Pizza Talk With Me: Recent Episodes
Dan Tallarico & Christa Cardone
Dan and Christa bring you the greasiest pizza news and thoughts as we chomp our way through the Pittsburgh pizza landscape. Look forward to pizza news and a new pizza shop featured each week.
I was recently interviewed for City Cast Pittsburgh ahead of National Pizza Day. Check out the interview below. Stay up to date on my pizza adventures by signing up for the weekly newsletter that is updated way more frequently than the website. Sign up here and pizza ya later!
I talk to Dan of Mun's Pizza. He recently quit his job and is going all in on his pizza (and a few other things). He has ambitious plans to carefully cultivate and grow a pizza business. This is your chance to get in on the ground floor of the hype train.
Our discussion is far reaching. We talking about his career that lead him to this point, how he spent time working at Badamo's and Driftwood Oven, what is Pittsburgh pizza and some exciting new plans on the horizon. Super hyped to have him on here.
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Hi there! Back in the feeds. Driftwood Oven is a pizza shop I've been covering since the inception of this website. When they burst onto the scene I knew that my site was perfect for covering the development of Driftwood Oven. It's been eight years, a lot has happened in the mean time. Driftwood Oven hardly shifts anymore, they now have a shop. They deliver. They do a lot of fun events and pastries. Listen to Neil dissect his business and how he got to where they are today.
Long time no pizza! Hard to believe we took a bit of a pizza hiatus. Funnily enough I was at the doctor today and they told me I need to “take a break from tomato sauce”! This means nothing but white pizzas for next week’s episode.
In the month or so we’ve been gone, too much has happened. We recap the wonderful winners of Pizza Expo. Winners include Eric Von Hansen who can’t seem to stop making award winning pizzas. Additionally, Pete Tolman from Iron Born placed second to Eric with his forager pie.
Pizzas We Ate
We go through our inventory of pizza and we ate a variety of slices between recordings. The biggest surprise for me was a box of frozen pizzas that arrived on our doorstep. Made in Italy, then put to sleep until they’re ready to be eaten, Pizza Talia is a clever and novel pizza invention. It’s a remarkable product that replicates authentic Neapolitan pizza. Check out Pizza Talia.
We eat Spak fairly often, but hardly dip into their specialty pizzas. We are big Buffalo Chicken Pizza fans so we gobbled up Spak’s take on the legendary style of pizza. It’s quite good!
During a recent trip to NYC, we got pizza from the “under rated” pizzeria F&F pizza. This is a newish shop in Brooklyn and is some of the juiciest pizza I’ve ever had! I’d compare it to a Pizzeria Davide. Very delicious, worth the trip.
Well, the fates have conspired once again to deliver a majestic pizza miracle to our humble doorstep. That’s right, a few days ago I received a text to “check my doorstep” where there was a suspicious package sitting. I figured we were beyond the days of “see something, say something” so I scooped up the package and unraveled it with excitement. My prize? Two day old slices of Altoona Hotel Pizza, straight from Altoona.
Christa and I couldn’t wait to dig in. We recorded a live episode of the podcast so our reactions are fresh out of the oven. Join us on our journey as we dissect Altoona Hotel Pizza, admire its character and sturdiness.
As you can see from the picture above, the pizza is a Sicilian style slice. There’s a thin layer of sauce, a green pepper and then it’s covered with a few slices of impenetrable American cheese. The cheese forms a protective layer around the pizza, like a tarp covering a classic car from the elements in a suburban driveway.
Our Order
24 hour old slice of Altoona Hotel Pizza
Altoona Hotel Pizza News
Altoona Hotel Pizza via PGH City Paper - Ryan Deto does a deep dive on the origin of Altoona Hotel Pizza, including its origin of creation dating back to 2013.
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Our Order
Pizzeria Davide Old World Style Pizza
The Lebanon Sweet Bologna & Hot Pepper Relish Pizza
The house salad
A secret meatball dish!
Pizza News
The Best Pizza City in America is Portland, Oregon - We can’t go one episode without discussing a list anointing a new city the pizza capitol of the world. This week we discuss how Nathan Myhrvold and Francisco Migoya ate their away through a handful of cities to decide the best pizza city. They of course missed out on Pittsburgh, but that’s okay, because I already documented the next generation of Pittsburgh Pizza in my Guidebook.
East End Brewing Opens Up Permanent In-House Pizzeria, East End Chewing - East End Brewing has been a staple in the Pittsburgh beverage scene since I can remember. They are always celebrating every aspect of the city in unique ways. Ways that don’t seem pandering, they love the city with such earnestness. They’ve been experimenting with serving pizzas throughout the pandemic and have decided to make the move permanent. Much like their series of beers for each Pittsburgh neighborhood, it sounds like each week they’ll have a new pizza for a specific Pittsburgh neighborhood. Excited to drink the Bloomfield Pizza with an Italian Pilsner!
Chuck E Cheese Frozen Pizza Arrives in Krogers Across the Country - Take the rate’s pizza home with you! It even has tickets in it!
Questions We Answer
What is the best cold one to have with a pizza?
Can dogs eat pizza?
What is the opposite of pizza?
When are we doing a Sir Pizza episode?
and more!
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In this episode we declare Pizzeria Davide the official pizza of the Dogs Day of Summer. This is an elusive prize for pizzerias because eating a hot slice of pizza on a sweltering day may be overwhelming. But because Pizzeria Davide uses such fresh, delicious, ingredients their pizza is instantly refreshing. I could blend this up and drink it like a pizza smoothie!
Our Order
Pizzeria Davide Old World Style Pizza
The Lebanon Sweet Bologna & Hot Pepper Relish Pizza
The house salad
A secret meatball dish!
Pizza News
The Best Pizza City in America is Portland, Oregon - We can’t go one episode without discussing a list anointing a new city the pizza capitol of the world. This week we discuss how Nathan Myhrvold and Francisco Migoya ate their away through a handful of cities to decide the best pizza city. They of course missed out on Pittsburgh, but that’s okay, because I already documented the next generation of Pittsburgh Pizza in my Guidebook.
East End Brewing Opens Up Permanent In-House Pizzeria, East End Chewing - East End Brewing has been a staple in the Pittsburgh beverage scene since I can remember. They are always celebrating every aspect of the city in unique ways. Ways that don’t seem pandering, they love the city with such earnestness. They’ve been experimenting with serving pizzas throughout the pandemic and have decided to make the move permanent. Much like their series of beers for each Pittsburgh neighborhood, it sounds like each week they’ll have a new pizza for a specific Pittsburgh neighborhood. Excited to drink the Bloomfield Pizza with an Italian Pilsner!
Chuck E Cheese Frozen Pizza Arrives in Krogers Across the Country - Take the rate’s pizza home with you! It even has tickets in it!
Questions We Answer
What is the best cold one to have with a pizza?
Can dogs eat pizza?
What is the opposite of pizza?
When are we doing a Sir Pizza episode?
and more!
Join the Pizza Walk With Me Discord to talk about all things pizza with your new pizza besties!
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Christa and Dan devour all that Brooklyn has to offer via Caliente Pizza & Drafthouse in Bloomfield. We even get insight from a real live Brooklander.
Join the Pizza Walk With Me Discord to talk about all things pizza with your new pizza besties!
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Well it certainly was a hiatus, but we are back to bring you some greasy, gooey, ooey takes on Spak Brothers pizza. Spak Brothers is one of our classic go-to shops. With a wide selection of toppings, hoagies galore and salads that will bust your gut wide open.
A couple of items we talk about:
- Driftwood Oven is closing for a month for some supreme renovations. We talk about what some of those renovations are and how excited we are for this upgrade.
- Rockaway Pizzeria has created a Buffalo Chicken pizza, sans ranch. Is it really Buffalo Chicken pizza?
- The international pizza expo is adding an Italian Sandwich category to their championship competition. What hoagie would you submit?
- What is up with Altoona Hotel Pizza??
- Spirit and the Vandal turned six years old! HBD to them, true staples of Lawrenceville.
Join the Pizza Walk With Me Discord to talk about all things pizza with your new pizza besties!
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Welcome back to another great episode of Pizza Talk With Me! It’s been a while since we recorded so there was a huge back log of news and updates to provide. We talk about:
How Pittsburgh is secretly a world-class pizza incubator.
This extensive Food and Wine article that covers the best pizza in every state.
There is a mini review of Black Lotus Pizza in Lawrenceville.
The star of the show is Wood Fired, a new pizza shop in the old Pizza Taglio location run by the folks behind Lorelei.
In this episode of Pizza Talk with Me, Christa and I devour Paul Newman’s best pizza he has to offer. We devour the White Pizza and the Supreme Pizza from the lineup of Newman’s owns pizzas. Anyone in America is familiar with these wonderful products. Paul Newman’s face graces the cover of all these items with a hearty smile like a promise that you are going to love whatever you put into your body. Plus, all the proceeds go to charity. How is that even possible!
We dig into the creamy white pizza with spinach, ricotta and other delicious items as well as the classic frozen pizza style, Supreme. Tune in to hear our reviews and all sorts of fun Paul Newman trivia and anecdotes.
We also crunch on some buffalo chicken salad with our munch.
We also answer a ton of grease bag questions. Including:
- Is it gross?
- Is 50 eggs on top of a pizza a good topping for pizza?
- Robert Redford or Paul Newman?
- Can I have it?
- Do you ever jazz up your store bought pizzas with your own ingredients?
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After a week hiatus, we are BACK to go deep on Driftwood Oven. If you’ve been following Pizza Walk With Me, you’ll know that we’ve been covering Driftwood Oven since their inception as a mobile pizza unit. They would travel from brewery to brewery and Christa and I would trace their path willing to brave the wait to get a bite of their Archer.
Now Driftwood Oven has a brick and mortar spot on Butler St which has allowed them to expand their offerings, experiment with the majestic power of sourdough and churn out an assortment of quality pies, salad, desserts, baked goods and more. They are constantly improving and evolving, so I’m excited to see what they accomplish in the next few years.
Our Driftwood Oven Order:
Buffalo Chicken Pizza
Red Top Omni Slice with Pickled Peppers
Blanca Omni Slice
Kale Caesar Salad with Anchovy
Other Discussions and Pizza News:
Connecticut lawmakers propose making pizza the official state food.
Kevin Konn is experimenting with personal round Roman pies.
Spirit Pizza Update: Their round pies are about to get better.
Can anyone get through this paywall about frozen pizzas in the Wall Street Journal?
On this week of Pizza Talk With Me, Christa and Dan take a trip down memory lane and revisit a pizza place that was a keystone in their lives. Monte Cello’s, previously on McKnight road and now on Babcock Boulevard, has played host to after-football game hangs, family outings and after church meals. Their pizza buffet is state of the art, offering up a variety of pizzas to satisfy any pizza craving.
In this visit, Christa and Dan devour a plain pizza, dip into their Sicilian and grab a small buffalo chicken to round out the pizza trio. A Monte Cello’s meal isn’t complete without zucchini planks and, yes, there is some crunch with our munch via a house salad!
Other Items:
We talk about the winning pizza from the Pizza Expo 365, the virtual version of the legendary Pizza Expo. The overall winner was The Sweet Canuck, a pizza by Joe Leroux from Amadio’s Pizza in Ontario. Recipe here.
The people’s choice was a meaty Charcuterie Pizza by Paul Basset from Montebella’s in New York. Make it at home with this recipe.
We also talk about the beta run of Pizza Date With Me, new ranch / hot sauce hybrid, and more!
Growing up DiGiorno was the premier frozen pizza. It broke new ground in the freezer aisle and transformed the frozen pizza landscape. While it couldn’t compete with the local shop, it was a solid substitute in a pinch. Years later the pizza industry has never been more competitive and DiGiorno has evolved to meet the needs of their constituency by creating a product that goes beyond the traditional pizza: Croissant Crust Pizza.
In this episode of the podcast Christa and Dan devour a three meat croissant crust pizza from DiGorno, a standa
Well we had to get to Spirit eventually and why not celebrate our fifth episode in style? In this episode we gobble down the infamous Butt Patrol pizza from Spirit as well as a sheet of their fabulous grandma pie. Crunch Meets Munch as Christa waxes poetic about their simple, yet sufficient, Caesar Salad. We also discuss a variety of other incredible pieces of pizza news and topics.
Only 21 more weeks until our live show at Spirit!
We also talk a lot about Frasier and this video of Kelsey Grammer at the Just for Laughs festival.
Pizza News:
NY Times article about pizza shops adapting to the pandemic.
Lorelei in East Liberty has opened a pizza shop called Wood Fired! They are doing pop-up type stuff, so stay tuned. They are cooking out of the old Pizza Taglio place.
Pessario’s on Butler St had a fire issue! They hope to have renovations staring soon.
Questions from The Grease Bag
What do we think of rainbow pizza?
Should we put French fries on pizza like Primanti Sandwiches?
Stuffed crust pizza, yay or nay?
In this Grand Opening SLICE episode, Christa and I delve into the world of Cappello’s frozen pizza. These pizzas aren’t your traditional gluten based pizzas, no way, these are almond flour crust. If you’re looking for an alternative crust pizza tune into today’s episodes for our thoughts! Plus we talk about a bunch of other things. Like:
Driftwood Oven is hiring! We talk about why their compensation package is exciting for workers and the community.
The grinch!
Christa goes deep on a kale Caesar salad in the Crunch with My Munch Corner.
Pizza questions we answer:
What’s the deal with pineapple on pizza anyways?
What’s up?
What are some healthy items you’ve seen at pizza places?
And more!
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Hi there! In the third episode of Pizza Talk With Me, Dan and Christa take their time diving into the newest entrant to the Lawrenceville Pizza Family: Pizza Lupo. Listen to them dissect the variety of pizza and ponder the origin story of their name.
Other pizza items covered:
Spirit has a new menu item - The VIPER “Rollie”
Xavier University’s Pizza ATM is on the fritz and it’s bumming everyone out. This was one of the first pizza ATMs!
Detroit Style pizza is sweeping the nation and we miss Michigan & Trumbull
Pizza questions we answer:
What are our deep thoughts on red pizza vs white pizza?
What do you do if your broiler handle breaks?
Are there any toppings that are an absolute no go?
What’s your favorite alternative crust pizza?
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Join Christa and Dan for a SLICE episode where they open up the grease bag to answer your burning questions and chomp their way through a frozen pizza from Eat Pizza. Here’s some of the topics covered in this episode of Pizza Talk With Me.
New hours at Spak Bros. Pizza.
Correction - in last episode we thought that caciocavallo was a type of meat. It is in fact a type of cheese. Photo below.
Some of the questions answered:
How do you reheat a slice of pizza?
Do you prefer having your cheese on top of your sauce or vice versa?
Where is the best NY Slice in the city of Pittsburgh?
And more!
Pizza Taglio nestled itself into East Liberty at the pinnacle of change. The Shadow Lounge had departed, Conflict Kitchen moved to Schenley Plaza, and a row of shops remained empty. It would eventually become home to a variety of restaurants and bars that would cater to the high rise apartments and tech employees in the area. Pizza Taglio was one of the first tenants and Tony Giaramita, the owner, made his mark on East Liberty. It was an absolute bummer when Tony announced they’d be closing on August 1, 2020.
I’ve had so many great memories at Pizza Taglio that it’s hard to sum up how much this restaurant meant to me. It was everything I wanted in a pizzeria. A place you could become a regular without trying too hard. A spot to meet friends for an easy lunch or a very long dinner. A great area for celebrations and date nights. It was a pizza utopia that fit your every need.
Pizza Taglio brought personality and flavor to the rich Pittsburgh pizza tapestry that you couldn’t get anywhere else. The layout of the spot was basically an empty building with an oven. There was a counter separating you from the pizza making, but each seat felt like you were at the Chef’s table. That’s great when it’s nice and slow on a weekday and you would get the occasional banter from Tony.
Going to Pizza Taglio was like going to the pizza zoo. You would be exposed to foreign and exotic combinations of cheeses, meats and vegetables that you have only heard tales of. You could see the pizza being made, from start to finish, and then dine on your dish to finish off its lifecycle. It was an experience, something that was as entertaining as it was tasty.
How purposeful that setup was I’m not sure, but Tony is a wizard of creating a memorable experience that stays implanted on your palate. During Tony’s residence in East Liberty I can recall every time I was at that shop. Each pizza was memorable, delicious and I left thinking “that was the best experience of my life.”
By my calculation I have had that feeling that this was the “best experience of my life” nearly 20 times in my life. I have had the pleasure of going to Pizza Taglio 17 times during their 5 year span and I know that 90% of my visits included the Green Pointer. Going through the documentation it’s fascinating to see how the relationships in my life ebbed and flowed, Pizza Taglio was the backdrop to a number of key moments in my life. As a pizza journalist, I have carefully documented every pizza I’ve eaten at Pizza Taglio. This includes over 500 photos of pizza from Pizza Taglio alone. I’m surely spoiled to live in the digital era as my cup overfloweth with photos of pizza. This is to say, if you need a photo of a Green Pointer pizza I have about a hundred of that pie alone.
Let’s recap these visits as we plot the rise, and eventual departure, of Pizza Taglio, a shop many call the best pizza in Pittsburgh.
October 25, 2014 - Tony at Espresso a Mano Tony introduces me to his pizza collection at Espresso a Mano. Unreleased footage of Pre-Taglio pizza.
My introduction to Tony was prior to Pizza Taglio opening. To get started Tony was playing around with some dough recipes. He’d make thick Sicilian-esque pizza and sell it at Espresso a Mano in Lawrenceville. The pizza was thick, simple and delicious. Barely any cheese, the sauce and crust provided the flavor. The pizza sold out quickly on weekends.
I was blown away by the pizza and got in touch with Tony. As a fledgling pizza journalist, I knew I had to tell this guy’s story. I was experimenting with putting out more video work at the time so I decided I would record my meeting with Tony. I had no tri-pod so I held the my phone as steady as I could to get the footage.
One of the softest slices I’ve ever eaten.
Tony talked non-stop about pizza for nearly 45 minutes. He talked in depth about his history, the cheese, his pizza philosophy and the distinct regions of Italy he’s pulling flavors from. I believe I said one word which triggered him to spit out a waterfall of pizza knowledge.
The only reason we stopped was because my hand was cramping up. You try holding an iPhone 6 still for 45 minutes.
I never did do anything with that footage. Sometimes it shows up in my “remember this?” photo feed and of course I do. I remember how great and soft the pizza was. How foreign it was to Pittsburgh, like a bug or animal that had mistakenly migrated to this city. I was so excited for Tony to open his shop because this pizza was unlike anything I’ve had before.
April 16, 2015 - A Grand Opening
My first official visit to Pizza Taglio was a festival and celebration of everything pizza. They had opened a few weeks earlier, but I don’t recall the restaurant being packed of spilling over. It’s a small venue, tucked into East Liberty with enough space to fit about 12 tables of four.
Christa, my wife and partner in pizza who has accompanied to nearly every trip to Taglio, sat at a table where we could see all the pizza action. I caught Tony’s eye and that was the beginning of a wonderful pizza friendship.
That trip, which I wrote about here, was like going to the Disney World of pizza. I was treated to my first ever Green Pointer, a pizza that will go down in history as one of my favorites. Tony brought us out a special kind of Parmesan to taste. Yes, just huge blocks of Parmesan for fun. And to end the night we had a pizza carbonara - a cracked egg topped a freshly cooked white pizza and slowly sizzled its way to the outer crust.
This was my first encounter with the famous Greenpointer pizza. I’ll be referencing this pizza often (because it was a required purchase on every visit) so let me describe it here for those unfamiliar with this mystical pizza.
The Greenpointer is a Neapolitan pizza that mixes together sweet and spicy elements. Its name is a homage to Paulie Gee’s pizza in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. This is of course where Mike’s Hot Honey was invented, a key ingredient to this pizza. On the Greenpointer is mozzarella cheese, standard tomato sauce, but the pie is topped with spicy soppresatta and a drizzle of Mike’s Hot Honey. The hot honey is key here because it adds even parts of spice and sweetness. It mixes with the other ingredients to deliver a taste to your mouth that is the best of every flavor on the canvas. It is infinitely edible, gooey and delicious. There’s a wonderful feeling when you get a bite of the crust and the base and there’s a drizzle of honey on both parts - grab a piece of soppresata in a bite and you’re in heaven.
Finally, after stuffing some cannolis down my throat I stumbled out of the building about 5,000 calories heavier. This would become the norm for most Taglio visits.
May 13, 2015 - Tommy T Visits Taglio
Tommy T carefully cuts his pizza.
This was the trip where I introduced my dad to Pizza Taglio. Taglio would become a staple in our family dinner outings where we would all show up with a wine bottle per person, get a pizza per person and wonder why we all felt like garbage the following day. A true mystery.
During this visit we enjoyed a Green Pointer, a spicy red top pizza with only a minor dusting of Parmesan, and the carbonara pizza. Tony wanted to bust our guts wide open so he brought a Nutella filled calzone to our table complete the meal.
June 18, 2015 - One of Many Date Nights at TaglioChrista, my pizza partner, and I arrived at Pizza Taglio at 7pm this evening. Naturally we started with a Green Pointer, the proper warm up, which arrived at our table at 7:18pm. We also got a solid white pizza with mozzarella and arugula. Two pizza for two people. What more could we need.
At 7:56pm Tony brought out another Green Pointer. A pizza error? Or a calculation from Tony to earn our love? No one can say, but you bet we did our best to suck it down.
Unfortunately, 30 minutes later a white pizza with slices of potatoes showed up. We are delirious and plump. We politely shove a few slices in our mouth. We have been at this restaurant eating pizza for nearly two hours. Are we being punished? A sysiphus-type curse where we eat pizza until the end of time? Or are we in nirvana?
July 8, 2015 - Brother Visits TaglioMy brother was visiting Pittsburgh from Chicago and if you want to impress a Tallarico you take them to a pizza place. Making the pilgrimage to Taglio was a no brainer. It’s simply the place to be eating a pizza if you have a choice.
This trip, like many others, was an excercise in excess. We ate multiple pizzas, our table was littered with bottles of both wine and beer. And, according to my records, we were treated to a little aperitif to end our meal.
August 18, 2015 - Sister Visits TaglioMy sister was visiting Pittsburgh from Austin and, like I’ve said before, if you want to impress a Tallarico you take them to a pizza place. This meal was bookended by calzones. To start this adventure, we dipped our toes into a new menu item: a calzone stuffed with arugula, meat and mozzarella. It was of course delicious and the scissors it came with to cut in half was a fun novelty. A perfect way to kick off an evening of eating pizza.
Yes we ate multiple Green Pointers, and what looks like a pizza with meatballs on it. To end the evening we were treated to a dessert calzone. A monstrosity of bread covered in chocolate sauce and filled with Nutella and ricotta. The size of a sea bass, when you cut its belly open instead of guts you are treated to gooey, rich chocolate. Divine.
October 9, 2015 - A Pizzaiolo Visits TaglioChrista’s dad is a bit of a pizza guy himself. He has visited Italy a handful of times to take legit Pizzaiolo pizza courses. Of course, visiting Taglio would be at the top of his list.
This may have been his first outing to Taglio and there must’ve been something in that dough that piqued his interest. A few months later he would be helping Tony out by making pizza behind the counter and playing host. I know that if I could eat unlimited Green Pointers I’d happily wash dishes, throw logs in the oven or sweep excess flour off the floor.
November 7 - 2015 - Spicy Red Pizza & A ER Visits
This was almost my final pizza ever.
November 7th is a wild day for a lot of reasons. It’s the day before my dad’s birthday. It’s reportedly the day Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were gunned down. A day of infamy. And soon I’d have another reason to remember this day.
This was the a noon Pitt game versus their “rival” Notre Dame. They would fight the Irish at Heinz Field at noon and there was a frenzy in the air. Pitt was winning games and maybe they’d win big on the national stage. Heinz Field was packed with fans tailgating across across any available piece of cement. If a space could be occupied by a human drinking a can of beer, it was filled enthusiastically. Christa and I both have family members who went to Pitt (my sister and father and her uncle) so we were running deep with a crew on the North Shore early in the morning drinking beers and hoping to scalp affordable tickets.
I’m not sure my dad has ever purchased a ticket from someone sitting behind a glass window with a map of the stadium. Every Pitt game I’ve ever gone with him has included 30-45 minutes of going between scalpers and waiting until kickoff to get the best possible deal. Today would be no different.
Tommy T, Christa and I found some cheap tickets that would get us entry. Inside we would pal around the stadium, eat hamburgers, sing Hey Caroline and have an OK time watching Pitt get pummeled (I have never seen Pitt win a football game in person).
Our tickets were separate from our crew, so we decided we would split up and meet at Pizza Taglio after the game to keep the momentum going. All the stops were pulled out this day. If there would be repercussions our brains weren’t capable or assessing what they might be, nor did it care to spend the processing power thinking that far. We needed Pizza Taglio and a stellar evening, that was that.
Later that night everyone arrived at Pizza Taglio. Green Pointers crashed onto the table, corks were liberally ripped from the bottles we brought. We had work to do and that work was eating half a dozen pizzas from one of the finest pizza shops to grace Pittsburgh.
Decadent doesn’t begin to describe this evening. We ended with some dessert and espresso. I had been drinking for approximately eight hours straight. I was tired, my body run down and out of sorts. But what a victorious day that was.
Most people would go home and pass out for 12 hours. My body had other plans. Instead, I laid awake in bed feeling a sense of dread and anxiety creep out through my limbs. My heart beat loudly in my chest and sent vibrations up my neck to my temple. Nothing felt right. I took my pulse, held my breath and tried to tether myself to anything that felt normal, but there was nothing to hold onto and everything was spiraling. I was quite sure this trip to Taglio would be my last meal.
After four hours of thinking about how I could perish any minute, I decided that if I am to die I should do it in the comfort of a hospital. I thought about how to wake Christa up and tell her that I might not make it to morning and we should go to the hospital without startling her too much. It was 5am and I said I wasn’t feeling too well and maybe out of an abundance of caution, we should go to the hospital.
At the hospital was swept into a room, they hooked me up to an ECG machine and measured my heart. A doctor came back in about 15 minutes, asked me if I’ve done cocaine (I have not) and then asked me again if I was absolutely sure I didn’t do cocaine or any drugs that tonight. I told him no, the only drug I had was the Green Pointer pizza at Pizza Taglio which I am addicted to. The doctor sat down and said, “I don’t want to alarm you but it looks like you’re having a heart attack.”
This is incredible for a myriad of reasons. Mostly because I run marathons, I was 29 at the time and in great shape. But those machines wouldn’t lie, would they? They are trained to interpret the subtle and mysterious sounds and rhythms of our bodies and supply a proper diagnose in a way a human never could. But when a human is interpreting the machine’s data there’s the possibly of human error.
Anyways, they rushed me to the back, told Christa, “Now is a good time to call his parents” and checked out my arteries. The found out that my arteries are absolutely clear and there’s not a single hint of blockage. How strange!
I would eventually be told that GERD caused my chest pain and my heart was in perfect condition. My discomfort in my chest was a mix of anxiety and heart burn from all the spicy pizza and wine I devoured that day.
January 2 - 2016 - A Friend and His Daughter Visit TaglioOur friend Mark met us at Pizza Taglio with his daughter Evie. She must’ve been two at this time. An early dinner perfect for the friends with kids visit.
We of course ordered a Green Pointer and also a pizza very similar to a tomato pie. Mostly red sauce with specks of sprinkled cheese. Topping the sea of red were red onions and porchetta shrapnel.
I don’t know if this was Evie’s first encounter with pizza, but she would go on to become a fan of pizza and maybe it was Pizza Taglio that ignited that passion. If Pizza Taglio is your introduction to pizza, I pity you. Every other pizza you encounter has a nearly impossible bar to compete against.
February 23 - 2016 - Making Bagels at Taglio
It should be no surprise to anyone reading this that the bagel situation in Pittsburgh went from dire to adequate in a span of four years. Despite a restaurant boom exploding in Pittsburgh in the early-to-mid 2000’s, the city attracted multiple eateries that would be at home in the bustling NYC, but failed to inspire a baker to take on the mantle of Pittsburgh’s Bagel Savior. Since no one else was willing to do it the burden unfortunately fell to me. I started Bagel Friday, an amateur bagel cottage operation from my kitchen.
I won’t take absolute credit for the many small bagel operations that sprouted after Bagel Friday found a rapidly growing audience in this city. At one point I was considered one of the top five bagel makers in the city. It was unbelievably easy to manufacture hype for this kind of product and a seemingly unlimited amount of humans in this city that would fight their way through a hundred bad bagels to get a chance to buy one decent bagel.
Initially, when I started my bagel business I was running into bottlenecks at every turn. Production was a sloppy mess and my tiny Lawrenceville kitchen wasn’t equipped to handle the burgeoning frontier of bagels. My wife would find me sweating in the kitchen at 5am, dough overly proofed in the 100 degree kitchen and dripping off counters, paint peeling from the walls and me dripping wet, my head hung in defeat and misery. I’ve never been more broken than trying to prepare hundreds of bagels by myself for the Lawrenceville Saturday farmer’s market
I needed a real kitchen if I were to bring bagels to the people and Tony, for some reason, let me use his equipment. We mixed the dough in his mixer and then he let me roll out a hundred bagels on his counter tops. For some reason, he stayed with me as I boiled each bagel in the two small pots and baked them in his oven. The very ovens that birthed some of the greatest pizza Pittsburgh has ever seen. Now, they were bringing to life my bagels. Bagels that I would sell out of Pizza Taglio and sell out of almost immediately. That night a few lucky people walked away with six Bagel Friday bagels and a Greenpointer, and those people are living their life right.
March 10th 2016 - Happy Birthday at Pizza TaglioMy birthday is March 7th, I’m a pisceies and I guess I’m proud of that. I’m not not proud of that. Those fish are pretty neat symbols. March is typically when the Pizza Expo takes place. The Pizza Expo is the event for the pizza industry. The best pizza makers compete in pizza making competitions, vendors show off their newest products and a conference hall is filled with panels to help pizza makers in every facet. My father, Tommy T, got my press badge and was covering the expo on Pizza Walk With Me’s behalf. He broke some huge stories that year at the expo, including Caliente winning their first Pizza Championship. Now that’s some great pizza reporting. Get this man a pizza Pulitzer!
I was feeling left out. My dad was sending me photos of pizza buffets as long as football fields, photos of himself with pizza celebrities and expo halls full of pizza enthusiasts. To get my pizza fix, my wife and I went to Pizza Taglio.
We had a couple of Greenpointers and some wine. It was a delightful birthday dinner.
For my birthday that year my wife threw me a Bruce Springsteen themed birthday party where everyone came dressed as Bruce from the cover of Born in the USA.
April 16, 2016 - The Boys Pile Into Taglio
Adam glares at me as we enjoy pizza together.
Christa, my greatest pizza partner, and I were to be wed in May of 2016. For my bachelor party friends came in from all over to celebrate with me. We had a wonderful time of screaming myself hoarse at the Pirate’s Game, going to Primanti’s at 2am, crawling to a brunch the next morning and then doing an escape room.
It was trial by fire and we didn’t escape. But, for our failures we treated ourselves to a fine dinner at Pizza Taglio. The table was filled with pizza and whatever cans of beers we had available. Green Pointers were the crowd favorites, but of course we had a more exotic pizza carbonara. The pizza brought us renewed life. It was invigorating and a pleasant reminder of the power of pizza. Pizza can rejuvenate. It can rebuild.
And rebuild us it did. Each slightly hungover person was given a fifth wind and the power to make it Karaoke later that night where we stayed up way too late singing all the hits at Nico’s Recovery Room.
May 6, 2016 - Pre-Wedding Pizza at TaglioI would return to Pizza Taglio after my bachelor party with my fiancé, Christa. This was a week before our wedding where after 7 years of dating we would finally decide that yes, we would like to spend the rest of our lives together. The trial run was over and now the real fun was to begin.
Listen, eating all this good pizza is exhausting.
I’ve been writing about pizza for a very long time, and Christa has more than indulged my pizza journalism. She has gone on tremendous detours to find rare and revered pizza shops. She has filmed me eating whole slices of pizza, and has been an astonishing pizza partner to share slices with. It was only fitting that one of our last meals out prior to getting married was Pizza Taglio. A pizza so perfect and pristine it embodies the wedding spirit - each topping and ingredient is locked into a lifetime of deliciousness. They are bonded, never to stray.
I guess that sums up my marriage to Christa. We’re locked in this, I’m the cheese and she’s the sauce. We are basically the personification of the Greenpointer. Please don’t eat us!
November 10, 2016 - Anthropological Visit to TaglioOn this fateful day, Christa and I went to Pizza Taglio where I had her record me eating a whole slice of the Green Pointer. I was starting my series where I eat a whole slice of pizza on camera to document the slice process.
Pizza anthropologist and historians will thank me for the work one day in the future I’m sure.
Unique to this visit was a very sloppy / greasy pepperoni pizza from Taglio. I don’t know if this was a specialty menu item or Tony whipped this up for me as his Guinean pig, but this was a hybrid of the Neapolitan style pizza with the New York style. An intriguing combination that birthed a pizza with the signature leopard print and the not so signature pools of grease.
November 28, 2017 - Dinner with Tommy TEvery now and then Tommy T will want to meet for either a cocktail at the Brillobox or pizza. I am supremely bummed out that both Brillo and Taglio are no longer with us.
On this November meeting we decided to visit Pizza Taglio. Nothing too outrageous occurred here. We ordered the Green Pointer and a white pizza with mozzarella, sausage and onions.
November 29 - 2018 - A Return to TaglioA year hiatus? From Pizza Taglio? What happened in my life to cause such a lag in visits.
At this point in my relationship with Pizza Taglio I had fallen into a very familiar routine.
- Show up at 7pm with two bottles of wine.
- Order a Green Pointer, whatever specialty pizza might be on a menu and a white pizza.
- Devour the fluffy discs of pizza
- Banter with Tony
This evening was like no other. Familiar and satisfying.
December 24, 2018 - Brooklyn Pizza
Is that pizza bae??
The holidays are naturally chaotic as you string together days of intense family activities, packing in all the eating and drinking you can in the spirit of festivities. Typically, my brother and sister come in and we split our time between hanging with Tommy T, visiting my mom in some capacity and seeing Christa’s family for a a big Christmas Eve bash full of fish and all you can drink Prosecco that simply evaporates in the dry winter air.
This year was no different. My brother was in town and we packed the days with exhausting antics and adventures. So adventurous that there was a trip to the ER. After waiting in the hospital for a few hours, I was relieved of my duty by Tommy T and I was free to celebrate Christmas Eve and man the deep fryer in the basement churning out smelts.
The rare Brooklyn pizza from Taglio
On my way out of the hospital I took a quick detour to Pizza Taglio. Tony was spending his Christmas Eve going rogue and making the opposite of Neapolitan pizza - Brooklyn Style pies. I don’t know what inspired this, or why he chose this night of all nights to create a spinoff pie, but I’m glad he did. The holidays are stressful enough as it is. Family affairs, picking out the perfect gift, fretting about the smallest details. A pizza can dissolve that stress. It melts it away like the precious, slightly salty, mozzarella that dons the pizza.
Tony’s Brooklyn Style pizza was heavily charred, but did not taste of char. It was oddly decorative. The pizza was big, greasy and the perfect amount of sloppy. A departure from the typical manicured Neapolitan pizza he’s used to churning out day after day. Maybe for him this was a way of breaking some rules, trying something new and festively rebelling.
If I recall, I got that pizza, went home by myself, ate a few slices and wavered back and forth about bringing the pizza to the party. I decided against it. While the spirit of the season is giving, I didn’t want to complicate a set menu with a foreign pizza entry. To upstage the smelts is a cardinal sin of the seven fishes.
October 30, 2019 - A Pre-Baby Date NightAdjacent to Pizza Taglio has been a revolving door of restaurants / bars. On my final documented trip to Pizza Taglio, Lorelei had taken up residence. Lorelei is a stunning bar, serving up pilsners and an assortment of high quality beers, stunning cocktails and some of the best pretzels I’ve ever had the privilege of dipping into beer cheese.
On this fateful day, I was killing time while waiting for Christa to finish her haircut. We were going to get dinner afterward and her hair appointments have a habit of running slightly over, but on this day it didn’t matter. On this day I prayed her haircut never ended. Because this night at Lorelei was Kolsch night which means the chill, refreshing Kolsch was a special price and the bartenders would refill your glass without exchanging a single word. It’s the perfect system, a system perfected in Europe and, I hope, picking up steam here. There wasn’t a single second that I yearned for Kolsch and it wasn’t available.
This was during my Kickstarter campaign to get my pizza book printed. You can still grab a digital copy here if you’re interested, but pizza was on my mind. After loitering at Lorelei, Christa finished up her haircut and I paid my Kolsch bill and we went off to Pizza Taglio.
Christa was pregnant with our daughter, Charlie, at this time so I guess this was technically her first time eating Pizza Taglio.
Little did I know this would be the final time I would visit the interior of Pizza Taglio.
We settled into our seats at Pizza Taglio. We ordered the Green Pointer like we have done so many times before. It was habitual, a mild addiction. The cheese was globbier than usual, the soppresata provided the perfect amount of heat couple with the hot ones.
The Greenpointer is a perfect because because it always found a way into my life at the right time. It would mold itself to whatever I needed from it, always giving me the ideal pizza experience that I needed. Maybe that’s more of the Pizza Taglio magic. It was impossible to get a bad pizza there because every pizza felt like it was specially made for you. And I guess it was. Tony stood vigil at his oven, watching over his customers as they imbibed, laughed and ordered pizza.
Tony could see the orders coming in, who ordered it, and assess their mood. Knowing the great emotional weight food carries, Tony perfectly curated each and every pizza that came out of that oven, tailor fit for consumption by their new owner. At least that’s the tall tale version of Taglio I want to believe. A Pecos Bill legend of magnitude that will never be matched.
Did the quality change from the first to last pie at Pizza Taglio? I can’t imagine, maybe things were slightly different, but it was always spectacular. If I were to chart the pizza over time it would be an almost flat line graph. That might sound like an insult, but from start to finish Taglio was a premium pizza product. It was consistently perfect, astonishing, and inspiring. I don’t know how you improve on that formula.
In Summary
I didn’t know the right way to pay homage to Pizza Taglio, but this exercise seemed like something only I could provide. Plotting out all my visits to Pizza Taglio charts how my life was intertwined with Pizza Taglio. It was the head quarters for so many family trips, special occasions and celebratory moments.
Pizza Taglio was a keystone in my life. 17 visits over four years means I was at Pizza Taglio every fiscal quarter, gobbling up a couple of Green Pointers every two and a half months on average. Obviously, that year gap really killed my average, but impressive none the less.
Pizza is more than a Friday night food. It’s at the center of so many of life’s moments. Pizza Taglio was certainly that for me and I’ll miss it dearly. It was the perfect balance of quality and casual, worth the wait and a place you could bring your best friend or your arch enemy.
Hi there! In this episode of Pizza Talk With Me, we talk about Badamo’s Pizza, ponder the difference between their round and square pie and go deep on their salad.
Pizza News Items:
Rich Allison, Chief Executive at Domino’s, thinks pizza is the perfect food for the pandemic and for all time. He’s not wrong when you think about it.
Fellow pizza journalist Hal Klein goes deep on Pittsburgh unique style of pizza.
Slice On Broadway is expanding north into the Wexford territory. They may or may not be taking over a spot that used to house a pizza place.
Spirit has unveiled a Butt Patrol pizza. Sounds…delicious?? Check it out on their menu here.
Let us know how you liked the podcast. Hit me up on Instagram or fill out a contact form. If you have a pizza question we may even pull it out of the grease bag!
Pizza ya later!
Creating another civilization is fun. I mean, it has to be. In a time where we are so trapped and contained in our cells, nowhere to go, we are compelled to create rich and wild ecosystems. Ecosystems that grow entire civilizations, rich microscopic cultures, for our own benefit. They start from nothing - a pool of slightly warm water, maybe at 67 degrees Fahrenheit, yeast , oil crushed from a hundred olives and shipped over from Italy, flour ground from lonely fields of wheat simply waiting for the reaper to strike them down.
And for us, they grow. Together they make it work. Under any condition they thrive. Whether they’re wrapped in plastic or left to rot on a counter. Without our supervision or intervention this beast grows and thrives, it evolves into what we need, something that might bring us a sprig of happiness. Something that will nourish the whole family. It gives its life for us, a whole galaxy of activity ready to sacrifice itself so that we can live on. Maybe post some fun photos to the internet. Why not? There’s no judgement, doubt or concern. There’s nothing yearning for something better. It’s just there, for us, to put in our mouths and swallow and laugh. The fellowship of the oil, water, yeast and flour is as courageous as it is delicious. And it serves a valiant inspiring goal.
Pizza is really great. It’s a timeless and satisfying. If you are going to devour a galaxy you want to devour a galaxy of sauce, slowly simmered for hours with just a hint of minced anchovies, cheese that’s gloopy and slightly browned, and toppings that augment the whole package. Toppings that “yes and” their way to success, always contributing never contracting from the total package.
I don’t know what space tastes like, I’m not sure anyone knows. But maybe space is simply the gluten network that holds together the pizza. Obviously, we are talking perspective and relativity. Maybe one day someone might eat us. One big chomp and we topple down their throats wondering what awaits us in this exotic and slightly scary locale. But , as we topple through the dark esophagus full of stars and asteroids, we hope that we served our purpose. We found meaning in our existence, we built something worth devouring. Having something devour you might be the best compliment you can receive in this life.
And so it goes, we are trapped inside this world and we continue to bake and create new worlds. These worlds are delicious, and they’re full of sauce and cheese and easy to share. It passes the time as we wait for our world to get fixed and to heal. Takes our minds off of the temporary chaos and bedlam we have to face every time we look out a windo or leave the house covered in multiple masks hopingg you do’t breathe in the wrong molecule. That your galaxy doesn’t mix incorreclty with someone else’s.
In an oven, there’s nothing but heat. And that makes sense. You can measure heat. And it’s logical. And when you apply that heat to your creation you get a nice plump pizza. it’s mature, it’s prepared, it’s ready to be devoured.
And that’s comforting. Devouring pizza is comforting.
How Was That Iron Skillet Pizza You Ask?This iron skillet pizza was delicious and easy to make. I actually used this recipe from Serious Eats for Sfinonce pizza. I didn’t use the bread crumbs, but the sauce they suggest making with this pizza is outstanding. The anchovy flavor is potent, but simmers away over time.
What I like most about this recipe is you can mix everything in one bowl by hand, put it in the fridge, and 24 hours you have a robust pizza bustling with a civilization of gas and flavors. Key to getting a good rise was letting it warm to room temperature. Once I moved it into the skillet to sit in a pool of oil I placed it in my oven on the proofing setting. The pizza burst to life and when I saw it again an hour later it had tripled in size and was thinking about eating me.
We seek out more and more usual things to distract us from the crushing waves of trauma that mercilessly beat against our brains. We steel ourselves behind oddities and weirdness hoping that these craven hobbies might make the rest of the world seem more normal by comparison.
Most recently for me was Spak Bros. pickle pizza.
This is the kind of pizza you want to share with your friends. A pie you’ll want to get as a novelty, laugh about how good it is even though you started eating it with your nose pinched to get your buds to chuckle. Anything for a laugh. It’s gruesome on paper, a dare, like going to a haunted house encountering clowns, faux murderers, arsonists, criminals and nightmares of the mind only to escape through a smoky tunnel with a laugh. The pickle pizza is more fun with a group of pizza adventures. Right now that’s an anomaly in the age of quarantine.
The pickle pizza from Spak is not frightening. It’s unique, foreign, and defies the pizza tradition. when something clashes with your existing classification you get mad, or angry, or scared. And the pickle pizza, unlike other pizzas, even Hawaiian, elicits an emotional and visceral reaction which makes this pizza art in a lot of ways. The Pickle Pizza at Spak deserves to be studied and assessed by food professors at universities that focus on the culinary arts.
Note how crisp those pickles stand against a hungry pizza devotee
In the doldrums of the pandemic, it’s easy to get stuck in your routine. Waking up. Brushing your teeth. Eating avocado toast for breakfast every morning. Doom scroll. Log into work. Refresh the news. Work. Refresh the news. Room scroll. Work. Turkey sandwich for lunch. Work. Log off. Watch whatever new thing is on Netflix while also watching your phone refresh. Go to bed. Wonder if this will ever end and you’ll escape this snow globe of an existence. Sometimes you feel like a domino knocking into another domino.
The pickle pizza is a variable that disrupts to banal day to day existence. It’s completely different from what you would expect, and injects a much needed zest.
The pickle pizza is of course worth eating and digesting. The dill pickles are sprawled over the canvas likeilipads floating on a sea of cheese. It’s impossible not to get a pickle in a bite of the pizza, they’re ubiquitous and delicious.
The base of the pizza is a mixture of pickle’s best friends - a safety net for pickles going out on the wild. A special havarti cheese blend, dill and a creamy ranch sauce provide lubrications for these pickles to slide down your throat like a slip n slide. And before you know it the pizza will have vanished - the dill taste will linger in your mouth for a while but pickle pizza never leaves you.
Next time you’re at a cookout or able to gather with your friends and loved ones you can recall the amazing pickle pizza you ate. “You got that??” They’ll say with a dash of disgust. Then you can charm them with your tale of how you ventured forth from your home, risking life and limb to get the legendary Spak Bros. Pickle Pizza.
Months ago my Uncle Don told me he found a new love. A new favorite pizza in town. His pizza taste is peculiar for a Pittsburgher. Instead of going to Mineo’s or Aiello’s he opts for Pizza Napoli. He isn’t a fan of sloppy pies, but prefers a nice square pizza. so when he began to tell me about Colangelos in the Strip District I knew it had to be something unique.
On New Year’s Eve, in the midst of a pandemic he, dropped off a few slices for me and the family to enjoy. A perfect meal as a precursor to our solitary NYE antics. He texted me updates as the pizza he chose from their pizza window went through the steps.
“Got you and Christa some slices.”
“Currently in oven. Be there in 10”
Colangelos is a from-scratch Italian bakery that has a window of croissants, pizza and other Italian delicacies up for grabs. They also have a host of pasta, sides and really anything you would need to satisfy your cravings. Today, we’ll be focusing on their pizza.
The box he delivered was hefty, filled with six large quadrants of pepperoni pizza. It was droopy, soggy and collectively dense, a pizza quagmire. An environment that is inescapable as the gravity of the cheese and grease combine to pull you into its maw.
But this is merely an illusion, because while it looks a gloopy hot mess, there’s a complex structure supporting the plains of cheese and sauce. While slices flip and flop gently back and forth like a flag in a gentle swirling wind, when you bite into the dough there’s a surprising crunch.
It’s also expertly soft. Almost like a pastry dough, but thicker and not very sweet. The thickness isn’t close to the Detroit-style pies, but a hybrid of the classic New York slices and a Sicilian.
There’s a very stark divide between where the crust ends and the base of the pizza begins. Two pizza universes neighboring each other with a border between. But when you get a bite that is equal parts crust and body, with cheese and a bit of a pepperoni, both universes are united as one. A utopia where each section of the pizza fits perfectly with the other.
The pepperoni was perfectly greasy and added the right amount of zest to complement its cohorts, the sauce and cheese. I typically stay away from pepperoni since the extra grease can be off putting, but here it works. I think it’s because the soft dough absorbs that grease and blends it in with the body of the pizza, instead of letting it pool on the cheese.
After crushing two slices, I was more than satisfied and stunned at the swirling flavors of the pizza packed into these rectangles. I put the remaining pieces in the fridge and eagerly awaited the opportunity to heat them up the following afternoon.
The next day the pizza had evolved slightly. Some of the softness evaporated from the dough, replaced with a crunchier texture. Not a bad thing, but these slices are best eaten as fresh as possible. Still, these slices satisfied and I look forward to getting some of these fresh from the bakery itself.
This is the hoagie I want to tell you about.
Hi there. I know this website is primarily about pizza, but sometime in order to talk about pizza you need to talk about their cousin, the hoagie.
A good hoagie can accompany any pizza into battle. Often times they are the unsung hero of the pizza evening. A greasy hoagie tags along to a Friday night pizza party as hunger insurance. It’s the extra $8-$11 you pay to ensure everyone gets enough to eat, because you have to feed an amount of people between one large pizza and two large pizzas.
I lust after hoagies. There is hardly anything more satisfying than biting into a fresh Italian hoagie with juices exploding with every bite and four kinds of meat (that are just slightly different from one another) coming together to form the main event. When I am trying out a pizza place I am also testing them for their hoagies.
I’m only saying all this to convince you that I am as into hoagies as I am into pizza. And this hoagie I devoured at DiAnoia’s is a transcendent experience that I had to communicate.
Hoagie ReconResearch and reconnaissance are key attributes of a successful hoagie excursion. When I started this journey I didn’t know the hoagie I would devour would be from DiAnoia’s in the Strip District.
But I knew what I wanted. Something soggy, warm, and comforting. Meats did not need to be stacked to the highest heights, but they had to be present. Bonus points for catering to my current lust for unique spreads on bread. I dug deep through my catalogue of pizzerias and carefully weighed each and every option.
Knowing what you want out of a hoagie is important to having a divine hoagie experience. If your gut and your brain aren’t aligned on expectations your hoagie experience will be a letdown. Because I took the time to do my research and outline my hoagie criteria I had a trancendendant time with the hoagie you see pictured above.
For example, I love the Spak Brother’s Italian hoagie. But I wanted something that would stain my hands with grease and oil. Something that would disrupt my entire being.
Carving Out Hoagie TimeOnce you know what hoagie you’ll be chomping on, it’s just as important to carve out a time and space to savor the hoagie. In this specific scenario I had eight inches of hoagie to account for. Depending on your hoagie preference you could have anywhere from six to eighteen inches to accommodate. Ensure you have enough time to eat this hoagie in a relaxing environment.
Instead of heading to the privacy of my home to chow down on this Italian delight sent from the heavens, I opted to commune with the natural elements. It was a Friday so I took a half day from work, giving me ample time to savor the hoagie. The PTO system is built exactly for this kind of event - time off does not get more personal than this.
On this Friday afternoon I took my family to West Park in the North Side. We would collect our hoagies then dine al fresco, surrounded by nature and a number of baby geese. It was what the hoagie wanted for its final day on earth.
After all, it’s not only about you. This is a living wake for the hoagie itself. Pick a venue that is mutually respectfully to both parties.
Pairing the hoagie
It’s important to pair the hoagie with some ice cold beverages,
Pairing the HoagieWhat you add alongside your hoagie can change the situation greatly. Will you be pairing it with an ice cold beer? A cup of ice cold water? And ice cold cocktail? Maybe even an ice cold soda pop? If you haven’t noticed the trend let me spell it out for you - you need to have something ice cold with your hoagie.
Ice cold anything pairs will with a hoagie because you are going to be battling a river of grease and spice. Ideally, a good Italian hoagie will have some peppers on board for the ride. The near-frozen beverage will tame rogue spiciness and keep you in the drivers seat.
As an added bonus, having a nice beverage in hand will help ease digestion. That is to say, it speeds up the process of your intestines absorbing every little nutrient and molecule of the hoagie. This is important because you want to get that hoagie in your system ASAP. There is magic that happens when you meet your hoagie soulmate so haste is the order of the day.
On the pairing front, you’ll also want to think about the company around you. For me, I chose to eat this hoagie with my wife and 5 month old daughter. I figured that it was never too early to teach her the way of the hoagie. She seemed delighted and cooed the whole time.
I paired my hoagie with an ice cold aperol spritz and I’m tempted to say this is a combination you can’t afford to miss.
Post-Hoagie LifeThis is where things take a turn for the “weird” and “unusual.” As you know I am not a man of hyperbole. As a pizza journalist my promise to you is to present only the facts then let you be the judge.
That is just what I’ll do here. I’ll present the facts to you, my dear reader, and you can crunch the numbers to figure out if this is a hoagie miracle or simple a placebo effect.
I devoured the hoagie on Friday, around 2pm EST. We were in West Park, the sun was shining and by all accounts it was paradise.
Life seemed normal after that event. I spent the rest of the day tending to my daughter (changing diapers, playing the “Hoagie Game”, and other things), and living life to its fullest.
The next morning I woke up promptly at 6am EST to go for a run. I’m an avid runner so this part isn’t unique. But that morning was intriguing. The city was infested with fog. Not a single ray of sun could penetrate this fog and the city stayed grey until 10 am EST. Color simply didn’t exist.
Running across one of the many bridges during this phenomenon is perplexing. You can’t see more than a few feet ahead of you and there’s zero visibility on the bridge. You know that you’re fifty feet above river level, but you feel grounded. Immediate danger lingers on the other side of the railing, but the fog hides any threat. It’s grey, comforting and deceptive.
This run was a strange one. But even stranger my legs and breathing felt immaculate. I intended to go a mere eight miles and save my legs for the classic long Sunday run. But something stirred within.
Along my route I came to a split path. Something outside of a Robert Frost poem. To my left was a smooth, flat, course that would loop me back to my home with a run around eight miles. To my right was a road I’ve traveled before, but it’s a struggle. It’s two miles of uphill through a park followed by an excruciatingly long downhill that destroys the quads. It’s a brutal route that chews up runners.
I fully intended to go left and take the easy way home. But something inside me, which in hindsight can only be the Italian Hoagie, spurred me to turn right. So I did. I went right.
And that brutal climb felt like a god flattened the hill. It felt like nothing. A mere mole hill. I effortlessly floated up the incline waving to walkers taking their time coming down.
At the top of the hill I felt like I was only starting my run. And the downhill was just as easy. In total I ran 15.5 miles that day. Nearly twice what I expected to run.
I attribute this successful run to the hoagie itself. A true miracle.
Let this be a lesson to you - an Italian hoagie is more than the sums of its part. It’s a device engineered to provide you with the necessary nutrients you need to survive and grow. It neatly compacts the entire food pyramid into a simple, edible device.
We are certainly living in interesting times, aren’t we? When you think you’ve finally adjusted to the “new normal” there’s another change or wrinkle that you have to deal with. Lately, this pandemic has flipped the table and truly upended the world, causing panic, stress and uncertainty to run rampant.
In an effort to help those affected by the pandemic we are donating all proceeds from the digital version of our book, Pizza Walk Pittsburgh: A Guidebook, to local Pittsburgh charities.
Pay What You Want for the Digital Book Today!
100% of the money generated from this campaign will go to charity. 50% to ROC United and 50% to Community Human Services.
In an effort to help out the industry I most rely on for the content of this book, we are donating 50% of the proceeds to the Restaurant Worker Disaster Relief Fund for Pittsburgh organized by ROC United (Restaurant Opportunities Center).
Additionally, those without a stable housing environment are impacted by this pandemic in a way I can't even begin to imagine. So, the other half of those proceeds will go to Community Human Services, an organization dedicated to providing food, shelter and services to families and individuals in Allegheny County.
Please pay whatever you want! We’ve already raised over $200! Thanks to the generous contributors who have donated for this cause. And truly, feel free to pay $0. I only ask that you share and help spread the word - that’s as good as any currency.
The money you give will be split between the two organizations above and you'll get a digital version of Pizza Walk Pittsburgh: A Guidebook.
This book is a guide to help you understand the origin of some of these pizza places and what makes them so great. You'll have access to:
- Beautiful photos shot by yours truly that capture the essence of each shop.
- Details on what to order at each pizza shop, their specialities and what they're known for.
- A brief history of the pizza shop.
- An empty space for you to add your own tasting notes for each pizzeria. It's a wonderful way for you to chronicle your own experience.
- Insights on some of the newest most delicious pizza shops like Pizza Taglio, Spak Brothers, Caliente, Driftwood Oven, Slice on Broadway, Pizza Badamo's, Iron Born and more!
Other Ways to Contribute - Pizza to the People!If you aren’t interested in the digital guidebook, or want to support the community in another way, Steve Mason and Gaven Rapp have setup a Go Fund Me, Pizza to the People, that buys pizza from local pizza shops and has them delivered to industry workers / those in need. Check it out here.
Spirit Lounge is raising money to support the staff during these difficult times. Help them reach their goal by donating here! If you’ve ever enjoyed the pizza, ate too much at their buffet or had a great time at this phenomenal venue, think about contributing a few dollars.
What Pizza Places are Still Operating to Satisfy Your Pizza Cravings?A number of pizza shops around the area are still offering delivery and takeout options. While Spak and Driftwood Oven are closed for the time being, here are a couple of places you can still get pizzas from:
- Pizza Taglio
- Iron Born
- Spirit
- Pizzeria Davide - To Go Pizza Kits
- Slice on Broadway
- Mercurio’s
- Badamo’s
- Kevin Konn is delivering pies, but he may have already reached capacity.
- Mineo’s and Aiello’s
- Caliente
Those links will take you to their Instagram page where you should be able to find the most up-to-date information. I’m sure there are more out there, but these are the ones I could remember off the top of my head!
Stay safe out there and don’t forget to grab your Digital version of my book, Pizza Walk Pittsburgh: A Guidebook. If anything, it’ll provide a much needed distraction in these perplexing times.
Hi folks! Sorry for the radio silence, but I’ve been working on an important project. Truth be told, after chronicling the Pittsburgh pizza scene for years, I wanted something more. I wanted something more permanent that could live on beyond the internet and possibly even me.
My time interviewing and writing about the Pittsburgh pizza scene has been eye opening. Talking to the shop owners and documenting new openings, closings and events brought me closer to Pittsburgh in a way that I never expected. It made this whole city feel like a town. I could go for a jog and see people that have made my pizza or someone I recognize from a (maybe annoying) interview inside a shop.
I was driven by bringing the freshest news and perspective to the city, specifically around pizza. It’s why I sent my dad out to Pizza Expo to cover the large continent of Pittsburgh Pizza participants. It’s why I took a PTO day from my job to visit Pizza Cono prior to them opening in Squirrel Hill. Covering new, exciting pizza developments was thrilling.
This book is the pinnacle of that. It covers thirteen of the newest spots, including openings, photos and insights that I’ve gathers throughout the years. The book is done, I simply need to know how many copies I have to print.
Early on in my pizza writing days I was showing this website to a local entrepreneur. After scrolling through my site and reading a few articles they only had one question for me: why don’t you have any ads on your website? I truly don’t believe ads are the right way to make money on the internet. If you can produce something of value, and help people understand that value, they will surely pay for it when the time comes.
This Kickstarter is a testament to that idea. I have no idea if I’ll be successful, but after doing this for years I figured this would be a good chance to see what kind of goodwill I’ve collected.
About the Pittsburgh Pizza Book
The book itself will be 6 x 9. It will be paperback, with a slightly glossy cover. Not too glossy. The interior pages will be #80 paper and will have a matte sheen. It’ll be fun to flip through. There are over 20,000 words that cover 13 pizza shops. It’s possible I’ll add more before the book is truly done. Some of the shops covered are:
- Pizza Cono
- Driftwood Oven
- Mercurio’s
- Caliente’s
- Spak Brothers.
- Rockaway Pizza
- Badamo’s
- Spirit
- Slice On Broadway
- Pizza Taglio
- and more!
You can see a sample of the book here. This covers the intro as well as a bit on Driftwood oven.
If you’re interested in backing the Kickstarter you can visit the Pizza Walk Pittsburgh Kickstarter here.
Thanks for your support over all these years and here’s to a hundred more years of pizza!
The Road to White Lodge of Rockaway PizzeriaDriving to Rockaway Pizza in White Oak, PA, there’s not much. From Pittsburgh you leave the city and pass town after town that is slightly more economically depressed. You pass up a few strip malls that are hanging in there, dilapidated buildings, and strips of absolutely nothing. It’s only a 30 minute drive from the city, but whatever renaissance Pittsburgh is going through has yet to hit the surrounding areas.
Eventually, you’ll arrive at Rockaway pizza. Which, if you didn’t know it was open you’d think it was another broken down building waiting to be bulldozed. Somehow, the Rockaway sign is old and faded despite being in business for only two years.
But pizza making isn’t about fancy architecture, building an ostentatious building signaling how great your pie is, or decadent signage. It’s about pizza. A temple built without frivolity. And Josh Sickels, an ex-drummer turned Pizza Shop Owner, focuses his energy on what’s important. Making great pizza.
After touring around New York City as a drummer in The Takeover UK and 1,2,3 (both Pittsburgh bands), Josh absorbed the regions pizza. Mostly from Queens. Those years of research and the attention to devouring a number of pies and reverse engineering their structure have paid off. Josh picked up on what makes N.Y. City pizza better (it’s not just the water) and has taken a deep dive into the process and fundamentals of recreating that pizza outside of Pittsburgh. He likes a wet dough, he uses a unique blend of cheese (Rockaway might be the only pizza place in Western PA that doesn’t use provolone in their blend) and, what he seems to be most proud of, are the 20 inch wire cloth screens he bakes certain topping-heavy pizza on.
Josh called around and found a guy in Queens who makes these screens for the classic pizza places in Queens. Again, he might be the only person in Western PA with access to these thick wire cloth screens.
“The Queens style of New York pizza has more cheese on it, they figured out that the bottom would cook before the tops were done because there’s so much cheese,” Josh says. “The traditional pizza screen sucks because it makes the undercrust soggy. So they started using these ‘wire cloth’ screens.”
These screens are thicker, raise the pizza a bit above the surface of the oven so steam can escape and slow down the cooking of the undercrust so the top of the pizza also bakes through. Both top and bottom come out perfectly baked and it reduces that soggy-swamp that sometimes forms at the center of larger pizzas.
It’s a small tweak, but makes a huge difference on the quality of the pie. And Josh’s process is full of these small tweaks that optimize the flavor and quality of the pizza. Tweaks that on their own don’t seem worth doing, but build up throughout the process to make a large impact.
He even cuts the pizza on an elevated wood cutting board after they come out of the oven so the cold steel countertop doesn’t steam up and tarnish the pizza.
This attention to detail and uncompromising vision is admirable, but he is at times playing for an audience that doesn’t quite understand the magic.
The most beautiful pizza from Rockaway. It covers the bases - from plain to the outrageous.
Waiting for the Ranch Dressing Horsemen Josh’s elevated taste results in delicious pizza with ingredients and flavors that are (maybe) ahead of the curve and foreign to the Western Pennsylvania way of pizza. His menu is vast covering a variety of toppings, meats and sauces. But what’s left off the menu is the sacred buffalo chicken pizza. There’s no deep fryer and the sides are practical spinoffs of what’s you’d expect - hoagies and garlic knots.
During my short time at Rockaway, ranch dressing was the subject of a number of conversations. A customer early on Saturday grabbed their pizza and, after paying, asked for a cup of ranch dressing. Josh froze. He should be used to this by now, but still he struggles with this request. He says “sure” and goes to the back to grab a small container of ranch. Hardly enough for more than one or two slices. She should be happy she gets that amount.
“Why am I aging my mozzarella when you’re just going to cover it in ranch?” Josh says after she leaves. He plans to hang a large “no ranch” sign behind the counter someday soon.
A customer hears him explain this to me and he shouts from his booth, “Hey! I agree with you - no one should be putting ranch dressing on this pizza. It’s great the way it is.”
This might sound obnoxious and snobby, but this is someone with an uncompromising view of their pizza. He spent most of his life as a musician creating his own music. Owning a restaurant is an extension of that artistic vision. None of the pizzas on the menus are there by accident, it’s all very purposeful and thoughtful. Someone asking for ranch is akin to someone at a show yelling from the crowd that maybe he should consider playing the drums just a bit slower, maybe take it easy on the kick drum.
You don’t ask a musician to change their lyrics to fit your life. Their lyrics either resonate with you or you move on.
Josh Sickels has some iconic people hung above his pizza making station.
When This Kind of Fire Starts, It’s Very Hard to Put OutRockaway Pizza is a gateway to New York City pizza. I don’t think Josh would categorize himself as a pizza missionary, but he doing his best to spread the pizza gospel. In the 22 months he’s been open he’s cultivated a following of loyal pizza fans.
As Josh puts it:
No one else in the city is really doing this style except for Slice on Broadway and Badamo’s. I figured that yes, I use good shit, yes I have a deep knowledge of pizza. I make this style of pizza as a testament that New York style pizza is the best pizza there is.
Lots of people haven’t been exposed to that. This is an economicly depressed area. They haven’t been to New York to try the pizza, but they can get a taste of that here.
Josh’s uncompromising vision bridges the gap between dirty unceremonious yinzer pizza shop with the technically superior style of New York pizza. He wants to expose as many people as possible to what he thinks is the best pizza.
And so far, it seems to be working.
While I was in the shop there was an entire family who drove to Rockaway Pizzeria from Brownsville, about 45 minutes away. According Jason House Rockaway enthusiast, “This is the closest thing you can get to New York pizza around here. You can tell he loves what he’s doing, but everything is top of the line.” Jason had a pizza with pepperoni, peppers and sweet sausage. His girls love the white pizza.
Despite the low-key nature of Rockaway Pizzeria, enthusiasts seek out Rockaway like the religiously inclined travel to see those miraculous weeping statures of the Virgin Mary. In some ways, there’s a soul-stirring reaction to eating at Rockaway the first time.
Biting into Rockaway pizza compels you to tell friends, family, coworkers and complete strangers about it. Since my visit I’ve showed off the photo of my pizza to dozens of people. I tried to tell them how each bite was somehow better than the last, that the flavors kept building and that the whole pizza was perfectly cooked. I was crazed with pizza. Days later I’m still scrolling back through my photos and thinking about when I can get back down to the shop.
Maybe it’s the juxtaposition of the environment and the high quality pizza. Maybe it’s the 40 minute drive I took to get to this place, but Rockaway Pizza feels somewhat miraculous. It seems like this pizza shouldn’t exist, but the forces of nature have conspired to bring this perfect pizza to White Oak.
The Italian Italian Hoagie at Rockaway Pizza. A textbook hoagie with elevated meats.
What to Order at Rockaway PizzeriaEverything is good here so please explore the menu at your leisure.
While I was there I had a sausage slice, pepperoni, plain and prosciutto with arugula. Each of the slices were top-notch. There is a vodka pizza on the menu—while I didn’t have a chance to try a bite of that I did get a sample of the homemade sauce. Good lord it was rich and delicious. It’s certainly at the top of my list when I venture back.
While Rockaway isn’t known for its hoagies, the Italian hoagie was textbook. Great meats, drizzle of sauce, and the perfect partner in crime to the pizza.
There’s nothing of waste on the menu. Josh made plenty of Frankenstein’s while I was there (a sampler pizza, very clever idea) and I’m dying to try the Sicilian. While they use the same dough as their traditional, they do “something special” to it to make it different. Stay tuned for whatever that means.
Book Your Mission Trip to RockawayIf you’re a pizza fan you need to start planning your trip to Rockaway. It’s a small spot, so get their early. Bring some friends, make a day of it and get ready to reflect on some high quality pizza. You can find more information about Rockaway Pizzeria at their website.
Is it appropriate to say a hot new restaurant has "washed up" onto a list of the 50 best new restaurants in the United States of America? Perhaps not. Washing up implies that nature itself has conspired to bring an unconscious participants to the shore of something great. After writing that I realize Driftwood Oven has done the exact opposite of washing up. Driftwood Oven doesn't float aimlessly through the waters, they have charted a course to deliver quality ingredients and this is their just reward.
As they pick up speed and refine their restaurant, the country has taken notice. Most recently, Bon Appétit has listed them as one of 50 nominees for the The Hot 10, a listing of the 10 hottest new restautants according to them.
Making a list of the 50 best restaurants is insane. Driftwood Oven is competing with every new restaurant in the United States. Thousands of independent restaurants open each year. To get noticed, a restaurant has to cut through the cacophony of noise to rise above the rest with nothing but the best, most interesting food.
I reached out to Neil Blazin, co-founder of Driftwood Oven, to hear his thoughts on making this list. He said, "It feels wild to be considered in a publication such as Bon Appétit. Never crossed my mind."
And, again, that's what's so interesting about Driftwood Oven making this list. They are busy opening a restaurant, running a Kickstarter, and figuring out logistics that they've barely had time to market themselves. Yet, here they are on this list.
On top of all that, they have to stick out against a sea of pizza, a food so ubiquitous that if you're not doing something amazing you may as well not even exist. Maybe it was Bon Appétite that washed up on the shore of Driftwood Oven...
Making this list is a testament to understanding the importance of sourcing food and going the extra mile to create something delicious. If this was another standard pizza place there's no way they'd be on this list. But, with their consistency and dedication to the craft I wouldn't be shocked if they made it on the Hot 10.
Pittsburgh's Other Top 50 Restaurant - Bitter Ends Garden & Luncheonette
If I had a sandwich blog (probably named What's "Capicola-ing With You") I'd write endlessly about Bitter Ends Garden in Bloomfield. It is so odd to me that Pittsburgh lacks high quality sandwich shops, but Bitter Ends fills that hole and then some. Everything from the pie to the bread is made fresh. It's one of those places where you can't eat anything bad and I'm so glad they're on this list.
A whole tray of the fabled, hard to find, Tallarico Toast by Michigan & Trumbull
When it comes to food I often find myself falling into specific patterns. Pizza, for example, is a dish that makes up a healthy percentage of my intake. But that's more of an evening meal for me. On the flip side, under the morning sun I've gotten into this great habit of munching on Avocado Toast every morning.
Avocado Toast and pizza seem like complete opposites but have a lot in common. Obviously, both have.a base of bread, some sort of spread, followed by.a sprinkling of toppings. And even more obvious is that they're amazingly delicious. If pizza is the king of the Friday night family meal then Avocado Toast is the queen of a weekend breakfast. Which means these two foods rule of the entire Kingdom of Food?
So, where is this all going? If you are what you eat and I was suddenly turned into a type of pizza I guess that means I would be turned into what Michigan & Trumbull calls Tallarico Toast.
Tallarico Toast is equal parts pizza and avocado toast. The base is the same as their Packard Pepperoni or other, more traditional, Detroit style pizzas. A crunchy and soft crust. On top of that is a proprietary avocado spread made from the essence of pure avocados. It's thick and creamy and sticks loyally to the crust. Now this would be enough to be considered avocado toast, but Michigan & Trumbull does not settle or shy away from innovation.
Michigan and Trumbull's excellent Tallarico Toast
Topping the avocado spread are pickled onions, radishes, and watercress greens. After a bit of R&D they swapped out regular olive oil for olive oil infused with a bit of lime. The zest makes this next-level stuff.
The chef's behind Michigan & Trumbull are true alchemists that absolutely understand the fundamentals of pizza. They're able to bend the rules, experiment, and create hit after hit. The Tallarico Toast is a temporary alien addition to their menu, but it fits into their lineup of pizzas perfectly.
During its one-week stay I'm sure Tallarico Toast broke records —most times the Tallarico name has been uttered in one week, most delicious brunch pizza without an egg cracked in the middle or most avocados used in a pizzeria — but let's hope it makes its return one day to show how versatile and beautiful of a pizza canvas is.
Pizza Journalist Dan Tallarico Eating Tallarico Toast
I guess it was bound to happen. After years of writing about pizza and documenting my avocado toast every morning, someone was going to put two and two together. We went to visit Michigan & Trumbull and ate a slice of Tallarico Toast. The result is an authentic, honest report of the pizza.
The pizza combines the fundamentals of Detroit Style Pizza with the decadent toppings of Avocado Toast. While it's a limited time menu item, here's hoping it makes another appearance.
When I first started dating my now-wife, Christa, I didn't think pizza would become part of the fabric of our relationship. Soon after, I started this website and she has traveled with me on my pizza journeys across the land and film me eat slices of pizza. Around the same time, her father starting really getting into pizza.
His frequent trips to Italy became more frequent. Soon, he was spending weeks at a time at a Pizzaiolo school in Naples. He would return to the states with in-depth knowledge of Neapolitan pizza. A true pizzaiolo. While he has bounced around pizzerias, most of his baking takes place in his backyard where he had a pizza oven constructed next to his bocci court. Some say it's the Little Italy of the North Hills.
This video is from our most recent trip to the North Hills Little Italy. Watch Dan Cardone craft a Margherita pizza - with a big twist. That's right, we defied the strict rules of Margherita pizza and added tiny san marzano tomatoes. They added a nice burst of flavor and a bit of extra zest to the traditional pie.
Here are a couple of the other pizzas we made that day, as well as the finished Margherita from the one in the video.
Here's the pizza from the video. It was the first of the day and honestly, I think it could've used some more time in the oven. I like em crispy even though it's technically not "correct." The toppings could've been distributed better, but lots of jostling can happen from the walk on the basement to the backyard pizza oven.
Now here was a divisive pizza! This one has some of that char I love, but it also has anchovies, or alici. When I served this pizza Dan was very clear not to tell people it had anchovies on it and that instead I should use the Italian word for it, alici. No one was fooled.
And finally, here's one with a mix of shredded cheese. You know it's shredded because it burns up so quickly while the whole mozzarella stays nice and white.
Photo from Iron Born's Instagram account
Ever feel like a huge waste of space for eating an entire pizza in one sitting and having nothing but a bloated stomach to show for it? Well, yeah, we've all been there and there's nothing wrong with a bit of indulgence.
But, if you want your pizza chomping to contribute to a good cause, Iron Born has you covered. Introducing the Make a Wish Pie collaboration at Iron Born pizza at Smallman Galley. The creator of this elaborate pizza Ben Kronman, a recent Fox Chapel graduate. Kronman submitted five different ideas and this Shishito pepper topped pizza was the winning combo.
It's certainly an intriguing pizza that certainly brings some heat. Visit Iron Born down at the Smallman Galley in the Strip to try this pizza and contribute to a good cause.
An aerial view of Michigan & Trumbull's Buffalo Chicken Pizza
Pittsburgh sits in the center of the famous Rust Belt. It’s the belt buckle that keeps that whole belt together and coexisting as one. Because of the location, Pittsburgh absorbs influences from all along the belt, as well as any passing trends. Yes, Pittsburgh may be behind certain fashion trends and culture, but the city excels in bizararre amalgationa of food. The latest culinary masterpiece is Michigan and Trumbull’s Buffalo Chicken pizza.
I’ve delivered pizzas at various spots across this great state and I’ll tell you that 90% of the pizzas I delivered in Pittsburgh were some concoction of buffalo chicken. Oddly enough, when disaster struck those numbers would increase. I had the privilege of delivering pizza when Roethlisberger had his infamous motorcycle accident. Citizens were devastated and the only thing that could fill that Roethlisberger shaped hole in their black and gold heart was buffalo chicken pizza.
I met a lot of sad men in XL #7 jerseys that afternoon.
Anyways, this is all to say that if you own a pizzeria in Pittsburgh and you don’t have a Buffalo chicken pizza your market cap is 50% what it could be. This pie has woven itself into the Pittsburgh food tapestry and Michigan & Trumbull has taken it to the next level.
A nice side shot of the Buffalo Chicken Pizza
Meet their Buffalo Chicken Pizza. It takes the best part of Detroit Style Pizza (the caramelized cheese, the thick crust) and adds a hefty dripping of hot sauce and chicken tucked under the cheese. The end result is one of the most delicious, comforting and flavorful pizzas on the market.
As a bonus they provide their own ranch dressing which is full of zing. You’ll want to grab a cup of this to drizzle onto your own square or to dip leftover crust in.
Whats special about this pizza is that the structure of the Detroit Pie begs to be encumbered. This buffalo chicken pizza is the perfect stress test for the dough. And it holds up beautifully. Maybe next time it’s available they’ll add some of their zesty waffle fries to this creation.
This Buffalo Chicken Pizza is a limited edition item that shows up on the Michigan and Trumbull menu periodically. Keep an eye on their Instagram for the latest in Detroit Style Pizza in Pittsburgh.
There's a 99% chance the last time you bought a pizza you encountered only men. The pizza industry is dripping with men as much as it's dripping with grease. I grew up working in pizza kitchens and the women in those kitchens were few and tortured. They had to put up with a boy's club full of dick jokes and abuse. It's not pretty.
But that's all changing. As Ann Kim, owner of , says, "Women are having their moment now."
At the 2018 Pizza Expo I had the opportunity to talk with a number of women in pizza who are absolutely killing it. Giorgia Caporuscio is one of the very few certified women pizzaiolos. She's turned her focus on teaching other women how to make great pizza and break into the industry,
Nicole Bean operates shops in Texas with her family and is dead-set on hiring more women workers.
Ann Kim, a keynote of this year's Pizza Expo and owner / executive chef at Lola pizzeria, is leading by example. She's making great pizza, opening up shops and diving into this industry head first. Her pizzeria in Minneapolis is considered one of the best in the world.
The problem, as they see it, is that women have been driven away from pizza shops. Hostile, maybe, but definitely gross. There's also a stigma that this is a job for guys - but why? It's baking, cooking, precision and tasting. Skills anyone can develop and hone over time.
Hopefully as more women get into the industry it becomes easier for others to follow. In Pittsburgh we are beginning to see more women leading pizza shops (Dinette being one of the most successful, lead by Sonja Finn and of course the newly opened Michigan & Trumbull which Kristen Calverley co-owns), but we still have a ways to go.
Hi folks! This is Dan Tallarico, Editor at Pizza Walk With Me, with another recap from our columnist, Tom Tallarico. This is his third and final dispatch from the 2018 Pizza Expo. While we won't hear about the rest of his Vegas trip rest assured it included a number of buffets and hunks of meat! If you'd like to start at the beginning you can read his prequel/first day recap of Pizza Expo here. His second day recap is available here!
Day 3 continues with the International Pizza Challenge & the World Pizza Games along with informative seminars & cooking demos; most documenting the Evolution of Pizza. I’ll first mention that the convention seems to be getting bigger every year. The exhibits (food, food, food) have been documented in the past. This year’s array of foodstuffs is more opulent than ever. And it seems there are more local Pittsburgh Pizza Makers here than ever. Good to see.
Attended a morning seminar; “New Twists on Old Appetizers” conducted by frequent contributors Glenn Cybulski & Mike Bausch. The new “twists” involve Garlic Knots which are fried instead of baked to reduce prep time, utilizing Portabella Mushroom Caps stuffed as you wish & ingenious Eggplant Parm where Eggplant is sliced, covered with Panko & deep fried. Slices are then lined up with alternating Mozz slices, covered with sauce & sprinkled with Parm/Romano.
A big kick for me was having a chat with Nick Coniglio from Brooklyn & Williamsburg Pizza.
Nick was Pizza Maker of the year in 2016 & Brooklyn all the way. He is a colorful character with a witty sense of humor along with an intelligent passion for Pizza making. He actually spent some significant time in Pittsburgh in his formative years before returning to Brooklyn to become a Pizza hero. Actually got a picture taken with him. He seemed pleased to hear that it was going on my “Celebrity Wall” between Ditka & Jon Stewart. He then repeated Ditka, Ditka, Ditka with the typical Chicago emphasis. Look forward to visiting on next visit to NYC. He conducted the seminar “My Champion Pizzas”. I documented last year’s seminar. I recall his key points along with his delightful presentation style; much humor with even more valuable information:
Nino’s Pizza rules include:
- Put ingredients on evenly (very, very important).
- Don’t overload the pie.
- NO Dried Rosemary (not sure if this is a rule or a pet peeve).
By Day 3, the Pizza Challenge is at its peak. Following are examples of the competitive Pies in various categories.
The Big News today is that also competing & Winning is Eric Von Hansen from Caliente’s. Today, Eric won Northeast title for the Non-Traditional Division.
Of course, as documented, Eric won the overall title of Champion/Non-Traditional Division in the finals on the following day. Congratulations, Eric! That makes 2 overall Championships in 3 years; Champion in the Pan division in 2016. Very exciting & quite an achievement.
Day ended with another stroll through the Exhibit Hall for final snacks. I believe a Steak dinner is in my immediate future before one last day at the Expo tomorrow.
When that pizza comes out of the oven and is garnished by whatever pizzaiolo is behind that counter, I consider that pizza finished. Pizza isn't home to too many accessories outside of a sprinkle of parmesan cheese or chili flakes. Pittsburgh, of course, has a rich history of serving pizza with a side of ranch dressing for dipping. But, it wasn't until Pizza Taglio opened that I tasted, what I would say, is the perfect companion to pizza: Mike's Hot Honey.
Mike's Hot Honey is exactly what it sounds like; it's honey that has chili flakes soaking in it. The result is a dressing that, as Jim would say in the video above, a bit of heat and a bit of a sweet.
Mike's Hot Honey got it's start in Paulie Gee's, a pizzeria in Brooklyn. The creator of Mike's Hot Honey, Mike Kurtz, was inspired by a creation down in South Africa. Mike discovered this in Brazil when he was hiking through the mountains and discovered a mysterious village with a more mysterious Brazilian pizza parlor. In that pizza place they were soaking chilis in vats of honey - Mike was inspired and brought the idea back to the United States.
When he became a pizza apprentice at Paulie Gee's he created the Hellboy - a pizza drizzled with this hot honey. It was an instant classic. Somehow, the honey outshines the pizza and customers demanded to have the honey on its own. Not one to argue with customers, Mike began to bottle and sell Mike's Hot Honey on its own.
It's rare for a single topping to outshine a pizza itself, but Mike's Hot Honey is a unique creation that should be in every pantry across the globe.
Here in Pittsburgh Tony Giamarita pays homage to Paulie Gee's with his Greenpointer pizza. It's my favorite pie at his shop and is topped with mozzarella, spicy clabrese sopressata and a generous drizzled Mike's Hot Honey. While this pizza can sometimes gives me heart burn it's too delicious not to order. It's a staple of my visit to Pizza Taglio and one of the best pizza's in the city.
Hi folks! This is Dan Tallarico, Editor at Pizza Walk With Me, with another recap from our columnist, Tom Tallarico. After this article I now have about 12 photos of buffets saved to my desktop! If you'd like to start at the beginning you can read his prequel/first day recap of Pizza Expo here.
With Day 2 of the EXPO comes the opening of the Exhibit Hall including Food
Suppliers, Equipment Manufacturers and to the crowd’s delight, samples that
their products produce, i.e. pizza, charcuterie, macaroni, olives and food, food, and
more food. Yesterday, as we were checking the progress of the Exhibit Hall set-
up, the security guard suggested, “Don’t bring your lunch”. A new attendee asked
“Why?” This is why:
Even Jersey Mike made it this year. Where’s Jimmy John’s? Next year?
The first Demo I attended showed the relatively new, popular Pizza al Taglio or
Roman-style pizza; a classic type from Italy. Conducted by Christopher Anitnucci
and Giulia Colmignoli, a couple which grew up in Rome. They relocated to San
Diego and operate Napizza, specializing in the Roman-style.
The key ingredient is a unique flour which is rich in protein, made in small batches & cold stoned milled such that the germs survive. This flour type is very difficult to find domestically.
The result is an airy, light, crunchy crust which is easy to digest. Dough ferments
for 72 hours; massaged lightly to retain and redistribute CO2 bubbles and bakes
before final toppings are added, then re-baked. For toppings, they suggested “the
Sky’s the Limit”. Great Advice!
The result at different stages:
Truly excellent taste & texture!
Earlier in the day, I could tell Dan was quite impressed with the scope of the
EXPO. I remarked that perhaps sometime in the future, he might be a panel
speaker. Well guess what? Later that afternoon:
Dan was invited at the end of the session, “Make Yourself a (Social) Media
Magnet conducted by Scott Anthony. Dan was asked to speak to the impact of
on-line advertising in various forms. Generated quite a bit of interest from the
audience trying to find ways to promote the business.
In addition, a very nice outcome of the session was being approached by Pizza
makers that were originally from Pittsburgh and now reside in Charleston, SC.
Still involved in multiple Pizza shops, Steven Carb of SERG Restaurant Group, the
gentleman on the right grew up in Squirrel Hill and started working at Mineo’s in
High School. Having some background at Mineo’s myself, we both had a great kick
from reminiscing about the owners and especially THE MAN there at the time, Joe
Aiello, a top Pizziola in the city for years. I got to know Joe very well, way back when and Steve remarked that Joe got him off the ground with his first shop in
California years ago.
A very nice touch to end the day. Tonight, we’re having
dinner at Pizza Rock, Tony G’s place in downtown Vegas. Very much looking
forward to that.
Once again, Eric Von Hansen adds another trophy to his pizza trophy case by winning the Non-Traditional Divisional Championship at the International Pizza Challenge. Similar to his win for Best Pan Pizza (The Quack Attack) in 2016, Eric has created a supremely decadent pizza to take home first place.
This non-traditional pizza is a combination of elegant ingredients, some with a price tag. The richness of the pizza is rivaled by the rich flavors topping the crust. The pizza is topped with:
- Roasted Shallot black truffle creme fromage
- Bing cherry simple syrup
- Fingerling potatoes roasted in duck confit
- Lemon thyme
- Parmigiano-Reggiano
- Waygu Beef ($88/pound)
- House made Amish bleu cheese, Wisconsin cheese with blueberries
With his second win, Eric has proven to be a true pizza artist. He is more than capable of filling the crusty canvas with a combination of toppings that sound surreal but blend seamlessly together.
The challenge ahead is to see if he can translate this masterpiece into an affordable pizza for the customers at Caliente’s.
Over the years of operating this site, I’ve been sent videos and links about vending machines that dispense pizzas. They come in all shapes and sizes: some pizza vending machines will take a par-baked crust, squirt some sauce on the roasting dough, and sprinkle cheese. Others heat up a stored product. The 24/7 Pizza Box is the latter.
The 24/7 Pizza Box is a white label solution for pizza vending machines. Any pizza shop can buy one (or many!) of these machines and fill it with slices of their own pizza like a pizza pez dispenser. Then, the pizza shop scatters these pizza machines throughout their city or town and wait for hungry patrons to swipe their card and buy the pizza. Simple and convenient.
A Pizza Vending machine is a novel concept, and while there are nice fantastical reasons you’d deploy these, there’s too much of a downside. The pizza isn’t cooked well, too greasy, taste like reheated pizza, etc. The cost of quality isn’t worth the cost of convenience - if it was wouldn’t every gas station be rolling in pizza profit?
I spoke with Shawn of the 24/7 Pizza Box and he reassured that there’s a number of customization options so a pizza shop can dial in the device to their liking. Still, at the end of the day you’re buying a reheated slice from a vending machine.
In some situations a reheated slice of pizza will hit the spot and I suspect we’ll see them on college campuses or inside bars if anywhere. The slice I had out of this machine was swimming in grease, a bit cold in the middle and flopped like a dead fish. Hopefully there’s some tweaking that can happen behind the scenes to bring these slices back to life. Maybe some pizza defibrillators attached to the side of the machine?
The following is a column written by our new columnist, Tom Tallarico (previously associate editor). Tom Tallarico has a lust for pizza and Las Vegas that can hardly be contained in single post. Enjoy his writing and please help me understand why he refers to me as a "webmaster."
Prequel/Arrival: Hello, everyone; I’m baacckk. As the Expo was approaching this year, I was with Webmaster Dan for a visit to see Tony at Pizza Taglio in January. We were reminiscing about last year’s Expo as Tony had also attended. On the way home, I said to Dan, “Heck, I’m going back; this event is too good to miss for so many reasons.” The Big News this year is Webmaster Dan is also attending for the 1st time as you’ve probably already noted. As Dan has reported, over the last 12 months, the Pizza growth in Pittsburgh has been amazing. “Tony Taglio” won a local best Pizza award, Caliente, a perennial winner at the EXPO opened a 4th shop (in my neighborhood, Aspinwall; MMmmmm) & Driftwood Oven has moved into a permanent location in Lawrenceville. Dan has most recently reported a renaissance in Pittsburgh with Detroit style; more on that later.
For me (and others), part of the charm of the Expo is the Las Vegas setting. No surprise as this town is the US Convention mecca. On Monday, we took an early 6:20 flight to arrive at 8:00 AM. Greeted at the airport by a new & old “Welcome”
signs:
Then headed to the hotel, dropped bags at off to the convention center where valet Mark noted Dan’s hat & assumed he was a Gonzaga fan. This was the first reminder of everything else going on in the city, NCAA Sweet 16 Madness,
AND OF COURSE, the BUFFETS.
But enough of that for now. The first mission upon entering the Convention Hall is getting the Badge. The last 2 years, as Dan was not coming I was using his badge. But this year:
My own badge. Perhaps, the last 2 years never really happened?? At any rate, with nothing happening yet, we proceeded over to the café for much needed coffee as NAPTIME thoughts were already dancing in our heads. Curiously enough, we spotted someone in a Penquins shirt. I approached him to chat wondering who this might be. None other than Pete Tolman, owner of the increasingly popular Iron Borne, a big part of the Detroit Pizza movement in Pittsburgh. Interesting background in that he was a classically trained chef with a background in fine dining whose credits include time at Nemacolin. Anyone heard of Latreauc? He had no background in Pizza but decided to go with it & the Detroit style after enjoying it at a shop in Colorado(??) called Brown Dog.
After a nice chat, we headed to a seminar conducted by John Gutekanst, owner of Avalanche Pizza in the college town of Athens, Ohio. Titled Finding Your Niche; Using Creativity, Absurdity & Street Smarts. The title speaks for itself & the content lived up to it. The underlying theme was to Try anything once to market your shop even if it scares people. Core values are Passion, Love, Creativity & Knowledge.
That brought the first day to an end at the Expo except for checking on the progress of the Exhibit set-up.
Editor's Note: This is not the Pizza Expo exhibit hall.
So far, so good. We all recall what goes on at the Exhibits??? More on that next time.
A brief recap of Day 2 of the 2018 International Pizza Expo
Hi there! This is Dan Tallarico, your favorite pizza journalist, with a recap from day 2 of our visit to the 2018 International Pizza Expo. You can read our day 1 recap here if you want to get up to speed on our pizza adventure thus far.
This expo is huge. From end-to-end I swear it's a mile long. Each row is home to pizza ovens, baking sheets, cheese suppliers, tomato vendors and all sorts of fringe pizza technology and services. It's overwhelming, but we've done our best to bring you a cross-section of the expo. It's impossible to see it all. Or eat it all, but we are doing it for you.
Watch our Day 2 Recap Video here or keep reading for a rundown of highlights.
Pizza Legends Cooking on the Show FloorThe Pizza Expo exists to elevate pizza craftsmanship and help pizza makers make the best pizza and share ideas. So, you have pizza legends like Tony Gemignani and Graziano Bertuzzo cooking on the floor like it was another day in the kitchen. These two are trailblazers in the world of pizza and have helped spread new techniques and information about how to make better pizza.
Graziano Bertucco showing off a pizza he made that's engineered to reduce starch.
Detroit Style PizzaIn 2009 no one outside of Detroit knew what Detroit Style Pizza was. Now, Pittsburgh has two Detroit Style Pizza shops and many more are peppered across the nation. This movement was started by Shawn Randazzo, president of the Detroit Style Pizza Company.
Shawn loves Detroit Style Pizza and when he first entered the World Pizza Competition he was surprised to see no one else knew about his region's pizza. So, he spent years being the Detroit Style Pizza ambassador. The tipping point for his movement was when he won the World Pizza Championships in 2012 with his Detroit Style Pizza. Now the World Pizza Championships are filled with variations of the pie.
Through his efforts and passion, Shawn has helped Detroit Style Pizza get on the map. He frequently travels the globe to help aspiring Detroit Pizza folks dial in their technique. I shot some video with his crew so look forward to that!
Gluten Free PizzaGluten Free Pizza is growing in popularity as more people pay attention to what they're putting into their bodies. As Graziano Bertuzzo said, "You aren't what you eat, but what you digest." Among the traditional pizza companies, the show floor is home to new gluten free pizza ventures. And great news - the pizza taste pretty good.
A gluten free pizza category was added to the World Pizza Championships and I heard that spots filled up pretty quickly. If you're into the gluten free lifestyle you'll be happy to know that there's some quality pizza coming your way.
Pittsburgh Pizzaiolo, Kevin Konn, cutting into a mozzarella, broccoli rabe pie.
Day 3 Ahead!
That's all for now - I have a ton of photos and videos to get together, so stay tuned for those updates in the coming days.
Michael Mercurio, of Mercurio's pizza in Shadyside, has placed 5th in the Napoletana Division of the International Pizza Challenge. The competition for this is fierce as Michael was competing with seasoned pizzaiolos from across the globe. This competition was so tight that Michael missed out on 3rd place by 12 points and first place by 31. It was one of the closest competitions the judges have seen as the quality of neapolitan pizza continues to grow.
"When I discovered I came in fifth place I was blown away," Michael Mercurio said. "I can't wait to come back next year and compete it again, gonna bring a victory back for Pittsburgh."
The pie Michael submitted to the judges is a picturesque neapolitan pizza. Perfect leopard printing, an even layer of sauce and dollops of cheese smoothly melted into the pie. It's a remarkable pizza that can go pizza-to-pizza with just about any other neapolitan pizza across the globe.
This is another great pizza accolade for the Pittsburgh Pizza Community.
Traveling to Las Vegas has been a bit exhausting. Since it's not about the destination, but really the journey, I thought I'd chronicle our first day of getting to Las Vegas and struggling to ham it up for the camera.
It wasn't all an exhausting waste, we actually had a number of great conversations and captured quality content with the attendees here. Off the top of my head, here's some articles you can look forward to:
Pizza Expo International Pizza ChallengeI spoke with Jeremy Galvin at length about the International Pizza Challenge. He orchestrates the event and has been handling the logistics for a few years. In his words, the point of this challenge is to "elevate the pizza craft." It's basically an arena of pizza makers trying to out-pizza each other.
Jeremy told me that the non-traditional categories fill up quick and the event is truly international as competitors fly in from all over the world to compete. Gluten Free and Sicilian / Detroit Style pizzas are bubbling up in popularity this year, so look for those!
Iron Born Visits Pizza ExpoOur associate editor, Tom Tallarico, spotted a young pizza maker in a penguins shirt. After talking a bit he found it was the owner of Iron Born pizza, Pete Tolman. Pete talked with us about his goals for Pizza Expo, how it took him years to get his dough to where he wanted it, and what the future of Iron Born pizza might look like.
He was also pretty stoked about the panel on whether or not a 24-hour fermentation has benefits on dough. Funny how I haven't had a chance to catch up with him a mile from my house, but we have no problem chatting 3,000 miles away from home.
A Young Pizza CompetitorI've been following the career of Anthony Scardino since Tom reported on his pedigree a few years back. He's competing in his first International Pizza Challenge this year and, at the time of this writing, is balling his dough up for this week's competition. What a guy!
We had a few minutes together to take a selfie and do a short interview. I'll be picking his brain about pizza, competing, and the pizza expo family in the coming days.
Tom Tallarico unpacks the 2018 Pizza Expo attendee bag. Take in his child like wonder as he pulls out. a number of flyers, magazines and some fascinating pizza accessories.
Wow, it’s finally here. Pizza Walk With Me’s third International Pizza Expo. Pizza Expo is home to the World Pizza Games, pizza innovations, hundreds of vendors and an event that basically turns Las Vegas into a huge Pizza Think Tank. Talk about paradise.
In the past, I’ve sent our associate editor (and my father) Tom Tallarico. He brought back hot scoops and breaking news about Caliente winning the Pizza Championship in 2016, a photo with pizza Trail Blazers like Tony Gemignani and Scott Anthony, and he has gotten me enrolled on several vendors mailing list. Thanks Dad!
But this year we’re doubling our staff - I’m heading out to Las Vegas on Monday to attend my first ever Pizza Expo. Together this Father and Son Pizza Duo will bring you amazing stories about up and coming pizza makers, we’ll deliver breaking news faster than you can heat up a Freschetta, and produce a couple of videos with pizza royalty. Here’s a preview of some of the coverage we’re looking to bringing your way.
The International Pizza ChallengeWhen people ask me what goes on at the International Pizza Expo one of the things I always bring up are the pizza championships. While there’s also the World Pizza Games, which focus on talent and dough tricks (like box folding), the International Pizza Challenge. There are a number of competitors that enter the International Pizza Challenge vying for the best pizza in a multitude of pizza categories. It’s an amazing event because it brings together the variety of pizzas that have evolved and sprouted across the United States.
Divisions are broken up by traditional, non-traditional, pan, pizza napoleteana and gluten free. It’s a swath of categories that cover everything from Detroit Style pizza to the pizza that was perfected in the heart of Italy.
I plan to follow a couple of different pizza contestants, one of which is Anthony Scardino. Scardino is a seasoned pizza veteran who has spent the past few years bringing an eclectic bout of pizza to life in Chicago. Everything from Bonci to Sicilian Style. He’s so thorough in his experimenting that he has earned / given himself the name Professor Pizza. I’m looking forward to the experiment he brings to the International Pizza Challenge!
The Women of Pizza
Did you catch the Ugly Delicious episode about pizza? Cool. The most amazing part of that episode is how they managed to talk to only dudes. It’s an industry of old white guys, that’s for sure.
Luckily, the show will play host to showcasing some of the women in the industry. On Wednesday we’ll be heading to the show floor to talk with some of these women, learn their stories, what made them get into this industry and where they see the industry growing. Here’s who we’ll be talking to:
Giorgia Cporuscio - Possibly the only female pizzaiolo in the US!
Laura Meyer - A winner at the International Pizza Expo and trained under Tony Gemignani.
Ann Kim - Owner and chef at three pizza shops in Minneapolis. Winner of best new restaurant accolades.
Jeanette Catena - Educator and trainer of a variety of different pizza styles in the United States. Founded Pizzeria LUNA in NJ.
Nikki West - Chief Experience Officer of NYPD Pizza in Phoenix, Arizona.
Nicole Bean - An owner of pizza restaurants in Houston, Texas, serving both Detroit and New York Style pizza.
Awesome line up of women and I can’t wait to hear their stories and share them with the world.
Pizza + Social Media, a Match Made in HeavenScott Anthony, a seasoned leader in the pizza industry and owner of Punxy Pizza in Punxsutawney, PA, reached out to me about his session helping pizza owners improve their social media presence and outreach to pizza journalist like myself.
Scott has been in the industry for years and can’t sit still. He’s always jetting around to pizza events across the country helping to spread the word and passion of pizza. I’ll be stopping by his session to pick his brain and get his thoughts on the current pizza landscape.
Lots of PizzaPizza Expo is home to pizza innovations, cutting edge techniques and huge personalities. I’ll do my best to capture exactly what’s going on in the Pizza Industry and do my best to see what the next big thing is going to be. Will it be Detroit Style Pizza, which has its own session on Thursday? Or maybe a new type of cheese or a baking technique?
Stay tuned for more pizza highlights. Don’t want to miss an update? You can follow Pizza Walk With Me on Instagram at Instagram.com/PizzaWalkWith. Don't forget to sign up for the mailing list to get hot scoops and hot pizza news delivered right to your inbox!
Let me tell you when I first ran into the Badamo’s crew because it contextualizes their aura.
I was at the Michigan and Trumbull pop-up at the Vandal, an event that was packed with people pushing to the front for Detroit style pizza. I was helping to take orders for the evening, bustling around, weaving between people when someone from the kitchen shouted they were out of takeout boxes. A critical component was missing, we needed to fold pizza boxes stat. So, the Badamo crew, who are waiting patiently to try this pizza ( who have probably spent all day prepping dough, getting restaurant in order, and all the other things that come with making pizza) and these dudes just start folding boxes. Like box folding addicts, they can’t stop. No shrugging, no fussing, they were eager to lend a hand and help out.
And their pizza is a personification if that sentiment. Friends building some great. A family of pizza makers, a pizza that you want to share.
I visited their newly opened location on the North Side. It's a small joint, but full of charm. The waiting area was filled with soon-to-be-regulars waiting for their Friday night order of pizza and hoagies. In their display case were an assortment of specialty slices. Perfect if you want to mix-and-match some slices to accompany your evening hoagie.
I stuck with a fresh pie which came out piping out from the oven and appeared to be expertly cooked. I mean, look at that crust!
Above you can see a practically perfect in every way pizza. The crust is the right kind of brown, charred in the right spots, and you have an even layer of cheese that covers the sauce just so.
Like a fool I grabbed a pizza and a hoagie to eat by my lonesome. The life of a pizza journalist.
One bite in and I was already dying to tell my pals about the pizza.I was enjoying. The sauce was tangy, not too sweet, and the cheese masterfully held everything together. Half the pizza contained sausage and green peppers. Both these toppings were fresh and fairly distributed without stealing the pie spotlight.
The pieces folded easily, but I noticed the bottom was a bit too pale. It could've spent a minute or two on the hot side of the oven. I reached out to Badamo's and they confirmed that this happens sometimes saying:
A lot of times with the deck ovens if you're blasting the ovens with pies all night the stone cool down and you get more top heat than bottom stone heat. Therefore, it didn't get it's color. Normally if I notice that, I'll slide it to a spot that hasn't had a pie on it to get the bottom dark as well.
With a new oven on a busy night, there's a learning curve to baking pizzas. I'm really impressed with the insightful comment they sent back too. The folks at Badamo's really get pizza. They're in the pursuit of perfection but know that there are bumps along the road. Sometimes that's a pizza that's not perfectly cooked. And that's a-okay.
I look forward to going back to see how they've grown.
Badamo's pizza is reminiscent of the local small-town pizza shop, but with a level of perfection. It's an elevated version of the pizzas I grew up eating (Luciano's and Monte Cello's to name a few). It's comforting in its shape, but has a depth of flavor that those suburban flagships are missing.
I bet these guys grew up eating similar pizzas and thought, "Hey, we can do this." Add in a unique level of passion and a pursuit of perfection and you have one of the tastiest pizzas this side of the Allegheny.
Roberta's pizza has thrived in Bushwick on a foundation of quality and freshness. Their business infrastructure was built organically over the course of a year where the Roberta's crew had nothing but close friends and family to rely on. In the Roberta's Cookbook there's a rambling introduction that tries to tell the Roberta's story (they note that it's a story still being written). While trying to capture the spirit they write, "To experience Roberta's, you have to visit it." And now you can purchase a vacuum sealed pizza of theirs in the freezer section of a local Whole Foods.
It's curious that a pizza place that relies so much on experiencing the environment of Roberta's would be one of the first to have their Margherita pizza sealed and sent across state lines. If so much of what makes Roberta's great is the atmosphere and making memories with friends, what good is a pizza divorced of that?
While it may seem like a cash-in you'll be happy to know that this pizza actually holds up. Most frozen or reheated pizzas have a lingering taste about them. It's the taste of age, or a lack of freshness, that is entirely edible but in a different pizza class of its own. This Roberta's pizza came bubbling back to life after a mere three minutes in the oven. I let it loiter in the oven for a minute longer for extra crispiness. While the pizza was missing that pop of freshness, it is a solid Neapolitan pizza.
Here's the pizza after spending a few minutes in the oven.
The puddles of cheese held dribbles of olive oil, the sauce was simple and tangy. The pizza was a near perfect facsimile of the one that comes out of a Roberta's oven. Which makes sense as these pizzas are cooked and immediately packaged, freezing a pizza in time until you're ready to open the delicious time capsule. The Margherita is a perfect canvas if you want to add your toppings and doctor up the pizza. The pizza is perfectly balanced as is, and the sauce shines through, but feel free to add a sprinkle of meat.
They did their best to put a quality Margherita pizza into the wild. But the question remains: if you need to visit Roberta's to experience Roberta's, why package the pizza? The Roberta's cookbook was written a while ago and maybe they wised up. Maybe they want to spread their passion for pizza and open up the opportunity to gather with friends and make their memories in their homes. Or parks. Or wherever. The pizza is what draws friends and family together. It doesn't matter where it's eaten, as long as it's eaten with your pizza pals.
Roberta's air-tight Margherita is the king of the freezer section pizza. If you need a Neapolitan pizza in a pinch you can't go wrong with this package. It retails for ~$10 at Whole Foods or you can spend $70 to have it shipped from your door from Gold Bely's.
A muse can take many forms. For some it's a beautiful partner, always lingering at their side with wisdom and guidance. For me it's a perfectly baked pizza and amazing lighting. I had extra footage from my visit to Driftwood Oven's new spot in Lawrenceville so I put it to some tunes.
Enjoy the video and if you've had a chance to make it to Driftwood Oven for their soft opening let me know how you enjoyed it!
It's no secret that I adore Driftwood Oven's pizza. I spent a lot of money on gasoline chasing them around to every corner of Pittsburgh. But most of their travels have come to an end as they've settled on a permanent home in Lawrenceville.
They've taken up residence at 3615 Butler St (the old Matteo's spot) where they'll be slinging 16 inch pizzas with a full bar and a roof over their heads. Three years of hard work to sell pizzas and an amazingly successful Kickstarter is really paying off for Neil, Justin and the whole Driftwood Oven crew.
I was lucky enough to pop into their shop during their soft opening. It was a Sunday full of sunshine and I did my best to capture their pizza on video. Look forward to more coverage of Driftwood Oven as they figure out this whole permanent pizza thing. Maybe we'll even see some of their delicious and elusive square pizza slices...
This is Driftwood Oven's delicious Archer pizza. A bit bigger and sturdier than their mobile version.
Pizza is humankind’s bestfriend. While we have created so many great industries, technologies and flavors, pizza is the one creation that loves us back.
Think about eating a pizza. There’s no other experience like it.
As each bite of pizza globs down your esophagus, strings of cheese latching onto anything it can grab and occasionally clogging the passage, it’s actually saying hello. It’s pizza’s way of saying, “Thanks for making us one and I promise that my sauce, oil, crust and whole being will help make you a better person.”
People and pizza go together like, uh, pizza and beer. Pizza is a simple food that we use as social currency and in return we are all the richer. The more you spend it the more there seems to be! When I’m interested in meeting up with someone we will obviously go and grab some pizza. Now, next time we meet we will either go to another pizza place or spend the whole time talking about how we bonded over pizza.
Pizza begets pizza begets pizza.
Pizza has evolved alongside us. As we’ve settled across the country pizza has adapted to fit in with the local lifestyle. That’s how we have Detroit Style pizza and New York style. No matter what economic class you find yourself in pizza is one of the more accessible foods. Grab a slice on a street corner for a dollar or drop $25 a pie at a fancy brick oven place with a fancy awning outside their building.
Pizza is there for us, waiting in the wings, never judging but always glowing its oily glow.
Happy National Pizza Day. Go hug a pizza and let it hug you back.
Here’s some pizza photos to celebrate.
Slice Island’s signature rectangles.
Buffalo Chicken Pizza from Michigan & Trumbull
Sausage and pepper pizza from Della Terra
A lightly olived pizza from Piazza Talarico
A Sicilian pizza I made for Christmas!
Tommy T doing his best Professor Pizza impression.
In this episode of Slicing it Up With Dan, you can watch me eat a slice of pizza from Michigan & Trumbull. This slice has sausage, fennel, and their delicious sauce and cheese. Watch me enjoy the crusty exterior and delicious innards.
Michigan & Trumbull is a delicious pizzeria that is churning out some high-tier flavors. You can read my review of Michigan & Trumbull pizza here.
The classic sausage and green peppers pizza. This pizza was perfectly cooked, sturdy, and toppings evenly spread out.
I imagine that there's fan fiction out in the world that describes in detail what would happen if a rag-tag crew of Pittsburghers traveled across the Atlantic and settled onto the fine country of Italy. They'd call their vibrant land "Yintaly" and their flag would flutter in Southern Italian Wind boasting colors of black, gold, green, red and white. And their pizzas and pizzerias would be modeled after the fine bar/pizzeria of Villa Reale in downtown Pittsburgh.
Villa Reale is a hidden ball of mozzarella in downtown Pittsburgh, nestled next to Weiner World on Smithfield Street, it's an unassuming pizza parlor. When you first enter you notice how unbelievably long this building it. There's a bar in front of the ovens that extend as far as Italy until it opens up into a dining room. I would not be surprised if the blueprints show that this building is modeled off of Italy's boot-shape.
Me and my pizza crew sat in the dining room, but I'm interested in going back for the bar experience. I have a hunch that that's the "right" way to enjoy Villa Reale because you can sip beer and get a front-row seat for the pizza making. That's a tough combo to find in Pittsburgh, but a huge plus for making the trip to Villa Reale.
This half plain, half capicolla was a bit of a mess. Cheese flooded the center and it was unruly. I think it was because this was an XL, a troublesome size.
My pizza crew had two pizzas: a sausage and green pepper and a half-plain half-capicolla. These pizzas may have been made on opposite sides of the world by random strangers. The plain/capicolla had enough cheese for four pizzas while the sausage/green peppers was slice after slice of perfection. How do they do it? How do they churn out such different pizzas?
It sounds like a bad thing, but to me it's comfort. With the boom of artisan pizzerias, it's somewhat refreshing to be served a gloopy moat of cheese and a crisp, crunchy medley of sausage and peppers. It adds an extra layer of mystique and yes, of course we ate all but one slice.
Villa Reale's pizza is the kind of pizza that has a crust that is so volatile that some parts may shatter in your mouth and others are soft and chewy. It's the phenomenon that happens when air pockets form in the crust leaving behind bites that explode like landmines. The slight imperfections of this pizza is what makes it so classic and Pittsburgh-esque.
I'd put Villa Reale up there with one of my lifetime favorites, Mama Lucia's. I love the mix of Italian heritage and Pittsburgh and they created an odd mish-mash of an environment that you can only find in Downtown Pittsburgh.
Here is an unfortunate slice of plain pizza that looks like Laura Palmer wrapped up in plastic on the side of a river.
Next time I go to work on my Pittsburgh x Italy crossover fan fiction, I'll do it at the Villa Rae bar. The perfect environment to chat with surly waiters and eat the finest food Italy has to offer. This is pizza that pairs well with a cold Miller High Life or whatever light beer of your choosing.
As a bonus, try to find the photo of a (younger?) Mona Lisa in front of a painting of the Mona Lisa. This really is the icing on the tiramisu.
Welp, the Driftwood Oven boys are at it again. Towards the end of November they announced that they were going to focus their Winter energy on making Matteo's old house their home and open a shop on Butler St. After years of traveling around the city, battling for their lives in multiple pizza dojos, and dealing with the elements, Neil and Justin thought they deserved a solid roof over their heads.
After all, they ventured to the corners of the city to serve us pizza, it's about time we travel their way.
Driftwood Oven is opening up in the old Matteo's spot on Butler Street. I'm not sure what happened to Matteo's, but I'm confident a somewhat casual pizza shop will do wonders in the Lawrenceville area. But, because they're upgrading from a tent to a sturdy structure with an actual roof they need a bit of help with the extra expenses. So they launched a Kickstarter to raise the extra money.
I'm typically a bit skeptical of Kickstarters because creators tend to get a too grandiose with their promises. Typically resulting in failed goals or setting impossible expectations. The steady rolling Driftwood Oven crew has hit a sweet spot with their rewards and have a solid track record of quality to back up their promises.
The rewards are far from crazy and give you an opportunity to pre-buy pizzas at bulk discounts. For $100 you get an invite to their Kickstarter Party which is already in the running for the 2018 Pizza Party of the year.
Driftwood Oven is a success and pizza shop like no other. They are hard workers who built a pizza empire from scratch. As of this writing the Kickstarter is about eight hours old and has already raised over $10,000. Each of those dollars represents a delicious archer they served in the dark winter nights outside Staghorn Cafe in Greenfield and the long days of prepping dough for those sweltering days outside of Grist House.
Why Driftwood Oven Going to Kickstarter is Great for the Community
A couple of classic pies from Driftwood Oven
I am a firm believer that everyone's favorite pizza place is whatever they were raised on. Luciano's and Monte Cello's hold a special place in my heart even though their modern forms may not be the greatest version of their pie. Driftwood Oven having a permanent home will give family's another great option for Friday pizzas and I bet you that place will host someone's birthday each weekend. Maybe so much that they'll create a Driftwood Oven Birthday Song?
More importantly, Butler Street is peppered with businesses that are out of touch with the neighborhood. It's the unfortunate side effect of the population boom and investors trying to capitalize on a trend. Participating in the Driftwood Oven Kickstarter gives residence a way to say "I made this happen" and "This is the kind of business I want in my backyard."
Can you even believe that Butler St is anchored on one end by Driftwood oven and on the other Slice Island? Pittsburgh has certainly become the secret pizza capitol of the North East.
One final thing - their mobile pizza unit isn't going anywhere as they said they'll roll it out of the shop when things get a bit warmer. Stay tuned for more Driftwood Oven pizza updates.
Michigan & Trumbull's Packard Pepperoni, complete with pepperoni, peppers, follows of sauce and that gooey cheese.
Nestled into the corner of the newly built Federal Galley is a piece of Detroit in the form of Michigan & Trumbull. Michigan & Trumbull is helmed by Nathan and Kristin who are Detroit Natives that bake delicious Detroit Style pizza. Detroit Style pizzas has started leaking out of Detroit and into other metropolitan areas the past five years. According to Tony Gemignani's Pizza Bible, the rise in popularity is tied to Shawn Randazzo, cofounder of Detroit Style Pizza Company, entering and winning the International Pizza Challenge in 2012. Around that time fan favorites Via 313 popped up in Austin which stoked interest in Detroit Style pizza. With Pittsburgh host to two Detroit Style places I guess you can say that it's finally a thing.
Michigan & Trumbull creates my favorite version of Detroit Style pizza. There's a fine line pizza makers have to walk between making a thick sicilian style pizza that's filled with oil and true Detroit style that is outlined by a caramelized crust filled with flavor. A quality pie has a hint of sweetness that blends nicely with the grease of pepperonis lined up on each square.
Up close with the Packard Pepperoni.
And biting into a Packard Pepperoni is complex. It doesn't taste like any other kind of pizza. The cheese, caramelization of the crust, pepperoni, peppers, and honey blend together to create a cacophony of flavor. A new species of pizza deserving of its own classification.
It's honestly a bit overwhelming and foreign at first. But, with each bite comes another shred of enlightenment. Between chews I found myself understanding the strategic profile of the pizza.
"Ah, okay, so that drizzle of honey is causing the sweetness which blends nicely with the goopy cheese."
"Those peppers add just the right amount of heat."
"The edges of this crust somehow don't even taste like dough, but as if someone laminated it in a sweet crunchy shell."
Butkeep eating and you'll completely understand each individual flavor in these squares. It's a lot to take in at once, but by your third square you'll find yourself craving more and accelerating towards the finish.
Eating the Packard Pepperoni is fun, almost like solving a brain tickling puzzle. With each bite I uncovered a new flavor which kept me yearning for more. I've actually taken breaks from writing this to take small nibbles of the piece I brought home to share with my wife.
I look forward to trying each and every pizza that Michigan & Trumbull has on their menu. I see them adding a ton to the rich Pittsburgh Pizza Tapestry and I'm so glad they chose to bring their take on Detroit Style Pizza to Pittsburgh.
Looking forward to eating my way through the Michigan & Trumbull menu.
You can find them at the newly opened Federal Galley on the North Shore.
I’ve recently found myself with plenty of free time and what better activity to fill those dull hours than mastering the craft of pizza?
Pizza is a basic exercise that has been around for ages. If someone without the power of the internet could figure out how to make pizza so can you! But, having a mentor or guide helps provide much needed structure. More importantly, a good guide explains the fundamentals and the why behind making pizza.
Where to begin? How do you find a mentor? A great start is praying to the pizza gods above. Like civilizations that have relied on ethereal beings and lords to provide guidance, so too can you find inspiration and wisdom in the form of a bible. The Pizza Bible. The Pizza Bible is a spiritual novel that will guide your soul to Nirvana. And if you’re reading this, chances are that Nirvana is great pizza.
These dough balls come from the very first recipe from the book. It’s part of the “Master Class” where Tony Gemignani, the author and pizza master, explains the basics. Why use ice cold water? What’s the best flour to use? How do bags of flour differ?
Beyond the basics, the Pizza Bible tells the story of pizzas around the region. How can you replicate a New York city pizza in your kitchen? What makes Detroit Style so great? What differentiates a Sicilian crust from a normal crust? Why would you want to use poolish?
I currently have poolish growing in my kitchen for use in some upcoming pizza experiments. Winter time always makes me crave Sicilian pizza and now I'm taking matters into my own hands.
This Winter if you’re looking for a hobby or activity to fill the hours, try making pizza. It’s fun in groups and working your way through the Pizza Bible will sharpen your taste for pizza. You can find the Pizza Bible over at Amazon.
Well, it’s official. Italy and Naples are the clear owners of Neapolitan pizza. Unesco, The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, has given pizza “intangible heritage” status. Meaning it is officially part of Italy’s cultural tapestry. They official own neapolitan pizza.
This makes sense as they’ve been trying to regulate and control pizza for years. Everyone knew that neapolitan style pizza belonged to the fine folks in Naples, where it was originally created, but now it’s official. There’s some comfort in official decrees much as there’s comfort in Neapolitan pizza itself.
Because of strict regulations neapolitan pizza’s consistency is rivaled only by Starbucks. You can walk into any restaurant that features the pizzaiolo mascot (a man in a white outfit and black mask) and know exactly what you’re getting. It’s a sign of quality, fresh cheese, and San Marzano tomatoes. As it’s grown in popularity there have been several liberties taken to the pizza that stalwarts find quite offensive.
Neapolitan Pizza adheres to a strict set of rules. The fine folks at Forno Bravo actually translated the latest update to the regulations around neapolitan pizza. There are eight article that describe how to make the pizza, what flour to use, the temperature of each ingredient, how to serve the pizza and even the signage promoting the use of neapolitan pizza. You can read it in its entirety here.
The regulations are extensive, but if you had created one of the most popular foods and saw it evolve into a medium to house things like buffalo chicken and ranch dressing wouldn’t you go the extra mile to put some rules around the lawless mess? But those rules can stifle creativity. My favorite pizza comes when pizza makers take the neapolitan style and tweak it ever so slightly to create what pizza enthusiasts call “neo-neapolitan” pizza.
The Green Pointer from Pizza Taglio is a wonderful evolution of the future of pizza.
Neo-Neapolitan Pizza Enters the RingNeo-neapolitan pizza gives the pizzaiolo more control and agency about how to cook the pizza. Whether they want to mess with the shape, cheese and tomatoes, or the temperature of the oven. Neo-neapolitan is an evolution of the classic, and if pizza wants to maintain its ubiquity you’ll see the younger generation adopt fewer guidelines. After all, a refusal to change and adapt has doomed plenty of industries.
A perfect example of neo-neapolitan pizza is what Tony makes at Pizza Taglio. Tony cooks at a lower temperature and plays around with the rise time of dough and core ingredients. It may look like the Wikipedia entry for pizza, but someone from Naples would see the difference almost immediately. The Green Pointer is what happens when someone who knows the rules and regulations around pizza and understands the right way to (respectfully) break them. The creation isn’t disastrous or alarming, it’s familiar but at the same time new and intriguing.
Neo-Neapolitan pizza builds a bridge between the past and future. It’s a fun spin on the classic, but contains enough of the fundamental aspects of pizza to deliver that comfortness that we’ve come to expect from neapolitan pizza.
Another view of the delicious Green Pointer, which I would love to be eating this very second.
“What is Detroit Style pizza and why is it coming to Pittsburgh?” is a question I get a lot lately.
Well, Pittsburgh is a culinary melting pot and it makes sense that eventually this city will play host to the largest variety of pizza in the country. As Pittsburgh sits in the midst of the Rust Belt, the city is uniquely poised to take advantage of the trends migrating to the East Coast and vice versa.
Michigan & Trumbull, run by Kristin Calverley and Nate Peck, is the latest Detroit Style pizza shop to open in Pittsburgh, the first being Iron Born in Smallman Gallery. Michigan & Trumbull is following their lead and opening up inside Federal Galley, the "sequel" to Smallman Galley, on the North Side.
I was lucky enough to visit Michigan & Trumbull during their pop-up at The Vandal. While they sold out amazingly fast and left a behind a wake of happy customers, I got a chance to sample their vegan pizza. Which, I gotta tell ya that this was a true delight to eat and I hope it is a staple on their menu. The creamy rémoulade is a fine substitute for cheese and the eggplant provided plenty of flavor. It is the perfect compliment to the cheese and red sauce that decorates a majority of pizzas.
The Michigan & Trumbull vegan pizza is not to be missed!
While Pittsburgh doesn’t have its own well-defined style of pizza, it’s strange that Detroit of all places does. Like most things in Detroit, you can thank the motor industry for that. Pans used for car manufacturing happened to perfectly double as pizza pans. So what's Detroit Style pizza? As Nate Peck says, “I think what makes Detroit style pizza is the deep blue steel pan, and the cheese pushed to the very edge before cooking. This gives you the crispy cheese edge we love so much.”
And that’s the beauty of Detroit Style pizza. In some ways it is the antithesis of New York style and a distant cousin of Chicago pizza. Instead of a floppy triangle, Detroit style pizza is traditionally served as rectangles.It’s thick, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.
The outside crust supports the sauce, cheese, and just about anything you can throw onto the slice. It’s an architectural beast that soaks up greasy pepperoni or fresh tomato sauce.
Stacks of pizza dough waiting to hit the oven.
So, why aren’t we seeing more Detroit Style pizza? Why is Michigan & Trumbull getting into this business now?
Nate Peck says:
I’m not exactly sure what has taken the rest of the world to find out about Detroit style pizza. Honestly growing up in the Detroit area I didn't even think twice about it only being a Detroit thing. I thought we just had a choice of round and square. Then we moved to Pittsburgh and were like wait, nobody has anything close to pizza like home? which is why I started playing around with the dough and ordered a few pans.
Creating the dough for Detroit Style pizza, and the cooking process, is an involved. It’s not as simple as slapping the dough into the oven, rotating it out, and placing it on a tray. There's a lot that happens to the dough before it gets stretched out.
Nate describes his dough process to me, saying:
For our dough I do a 15 hour 'poolish' taking 20% of the doughs flour and water with a pinch of yeast and fermenting at room temperature. I then mix the rest of the ingredients. I usually do about 500-525 degrees for 12-15 minutes. You have to make sure you let the dough rise halfway up each pan after portioning.
For the sauce we do a really simple, fresh sauce. Using Stanislaus tomatoes. We don’t cook it very long to ensure it keeps its fresh tomato flavor. Since we do a nice long bake on the pizza I use a whole milk mozzarella so it doesn’t burn.
Expect Michigan & Trumbull to setup shop in the Federal Galley when it opens this year. Keep up to date with Michigan & Trumbull on Facebook. I'll keep you posted on any other Michigan & Trumbull updates here on Pizza Walk With Me.
Pizza Dojo 4 (technically the 5th Pizza Dojo event) has been announced for this Saturday, November 11th. Once again, Pizza Boat has emerged from the shadows and challenged Driftwood Oven to a two-enter-one-leaves pizza showdown of epic proportions .
Typically these challenges appear out of thin air, like a spectre who emerges from purgatory with unfinished business. Pizza Boat's unfinished business stems from the rampant ranking of pizzas happening in Pittsburgh this season.
Most recently, The Incline started a peculiar pizza bracket (which I was interviewed for here) that gave the ranking power to the Pittsburgh citizens. Much like the 2016 election, no pollster could imagine the outcome (except for me who actually did a pretty solid job predicting the winners. I guess that makes me the Nate Silver of pizza polls?).
Driftwood Oven was unceremoniously knocked out of the bracket in the first round and Pizza Boat was snubbed entirely. Pizza Boat took their aggression to Twitter as their therapist was clearly sick of their bellyaching.
Not 100% but there isn't a besticle for pizza in the dark, is there? @DriftwoodOven @PGHCityPaper @PghMag @theinclinepgh @woozle
— pizza boat (@pizzaboatpgh) October 30, 2017
Pizza Boat taunted Driftwood Oven in their classic fashion and pondered about the proper way to rank pizzas. Should there be a governing body? What about a list of listicles? How specific should the rankings go and why didn’t anyone rank the darkest place for pizza? It was here that Pizza Boat struck gold. While both pizza makers were victims to the bracket, they would create a competition that caters to their strengths.
Pizza Dojo events traditionally take place in the midst of Autumn when daylight is a sparse commodity and farmers relish the early morning sunlight. While most pizza makers are blessed with interior lighting, Pizza Boat and Driftwood Oven brave the elements to make pizza by the glow of the moon. A harsh environment, yes, but they pride themselves on being ranked highest (by themselves) for “darkest place to eat pizza.”
The fifth Pizza Dojo event, Pizza Dojo 4, takes place Saturday, November 11, in the lot behind Spirit Hall. Watch a video of last year’s event here featuring Rick Sebak:
I hope you're into Detroit Style Pizza because it is slowly taking over Pittsburgh. The latest entrant in that arena is Michigan & Trumbull. They're a Detroit Style Pizza shop that was shocked to find a lack of that good, thick, crunchy pizza here in Pittsburgh. In Nate Peck's (chef/owner of Michigan & Trumbull) own words, "Then we moved to Pittsburgh and were like wait, nobody has anything close to pizza like home? which is why I started playing around with the dough and ordered a few pans."
I'll have a more thorough interview with them on the site later, but today is the day you can sample their pizza. They'll be setting up shop at The Vandal tonight in Lawrenceville from 5pm - Whenever-we-run-out-o-clock.
Here's the menu of pizza they'll have at The Vandal this evening:
And here's a sample of what the pizza may look like right before you take a chomp!
Badamo’s Pizza is taking no time to make its mark on the North Side of Pittsburgh. Here’s the mural they’ve painted onto the front of their store’s shutter.
Not sure when the spot will be opening, but some may say this display is a bit of a tease. How can you present this image (one of a greasy, cheesy triangle of joy!) and not sell the real thing.
Whats worse is that the closest pizza fix is a Pizza Hut across the street. Talk about pizza torture.
I suspect you’ll know when Badamo’s Pizza opens when you hear a collective shout and cheer from North Side citizens.
Stay tuned!
They grow up so fast, don't they? First they're fumbling their little dough balls, struggling to figure out logistics, and experimenting with flours. Now, they are feeding multiple breweries a weekend, growing their staff, and sourcing ingredients so intelligently it would make your head spin. Not to mention the trophy case of accolades. To celebrate, Driftwood Oven will be at Roundabout Brewery this Sunday at 1pm with some of their pals. More info here, but let's talk a bit about their excellence.
Driftwood Oven burst onto the scene in a flurry of excellence. From their first pizza everyone knew this was legit. I remember biting into my first Driftwood Oven pie and looking around nodding, waiting to be woken up from another one of my pizza dreams.
Hard to believe they are only now turning two. Harder to believe a pizza landscape that doesn't involve Driftwood Oven.
The way Driftwood Oven has woven their way into the Pittsburgh tapestry is remarkable. From hanging out on the fringe in Greenfield, to bouncing from breweries to breweries. From working in a basement to getting prep space in Larimer. They drifted to where they were needed. It seemed like most evenings they were never further than a 5 minute drive or walk from my house, always within an arms reach.
Despite being a mobile oven, their aura is permanent. A night at Grist House or Dancing Gnome without Driftwood Oven feels empty. Heading to Round About brewery for a drink without that tent outside just seems off.
Justin greets visitors at their Greenfield spot. Neil bakes pizzas endlessly.
Justin always greets you with a smile and a large hello. His background in improve and comedy are not wasted in the Driftwood Oven tent. He's quick with quips and makes every pizza patron seem welcome. Neil works diligently behind the oven creating pies after pie. Bouncing between the oven and dough requires supreme focus and Neil never loses sight of a great pizza. And that's the way it has typically been. They've added some help along the way, which was much needed considering an evening at Grist House has them swamped in tickets as soon as the festivities begin.
And their little oven, who would ever think that physics and science would allow it to make enough pizzas to serve hundreds of people without a single drop in quality? I've never had to wait longer than 15 minutes for a pie, which is a small miracle. And it's not because I write about pizza. You, the clever reader, get the same loving attention and speedy service that I receive. It's a democratic pizza process and they treat every customer like it's their thousandths pie.
When I spoke with Neil nearly two years ago about his craft, he said, “I care a lot about what goes into this. Everything on the plate is good for you. I’m not going to serve you anything that I wouldn’t eat.”
That has been a staple of Driftwood Oven during their pizza tenure and it's great to see holding themselves to those standards. RSVP to Driftwood Oven's 2nd Anniversary Party here.
Driftwood Oven also has really great t-shirts. You can watch my review below.
Uh oh folks. I think the holy trinity of food is finally complete on the North Side. On the corner of Federal and North Ave, there has always been a reliable stop for hotdogs and burritos. But pizza? Well, save for a Pizza Hut, that area has been a pizza desert.
Badamo's Pizza is here to save the day.
This is the second location for A'Pizza Badamo, their first being in Mt. Lebanon. The pizzeria is known for delicious, stylish pizzas and a "yes and" atmosphere. It's like if Michaelangelo opened a pizzeria. Both the Ninja Turtle and the Renaissance Man. But they opened the shop together.
Stay tuned for more updates as I walk by this work-in-progress on my lunch breaks.
Picklesburgh has taken over the Roberto Clemente bridge in downtown Pittsburgh. Vendors from across the city have gathered to show off an assortment of pickled items. Things like a fried pickle, pickle on a stick, pickle juice, tacos with pickled vegetables, and of course pizza.
Spirit's booth dished out cocktails and brought Pizza Boat to serve up three pizzas that loosely fit the pickled theme.
Their White piqued my interest. While they didn't brine the dough, they assembled a topical pizza. Who could pass up mozzarella, ricotta, black pepper, honey and pickled carrots?
The pizza is a stunning canvas of white. Obviously. The ricotta and mozzarella meld into each other and the carrots stick out like exclamation points. If it was a wild animal you would think it evolved these features to scare off predators or hide in a wintery environment.
The White is a bit decadent. The cheese and honey deliver a sweetness that is sweeter than I enjoy for a pizza. This could easily double as a dessert pizza. The pickled carrots should balance that out, but there wasn't enough representation to combat the sweet essence. Perhaps doubling the pickled carrots could balance this pie?
But at an event like Pickleburgh, I'm happy they tried something a bit unorthodox. It's a welcome alternative to the pretzel vendors and the army of fried foods weighing down the bridge.
If you see this pizza out in the wild definitely give it a taste. Or, add this onto your order to gobble up as a dessert pizza at the end of a meal.
In the midst of a summer heat session, sometimes the margherita doesn't feel like the right pizza. The goo-factor of the cheese can clog you up, slow you down, and pump the breaks one of those often sung about summer nights. Spicy sausage or pepperoni exacerbates the heat draining your body of useful liquids. Boy, just typing this sentence is giving me the sweats.
Driftwood Oven has taken in account all those variables and algorithms and created a pizza perfect for summer chowing: The Beetza.
Yes, pizza is perfect for every season, but the weather impacts the pizza nuance. And this Beetza is a quintessential summer pizza. Almost as refreshing as a sparkling spritz or an ice-cold High Life.
We'll get to the beets in a moment, but this pizza has a soft, creamy layer that blends perfectly with a summer evening. The mixture is made up of crème fraîche, ricotta and Old Gold cheese (basically aged cheddar). It's gooey and light, giving you the perfect lubricant to put down a couple of airy slices. Chives are scattered on top of the pizza like celebratory confetti. They provide festive flair and a bit of flavor. The star of the show is, of course, the beets.
While beets are traditionally a delicious winter vegetable, there's no law against slicing them up for a delicious, bouncy pizza. Beets can be a flavor dead end. If they are not prepared well enough you get that wonderful earthy flavor in your mouth. The kind of flavor worms would die for. The Beetza comes corrects with the beet flavoring.
Instead of that earth flavor, every bite of beets is a burst of delicious, "rooty," flavor. When combined with the crust, the cream and a bit of caramelized onion, you get a sophisticated flavor in the form of a pizza.
Of course, the amazingly consistent Driftwood Oven crust plays host to these flavors and doesn't falter one bit under the heap of toppings.
The Beet Pizza is a potpourri of fun and flavor that pairs perfectly with a well cracked cold one. For those that don't enjoy beets, check this out as I know you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Finally, here's a photo of a non-beet pizza. Just for fun.
Attempting records is an inherent part of anyone's spiritual journey; something that unites. Something that brings out the very best in everyone. A reason to celebrate humanity and friendship.
That's pulled from the LongestPizza.com, the site for the World's Longest Pizza attempt. The event is taking place today, June 10th, at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. To compete for the record a team of the greatest pizza makers joined forces, like a pizza version of the Avengers. The team consists of: Tony Gemignani, Giulio Adriani, Tom Leehman, John Arena, Fred Mortati, Massimo Balacchi, Mario Vollera and Jimmy DeSisto.
Here's some of the logistics and stats for this attempt:
The dough weighs about 8000lbs
The sauce will weigh about 5600lbs
The cheese will weigh about 3600lbs
Total weight of the pizza= 17200lbs at around 7000’
The oven will be moving at around 17’/min. The assemblers will need to work fast or the oven will catch up with them. The oven is cooking at around 700°F; once it starts its journey it cannot pause or stop.
The assemblers will be rotated every 90 min or so, so they can have breaks and move to other ares that they will be needed, etc. If all goes well, we should be done in under 8 hrs. We will add some toppings to the last 1000’ of the pizza for variety.
Logistically, this might be the most complicated pizza in the world. The pizza makers must constantly be dealing with the dough, managing the ingredients and ensuring everything is in its place. Here's a few photos from the attempt taken by Scott Anthony, a regular pizza correspondent for Pizza Today and the owner of Punxy Pizza. I'll keep you updated as the attempt continues.
Some wonder if humidity and the weather will be an issue? Coincidentally, this is the second World Record Attempt to take place on a racetrack. In May, Nike attempted a sub 2 hour marathon attempt on a racetrack in Italy.
When I'm not eating pizza I'm thinking about ways to showcase my pizza passion. While some say I wear my pizza love on my sleeve, that isn't good enough. I'm always on the hunt for tasteful, snug, and cool pizza shirts to pull over my body. Luckily for me, Driftwood Oven has hit the point of their success where they are selling t-shirts. A sure sign of a healthy business. Here's my review of the Driftwood Oven old-timey baseball t-shirt.
Pizza ala Pala made by pizza genius, Graziano Bertuzzo
Pizza Expo is an astounding event that happens every year in Las Vegas. Last year I sent my associate editor, Tom Tallarico, to the show to cover the pizza news. Tom loves pizza so much he always capitalizes the word. You can read his Pizza Expo Coverage from last year here. In his final dispatch he spends time soaking in pizza excellence. Read Day 1 Here. Read Day 2 of Pizza Expo Here. Read Day 3 here.
Pizza EXPO 2017-Day 4Day 4 of the EXPO started off with a special morning treat, and no it wasn’t Sunny Side-up Eggs perfectly cracked on a Pizza. A session titled Two Champions Unite it was a special collaboration of two Pizza Giants; Tony Gemignani & Graziano Bertuzzo from Italy, top Pizza craftsman in Europe. Both have won Pizza titles in the U.S. and Italy. Both have won Pizza acrobatic titles at the start of their careers. That said, opening remarks included comments that the “Hands” define the style. The theme of the demonstration was Pizza alla Pala; or “Pizza on a Board”. Showing how Pizza making has become stylishly sophisticated, both Masters described techniques in dough making & toppings.
Graziano pre-ferments the dough with no yeast. He instead uses fruit soaked water for a natural fermentation. Makes use of Type 1 flour with an 18 hour rest which enhances the aroma. Dough is restarted with ground rice, fairly common in Italy making the dough lighter & crisper. The eventual dough has a higher hydration upwards of 90% which produces a better dough. Higher hydration of dough has been mentioned throughout the week.
Tony focused on the make-up of the dough using a spouted grain & spoke to the utilization of ancient grains for a dough which is healthier to eat. Using these grains with minimal use of yeast produces a product with more balanced Pizza components evenly present leading to a more satisfying Pizza experience. Both techniques add to the “digestability” of the food.
Tony Gemignani's version of Pizza ala Spana
Graziano Bertuzza is a legend of pizza making
Another unique feature of the Pizza alla Pala is that most of the toppings are added after the dough comes out of the oven. Graziano topped the dough with potatoes cut into small bits along with rosemary & oil; then into the oven. After the bake, a variety of toppings are added. Graziano used toppings common to Italy; shrimp marinated in OJ (genius marinate; also almonds will take out the fishy flavor), Zucchini & Asparagus marinated in oil, olives as well as shaved chocolate at the end (once again, genius).
Tony’s toppings included peppadeaux peppers, goat cheese, hot pepper oil, cheese & a final topping of greens like Arugula. “It’s all about the finishing ingredients.”
Another technique was gutting the crust in half & filling with appropriate meats & cheeses. Love that! I would also spread that with some sort of “special sauce” concoction. Samples were very tasty. Great presentation which once again demonstrates the versatility of pizza, it’s evolution & the value of innovation.
Slices of pizza out in the wild of Pizza Expo
Day 4 also included the International Pizza Competition Final & the “Best of the Best” Bake-Off which is a competition among four past World Champions. Locally, Eric Von Hansen, last year’s winner in the Pan Division, was the Northeast Regional Champ. (At press time, regional winners were not listed for the Pan division.) This gives Caliente’s Two Regional Champs for Expo 2017. Great performance.
For the “Best of the Best”, Graziano Bertuzzo, mentioned above & Nino Coniglio, 2016 Pizza Maker of the year & a presenter from yesterday finished 1-2. No surprises; just ongoing excellence from both Pizza Masters.
With that completed, it was one more walk through the Exhibit Hall and then preparation for the trip home. Good Show!
See ya next year Pizza Expo!
Prior Pizza Expo 2017 Coverage* Day 0 - The Prequel * Day 1 - Getting Pizza Bearings * Day 2 - The International Pizza Competition Begins * Day 3 - 3 Critical Rules of Pizza Making
Matt Hickey's pizza entry into the pan pizza competition at the 2017 Pizza Expo
Pizza Expo is an astounding event that happens every year in Las Vegas. Last year I sent my associate editor, Tom Tallarico, to the show to cover the pizza news. Tom loves pizza so much he always capitalizes the word. You can read his Pizza Expo Coverage from last year here. This year he spent time investigating the wonders of the pizza competition at Pizza Expo.. These are the fruits of his labor. Read Day 1 Here. Read Day 2 of Pizza Expo Here.
Pizza EXPO 2017-Day 3
Day 3 continues with the International Pizza Challenge & the World Pizza Games. Local entrants include Eric Von Hansen in the Non-Traditional Division & Matt Hickey in the Pan Division. (As listed here earlier, Matt Hickey, also entered in the World Pizza Games, won the in the Dough Stretching competition.)
Eric’s entry includes a garlic-honey sauce with a steak topping. Matt’s entry has a topping which includes greens, nuts & strawberries lightly topped with balsamic. Results for both will be listed tomorrow.
Eric Von Hansen of Caliente waiting to compete at the 2017 Pizza Expo
I attended the Demonstration “My Champion Pizzas” conducted by Nino Coniglio, last year’s Pizza Maker of the Year from Brooklyn. With the classic Brooklyn accent & presentation style, he was a delight to watch & he certainly knows Pizza. He prepared a Mushroom Pizza; not just your typical mushroom pie but one that starts with dough that has fermented for 72 hours. Dough is worked & spread with EVOO, Pecorino Romano & Mozzarella; then topped with Portabella & Shitake mushrooms with Rosemary. Added near the end is truffle cream, pine nuts & finished with Parmigiana Reggiano.
Nino’s Pizza rules include:
- Put ingredients on evenly (very, very important).
- Don’t overload the pie.
- NO Dried Rosemary (not sure if this is a rule or a pet peeve).
Very nice, entertaining Demo.
Of course, one other activity on Day 3 is the obligatory walk through the Exhibit Hall enjoying food sample after food sample & chit chat with the vendors.
The day ends with Pizza Expo Block Party & the completion of the World Pizza Acrobatic Games.
Tony Scardino pointing at Tony Gemigani
Another Win for the Caliente group. Matt Hickey who also competed in the Pan Division today won 1st Place in the Longest Dough stretch. Nice Medal. This is the second first place finish for Caliente in the 2017 Pizza Expo International Pizza Competition. They won first place in the Northeast Region for Traditional Pizza earlier in the day.
It wouldn't be Pizza Expo without pizza.
Pizza Expo is an astounding event that happens every year in Las Vegas. Last year I sent my associate editor, Tom Tallarico, to the show to cover the pizza news. Tom loves pizza so much he always capitalizes the word. You can read his Pizza Expo Coverage from last year here. Before sending me this report, Tommy T called me to say how demanding covering the Pizza Expo has been. These are the fruits of his labor.
Pizza EXPO 2017-Day 2
With Day 2 of the EXPO comes the opening of the Exhibit Hall including Food Suppliers, Equipment Manufacturers and to the crowd’s delight, samples that their products produce, i.e. pizza, charcuterie, macaroni, olives & food, food, & more food. I can’t recall last year’s EXPO having so much & such a variety of samples.
Day 2 also starts the beginning of the International Pizza Challenge & the World Pizza Games. Of special interest in the IPC are the entrants from Caliente’s. First of all as reported here earlier, Nick Fink from Caliente’s is the Northeast Champion in the Traditional Division, his 1st competition. Congratulations to him. Eric Von Hansen, last year’s winner in the Pan Division, is entered in the Non-Traditional Division & Matt Hickey in the Pan Division. Their competition starts tomorrow so more to follow.
An action shot of the dough stretching competition in the 2017 World Pizza Games
In the World Pizza Games, Caliente’s had entrants in both the Dough Stretching & Box Folding competitions. Citizens Pie (Cleveland shop mentioned in the prequel) entrant Bonn Rassavong won the Box Folding competition with a final time in a cool 20 seconds for folding 5 boxes.
The winner of the box folding competition, Citizen Pie Bonn Rassavong
Attended the Demonstration “Make Innovation your Calling Card” where Doug Ferriman continued his theme of Innovation by developing the Unknown.
Doug Ferriman's breakfast pizza.
The demonstration includes making a Pizza for each meal of the day. Started with a breakfast Pizza, the next frontier in Pizza making. His dough is aged for 36 hours which produces a mix which is “fluffy & puffy”. Added to the stretched dough is a 3 cheese blend (Prov/Mozz mix, pepper jack & fontina), pepperdeaux peppers, cracked eggs; sunny side up & finished with a guacamole spread. The crust is then brushed with a maple syrup & honey mix to give it a “French toast” taste.
The lunch Pizza was a Reuben with spiced Pastrami (MMMmmmm), Sauerkraut, Siracha Cheese (now that’s innovation!!!!) finished with Russian dressing & garnished with crispy Jalapanos (nice touch).
The unique piece of the dinner Pizza was the use of “caviar olive oil”, a rare product from Spain where Olive Oil is encapsulated.
That makes for a busy Day 2 visiting endless rows of Exhibits & the variety of food samples, watching the Pizza competitions & another classic Pizza Demonstration. Much more to come from Day 3.
The all-star Caliente pizza crew
Pizza Expo is an astounding event that happens every year in Las Vegas. Last year I sent my associate editor, Tom Tallarico, to the show to cover the pizza news. Tom loves pizza so much he always capitalizes the word. You can read his Pizza Expo Coverage from last year here. With a year under his belt, as well as at least 100 more pizza slices, Tom is ready to tackle the 2017 Pizza Expo.These are his unedited reports.
Pizza Expo 2017-Day 1
Day One at the Pizza Expo usually involves Registration completion of participants & completion of the Exhibit set-up. It also includes informative Workshops for Pizza Shop operators for running a successful business & the start of seminars. Before the sessions began, my Expo started where last year’s ended as I ran into the group from Caliente’s. Last year at this time I ran into owner Nick Bogacz on the last day. He informed me that his chef, Eric Von Hansen had won best Pan Pizza in the International Pizza Challenge & brought two other staff members This year, Nick has brought along a total of 5 staff members.
Experience suggests that a big part in running a successful Pizza Business is assembling a good team which is not easy. Nick has been able to do just that. Keys are treating the staff well, develop loyalties & finding good “kids” who want to work & learn. He brings them to events like this. His staff is entered in the World Pizza Games; dough stretching & box folding & now 2 entrants in the International Pizza Challenge.
Eric is competing in the Non-Traditional Division. In additional, one of Caliente’s younger staff members, Matt Hickey, is entering his 1st competition in the Pan Division. Matt has been with Caliente’s for 2 years. However, he has been reading Pizza Today for many years, has always wanted to get to the Expo & now is ready for competition. He has prepared well, working at a number of shops in the area before getting to Caliente’s where he is now GM at the newest location in Mt. Lebanon. Good luck to both Eric & Matt. Caught a glimpse of their Pizza babies. Both look tasty with a bit of a twist; quite Innovative. Incidentally, Caliente’s now has 3 locations & hopes to open a 4th by late summer.
Speaking of Innovation, that was the topic of the opening seminar. InnovationKeeps Me Growing speaker was Doug Ferriman, an owner in the Boston area with the Crazy Dough brand & now launching a 2nd business, Oath Craft Business involving fresh ingredient pies with wife, Melissa. Doug’s philosophy is being positive, have faith in yourself & living in the Unknown. The Unknown is where Innoovation comes from. Success generally doesn’t come quickly or easily & it took Doug about 7 years to achieve the success he now enjoys. Key Points or Elevations as he calls them include:
- Having a clear & open mind; let the bad stuff go; keep your energy positive
- Humility & Visualization
- Conquering Fears
- Determination
- Power of Perspective
- Will to Win
- The Summit itself
Norman Vincent Peale couldn’t have put it better. Of course, Doug’s success involved becoming an International Pizza Challenge Champion on 2 occasions.'
One win involves quite an Innovative way of prepping dough. It involved grilling the dough, searing the dough in Olive Oil & then baking. Sounds tasty.'
Melissa & Doug Ferriman, Pizza Visionaries
A 2nd seminar involved Dough Fermentation moderated by Peter Reinhart. Topics include various fermentation processes & the importance of time & temperature for consistency. Key point was longer fermentation leads to better flavor & texture for your crust.
Lastly, attended a seminar conducted by Tony G. involving Specialty Cheeses & how to apply them. Once again, this session demonstrates the evolution & innovation of Pizza making. Subject matter ranged from traditional cheeses in their various forms to “finishing” cheeses of the softer, creamier variety. Makes one anxious to get back home to try something new.
That completed Day One. Informative sessions along with meeting new & old friends.
Tomorrow the Exhibits open & the World Games begin.
Nick Fink wins first in Northeast Region Tradtional Pizza at the 2017 Pizza Expo
Caliente can't stop winning in the world of pizza. Nick Fink, up and coming Pizza Star at Pittsburgh's Caliente, has won first place for the Traditional Pizza Division in the Northeast Region. His award winnning pizza was a Sausage & Pepper medley. Peppers were Charcoal/Hickory Grilled.
Key was roasted peppers hickory blend. Sausage was blend of Hot/Sweet & Calabrian.
Nick Is 21 and has been with Caliente's for 3 years. Started at Captain's Pizza at 15.
Pizza Expo is an astounding event that happens every year in Las Vegas. Last year I sent my associate editor, Tom Tallarico, to the show to cover the pizza news. Tom loves pizza so much he always capitalizes the word. You can read his Pizza Expo Coverage from last year here. With a year under his belt, as well as at least 100 more pizza slices, Tom is ready to tackle the 2017 Pizza Expo.These are his unedited reports.
PIZZA EXPO 2017
Well back at the EXPO again. Been looking forward to getting back since LAST March. And as time passes, Pizza becomes more popular (if that is possible) and takes on more & interesting iterations, i.e. Wood fired, 90 seconds in & out of the oven (as authentic as it gets), creative sauces & toppings & more shops than ever. Over the past year, my Pizza adventures have included:
Periodical Pizza fests around the city with prominent participants including Driftwood oven, Caliente, Graziano’s, Pizza Taglio among others.
Speaking of Driftwood Oven, have enjoyed their fare at various brewerys around town. Also, happy to see press release touting Neil being recognized with a Rust Belt Rising Chef award. Congratulations to him.
Eric Von Hanson with his award winning Pan Pizza from Caliente
Speaking of award winners, last year’s Pizza Expo Champion for Pan Pizza, Eric Von Hanson had the Pan Pizza put on the menu some months ago. But the big surprise is they have put the actual Pan winner, the Quack Attack, on the menu as well. Have to get one at least once a month.
Always enjoy the Brunch at Spirit Lounge featuring their wonderful pizza product including watching a Steeler playoff game there.
Two class places in Chicago; Bleuna & Paulie Gee’s out of NYC. Went to see Tony Scardino hard at work. He is an associate of Tony G. who I met last year at the Expo.
Up and coming pizza maker, Anthony Scardino with Pizza Walk With Me associate editor, Tom Tallarico
Always enjoy mainstays Fazio’s in Lawrenceville & Casa del Sol in Aspinwall.
Many others that I have missed as well. But haven’t been to Spak Bros. yet which I need to get to. It’s on my list.
Vytauras of Citizen Pie waving hello!,
Of course, Pittsburgh Pizza fest. I missed it as I was in Ohio. However, on my way home per a colleagues recommendation, I stopped at a place in Cleveland called Citizens Pie. Outstanding Pie!!! Some of the freshest ingredients/topping ever. The Soppressata was cut thick & exceptional. Turns out, Pizza maker/owner Vytauras will be at the Expo this week for the 1st time. One of his guys will be competing in the Box folding contest trying to break the World record.
A slice of pizza from Citizen Pie in Cleveland, Ohio
All that said, now looking forward to a Fun Fun week. Actually the weekend in Vegas was quite fun already.
Here is a simple, sloppy slice of Graziano's buffalo chicken pizza.
I admire Graziano's candor and excitement for their own pizza. I routinely visit their store for a six-pack, and occasionally I'll get a slice to take home with me. No use grabbing some beers without a pizza companion.
There's always someone spilling their drama in the front of the shop, but behind the counter you'll find the same reliable staff of workers who have seen it all and dealt with more griping and antics than most people see in their lifetime.
No one ever recommends Graziano's, and it rarely makes any "best of" list, yet their store is home to a couple of trophies. They participated in a few pizza competitions last summer and won consecutive "People's Choice Awards" for best pizza. The pizza in question: their buffalo chicken pizza.
I popped into Graziano's for a slice and one of the workers asked me if I wanted a slice of a fresh buffalo chicken pizza. I waffled, like a dope, then said yes. Most buffalo chicken pizza I've had starts with a crust, a gallon of ranch, french fries, fried chicken and a drizzle of hot sauce.
This flipped the script on buffalo chicken pizza. Instead of ranch, their pizza is slathered in hot sauce. They admitted they "went a bit overboard." I'd beg to differ - if you're going to make a pizza that's 90% hot sauce, lean into it. Own the fact that every buffalo chicken pizza carries with it a tub of hot sauce. That's what buffalo chicken pizza lovers want.
On top of the buffalo sauce was a hunk of cheese and grilled chicken, not fried. I was shocked, but with the crunch of the crust you don't miss the fried chicken. In fact, it helps all the flavors blend in a bit better.
If you're in the market for a somewhat sloppy, delicious and fun pizza, try the Buffalo Chicken Pizza from Graziano's. It's worth the adventure at least once.
Graziano's Pizza* Visit their website. * Give them a call: 412-621-7790 * Located at: 4109 Penn Ave
Find me a single person that dislikes Slice on Broadway. I dare you. Watch the video above and try and find a severe flaw.
It's impossible. Helmed by Rico Lunardi, Slice on Broadway is a pizza shop that is slowly taking over Pittsburgh pizza. His aggressive and intelligent expansion has earned him a spot in PNC Park, replacing the bland Diamond Pizza shop. A win for all parties involved.
Rico's mission is to build out consistently delicious pizza and, basically, ensure that everyone in Pittsburgh has access to amazing pizza. He shows no signs of slowing down which is a boon for everyone in the area.
I'm a big fan of what Rico has accomplished, heck the guy even got the mayor to declare April 14th as the official Slice on Broadway day in the city! If you haven't eaten a slice of Slice on Broadway, do yourself a favor and go to one of his locations this week.
What I Order* Rico stocks his shops with rare meats for a pizza shop: I always get a pie with soppressata. * Pepperoni rolls aren a good side option!
Slice on Broadway Ordering Info* Slice on Broadway website * Find them on Twitter! * Beechview Location * Carnegie Location * PNC Park Location
Slice on Broadway in the News* Practice, Practice, Practice, Pizza * Slice Highlight: Tomato Pie Pizza * April 14th is official Slice on Broadway day in Pittsburgh.
Driftwood Oven experiments with square slices
I don't know what kind of witchcraft happens under Driftwood Oven's pizza tent. Over the cold season, Neil and Justin set up their mobile home and zip themselves inside their pizza den. If you're at Grist House, Dancing Gnome or any other location they call home, to order the pizza you unzip their tent and enter the pizza cave.
The Driftwood Oven pizza cave is a warm safe place. Some folks linger inside with their beer and watch Neil expertly work the oven. Justin is a one-man-show ready to entertain anyone that enters. The pizza cave draws people in, like travelers gathering next to a warm hearth to rest their weary legs and tell tales of pizza.
On my most recent visit into the Driftwood Oven pizza cave, Neil had a tray of square slices. Driftwood Oven has been teasing square slices for a long time. In fact, I had sampled some square slices from Driftwood Oven months ago. The ones Neil are selling today is an evolution of that product. I asked him if this means he finally mastered the formula.
"It's never perfect. You know that. It's a constant work in progress," was Neil's response. I suppose an artist is never truly satisfied.
But square slices have a nostalgia to them. My uncle was so excited to see the slices on the menu that he ordered six. "Growing up in Beaver, it's all we ate. For your birthday they set down a platter of square slices," said my uncle, Don Erb, about his history with square slices.
Here Don uses the "blow on hot pizza" technique to cool it down a few degrees.
There is a rustic feeling to the square slices. It recalls memories of grandma pie: dough mashed into a square tray and plopped into the oven. It requires much less finesse than getting a round pie.
Driftwood Oven's square slices were delicious. The slices were solid, sturdy, and provided a hearty crunch. In past iterations the inside has been much softer, so maybe they're trying to strike that crunch-to-soft-balance.
still, it was beautiful and it was simple. I'm excited to eat tray after tray of their square pie in the coming months.
What I Order* A margherita and something zany on the menu. * Gotta grab a square slice as an appetizer. * Get a pizza per person.
How to Hunt Down Driftwood Oven* Follow them on Instagram * Check their website * Hit up their Twitter
Other Driftwood Oven News* Pittsburgh Pizza Dojo Part 2: Pizza Boat vs Driftwood oven * Driftwood oven Brings Pizza to Pittsburgh Pizza Deserts * Recounting the first Pizza Dojo
Spak Brothers mural is a beacon in Garfield.
Meet Spak Brothers. Spak Brothers sits in the heart of Garfield. Spak Brothers personifies modern Pittsburgh pizza, hence why they’re being highlighted during PGH Pizza Week here at Pizza Walk With Me.
Spak carries a wide variety of pizza, hoagies and appetizers that combine classic recipes with modern sensibilities. Their meats and cheeses are carefully sourced. You’ll never find a piece of pepperoni that’s overly greasy and their capicola is thick and just spicy enough. On top of that, they’re home to a bastion of veggie and vegan food. For years, Spak was the place for vegetarians and vegans to get their fix of wings and hoagies. The Seitan cheesesteak is eerily authentic to the real thing.
Spak Brothers is a simple shop. They have one person answering phones and helping the line, of which there seems to always be one. They know people are willing to wait for a pizza or hoagie and go to great lengths to entertain customers throughout the buying journey. In the store you can look at local artist or the many flyers for upcoming shows. Admire the coozies and Spak lighters for purchase, or play a game of pinball. Spak is also one of the places I don’t mind being on hold. The owner has recorded a number of classic songs with new lyrics focused on pizza. Such as Biz Markie’s “Just a Friend” and The Smith’s “Panic.”
Spak hosts a Pizza Eating Competition during the Pittsburgh PGH Festival. It gets pretty nasty.
As Pittsburgh pizza continues to grow, Spak will forever be the community pizza place. It’s a pizza glue that holds garfield together and is truly a pizza place of the people.
What I Order* 1 Large Pizza, half capicola, half hot peppers. * A whole hoagie, either BBQ Chicken with Grilled Chicken or the Italian Hoagie. * A garden salad with carrot ginger dressing.
Spak Bros Ordering Info:Location: 5107 Penn Avenue
Phone Number: 412-362-SPAK (7725)
Website: SpakBrothers.com
Other Spak News* Interview with the owner, Ryan Spak * Spak Brothers Pizza Eating Competition * Pizza Box Art Show at Spak Brothers
Hi there, I’m Dan, local Pittsburgh pizza journalist. Next week the City Paper has declared that it will be “#pghpizzaweek” where they will be highlighting pizzas from, at the time of publishing, 11 pizzerias. This is a city that has one of the highest amount of pizzerias per capita. This is a city where each neighborhood has a signature pizza and blocks are dense with pizza shops. 11 doesn't seem like enough, so I'm going to lend a hand.
In the past couple of years, Pittsburgh has experienced a pizza renissance. There’s a healthy mix of wonderfully greasy pies, mobile pizza heroes and neopilitan pizza that seem to import flavor from Italy.
Pizza has that effect on people. It’s a powerful food that can calm your nerves, put you at easy and transport you into a delicious pizza trance.
Over the next couple days I’ll be highlighting a number of local pizzerias as part of #pghpizzaweek. Pittsburgh is a pizza town as much as NYC, I truly believe that. We have some of the best pizza in the world here and it’s my job to highlight that.
So, over the next week you’ll see pictures, videos and essays on the following pizzerias:
- Spak Brothers
- Slice Island
- Pizza Boat
- Driftwood Oven
- Caliente
- Pizza Taglio
- Mama Lucia’s
- Slice on Broadway
- Fiori’s
- Bella Notte
- Stone Pizzeria
- Il Pizzaiolo
- Pizzuvio
- Fazio’s Pizza
I've covered many of these places in the past, and it's always fun to look back on great pizza from great pizza places. #pghpizzaweek may be one of the best weeks yet! Pizza ya later.
Hi, this is me, pizza journalist Dan Tallarico. And you may be wondering how I got here. Well, it involves 8 years of work and relationship building until I was able to marry into a family that had a pizza oven in their backyard. This is me with a pizza that stuck to the peel and had to be destroyed. Oh the humanity. Also, when you're a pizza journalist you don't have to worry about how wrinkled your shirts are.
I like to blame the pizza sticking on the whole olives I tossed onto the dough. I made other pizzas that turned out perfectly, those did not have olives. Let's focus on those.
This is a pizza inside a brick oven getting all charred up.
Here's the first pizza I made. No sticking, the dough is stretched perfectly and its crust is forming perfectly. You definitely want a crust that looks like a coiled snake that swallowed a couple of balls of mozzarella. Those bumps mean you'll be biting into a tasty, textured pizza.
This pizza oven is incredibly small, so you have fire in one corner and nothing on the other. It's a hot oven so someone needs to stand vigil, rotating the pizza every 30 seconds or so. If you did everything right, you'll end up with something like this:
The finished product - a handmade pizza from scratch.
Here's the final product. A chewy dough, spots of brown, slightly brazed basil and melted mozzarella.
There's nothing that beats a pizza you make from scratch. The dough and oven were both provided by my father-in-law, Dan Cardone. He spent some time in Italy working with legit pizzaiolos to master the craft. He even has a certificate declaring his pizza skills!
Look at that pizza - it truly doesn't get better than that.
There is a point in every city’s development where we hit maximum pizza. A city, for a short moment, becomes a temporary mecca. A spot where pizzaiolos travel to to forge a new path and hone their craft. This era of pizza development comes after years of stagnation. When a city is reduced to only flour and water. These creators are the yeast that balloon the city to pizza heights.
But, while that era is ripe with innovation and evolution, it breeds contention. Jealousy. Spite.
To settle these scores, pizzaiolos enter the Pizza Dojo. Two enter and, typically, two also leave, but one of these days I’m sure only one will leave. It’s bound to happen. But this latest Pizza Dojo was unusual. It was a rematch between upstarts (and rising stars) Driftwood Oven and the mysterious Pizza Boat, who dips in and out of hiding. Watch the video to see how it ends.
Slice on Broadway is well documented for their craft and passion for pizza. Rico, the owner, routinely delivers a delicious pie. Whether he's playing around with artisan ingredients or serving up hundreds of slices to hungry Pirate fans, you can rely on Slice on Broadway's quality. When I saw they serving up sicilian pies at their PNC Park location I knew I had to stop down.
Sicilian Pizza is on the rise. I'm not sure if it's out of boredom, but I'm noticing more pizza makers experimenting with a dough that's ferments a bit longer and rises to the edge of a very deep pan.
Rico is always tinkering around and his latest masterpiece is this Sicilian pizza that's only available on Fridays.
Here's the Tomato Pie waiting to be plucked from it's habitat.This cross-section exposes every aspect of the pizza. The liquid parts of the crushed tomatoes have seeped into the browned crust, leaving behind a tomato laminate. On top of that is a healthy dose of parmesan cheese and oregano.
After one bite of this pizza you'll realize how flavorful a pizza can be without cheese. The sprinkle of parmesan offers a nice bite, but the crushed tomatoes mixed with oregano and savory crust fill your mouth with flavor.
Like any great sicilian, there's a nice crunch followed by a cushion of dough. Now, this isn't as soft in the middle of other sicilians I've had. It's actually quite hearty. It avoids tasting too much like a hunk of sourdough bread, which isn't easy to do. As it turns out sourdough bread and sicilian dough are molecularly quite similar.
I'd highly recommend the tomato pie to anyone that wanders into Slice on Broadway on a Friday. The crushed tomatoes are flesh and flavorful, and there's just enough seasoning to bring out bold flavors.
Kudos to Rico and his team for delivering a delicious and well-rounded sicilian pie. I look forward to making Slice a part of my Friday lunch ritual!
In this episode of Slicing it Up With Dan, I work my way through a "slice" of Detroit Style Pizza from VIA 313 in Austin, Texas. Now you may be asking yourself a couple of questions. What's Detroit Style Pizza? Is that a pineapple ring in the thumbnail of the video? How's the pizza in Austin, Texas?
A couple of pizzas ready for action.
Detroit Style pizza is famous for being cooked in square pans that are amazing at retaining heat. They push the dough into the oiled pans and heat them up. What you end up with is a sicilian-style pizza that's crunchier, a bit thinner and softer on the inside. The exterior of this pizza was my favorite part. It had a delicious, oily crunch that was very flavorful. Juicy in some ways. Like the interior crust was marinating in savory oils and cheeses all day.
VIA 313 has an eclectic menu, but they're most famous for their pepperoni pizza. There's two kids of pepperoni. One under the cheese (a shy pepperoni) and an extroverted pepperoni that sits atop the cheese. Despite the double-layer of pepperoni the pizza wasn't overly greasy. How they engineered that is beyond me.
Despite all the tacos and meats I ate during my trip to Austin (a smoke turkey too!), I immensely enjoyed VIA 313. This is the kind of pizza that pairs well with an ice cold beer. The sauce is nice and zesty, the cheese is perfectly melted and that crust is divine. Definitely check out VIA 313 if you get a chance.
A bare, innocent slice of Fiori's pizza.
My first pizza visit of 2017 was none other than the legendary Fiori's Pizzeria in Brookline. Fiori's is one of the oldest, well revered pizza places in the city of Pittsburgh. So, when I asked Joey from the Vandal where he wanted to meet for a pizza adventure he said "Well, Fiori's." He also threw out Beto's, but let's be real, it wasn't a competition.
Four years have passed since I've been to Fiori's. Let's look at the slices of pizza side-by-side. A lot has happened in phone technology in four years, but dang do these slices look foreign.
Fiori's from 2013. Looks undercooked and sad.
Fiori's from 2017. Looks mega delicious with great lighting.
2017 Fiori's is full of passion. That's a perfectly cooked pizza that's wearing a slightly charred bubble like a beauty mark. The cheese has browned nicely without losing any of its flavor. The 2017 pizza is what you see when you should see when you look up "Pizza" in the Pizza Bible.
I'm not a fan of a sloppy pizza that can't keep its act together. I enjoy a pizza with confidence, and sturdiness that can support a myriad of toppings if put to the test. If your pizza collapses in half, creating a cheese avalanche and leaves you rushing for a fork & knife, you got a bad slice on your hands. Stability is key, else you spend time stuffing the guts back onto the pizza.
Last time I ate at Fiori's, four years ago, I wrote the following about its crust:
“There’s some give to the crust, but not enough that leads to a complete pizza breakdown. You could build a house on this crust except you’d have to worry about a sinking foundation in about three years.”
— Dan Tallarico, 2013
Fiori's still delivers a sturdy pizza. Hands down one of the most structurally sound pizzas I've encountered. I'm sure that pizza from my last visit would continue to be sturdy. You wouldn't have to worry about a sinking foundation with a Fiori's pizza house for ten years at this rate.
Last week I had Mineo's. The juxtaposition of these two pieces was a revelation. Mineo's delivered disappointed, flimsy slices that cried out under the pool of cheese and grease. With Fiori's, the pizza is there to serve you. It is a finely built vessel that is capable of carrying cheese, sauce and toppings into its landing zone (your mouth).
Consistency is a hallmark of quality pizza. I can make a decent pizza in my kitchen 25% of the time, but to pull out a delicious, evenly topped pizza day after day, year after year is amazing. It's a testament to the craft behind Fiori's. They live to fix you up and I'm glad they're still fixing up Pittsburgh after all this time.
Fiori's pizza shines like the sun as a fluorescent ray strikes a small, quiet, pond of grease.
From crust to the tip, Fiori's delivers a complete pizza package. Last time I ate Fiori's, I remember the crust being a bit bland. That was not the case in this visit. After getting through the cheese and roasted red peppers, the crust was a delight to bite into.The carapace of the crust gave way to a soft cushion of dough.
Fiori's is on the other side of the Liberty Bridge, not a bad drive. One of my 2017 resolutions is to visit Fiori's more than once every four years.
Get fixed up, get Fiori's.
In this episode of Slicing it Up With Dan! I eat a slice from Mama Lucia's in Downtown Pittsburgh. Now, Mama Lucia's is an older pizzeria. If you walk a block in most directions of Mama Lucia's you'll stumble over the neapolitan and craft pizzas that litter downtown Pittsburgh.
Mama Lucia's is a bunker of nostalgia and authenticity. The pizza you begged to order every Friday night as a child is waiting for you in this pizzeria. They offer classic slices and Sicilian slices. I've been on the hunt for sicilian style slices of pizzas lately and couldn't resist chomping into one of mama Lucia's.
The thicker crust was too bready and could have used more sauce. The chef may not have known that the thicker slice needed special attention. You can't treat it with the common-core of pizza education and expect it to come out as high quality of the thin crust.
If you venture down the Sicilian path, pack a pepsi to wash down the dough.
Mama Lucia's was a staple in my life growing up. My fondest memories are from visiting Mama Lucia's in the North Way Mall after seeing a $1 movie. I'd grab a greasy slice and dare myself to sprinkle as much parmesan cheese and red-pepper flakes as my body could digest.
Here's a couple of slices from Mama Lucia's.
In this episode of Slicing it Up With Dan! I eat a slice of Driftwood Oven pizza. This slice-eating takes place in the back of Spirit Lounge during one of the many Pizza Dojo competitions.
It was a stressful night for all participants. All eyes were on them and every pizza popping out of the oven had to be as amazing as the one before it. I don't know how often Driftwood Oven trains, but I ate about 9 slices of pizzas that night and the consistency was amazingly level. From the beginning to the end each pie was masterfully crafted.
A few things to note while you watch me eat this slice of Driftwood Oven pizza:
- I fold the pizza in half to start for a big bite, but some of the ingredients hang on for dear life. I have to perform a couple might chomps to salvage the toppings. Unfortunately, this leaves the rest of the pizza a bit bare.
- I love tearing up the last quarter of Driftwood Oven pizza. The dough is always soft, fluffy and tears nicely. The crust deserves to have a few moments alone.
- I'm washing down the pizza with an IPA from Pizza Boy Brewing. It complimented the pizza perfectly. A+ would wash down pizza with this beer again.
If you'd like to try a slice of Driftwood Oven, please find their schedule on their website.
In an effort to authentically document pizza, I've decided to focus on one slice at a time. Introducing: Slicing it Up With Dan.
Slicing it Up With Dan is a documentary series helmed by yours truly. I have a few episodes queued up and I plan to publish at least 2 a month. Probably more as there is no shortage of pizza in my life.
The only thing stopping this pizza train is a willing camera person!
Slice ya later!
Here we see a wild Driftwood Oven pizza (left) and a Pizza Boat classic (right). One of them may be using a performance enhancing crust.
Welp, another Pizza Dojo is in the books. I'm working on a video recapping the event with some amazing interviews. I have Dan from Pizza Boat talking some serious smack (most of the editing is bleeping him out), I have a bonafide Pittsburgh legend talking pizza / weather, and a guy that traveled from Boston to eat pizza.
With a pizza dojo coming once a year, I wonder what happens when Pizza Boat clobbers all the other pizza fighters in their weight class? Will they depart Pittsburgh, looking for formidable opponents? Or continue to terrorize the local pizza makers.
I was talking to Rico, from Slice on Broadway, and he asked me how he could battle in the Pizza Dojo. If anyone out there has an answer for him please get in touch. I'm sure he'll sign any safety waiver necessary.
Driftwood Oven's Pizza Dojo menu. Delicious and edgy with some clever names.
Pizza Boat's spooky (and delicious) menu. Deceptive and full of tricks at every corner.
The pizzas were off the chart. Pizza Dojo is a unique event in that it gathers the top pizza talent in Pittsburgh. It's convenient for me, a pizza journalist, and you, a pizza consumer. If there's ever another Pizza Dojo I'd like to see a three-way pizza off. Maybe it takes place in a steel cage? Or a pizza cage?
It doesn't take a pizza journalist to come to that conclusion. Everyone I asked had the same synopsis of the event: "well we all win."
What's a Pizza Dojo without some Pizza Boy brewing beer? This keg kicked in about an hour into the event.
More mysterious than transforming a bowl of water, yeast and flour into a soft, cushiony pizza with the perfect amount of crispness, is someone who can take metals and create a sharp, comfortable, hefty pizza cutter.
I admire the human who can bend and mold steel into useful shapes. Bonus points if that person can create a tool that aids the pizza maker.
Pizza makers don't need too many tools. It's a trade born from simplicity. But, when all is said and done you do need to slice and dice the pizza. Tearing is a novelty, but to produce those delightful triangles you need a pizza cutter. And here is where metal working comes into the picture.
My sister, in all her genius, went off-registry for our wedding and commissioned a metal working pal to build a pizza cutter. This is the first pizza cutter this guy has made, but I think he has a future in the pizza business. If he doesn't set up a booth at next year's Pizza Expo he's passing up gallons of free money.
The pizza cutter is a crucial tool. The sound of the steel disc rolling through the crust, slicing open the crust, ripping through a pool of cheese like it was parting a great sea. It's carthartic for the cook - their task is done - and a signal to the pizza eaters that dinner is served.
But look at this custom made pizza cutter. There's not another one like this in the world. The steel is sharp, rolls right though any dough and leaves a valley of sauce, cheese and crust.
It's hefty and fun to hold. Having this in my kitchen makes me want to make more pizza so I have a reason to use it!
And here's the inaugural pizza that was cut with the pizza cutter. The pizza was amazing and earned high marks. I wonder if it's because of the pizza cutter or the recipe I used...
More on that pizza shortly. In the mean time, here's a video of the pizza cutter in action.
Cappello's is a simple company with a simple mission - "To provide fresh, uniquely delicious options for gourmet food lovers, healthy eaters and people with dietary restrictions." It's with that mission in mind that they've created a suite of grain-free, paleo-friendly food, starting with the most important kinds: Pasta, pizza and cookie dough.
For Cappello's, that means throwing their hat in the Gluten Free Pizza Arena. A highly contentious arena full of peril and nay-sayers. But is their Gluten Free pizza enough to satisfy gluten free folks and pizza enthusiasts alike? Could this be the pizza that unites the world of pizza lovers?
Here, we'll be talking about the Gluten Free, Grain Free Cheese Pizza. It's a frozen pizza that embodies simplicity. Inside the box you get a pizza that can feed one and is a great snack for two. On the box itself, you get a great drawing of a dinosaur in a suit. You can color or draw on this dinosaur while you're waiting twenty minutes for your pizza to cook.
Real quick aside about cooking times - obviously, times will vary with each oven, but I found the crust charred up much earlier than expected. Half-way through baking I moved the pie to the top oven rack which solved the problem, but keep an eye on the pizza.
Christa poses with the Cappello's frozen pizza. As you can see, it's a nice size for two people to snack on.
Let's start with the crust. Some may say this is the most important part of the pizza. After all it supports the rest of the toppings, cheese and sauce. Without a crust you have a puddle of goo. The Cappello's crust forgoes traditional flour and uses arrowroot flour, coconut flour, honey and cage-free eggs.
Eggs in a pizza crust is unusual. There's no need for eggs in traditional pizza dough and I'm guessing Cappello's added eggs in to hold the mixture together and provide a bit of protein.
Aside from eggs, you're missing out on yeast. While you have a bread substitute, there's no rise happening. You shouldn't expect a network of gluten, a soft crust, or a soft chewy cushion to accompany the crunch of a crust.
Nope - you're getting a crispy, crackers crust. There's a sweet flavor to the edge that blends nicely with the sauce and cheese. I'm not sure the crust could stand on its own, but with its teammates of cheese and sauce, you get a solid package that would be a comfort after a long day.
Here's the Cappello's pizza fresh from the oven. It's charred in some places and tan in others.
The sauce is more line line with what you'd expect from a frozen pizza. It's not too sweet, but has a garlicky zest. Combined with a layer of melted cheese and you'd need to hire a pizza detective to pick this gluten free pizza out of a lineup of standard frozen pizzas.
The crispy, crackery Cappello's Gluten Free Pizza is a fine substitute for a gluten filled pizza as long as you're okay with thin crust. I prefer my pizza with a nice rise, but this gets the job done in a pinch.
Cappello's Pizza with added soppressata. No gluten network here, but nice and thin.
It's a fine piece of pizza engineering that duplicates the fundamental pizza archetype. You get a solid crust, sauce and cheese that will fill a pizza sized hole in your stomach. Whether you enjoy gluten or not, I'm sure you'll enjoy a Cappello's pizza.
I'd recommend this pizza for when you're hosting mixed company of gluten-free / pro-gluten folks. Watch as each guests cautiously chews the pizza, wondering if what they're eating has gluten in it. It will forever be a mystery that perplexes guests as they leave your home.
And that's a strange compliment to give a pizza. Perplexing. But for a product that is trying to be pizza without a key ingredient that we all recognize in pizza, Cappello's successfully imitates the art of pizza.
Banner showcasing Tony G's book, The Pizza Bible. Photo by Tom Tallarico.
Hi, this is Dan, editor at Pizza Walk With Me. I've sent Tom Tallarico, my father, to Pizza Expo to cover the event on my behalf. When he isn't scoping out buffets he's working on getting hot scoops and details from the Pizza Expo show floor. Here's his summary of day 3 of the expo. He somehow found a treasure trove of hot dogs. Imagine that! You can read his Pizza Expo Day 1 recap here and Pizza Expo Day 2 recap here.
Tom Tallarico, Pizza Walk With Me Associate Journalist.
Final Day of Pizza ExpoDuring the week, each day kicked off with a keynote speaker. I was able to attend today & am pleased to hear Tony Gemignani. Previous speakers were Adam Goldberg & Fabio Viviani, Pizza giants in their own right. I had met Tony G. in Pittsburgh during his “Bible” book promotion about a year ago at Caliente’s in Bloomfield (more on them later); I had spoken to him briefly early in the week so I felt fortunate to hear him speak. His success & accomplishments are well known & during his talk, one really gets a sense of his intense passion for his craft as well. Highlights from his Keynote:
- Started in the biz in 1991 with his brother after High School.
- Traveled the world over the next 16 years learning about Pizza.
- Started winning World championships in 1995 thru 2001 before being “banned” from competition to allow others to have a chance.
- Started his focus on food & the US team & founded US Pizza Team.
- Started experimentation with “new concepts” to take Pizza a “step beyond”.
- In 2000 on his Honeymoon in Naples, fell in love with Pizza all over again after experiencing the Pizzas of the old country.
- Continued the journey developing the Neapolitan style & founded the International School of Pizza.
Tony also spoke to his work ethic starting with working with his grandfather on their farm as well as the importance of maintaining authenticity, consistency & the development of new styles to “make it better.” His talk also included various tips & suggestions for any shop owner striving for success. Above all “Respect the Craft”. I found it to be quite a story; very inspirational.
So after the keynote, the day continued with re-visiting exhibits & observing the finish of the Pizza competitions.
Tom Cortopassi talking sauce with Tom Tallarico. Photo by Tom Tallarico
Final Day Pizza Expo Highlights:After the keynote, I spotted a gentleman with a Caliente shirt. It was none other than Nick B., owner. We talked about his place & the success & the great improvement in the food since he took over Caliente 2-3 years ago.
Nick gave me the news that his chef, Eric Von Hansen had won the Pan Pizza competition at Pizza Expo. Quite a thrill! Neat story is that Eric & Nick were childhood friends. Eric is a classically trained chef who was executive chef at Lucca in Oakland. Nick recruited him to Caliente & after some coaxing Eric joined the team & is now making History.
During the keynote Q & A a question came from one of the mangers of Home Slice in Austin, Texas. I realized, Heck, I know that place. While visiting Austin last April, my hotel was just up the street. I made multiple visits during the week & actually went there for my souvenirs. Pizza was excellent; Tony acknowledged it was one of his favorites. Charming place with much character. Had a nice chat with the threesome. Two of the 3 were from the Philly area of all places.
The 3 Home Slice Fellows, they own a pizza shop in Austin, Texas. Photo by Tom Tallarico.
Finally during the week I had a chance to talk with Tony S, a young & future Pizza king from Chicago who has developed a relationship with Tony G. He suggested Tony has been very gracious with advice as Tony S. proceeds on his life Pizza journey. He attended The International School of Pizza & is continuing his work in Chicago with plans to eventually run his own shop(s). One can really feel his intense passion about the craft. I hope to visit his store when I return to Chicago in the near future. Good luck to him!
Well, with all that, this ends my reports from the Expo. Truly an enjoyable experience!!
HI, this is Dan, editor at Pizza Walk With Me. I've sent Tom Tallarico, my father, to Pizza Expo to cover the event on my behalf. When he isn't scoping out buffets he's working on getting hot scoops and details from the Pizza Expo show floor. Here's his summary of day 2 of the expo. He somehow found a treasure trove of hot dogs. Imagine that! You can read his Pizza Expo Day 1 recap here.
Tom Tallarico, Pizza Walk With Me Associate Journalist.
Day 2: So today was the opportunity to view the exhibits & attend seminars. I’ll first mention that this show is as big as it gets. I’ve attended various Corporate Conventions & this EXPO takes a back seat to no one.
Half Eaten Hot Dog from Pizza Expo. Photo by Tom Tallarico
The exhibits include food vendors, shop owners & equipment manufacturers. What sets this convention apart from others are the exhibitors not only show or demo the products but actually use them. The benefit is a large array of tasty samples of all kinds that are available. Anything from various pizza types, charcuterie, desserts & even America’s #2 favorite: Hot Dogs along with burger sliders.
Bring the feed bag.
In addition, the unique attractions of the various Pizza competitions (Pizza Challenge, best pies in different categories along with Pizza skill competitions) is quite entertaining. Then include the various demos for new pizza styles along with seminars with a wide range of topics & you have a well-rounded, comprehensive, entertaining Convention.
Glenn Cybulski talking new pizza, old in
The seminars I attended both touched on a similar topic, i.e. new Pizza trends as the craft continues to evolve. The first with speaker, Glenn Cybulski, a Pizza guru in his own right was titled New Pizza, Old Ingredients which focused on creative ways to develop & kick up new Pizza tastes using common ingredients already in the kitchen.
The focus was substituting the typical tomato sauce with other inventive sauce types. The examples demonstrated were a Cilantro sauce (Serrano peppers, honey, balsamic & EVOO), a Pepperoni sauce (Genius!!; using pepperoni, yellow peppers & mayo) & a Peppadeaux sauce (using the pepper & mayo). Adding some cream or butter to the blended contents completes the tasty sauce.
Now, add preferred toppings which appeals to the eye & you have a NEW PIZZA. Another benefit here is a premium charge can be justified. Glenn left the group with the comment, “That’s what the Pizza Expo is all about: Come, Create & Share Ideas”.
Pizzas at Pizza Expo. Photos by Tom Tallarico
The next session “Pizza Trends 2016: Hot foods & Flavors” & Unique Dining Experiences in Nontraditional Settings” was presented by Nancy Kruse, a reviewer of food & marketing trends. Opening comments included the fact that Pizza is “surging”; is America’s #1 Comfort Food & while Pizza shops account for 10% of restaurant types, Pizza menus are the 2nd most popular menu type.
Reasons include:
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The American public prefers real food; fresh toppings & sauces with rich flavors.
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Fresh MTO preparation; daily dough prep.
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Use of seasonal & local ingredients.
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Clean foods; non-processed, hormone free, Organic.
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Improved Marketing;”Tell your Story”. This was actually started & perfected sometime ago by ARBY’S.
A lot of this relates back to Glenn’s presentation defining “New Pizza”. Tomorrow’s session, Day 4, starts with 7:45 keynote speaker with Tony G.
Look forward to that. Will need to stay out of the casinos after 11 PM.
Here's the pizza makers of Caliente at Pizza Expo. Photo by Tom Tallarico.
Pittsburgh pizza stature continues to rise, like a ball of dough that's bulk fermenting. During the 2016 International Pizza Expo, of which my dad is covering, one of Caliente's chefs, Eric Von Hansen, won the title for World's Best Pan Pizza.
If I gave out awards, Caliente Pizza & Draft House would receive the "Best Unassuming Pizza Parlor" award. If "pizza" wasn't in the name you'd figure their menu would be bursting with tacos. It's what's inside that matters, and in this instance Caliente now boasts a world class award winning pan pizza.
Here's Eric posing with his award winning pan pizza.
The pizza itself is a gourmet duck pizza called "The Quack Attack" (or "Duck Duck Pan"). The pizza is made up of:
- Pan dough is infused with a Yards IPA.
- Roasted garlic butter and fresh chives
- Pan seared duck breast
- Wild mushroom ragu
- Roasted shallots
- Baby arugula
- Fontinella cheese
- Organic tear drop tomatoes
- Truffle oil and roasted garlic oil fused together
After listing these ingredients a judge responded, "Please cut this up immediately,"
Caliente plans to add this pizza to their menu when they return from the Pizza Expo.
You can watch a video of Eric preparing his world class pizza on Caliente's Facebook page.
Caliente is located in the heart of Bloomfield, on Liberty Ave. They fit the landscape perfectly; Caliente boasts a superb and extensive rotating list of beers and pizza that's both affordable and delicious. Definitely worth visiting.
What do you do when you're crowned the world's best pan pizza? Do you celebrate by having a large pizza party? I'll get to the bottom of this.
HI, this is Dan, editor at Pizza Walk With Me. I've sent Tom Tallarico, my father, to Pizza Expo to cover the event on my behalf. When he isn't scoping out buffets he's working on getting hot scoops and details from the Pizza Expo show floor. Here's his summary of day 0 and day 1 of the Pizza Expo in Las Vegas.
Tom Tallarico, Pizza Walk With Me Associate Journalist.
Day 0: As the Expo nears, I recall early on how Pizza was always a part of growing up. Of course, Amato’s in downtown Etna was a constant destination. A Friday treat was always going out to a restaurant for Pizza. And during the high school years, the gathering place after games was always some pizza shop. So anticipation for the Expo not only generated a high degree of excitement but memories of Pizza days past as well.
The top mission on Day 0 was to obtain the media pass. So once settled in the hotel, it was off to the Convention Center. Getting the pass was simple so mission accomplished early on.
Some initial seminars were an hour or so from starting so I decided to check out the Exhibit Hall. With 16 hours before the official open, activity was high as setup looked to be about 60% completed. That documented, the opportunity to attend some initial seminar sessions was taken.
The 1st related to marketing of the Pizzeria; & not just the product.
The 2nd session was a panel discussion with the topic “Common Pizzeria start-Up Mistakes & How to Avoid Them.” This was most interesting with the crowd fully engaged. The moderator was Jeremy White, editor of Pizza Today & the panel included luminaries Tony G., Pizza Godfather, 2 successful shop owners from Colorado & Scott Anthony from Punxsutawny. This was quite exciting with my roots also from Pa & with distant ties to Punxy. I had recently talked to a Punxsutawney native. We somehow started talking Pizza. He suggested there were many shops in Punxsy but only 2 or 3 of any quality. I’m betting Punxsy Pizza was one of them. Needless to say, the session was quite interesting as the panel shared their growing pains & the steps taken to overcome them.
Day 1: Well, some weeks ago the editor of PWWM wondered aloud why his Dad often emphasized the beauty of the buffet. He then went on to write about the wonders of the Spirit Sunday brunch buffet. Well, due to prior commitments the closest I came to the subject of Pizza was this:
This was just a small part of the Wynn buffet which included Prime Rib, Roast Turkey, a full Asian station, Charcuterie, Quail & Duck dishes, extensive shellfish entrees, etc. etc. And the Pizza wasn’t bad at all.
Unfortunately, wasn’t able to attend the sessions. Was looking forward to attending a Panel discussion on Wood-Fired Mobile Pizzerias & a session on “Maximizing Your Ingredient List”. However, that speaker, Glenn Cybulski, has a session tomorrow titled “New Pizza, Old Ingredients” which I plan on attending along with sessions “Pizza Trends 2016: Hot foods & Flavors” & Unique Dining Experiences in Nontraditional Settings”. The day concludes with the Pizza Expo Block Party & World Class Pizza Games Finals. Stay tuned.
Well. There's my badge. Right now it's in Vegas, gallivanting around on a neck that isn't mine. It's my dream to attend Pizza Expo and report on the finest pizza technologies, interview pizza innovators and document the Olympic Feats of pizza. While I couldn't make it this year, my dad was more than eager to take my place.
When he isn't investigating buffets for his rival blog, Buffet Eat With Me, he's rubbing elbows with pizza elite. In his first day he somehow managed to find the author of The Pizza Bible, Tony Gemignani!
That's my dad, Tom, on the left with pizza legend, Tony, on the right. Of all the hotel lobbies in all of Vegas, right? The press badge holds a mystic power to draw you to legends. It certainly seems to be working in this instance.
Amateur Pizza Journalist Tom Tallarico did send me some notes from his first pizza seminar. These are updates from "Finding Customer" with my comments in italics.
PIZZA EXPO SEMINAR:
Differentiation Be different than other pizza places. But how - ranch on the pizza? Hm.
What are you selling besides Pizza, No, Pizza is only a Tool. Sell community? Or pleasant memories?
Have a selling proposition
Sell the 2nd visit!!!!! "Here's a magnent, tell your kids I say hello." This works on my dad.
Focus within a 1-2 mile radius Great advice for city pizzerias!
Who are your customers; what are their expectations. Hungry people who expect pizza. Obviously.
If you know what customers expect & like, you'll know where to find them. Marketing basics, I love it.
Then train staff to appeal to them. A friendly staff is 99% of the reason I like a pizza place.
My dad sent over a shot from the expo floor. There's all sorts of ovens and machinery ready to woo pizzaiolos from across the globe.
And day 0 wouldn't be complete without running into another pizza celebrity: Scott Anthony. I met Scott when he coordinated Tony's Pizza Bible tour in Pittsburgh. He's an award winning pizza maker with an outstanding pizza place in Punxsutawney.
Stay tuned for more updates from Pizza Walk With Me at Pizza Expo!
Tony at Pizza Taglio is constantly testing out new things in his pizza kitchen. Some days he'll bring out a plate of cheeses from exotic locales, other days he's working on perfecting a calzone filled with ricotta and nutella.
I was lucky enough to be hanging out in Tony's kitchen the night he made Sicilian pizza. The dough rose for two days and was cooked in a pan, giving it a crispy exterior and a soft interior. With a smile on his face he told me how bewildered pizza eaters are to find that the cheese goes underneath the sauce in a Sicilian pie.
"Little do they know it's to prevent the cheese from burning." Genius. And look - it bubbles up to the top naturally.
You can watch a video of the pizza being made up above. It's a tiered process—as the pizza cooks you add more items on top of it. In total it took about 20 minutes to cook a single pie.
I couldn't keep my mits off it. It was crunchy and soft. The sauce was made a few hours before. The sauce contained a single anchovy. I don't know if it made a difference, perhaps because the total package was so delicious. I didn't have time to think about the effects a single fish could have on an amazing pizza. Thinking about it now...is it possible a single fish could impact the flavor of the pizza? Hmm...
I hope this becomes a staple of Pizza Taglio's menu. It's the perfect pizza to share with pals. As you work your way towards the center you find yourself in the midst of a pizza mess. Sauce and cheese gloop every which way. It's then that you drop your guard and simply enjoy the pizza. No need to worry about a mess or looking good for whomever. A deliciously sloppy pizza will warm your spirit and instill pizza confidence into your soul.
Hey, the big ol' game is looming on the horizon. You have a pizza strategy? I'm sure you do. Between take & bake pizzas, pizza chains, frozen pizzas and local pizzerias, you have an unlimited amount of pizza options. But if you want something special, you should consider making your own Sfincione pizza in an iron skillet. Here's what the end result looks like:
Because you cook the dough in an iron skillet (that you fill with olive oil) you get a thick pizza, the depth of your skillet, that's soft on the inside and fried on the outside.
It's the perfect companion to your Super Bowl case of beer. Just look at this molten mess.
Here's the recipe I used for the dough. The dough has a higher hydration (around 70%!) which makes the dough super hard to work with. That's why using the iron skillet is nice. After the dough rises for about 12 hours, plop the dough into the skillet. Let it fill the space, add olive oil, and toss it in the oven!
It's simple and guarantees that your team will win. Here's the evidence:
I don't know the science or philosophy behind a buffet. I don't know why my dad goes to Las Vegas and spends the majority of his trip trying to optimize time in front of a buffet. I'm not sure how a business makes money off a buffet. But I do know that during my time at Spirit Lounge's Pizza Buffet, held every Sunday from noon to 4pm in Lawrenceville, I kept saying "This is the best $11 I've ever spent."
I'd look up from my tray, which at times held between one to four slices of pizza, and say "Can you believe this is only $11?"
If you were patient and timed your buffet visits as new pizza was brought out from the back, you could eat two boxes of Slice Island pizza in an hour's time.
Is the end game to introduce new folks to Slice Island pizza? Or make money off of drinks? Pizza is a loss leader, but when it's high quality pizza you have to wonder if anyone is losing out.
THE PIZZA BUFFET
Spirit Lounge is a mix of old ideas with a modern spin. Their building is an old Elk's lodge, with a similar ambience, but it's home to dance parties that end by 10pm, political rallies and some of the best pizza in Pittsburgh thanks to Slice Island in the back.
They've extended this updated thinking to the buffet. Their Sunday Pizza Buffet embodies every trope from your buffet youth; you'll find plastic trays, a DIY salad area, a smattering of "appetizers" like scones, gravy, sausages, french toast sticks, and of course pizza. Unlike the out-of-place pizza at a Chinese buffet, these slices are the marquee dish.
Here's a hot pizza buffet tip: grab a fresh tray, skip everything before the pizza and try to pile as much pizza onto your tray as you can before feeling embarrassed. Here's why:
- The pizza is the name of the game. It's the gem of the buffet. It's highly coveted and we all know that we're there for those rectangular slices. Plus, they pair nicely with a brunch coffee or a bloody mary.
- It goes fast. Once 12:45 hit the buffet was at max capacity and the kitchen could barely keep up with pizza demand. I don't know how sustainable it is, but anytime a new tray of pizza was brought out there were already vultures hovering around the heat lamps. This pizza was dead on arrival.
- There are typically three varieties of pizza waiting for you at the end of the pizza buffet. To quell any regret from the previous night and to ensure your Sunday gets off on the right foot, you'll need to eat one of each.
The Best Thing to Happen to Pizza Buffets Since Pizza Hut
I rarely visit pizza buffets, mostly because I prefer my pizza fresh from the oven. In my youth I'd beg for the Pizza Hut buffet and more recently I visited a Pizza Roma buffet that could easily be mistaken for a living wake. Who's wake (mine or the pizza) I'm not sure, but it was sad.
Since demand is high, the pizza turnover is efficient. You don't have to worry about getting a lukewarm slice of pizza. It's the highest quality buffet pizza I've had, and more than worth the price of admission (which I still can't believe it's $11).
The only thing missing was the weird experimental pizzas. An odd-ball pizza like buffalo chicken, hamburger pie, taco slices, are more than at home at a buffet. At least they can try to replicate the bizarre dessert pizzas that the Pizza Hut buffet is famous for.
I won't rest until there's a dessert pizza at the end of the Spirit Lounge Pizza Buffet.
The Spirit lounge Pizza Buffet is a row of excellence. From start to finish it's endlessly satisfying and tests your restraint as much as it pleases your palate.
You can find more information about the pizza buffet on Spirit's website. Or follow Spirit on Twitter.
Want to read Day 1? Click here to learn about making the dough and the intricacies of the Master Class.
Day two of the master class tests your dexterity as well as your patience. While the first day is simply adding items into a mixture, day 2 has you handling the dough and delicately forming round balls.
Day 2 of the master class is all about the air. Step one is removing the dough from the fridge (after 24 hours) and degassing the dough by mixing it for about one minute. This deflates the dough and makes it more compact. You're preparing the dough to build a strong gluten network. In a strange way this is the same as Obi Wan saying, "If you strike me down I'll be more powerful than you can possibly imagine." But replace "powerful" with "glutteny."
Once your dough is deflated and separated into two masses, you'll need to carefully ball the dough. Tony spends 200 words and six photos detailing how to fold the dough in on itself in order to preserve the gas inside the dough. It's critical that you ball the dough tight to lock in gas. A tight seal promotes a vast gluten network that traps air released by the yeast. The trapped air causes the dough to rise.
I was nervous handling the dough. How was I supposed to know if there was a leak? I pinched ends close as tight as I could and prayed the pizza gods would smile down on my feeble attempt to trap air inside a ball of dough. I honestly wouldn't know the results until the next day. To distract myself I made some sauce for tomorrow's pizza.
The sauce is super simple, as all good sauce tends to be. The small amount of ingredients in sauce would shock you. It's not some elaborate brew with garlic boiling and fanciful olive oils. A good sauce stems from fresh tomatoes (usually from a can, according to Tony), salt and olive oil.
For this sauce I mixed together some peeled plum tomatoes, olive oil, salt, tomato paste and crushed tomatoes to make a vermillion mixture that any pizza would be proud to host.
I tossed the ingredients in a pulsing blender and pulsed for about 30 seconds. I ended up adding a bit more salt, but nothing too crazy. You end up with a simple sauce that complements the dough, but doesn't get in the way of the other flavors.
Here's some takeaways from day 2
- When you degass the dough you're supposed to hear popping. I heard no such thing, but my dough was compact and ready to mangle.
- The ball forming process is a bit stressful, but (as you'll find out soon) it's hard to get wrong if you're careful with how you handle the dough. Be sure to fold it back in on itself and don't tear any of the dough!
- The best sauce is simple sauce. You want the tomatoes to sing on their own. It's their time to shine, don't clog the spotlight with other flavors. Add some olive oil and salt to draw the tomato flavor out.
When I my grandmother babysat me years ago I had two objectives. 1) Convince her I needed to go to Children's Palace because there was a video game I just wanted to "look at" then hope she bought it for me. 2) Drop hints about the gorgeous, plentiful Pizza Hut buffet until we decided that it wasn't worth it to cook and we should head to the buffet post-haste.
These days it's hard to find a pizza buffet that's worth the caloric assault on your body, that is until Spirit Lounge (located on 51st street in Lawrenceville) came along to change the buffet game. Spirit's Slice Island has been experimenting with a Sunday pizza buffet for months. Now, they've finally perfected the formula and are formerly launching their buffet tomorrow, January 17th.
From their press release, "Each week a variety of food options are available, including pizzas with veg and meat toppings, biscuits and gravy, sausage, french toast sticks, salad, granola, yogurt, quiche, potatoes, and desserts."
Here's why this pizza buffet is the dopest thing you can do on Sunday between noon and 4pm.
Loyalty Program
Along with the official grand opening of the buffet, Spirit is rolling out its Spirit Brunch Club. You'll receive a Brunch Club card that's stamped whenever you visit. Rewards include free brunch, Spirit Brunch Club t-shirt and a Club Card after five brunches. Who knows what awaits at brunch #10!
Pizza by Slice Island
Slice island makes some crispy, delicious, fresh and cheesy pizza. I've eaten a whole box of their pizza by myself simply because my body craved the flavor. The opportunity to eat an endless amount of their pizza for the low price of $11 is ludicrous. I don't know how they'll stay in business with a buffet of this caliber firing on all cylinders.
Music by a suite of Pittsburgh DJs
Enjoy the tunes of local DJs spinning tracks that help you digest food just a bit faster. Here's a schedule of DJs for the coming month:
- James Gyre on 1/17/16
- Ricky Moslen on 1/24/16
- Jordan Weeks on 1/31/16
- J. Malls on 2/7/16
- V-Day Brunch with Zombo on 2/14/16
This brunch sounds like a winning combo - when you add in a rotating option of bloody marks and mimoas you've just found yourself in brunch heaven.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’ve enrolled myself in Tony’s Master Class of pizza found within the first few pages of The Pizza Bible. You can take this class (and probably much more) at Tony’s International School of Pizza in San Francisco.
Yes, I am trying to uncover and learn the subtleties of pizza, an age old tradition, from a book with a solid spine. I’ll guide myself through this education and come out the other end with no degree or credits, but a humble knowledge that I can make a pizza. A pizza that I know is better, and more importantly, how it’s better.
Is this the equivalent of a plucky young kid checking out a Calculus book from her local library before her brain is developed enough to understand the equations that lie within? It ain't too far off, except that you can't eat equations.
The Master Class is split up into three days of activity. Day 1 has you weighing ingredients, chilling water to the perfect temperature, exciting yeast then freezing it within an inch of its life as it festers in some dough.
Day 2 is simple - the degassing phase. This pizza takes 48 hours to make and in the middle of that process, the yeast reproduces and fills the dough with gas. This gas is what makes the dough rise. There’s also a very excellent gluten network developing within the dough. I never took notice of it before, but like the spider that weaves a wondrous web in the corner of your home, the yeast forms a peculiar network of gluten that connects the pizza together, allows it to stretch and grow. It’s nature’s most beautiful work.
Day 3 is the nerve wracking. Not only do you pray to the pizza gods above that the yeast, oil, salt, flour, and water all worked together to make the perfect dough ball, but now you have to cook it.
It’s possible that on day 3 you find out that it’s all been in vain. Maybe due to a prior pizza sin or a sloppy corner cut, your ball deflated. Or your gluten network crashed like it was Y2K. If your dough is in tact you still have to carefully stretch the dough - a tight-rope of an act that requires extreme dexterity or else you’ll tear a hole right down the center.
Then you have to negotiate the pizza off the peel onto your 500 degree pizza stone. A stressful move that Tony compares to a magician pulling a tablecloth off of a fully dressed table. Only, the magician is at risk of losing some china. Here, 48 hours of work could vanish with a muscle twitch.
With all of this in mind you have to hit day 1 with the enthusiasm of a thousand pizzaiolos touring old pizzerias in the heart of Naples.
DAY ONE
On day one I did a lot of measuring. The Pizza Bible has “The Ten Commandments of Pizza” and the first thing on the list is Thou Shalt Use a Scale to Weigh Ingredients. It’s the only way to be sure the measurements are correct. And precision (and consistency) is key to pizza making.
I measured the flour. I measured oil, salt, water (both ice cold and warm) and yeast. After measuring out all your ingredients it’s as simple as combining them together in a mixer. There’s a hastiness to the process because, to quote Tony, “A mistake I often see with beginners—and even some pros—is over mixing or over kneading pizza dough. Too much working of the dough makes it tough, and you’ll end up with pizza that gives you a sore jaw from chewing.
In total, you’ll knead the dough for three minutes and mix it for four. It’s a quick process—it’s so exact that Tony provides the temperature you should expect the dough to be at each stage. The temperature is important as it dictates the activity of the yeast, the keystone of the dough.
Once everything is mixed together you knead the dough and a non-wood, non-flour surface and let it sit out for an hour. After an hour you pop it into the fridge and you’re done for the day.
Hey, that was fun.
Here’s some takeaways from Day 1:
- You can’t find diastatic malt anywhere. It’s an optional ingredient that helps to brown the crust. I tried three different shops but had no luck. You’re better off buying it off of Amazon.
- Penn Mac, in Pittsburgh’s Strip District, is actually a Tony Gemignani certified ingredient outlet. Gemignani lists sources where you can find key ingredients - and Penn Mac is highlights for their wonderful cheese and meat selection.
- I couldn’t find the Sir Lancelot flour (which has a higher % of protein) so I settled for King Arthur’s Bread Flour. Plan ahead!
- After the first time you make the dough, subsequent creations take a sliver of the time. I made another batch of dough a half-hour after getting home from work!
- My first batch of dough was slightly sticky, but after a minute of kneading the dough smoothed out. The second batch was sticky in the way scotch tape is sticky. I wonder if I added a gram or three too much of water...we'll find out in 48 hours.
- Waiting 48 hours for pizza sucks.
I’ll write about my day 2 experience soon. That’s the degassing phase—a key technique that promotes yeast production and gives a stronger rise.
My 2016 Goal is to unearth the divine truths hidden inside The Pizza Bible.
Last year Tony Gemignani, an 11-time World Pizza Champ, published a book detailing the pizza craft. According to the intro, titled Respect the Craft, he says:
Pizza is simple. It's dough, tomato, cheese, and toppings. But as someone who has devoted more than half of my life to it, I can tell you that, like all really great, really simple things, pizza is infinite...And what I can tell you for sure is that pizza doesn't come down to just recipes or formulas. It's a craft.
To up my game as a pizza journalist I know I need to embed myself in the pizza religion. It's something I've been practicing as a hobby for a while, but this year I'm making a covenant with pizza. It should be exciting.
Me and my pizza pal Chad will work our way through The Pizza Bible. We'll have more details to follow, but before you can make a pizza you need to pass The Master Class.
The book begins with The Master Class. This is a 19 page journey into the philosophy of pizza making according to Tony Gemignani. Before you touch a single ounce of flour he would rather you read all 19 pages - this covers everything from gadgets to ovens and key ingredients. It’s the fundamental information you’ll need to become a pizza maker. A pizza maker that can discern ingredients, techniques and toppings. And, more importantly, now how to innovate.
The Master Class consists of charts, graphs and detailed descriptions of the types of flour you’ll encounter on your pizza journey. You’ll find an easy-to-read chart listing the protein %, and what flour is good for what pizza.
This is all before the official first day of the class. The first day has you creating two pizzas from the same dough. Both use a two-step rising process but both will come out of the oven looking like opposites.
At the end of day one, after tediously measuring out every gram of salt and ounce of yeast, you have one large mass of dough. This dough will eventually become two pizzas, but for now it’s a large blob. By letting the dough rise in one piece you’ll find that the individual pizzas bake lighter, crispier and are more flavorful than if they rose separately. Why? Because of the degassing process.
Reading through day one has already taught me techniques to refine home-baked pizza:
- Hydration - This is one of the key factors in differentiating dough. The higher the hydration of dough, the lighter, puffier, more tender and more crisp the dough is likely to be. This is because all that hydration turns to steam in the cooking process, which helps the dough expand. Which gives a crispy crust that protects the soft inside. The tradeoff? The dough becomes quite difficult to wield.
- High-Protein Flour - Gluten, a protein that forms a "gluten network" helps make the dough more elastic. This is measured in flour as a "percent protein" in flour. It's not listed on the bag, but Tony has a recommended list of flours. This percent protein can change through the year depending on the weather, environment, temperature, etc.
- Malt - Malt is perfect for at-home baking as it helps the dough brown perfectly without being exposed to the high-temperatures of pizza oven. It's a neat trick to turn your home into its own pizza shop.
There's plenty of other insights I'm excited to share. I'm sure at the end of this I'll have a better understanding of what makes great pizza great as well as a few new pizza prayers.
If you're interested in learning more, you can visit The Pizza Bible website, which doubles as a pizza community. It's a cool place to post pizza questions and get feedback from your peers.
Bread by itself is deceptive. If you bring a quality loaf to a friend’s house they’ll say thanks, kiss you on the cheek, and that’s that. Maybe later after a few bottles of wine a guest will ask where you got the bread. What bakery? Where is it located? How much? Wow really, those are some fun facts. Forgotten as soon as the hangover kicks in.
Once you add sauce and cheese onto that bread people won’t feign interest. They’ll react like you just birthed this pizza from your well-kept womb. It’s always a surprise, a pleasant one, that is met with cheering and excitement that can make or break a party. There’s a reason the crowd gathers around that steaming box. People can’t wait to waft in the scent, admire the placement of the cheese, and make judgement calls about the toppings. People act funny around pizza, as if it was some horror manipulating humans from a Lovecraft story.
One day in history bread + cheese + salt will cause a great war if it hasn’t already. It inspires gusto and aggressiveness and if you happen to try and figure out who has the best pizza there’s no doubt that you can round up a pizza militia faster than General Washington and Lafayette at the Battle of Yorktown.
During these arguments the opponents will get to talking about the dough. They’ll say, “Well, their dough is too sweet. Too much sugar in their crust.”
Or
“Their dough is too flimsy to support the cheese and sauce.”
Or
“It’s just too crispy and crackery. It shatters the moment it touches my teeth! I have to get a dustpan out just to clean up after myself.”
Truly, pizza is nothing without a foundation of bread. Without the bread base you’re working with sauce and cheese. At best it’s a french onion soup knockoff.
Two of the newest and exciting pizza places in Pittsburgh both got their start with bread. Their goal was to make a solid sourdough loaf. But, from there they achieved greatness.
A slice of Tony Giaramita's Pizza al Taglio from when he was bringing pizza to Espresso a Mano.
First is Driftwood Oven pizza - to truly understand the pizza you’re getting you have to come to terms with their roots. They didn’t set out to make pizza.
Nope. Pizza was sort of an afterthought. Kind of like penicillin, velcro, x-rays and super glue. This wasn’t a “mad scientist” situation, it’s just Neil - the studious and scientific baker - wanted to make bread. In according to Neil, “You’re trying to do the same thing with the pizza [make something perfect]. With bread you don’t get to touch it, you put it in the oven and it’s done. You hope everything is perfect. But it’s not hands on and fun like wood fired pizza.”
And when you make bread there are repercussions. In order:
- Bare, lonely bread is depressing. A melancholy loaf can sit in your pantry giving off an aura of wheat, its grainy body decaying rapidly. As it hardens day by day and molds from the inside out you’re reminded just how short and moldy your life is. It’s no good.
- You can butter that bread. Slice it open, add some butter. It’s smooth creamy and full of cholesterol that bounces down your esophagus and funs up your intestines.
- Butter is just the beginning - why not start packing ingredients atop the bread to create something more. Bread is the universal bonding agent of food. Food chemists worship it and if there was a food periodic table you can bet bread would be the keystone keeping things from falling apart.
- When bread is used as a foundation it becomes a conduit to get food into your mouth. Make it a whole meal by combining a vegetable (sauce), dairy (cheese) and some protein (sausage). Bread gives these elements an ecosystem to co-exist together. Without bread it’s just a mess in your kitchen sink. It’s nothing. It’s a sad college meal you force yourself to eat at 4am because maybe this is the silver bullet that destroys your hangover.
Bread is vital to pizza.
Bread & Salt's Margherita pizza. Look at that bubble structure!
So - a bread guy makes pizza...why?When you make bread you have simply made a loaf of bread. Nice. No one is going to complain about that.
But pizza is different. It’s a living entity that you are constantly tampering with. It’s a constant challenge. Bread is awesome. But bread is a pamphlet for a high school bake sale sitting next to a choose your own adventure set in a future where pizza is currency. Which would you rather spend your life reading?
Challenging your skills, overcoming barriers and pushing yourself to the next echelon is what growth is all about. And if you chart the growth of Driftwood Oven over the past year, you’ll see they’re on an explosive path.
In the heart of Bloomfield we have Bread & Salt - a bakery that promises simple, basic foods born from the combination of bread and salt. It’s simple stuff. But from the seeds of simplicity they have grown a magnificent mix of complex flavors. They’ve built a pizza with a bread-first focus and the results are stunning.
Bread & Salt has flipped the Pittsburgh Pizza Script. Rick Easton has set up shop, backed by years of bread experience.
Their sauce is simple, I had a piece with a basic basil leaf. And the cheese was delicious gloopy cheese. Anyone has access to these ingredients. I can go to the Strip or restaurant depot or my backyard for basil. I can find mozzarellas from various parts of Italy around Pittsburgh. The one thing I don’t have access to is Bread & Salt’s bread.
Luckily, I live three blocks from Bread & Salt so it’s not a huge issue for me. But for you? Gosh, better buy a nearby row house before the Bread & Salt real estate effect starts rippling out from Pearl St.
Next time you bite into a slice of pizza, think of the crust. Take a look at the cross section of the pizza and admire its structure. Notice how when you bend the pizza the crust cracks, but doesn’t break. Like it’s winking at you, telling you that it has your back.
Notice the bubbles in the crust and how they support the pizza from stem to stern.
Every great pizza has a great crust. Next time you see a pizza take a moment to admire the bread supporting your toppings.
Here we are! The final three, super exciting pizza moments that happened in Pittsburgh in 2015. You can read pizza moments 9-7 here and pizza moments 6-4 right here.
3: Bread & Salt in NY Times
I was talking to someone today who was telling me how after Bread & Salt was written up in the NY Times, their friend went to grab a slice of pizza but they were all sold out. Of everything but lentil soup. They said it was the best lentil soup they had.
But that’s Bread & Salt for ya. Everything there tastes like it was delivered fresh from heaven. You pay by the ounce for pizza because every ounce is worth its weight in gold. Rick Easton doesn’t skimp. He doesn’t pander. He’s a guy who wants to build the best pizza. And, ya know, maybe he has.
It was so good it made Mark Bittman retire. Just kidding. His last column in the NY Times details Rick’s process and pursuit of quality.
More telling, Mark Bittman ends his column by saying:
When I started writing it, I never would have guessed that it would end in Pittsburgh. That it does confirms that good food here is hardly limited to a couple of smug metropolitan areas, and validates my feeling that cooking in the United States is as interesting as it is anywhere in the world.
That’s the story of Pittsburgh Pizza. It’s interesting. It’s exotic. It’s practical. All at the same time.
1 & 2 - Spak Brothers Misfortune & Community Support
Is it cheating to make this both the number 1 and number 2? The story is so stunning and heart warming. It is typical pizza community and I’m so amazed how everyone came together to help out a pizza shop that stumbled into misfortune.
So, near the middle of August, Spak Brothers (a pizza place that is Andrew W.K. certified) was robbed. That certainly sucks. But on top of that their cooler died. According to Ryan Spak, he said:
We were robbed overnight Thursday and the walk-in cooler machinery decided it would shit the bed the past two nights.
The monetary loss is pretty epic due to recent events and I have no way to contact the masses any more besides twitter (which I hate) so any help spreading the word would be greatly appreciated.
What happens next is amazing. Posts went up on Pittsburgh community websites, Pittsburgh Magazine wrote about the support, and I Heart PGH got the word out. The Spak Milita knew what they had to do: eat Spak Brothers pizza.
The day they opened Spak Brothers was flooded with patrons. They sold hoagies and pizza to just about everyone in the area.
I reached out to Ryan afterwards to see what sort of impact the outreach had on the business. You can read the full interview here, but the best part is when he said:
It's been insanely busy around here. We've had a ton of exposure and new customers. The Thursday and Friday immediately following were our best sales to date which is just awe-inspiring. Everyone here feels loved (and sweaty) and I thank everyone who came through from the bottom of my heart.
Best. Sales. Ever.Commonwealth Press also pitched in and sold a limited edition shirt with proceeds going to Spak Brothers.
Now, would this happen to every other pizza shop on this list? I don’t know. I love to think so. But Spak has spent years building good will. They put on an absurd scavenger hunt every year. The winner gets a free pizza every week for a year.
They put on a pizza eating contest at the Pittsburgh Pizza Festival. They’re community first and a business second. The karma they’ve generated is unreal, something every other pizza shop could learn from.
This takes up two spots because 1) It’s a tremendous story detailing the love Pittsburgh has for its neighborhood pizza shops and 2) The interview with Ryan is one of my favorite articles I wrote this year.
Seeing Spak Brothers recover so quickly from being on the ropes is inspiring. Pittsburgh knows a good thing when they got it and no one was ready to lose the wonderful Spak brothers. To everyone that stepped up, nice work. Now go buy yourself a pizza.
So that's the best pizza moments of 2015. It was an exciting year for Pittsburgh pizza and I have no doubt that there are more moments in store for next year. I know my goal for Pizza Walk With Me will be to make it one of the premier pizza websites. There are some great things planned.
Before I end 2015, I want to share one of my personal favorite pizza moments. I hope it's similar to one of yours. There's nothing better than sharing pizza with pals. I have two really great pizza friends that indulge many of my pizza requests. They've gone to bad pizza places with me and some of the best pizza places.
Pizza pal Chad and Pizza pal Adam went with me to Slice Island this summer. It was probably the most perfect day on record. We got a box of pizza, sat in the sun, talked about London Calling and had a hell of a time. Chad captured that perfectly in this Instagram video. Enjoy and see ya next year!
A video posted by churd (@heydetective) on Aug 22, 2015 at 11:37pm PDT
We’re back for another wonderful look at the finest pizza moments to grease up the city of Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh can be unassuming. It’s a city drowning in the soil of history. Slowly but surely we’re seeing germination of innovation. From the soil wonderful inventive plants are popping up to make the landscape varied and wonderful. What a great ecosystem.
Anyways, it turns out that this is an awesome environment for pizza. Did you know I type that sentence 60 times a week? Wild. Well, let’s get to it. Moments 6, 5 and 4 are just ahead!
6 - The Steel City Pizza Fest Happened
DJ Zombo put together Pittsburgh’s first Pizza Festival because...well why not. It was a wonderful event held in Lawrenceville’s Arsenal Park where Bloomfield, Garfield and Lawrenceville’s finest pizzerias came together to sell pizzas.
But, it wasn’t just a couple of booths with pizzas. Oh no. There was the Pizza Pinup contest where anyone could enter and be voted Ms. PizzaBurgh. Spak Brothers held a pizza eating contest every hour. Anyone could enter and race against the clock to eat a large pizza the fastest.
It was as disgusting as it was beautiful.
Graziano’s ended up taking home the people’s choice award, edging out Angelo’s by a single vote! How exciting. I hope to see Pizza Festival make a return next year.
5: Pizza Dojo 3: Driftwood Oven vs Pizza Boat
Driftwood Oven's Pizza Dojo lineup
There’s nothing better than a good pizza rivalry. Pizza Boat knows how to ham it up for the crowd and play the pizza heel. I’ve had many folks ask me if Pizza Boat actually hates other pizza makers and the answer is obviously yes.
Just look at Jeff’s vicious attacks on Driftwood Oven in this video from the competition:
I’m just glad everyone made it out alive.
I hope Pizza Dojo never goes away. It’s an amazing way to introduce pizza innovations and bring a community together around great pizza. As I wrote in my summary of the event:
Pizza Dojo isn't about a single night in Pittsburgh, it's about trying something new in the Pittsburgh pizza scene. Pushing one another to innovate and make better pizza.
Instead of existing side-by-side for years on a street in Squirrel Hill and pretending that the world on the other side of the counter hasn't changed, the pizza makers that enter the Pizza Dojo emerge with a new perspective. A new definition of pizza. Confidence to try something new and push the pizza envelope to the edge of the table.
4: Tony Gemignani visits Pittsburgh
You may not know Tony Gemignani, but he’s responsible for spreading the pizza gospel across the country. He’s written The Pizza Bible, an amazing book that covers every nook and cranny of pizza fundamentals. He’s put on clinics and has been crowned the World Pizza Champion.
And, this year he paid a visit to Pittsburgh to sign copies of his book and show off his pizza theory.
He’s a guy that loves making pizza. His motto is “Respect the Craft.” And that’s a mentality that I see more and more pizza makers in Pittsburgh adopting. They put ingredients on pizza with a purpose. Nothing is haphazard and everything has a reason.
Meeting Tony was awesome, but the turnout for the event was even more impressive. Caliente was filled to the brim with pizza enthusiasts waiting to talk with Tony and exchange pizza tips.
So that's Pizza Moments 6-4! You can read moments 9-7 here.