions in airports around the country. We discuss all of this, happened so quickly, a...
Mar 03, 2024•55 min•Ep. 47
Who would have thought that Glenmont, NY, near Albany, would be home to one of the reigning international pizza champions, but that's where Anthony Berghela , of Romo's Pizza , makes it happen. Hear all about how he honed his craft while working his way to the World Pizza Cup Championships in Naples, Italy, where he won first place last year in the American Pizza Division. This is not an overnight success story, but one of hard work, perseverance, and tenacious dedication to the craft. Anthony s...
Feb 25, 2024•39 min•Ep. 46
Anthony Mangieri is one of our favorite guests. Now that his NYC restaurant Una Pizza Napoletana was recently anointed by one poll as the "best pizzeria in the world," this is a timely return visit to the show. On this episode, Anthony tells us all about his new line of frozen pizzas under the name Genio Della Pizza , and how he managed to create and package a frozen wood-fired pizza, made in Italy, that he is now bringing it to selected outlets here in the States like Whole Foods Markets. A lot...
Feb 18, 2024•51 min•Ep. 45
Roman-style pizza is in a steady ascent across the country, due in no small part to the success of this week's guest, Rob Cervoni . Rob is a disciple of the acclaimed Massimiliano Saieva pizza tree, but is now forging his own glittering path. Many of you have seen him kick everyone's butt and become champion on Chopped in 2023, or saw him compete and showcase his work at various Pizza Expo's. Pizza Today named him a rising star in 2022, and now, it's all coming together for him at his Mineola (L...
Feb 11, 2024•34 min•Ep. 44
