Send us a text The Hot Slice was back on the pizza show floor interviewing pizzeria pros at Pizza and Pasta Northeast on October 1-2 at the Atlantic City Convention Center. This is Part II of a two-part series of short interviews. We get the pulse of the industry from the exhibit hall. In this episode, Jeremy and Denise chat with: Melissa Rickman, Wholly Stromboli, Fort Lupton, Colorado Othoniel Cruz, Tre Amici, Bayamon, Puerto Rico Pasquale DiDiana, Bacci Pizzeria, Chicago, Illinois Andrew Scud...
Oct 19, 2023•19 min•Ep. 175
Send us a text The Hot Slice was back on the pizza show floor interviewing pizzeria pros at Pizza and Pasta Northeast on October 1-2 at the Atlantic City Convention Center. This is Part I of a two-part series of short interviews. We get the pulse of the industry from the exhibit hall. In this episode, Jeremy and Denise chat with: Louise Joseph, owner of Dough Girls, Inc. in Greenwich, Connecticut Angie Bogacz, co-owner of Caliente Pizza in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Tyler Carlson & Mark Lacz, ...
Oct 12, 2023•18 min•Ep. 174
Send us a text This week on The Hot Slice, we sit down with Dan Collier. Dan Collier is co-owner and President of PizzaMan Dan’s, a regional chain in Southern California with 8 locations founded in 2012. Dan began his pizza career as a delivery driver in 1984. He served as President for a 20-store chain from 1987-2002 before becoming a Franchisee from 2002-2012. Dan has been a speaker and educator at Pizza Expo, sharing his successes and, more importantly, his failures with fellow pizza operator...
Oct 05, 2023•29 min•Ep. 173
Send us a text Our guest this week is Mya Anitai. She owns Franny’s Pizzeria & Restaurant, Highlands, New Jersey. She took over a longstanding pizzeria Francesco’s Italian Restaurant in May 2019 and rebranding the business into Franny’s in February 2020. Mya discussed the rebranding with us in a previous Conversation. She said, “Francesco’s had been in business for 40 years before I purchased the restaurant and took over. With great bones and a neighborhood of nostalgic support, I worked ste...
Sep 28, 2023•33 min•Ep. 172
Send us a text This week on The Hot Slice Podcast, we chat with Frank Zabski of New Haven, Connecticut. After a corporate career wore him thin, Frank got into the pizza business with a mobile unit he named "Fired Up Pizza Truck". With the catering business, Frank aimed to "bring the party to you, not just the pizza." The truck catered parties and events for 50-125 people and specialized in New Haven-style pizza. Show Notes: Don’t forget October is National Pizza Month. We have ideas and marketin...
Sep 21, 2023•37 min•Ep. 171
Send us a text Jeremy, Denise and Josh hop in this week’s podcast give all the skinny for the upcoming Pizza & Pasta Northeast at the Atlantic City Convention Center on October 1-2. Pizza & Pasta Northeast showcases top suppliers for pizzerias and Italian restaurants. The two-day show features a schedule of pizza and pasta demonstrations by top chefs, seminars and workshops given by industry leaders, and special presentations from featured keynote speakers. Presented by International Piz...
Sep 14, 2023•21 min•Ep. 170
Send us a text This week on The Hot Slice Podcast, we chat with Drew Butler, who perhaps has been destined to be in the pizza industry. Things aligned for Drew when he was making pizzas out of his house as fundraisers for youth sports. He had been looking for a building to start his business when friends shared that a beloved local market had an unused pizza oven. Instead of undertaking a costly buildout on a new facility, Drew opted to set up shop, Market Pizza by Drew Butler, at the Jackson Ma...
Sep 07, 2023•33 min•Ep. 169
Send us a text This week on The Hot Slice Podcast, we have our upcoming Pizza and Pasta Northeast Keynote Speaker Will Grant on the show. Will owns That's A Some Pizza in Bainbridge Island, Washington and Sourdough Willy’s in Kingston, Washington. One of four Master Pizzaiolo in the United States Will has been making pizzas for 39 years with his family pizzerias. He has opened 13 restaurants since 1984 and has won and placed in over 5 food competitions in the last 5 years. Currently Will teaches...
Aug 31, 2023•36 min•Ep. 168
Send us a text This week on The Hot Slice Podcast, Jeremy and Denise sit down with Melissa Rickman, owner of Wholly Stromboli in Fort Lupton, Colorado. Rickman, a seasoned pizza business maven, regularly contributes to the educational lineup at Pizza Expo and Pizza & Pasta Northeast. She has written articles for Pizza Today and has led a variety of seminars and food demos at the two aforementioned shows. Now, she’s prepping for her biggest stage yet — delivering a keynote address at PPNE 202...
Aug 24, 2023•39 min•Ep. 167
Send us a text This week on The Hot Slice Podcast, we are chatting with Gemma Cataldo, manager at Antonio’s Italian Restaurant in Elkhart, Indiana. We recently named Gemma a Rising Star in the Pizza Industry. She competed in her first International Pizza Challenge at Pizza Expo this year and took home first place in the Traditional Division. Her only other competition showing was in the Young Pizza Maker of the Year at Pizza & Pasta Northeast in Atlantic City last year. After also winning th...
Aug 17, 2023•33 min•Ep. 166
Send us a text This week on The Hot Slice Podcast our Editor-in-Chief, Jeremy White, reads some letters he's received recently from pizzeria operators regarding dessert sales in their shops. Desserts can often be challenging to move, but they can create great incremental revenue when a well-thought-out dessert program is put into place. In this installment, two operators chime in via e-mail with what's working for them. These letters came in as a response to a Commentary Jeremy wrote asking for ...
Aug 10, 2023•19 min•Ep. 165
Send us a text This week on The Hot Slice Podcast are 2023 Rising Stars in the Pizza Industry Alex White, Dani Garcia-White, Cameron White, Justin Ford, co-owners of Yukon Pizza in Downtown Las Vegas, Nevada. Read their Rising Stars Q&A at https://pizzatoday.com/topics/people-pizzerias/alex-white-dani-garcia-white-cameron-white-justin-ford-yukon-pizza-downtown-las-vegas-nv-rising-stars/. Yukon Pizza has grown from an outdoor oven at a commercial kitchen to a hot on the Las Vegas pizza scene ...
Aug 03, 2023•46 min•Ep. 164
Send us a text Thiago Vasconcelos and Alissa Gibson, owners of Pedroso’s Pizza in Austin, Texas, on The Hot Slice Podcast. Pedroso consists of a permanently placed trailer and a commissary kitchen. The couple opened Pedroso’s in the middle of the pandemic in a much smaller food trailer than their current trailer. Thiago spent a decade working as a pizza maker for Tony Gemignani in San Francisco. Thiago was recently named a Rising Star in the Pizza Industry by Pizza Today. Alissa spent her career...
Jul 27, 2023•35 min•Ep. 163
Send us a text This week on The Hot Slice Podcast, our guest is Anthony Petralia. We last caught up with Anthony over a year ago to talk ghost kitchens for a Pizza Today Magazine article Going Ghost: A Look at Ghost Kitchen Operations and Setup ( https://pizzatoday.com/topics/finance-growth/a-look-at-ghost-kitchen-operations-and-setup/ ). His dad Don reached out to us to share that Anthony has grown his ghost kitchen into a brick-and-mortar restaurant, Tralia, in Sarasota, Florida. Getting there...
Jul 20, 2023•40 min•Ep. 162
Send us a text Neel and Palak Vaidya, Troy’s Italian Kitchen on The Hot Slice Podcast On this week’s The Hot Slice Podcast, Executive Editor Denise Greer and Senior Creative Director Josh Keown chat with Neel and Palak Vaidya, co-owners of Troy’s Italian Kitchen in Arlington, Virginia. Neel was recently named a Rising Star of the Pizza Industry by Pizza Today. Neel and Palak’s journey to pizza was a unique one. They capitalized on the sale of an existing pizzeria. Though they kept the name, Troy...
Jul 13, 2023•40 min•Ep. 161
Send us a text This week, we have Steve Carcarey co-owner of Collegeville Italian Bakery Pizzeria Napoletana in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. Collegeville first opened as a bakery. Steve and his wife Patrizia took over the business from her parents. Since then, the couple has added on a dining room, full menu, catering and a thriving packaged goods business. According to its “About Us”, Patrizia says, “My family is from Nusco, Italy in la Campagnia (mountain region) south of Rome. In 1970, my pare...
Jul 06, 2023•30 min•Ep. 160
Send us a text This week, we hear the story of Futuro in Indianapolis, Indiana. Owners Luke Tobias’ and Sarah St. Aubin’s incomes halted during the COVID-19 Pandemic. With a newborn, the two looked for direction. With Luke restaurant experience and Sarah’s business and customer contact savvy, they started a popup pizzeria from their home. They specialized in multiple pizza styles and made up to 50 pies a day from a home oven through a preordering process. Fast forward nearly three years, they ha...
Jun 29, 2023•40 min•Ep. 159
Send us a text Pizza Today talk Letters to the Editor This week on The Hot Slice Podcast Editor In Chief Jeremy White and Executive Editor Denise Greer talk Letters to the Editor. We touch on some big industry topics, including Pizza Expo, education, entering the pizza industry, pizzeria valuation, our pizzeria operator survey and more. Here are some excerpts from a few of our Letters to the Editor: Drew Butler, Market Pizza by Drew Butler: For the last six months I have operated Market Pizza by...
Jun 22, 2023•34 min•Ep. 158
Send us a text On this week’s The Hot Slice Podcast, Executive Editor Denise Greer chats with Peter Falzo, owner of Vinnie’s Pan Pizza in Millburn, New Jersey. Peter created Vinnie’s to honor his uncle who owned a successful pizza restaurant for decades. Peter shares his story of transforming his Italian restaurant into a high-demand carryout pizzeria. He details how he created Vinnie’s Pan Pizza brand and vital tenants to allow it to thrive. Vinnie’s has received high marks local and nationally...
Jun 15, 2023•44 min•Ep. 157
Send us a text This week, we hear the pizza journey of Evan Eriksen, who owns Pie 95 Pizza in Jacksonville, Florida, an artisan style, neighborhood pizzeria. His path to owning a pizza shop wasn’t a direct route and took him to some far-off places. After culinary school Evan worked with leading chefs in New York City, San Francisco and Sydney, Australia. But it was a pizza trailer that sparked his passion for pizza. Listen to Evan’s episode now. Evan reached out to us on social wanting to share ...
Jun 08, 2023•37 min•Ep. 156
Send us a text This week on The Hot Slice Podcast, we are chatting with creative pizza genius John Gutekanst about his and our favorite subject, pizza dough. John is a past keynote speaker at Pizza and Pasta Northeast. He owns Avalanche Pizza and Slice House in Athens, Ohio, is a contributor with Pizza Today, Emcee at the International Pizza Challenge and frequent demo and seminar presenter. He is an award-winning pizzaiolo, baker, teacher, speaker and author and has been featured in Gastronomic...
Jun 01, 2023•39 min•Ep. 155
Send us a text Thomas Reinhard talks Wage Theft Lawsuits and Prevention, Importance of Estate Planning on The Hot Slice Podcast Lawsuits impacting restaurants have been all over the news. Two dispute issue that we are seeing that you should be aware of are wage theft and estate and will lawsuits. We’ve tapped Thomas Reinhard, practicing attorney and co-owner of Cascadia Pizza Company in Seattle, Washington, to chat about these types of critical restaurant lawsuits in the news. Wage theft lawsuit...
May 25, 2023•26 min•Ep. 154
Send us a text This week on the Hot Slice Podcast we talk mobile pizza business with Chris Hill, owner of A Slice of New Jersey in Byram, New Jersey. Before starting A Slice of New Jersey, Chris was a physical education/health teacher. After being laid off during the COVID-19 pandemic, Chris began his pizza odyssey with no background in the pizza or restaurant business. For 10 years though, he had always had a fascination with pizza, traveling the world to study pizza making. His pizza travels t...
May 18, 2023•36 min•Ep. 153
Send us a text On The Hot Slice podcast this week is veteran pizza maker/pizzeria owner Joe Carlucci. Joe owns Valentina’s Pizzeria & Wine Bar in Madison, Alabama. He followed up first-place win in the Traditional Division at last year’s International Pizza Expo with a Non-Traditional victory this year. He went on to win and be named Pizza Maker of the Year. This is the first time in challenge history that a competitor has won categories back-to-back and nabbed the Pizza Maker of the Year ti...
May 11, 2023•31 min•Ep. 152
Send us a text This week, we bring you the last of our Pizza Expo Sessions on The Hot Slice Podcast from the show floor at Pizza Expo. On the podcast, we have Bill and Cheryl Crawford and Ian Foster of Righteous Slice in Rexburg, Idaho; Robert Wagner, co-owner of Need Pizza in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and Jhonathan Naranjo, founder and CEO of JoJo’s NY Style Pizza in Hollywood, Florida. Be patient with the sound. It will be worth it to hear the enthusiasm and energy of pizzeria professionals at the s...
May 04, 2023•25 min•Ep. 151
Send us a text This week, we bring you more of Pizza Expo Sessions on The Hot Slice Podcast from the show floor at Pizza Expo. On the podcast, we have retired teachers/pizzeria owners Suzanne Francis, Ruth Matheny and Katie Agor of The Grove Wood Fired Pizza in Granbury, TX. We also have Phumzile Siboza who traveled from Johannesburg, South Africa representing the Debonairs Pizza chain. Be patient with the sound. It will be worth it to hear the enthusiasm and energy of pizzeria professionals at ...
Apr 27, 2023•14 min•Ep. 150
Send us a text This week, we bring you more of Pizza Expo Sessions on The Hot Slice Podcast from the show floor at Pizza Expo. On the podcast, we have Jason Dascoli of Rock City Pie Ice, Superior, Colorado, and Bill Bartz and Emily Knudsen with Pleasant Grove Pizza Farm in Waseca, Minnesota. Be patient with the sound. It will be worth it to hear the enthusiasm and energy of pizzeria professionals at the show giving us updates on their pizzerias, the pizza business and Pizza Expo. Tune in next we...
Apr 20, 2023•22 min•Ep. 149
Send us a text This week, we bring you more of The Hot Slice Podcast on the show floor at Pizza Expo. On the podcast, we have Jeremy Shirk of Conan’s Pizza in Austin, Texas; Stacey and Josh Kearney of Society Pie in Beaverton, Oregon; and Joseph Ledwidge of Ranger Joe’s Pizza in Kalispell, Montana. Be patient with the sound. It will be worth it to hear the enthusiasm and energy of pizzeria professionals at the show giving us updates on their pizzerias, the pizza business and Pizza Expo. Tune in ...
Apr 13, 2023•13 min•Ep. 148
Send us a text This year, we took The Hot Slice Podcast to the show floor at Pizza Expo. Be patient with the sound. It will be worth it to hear the enthusiasm and energy of pizzeria professionals at the show giving us updates on their pizzerias, the pizza business and Pizza Expo. First up, we have Andrew and Ruel Gregory of Post Alley Pizza in Seattle, Washington, followed by Alex Funke, a franchisee of Chad's Pizza in Cedar Falls Iowa. We end the podcast with Amanda and Patrick Elston of Gus Fr...
Apr 06, 2023•18 min•Ep. 147
Send us a text Happy Pizza Expo Week! While we are gathered in Las Vegas, we are sharing a favorite episode with Sarah Minnick, chef/owner of Lovely’s Fifty Fifty in Portland, Oregon. Her approach to pizza, a farm-to-table menu and mastery of unconventional ingredients has earned her coveted culinary esteem and an entire episode of the Netflix’s hit Chef’s Table. Listen as she shares an operational shift, details of her sourdough and her ingredient philosophy....
Mar 30, 2023•36 min•Ep. 146
