Pizza Quest

Garrett McPerry fell down the sourdough rabbit hole about eight years ago, started selling loaves at his local farmers market and, fueled by the public's enthusiastic response, just kept drilling deeper until, two years ago, when he and his wife Lauren opened a brick and mortar bakery cafe called Tommy & Atticus, where the lines are often around the block, the sandwiches sell out by 1:30, and then the pizzas fly out of the oven and are gone by 3 PM. To hear how they got that name, how he finally gave up his day job as an accountant and went all in...

For the past 65 years I have been in an ongoing dialogue with my childhood friend, Howard (aka Howie) Brownstein. Howie used to work as a delivery driver for Mama's Pizzeria, which many of you know as the place I revere as cheesesteak heaven. When he couldn't work his shifts he would ask me to fill in for him and the inter-weaving aromas of Mama's super-cheesy pizzas and juicy cheesesteaks (both of which relying on Mama's secret 3-cheese blend)  embedded a powerful taste and olfactory memory, associated specifically with Mama's, that has forever driven my never-ending quest for the perfect pi...

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When I first met Randy Clemens he was a seventeen-year old guy looking for a purpose in life, something to sink his teeth into, and volunteering to be my assistant for a bread class I was teaching at Sur la Table in Los Angeles. Fast forward 23 years and join me as I catch up with Randy who, after writing three books (including the famous "The Sriracha Cookbook") and working in many aspects of the culinary world, seems to have found what he's been looking for in, of all places, Uruguay, by founding t...

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One of the most beloved couples in all of pizzadom have just released their first book, Pizza From the Heart, and it's a beauty, loaded with wonderful recipes, anecdotes, banter, and the whole backstory on the creation of the legendary Paulie Gee's Pizza. Paul and Mary Ann Giannone, aka Paulie Gee and Mrs. Gee, are manifesting their dream and legacy on a daily basis. One of my most important takeaways from this enjoyable conversation the the Gee's is that it is never too late to go after that dream (after all, they...

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Kyle Ahlgren returns with some great news regarding the online baking courses he has created for Central Milling's Artisan Baking Center. He's also offering a special discount code for any Pizza Quest viewers and listeners (and your friends). In our conversation, Kyle takes us behind the scenes regarding what it involves to create these terrific baking courses with a number of the best teachers/bakers in the world, including Tony Gemignani, Craig Ponsford, and others. And, hey, Kyle even let it slip that our Pizza Quest course, which we filmed about two ye...

Six-Time James Beard Finalist, Cathy Whims, of Portland's Nostrana, on her new book.

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This week we welcome six-time James Beard Award finalist, Chef Cathy Whims, owner of Portland's beloved restaurant, Nostrana. which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. I first met Cathy when she was the chef and co-owner of Portland's celebrated fine dining Italian restaurant Genoa, where I enjoyed a memorable six-course tasting menu along with the famous bread book author, Carol Field (The Italian Baker). That was over 25 years ago. Genoa closed a few years later, and Nostrana eme...

Welcome back to Pizza Quest! NYC is a treacherous place to open a new pizzeria.  The competition is fierce and public is vocal and not always diplomatic. But the lure of reaching for holy grail of pizza is hard to resist, and now Chef Ian Coogan, formerly of Eleven Madison Park and the Jean George lineage of great chefs (among other top-tier mentors), and currently the culinary director at the popular Motel Morris in Chelsea, has taken the plunge a few blocks away with the opening of KID.  To assure success, Ian brought in Roberta's and Tartine alumnus, Max Blach...

My long-time friend, Peter Scott Ruben, is the best guitar player I know, having personally watched him jam with some of the great rock and blues musicians of the seventies (Joe Perry in his pre-Aerosmith days and Kim Simmonds of The Savoy Brown Blues Band are two who immediately come to mind -- I read that Simmonds died two years ago in England and the band had to break up after an amazing fifty-five year run). Since then, Peter has fronted his own bands, and has also carried on his father's legacy as leader of the premier special events...

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Elizabeth Brasch is committed to delivering what she calls, "a higher order of pizza," at Mellow Mushroom, where she serves as VP of Marketing and Menu Innovation. As anyone who has been to any Mellow Mushroom location knows, the notion of a pizzadelic experience is not at all far-fetched. And, for those who own their brands, this conversation with Elizabeth will be especially enlightening as we hear how a University of Georgia-born hippy-era pizzeria grew over the past fifty years into a formidable multi-unit operation with a fanatically loyal following wherever they pop...

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As you know, our usual focus is on the celebration of artisanship in pizza and anywhere else we find it. But what if the next generation of "artisan" pizza makers are robots? Or is this a non sequitur? Hey, before you shoot the messenger, listen to this revelatory conversation with Nipun Sharma, the CEO of Appetronix, who is about to launch the first fully robotic pizza kiosk in partnership with Donatos Pizza -- with more locations on their way. But how can this be? And how long before this technology scales up a...

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        There's something special happening in Pukalani, on the island of Maui, where Chef Jeff Scheer and his wife Kaili (along with their trusted friend and restaurant anchor, Chef Chris), are drawing big crowds and James Beard Award attention at their non-touristy, upcountry restaurant, Marlow. It starts with fabulous wood-fired sourdough pizzas (both traditional and inventive) but also, drawing on Jeff's background as a fine dining chef,  also includes duck confit, a must-have octopus' salad, handmade pasta dishes and gnocchi, rotating seasonal, locally grown specials, and uniquely flavored gelatos.  In a sense, Marlow is at t...

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It's been a while since we've caught up with our two most recurring and popular guests, pizza legends John Arena (Metro Pizza in Las Vegas) and Brian Spangler (Apizza Scholl's, Portland, OR). Not only have they both been there and done it all, but they are also trusted mentors to many pizza operator newbies and, over these past years on Pizza Quest, have served as prophets-in-residence,alerting us to what to watch for next. We've broken stories with them on emerging trends like the pizzeria/bagel connection, sourdough is here to stay, an...

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Our guests this week are the co-hosts of the popular Pizza Pod Party Podcast, Arthur Bovino and Alfred Schulz. They recently completed their first season of 52 episodes with a star-studded roster of  guests including Mo Rocca, Andrew Zimmern, Tony Dukoupil, Guy Raz ("How I Built This"), Candace Bushnell (yes, who wrote "Sex in the City"), George R.R. Martin ("Game of Thrones," anyone?), Susan Orlean ("The Orchid Thief" and way more), Scott Wiener (my go-to guy when it comes to everything pizza), and many others who you will hear about in this l...

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In this episode, we welcome Brett McKay, the founder of the immensely popular website/newsletter/podcast, The Art of Manliness. For the past fifteen+ years Brett, along with his wife Kate, have been on their own quest to explore every aspect of what it means to be a man -- really, a human -- at this particular time in history. Their site has clearly struck a chord, as they have over a million followers (including listeners to their Art of Manliness (AOM) Podcast),where they cover everything from the practical (like "How...

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This week we welcome fellow podcaster Jimmy Carbone, host of HRN's Beer Sessions podcast. Jimmy has been hosting his "convivial ale salon" on HRN (Heritage Radio Network) from the network's earliest days, beginning about 15 years ago.  Peter recently was a guest of Jimmy's on Beer Sessions, talking about the pizza/beer connection, so this time Jimmy returns the favor and joins us here to share his passion for hard apple ciders, a passion that Peter fortuitously shares as well. Join our pop-up "cider salon" here on Pizza Quest, as Jimmy takes Peter o...

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Mark Todd is a recurring guest here on Pizza Quest because, one, I love cheese (every kind!), and two, he's so interesting and makes cheese interesting too as he demystifies this magical, fermented, "spoiled" solid milk so that we can enjoy it in all it's mighty nuances and permutations. In past episodes with Mark, we've explored stretched cheeses in the "pasta filata" category, cheddar cheeses, and hard, aged cheeses. This time we've taken the big leap and a deep dive into "stinky cheeses," which means Alpine-style washed-rind cheeses that are not for th...

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Muhammad Abdul-Hadi's and Michael Carter's new book, "We the Pizza," just came out this week. They join us from their restaurant, Down North Pizza, in Philadelphia's Strawberry Hill neighborhood, to tell us all about it. The subtitle of the book, "Slangin' Pies and Saving Lives" is really what makes Down North Pizza unique among the many great pizzerias we feature here. The restaurant represents a larger mission, including the hiring of formerly incarcerated individuals, providing housing subsidies for those in need, and a number of other neighborhood and community projects that we...

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      Joel Kostman supported his family for over 30 years as a New York City locksmith, but that was just his day job. By night, he was (and still is) a serious writer who channeled his locksmithing adventures into a semi-autobiographical fictional cult classic story collection called, "Keys to the City: Tales of a New York City Locksmith." The New York Times even called him "The Doctor of the Deadbolt." As Joel says, "New Yorkers are concerned about keeping people out on a very primal level, whether it's an abusive spouse or a creep on t...

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In this episode, we are joined by Eddie Fischer (no, not the famous singer and husband of Debbie Reynolds and father of Carrie Fisher), but the OTHER Eddie Fischer, a Jersey guy, the founder of How U Doin?, a new boys and girls club about to launch near Dallas, Texas. Yes, he and I share a long, shared history of East Coast pizza questing but, more importantly, his current quest is to provide a safe haven for teens struggling with the allure of drinking, drugs, and alienation. How U Doin  is a clubhouse, bu...

Welcome back to Pizza Quest 2025, for a new season with lots of new and exciting guests! 

We kick off the new season with Chef David Nayfeld, chef and owner of a hot new restaurant in the shadow of San Francisco's dynamic sports complex in an area called Thrift City (the restaurant is located on Warrior Way, lest there be any doubt about Chef Nayfeld's lifelong allegiance to Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors).  Che Fico Pizzeria (pronounced "kay-fico") is doing crisp, "slightly but intentionally-charred" slices and pies, as well as a very inventive Italian-themed menu of start...

Once again, the operative word for this episode is Quest, as we welcome author, mentor, and game changer, Dr. Marc B. Cooper. Marc's mission and personal quest is to restore a sense of meaning and purpose for those of us who fall into the "senior citizen" bracket (but, really, it's a timeless mission for all of us regardless of age). The title of his new book. "Older to Elder," says it all, so I won't try to recap it for you here but, rather, encourage you to listen to this fascinating conversation that might very well transform your life. Ma...

As most of you know by now, for us it's as much about the Quest as it is about the Pizza, and this week's guest, author David Amadio, takes us on a deep dive into the quest of his father, Jerry Amadio, a master carpet installer and rug expert, who is just as dedicated to his own craft as any pizzaiolo that I know is to making the perfect pizza.  Jerry Amadio is legendary in the carpet community, especially in Philadelphia, where he has been honing and expressing his skills for the past 50 years. David, as his (sometimes) dutiful s...

Marco Pacelli is doing something wonderful in Redondo Beach, California at his pasta shop, Fatto a Mano. After a lifetime of working for Michelin-level fine dining restaurants, he and his wife Arlene decided to open a small pasta and Roman-style pizza shop showcasing the foods inspired by Marco's Aunt Concettina. She was the woman who shaped his culinary passion during the summers he spent with her as a youth on the Amalfi coast. The rest is history, as customers discovered that they could establish their own vivid taste memories through the amazing homemade pastas, sauces, and pizzas at Fatto...

Chef Tandy Wilson is an important player in the Nashville culinary renaissance. Hear how this classically trained chef paid his dues and then returned to his roots to create a signature style all his own (while winning a James Beard Award in the process), in this latest episode of Pizza Quest.

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Chef Fiore Tedesco was born completely deaf and couldn't hear anything until he was five years old, when his hearing was miraculously recovered through a risky series of operations. He made up for lost time after that, retraining himself to not only hear, speak, and expand his vocabulary, but to also play drums in a rock band and then travel the world with his bandmates. Eventually, he brought together childhood family food memories with the joy of creating flavors based on his global travels, and reinvented himself as a superstar chef in Austin, Texas. His latest restaurant is L'Oca...

Pizza and bagels in the Mississippi Delta might have once been considered a non sequitur, but Marisol and Rory Doyle have put the small town of Cleveland, Mississippi on the global pizza map, thanks to a recent NY Times article featuring their destination wood-fired pizzas. What started as a once-a-week bagel cart has grown into a local treasure and destination pizza cafe. Hear all about the Doyles, Leña Pizza and Bagels, Rory's award-winning photography, and Marisol's culinary journey from Mexico to Mississippi in this week's new episode of Pizza Quest with Peter Reinhart.

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On today's episode we welcome back to one of our long-time favorites, pizza master Leo Spizzirri. When we first featured Leo on Pizza Quest about seven years ago we introduced him as the "Greatest guy you never knew," but a lot has changed since then. His ever-present short reels on Instagram, his feature length YouTube instructionals, the many demos he performs at every pizza and food conference, his brand ambassadorship on behalf of a number of food and equipment products, and his ongoing classes at Pizza University have brought Leo to the attention of thousands of food lovers everywhere...

Brigit Binns first appeared on Pizza Quest a few years ago when we filmed some cooking segments with her and her husband, actor Casey Biggs, at the Forno Bravo Wood-Fired Oven Expo in Salinas, California in 2017.

Brigit and Casey have also been operating a wonderful retreat and event center in California's Central Coast Wine Country called Refugio. But, she's far too prolific for settling into the so-called good life, and so keeps writing fabulous cook books for Williams-Sonoma and others, as well as, more recently, a memoir called Rottenkid about growing up in (and surviving) a neurotically...

In this episode we step away from pizza for a moment and focus on culinary teaching for the everyday person. I first met Chef Alyssa Gorelick about 15 years ago when she was at the helm of a very innovative vegetarian restaurant called Fern. She was young and single and super talented. Fast forward to today and she is now Alyssa Wilen, a mother, happily married to her husband Andrew, and for a number of years they have been operating a cooking school here in Charlotte (where we all live) called Alyssa's Kitchen. Along the way I found out that...

We are in the midst of American greatness on the International pizza stage. First, we recently had Caputo Cup champion Siler Chapman on with us. Now, his compatriot and fellow member of the US Pizza Champions team, Audrey Kelly, is here to tell us about her own championship gold medal in the pan pizza category at the Caputo Cup. Audrey has been on Pizza Quest in the past, showing us how she makes her signature Grandma Pizza at Audrey Jane's Pizza Garage in Boulder, CO, which she calls "The Patty." You can find that episode here.

As...

Siler Chapman, owner of King of Fire Pizza in Charlotte, NC, was already a world champion long before he went to Naples this year. Nevertheless, he earned the title back when he was a 20-something kid obsessed with acrobatic dough tossing and showmanship as part of the US Pizza Champions Team. Now, twenty-two years later, he's a serious business operator and a mentor to a new generation of up and comers, and he wants to be known for his pizzas and not just his acrobatic skills. Hear all about how he added a new gold medal to his trophy...

Welcome back to Pizza Quest with Peter Reinhart.  We wrap up our summer season of Golden Oldies with a special replay of our panel session at the Atlantic City Pizza and Pasta Expo Northeast, recorded October, 2022.  The episode is entitled “Tinkering With Your Dough.”  Peter and guest panelist and pizza master John Gutekanst of Avalanche Pizza in Athens, OH,  field questions from an audience of over 100 professional and amateur pizza makers from across the nation. We expect you will find some questions of your own answered in this entertaining and informative session, and you will definitely learn some things about doug...

Back in September we aired this show with guest Scott Deley. Here's what we said back then: There is no question that Ooni Ovens have taken the world by storm, even eclipsing their worthy competitor RoccBox, which had a nice head start. How have they done it? Fortunately, Scott Deley, who just published a book called The Ooni Pizza Project, joins the show to tell us all about it. The book is loaded with inspiring recipes created by Scott (but inspired by his many pizza heroes), who has been on his own personal pizza quest for quite a while. He...

Peter’s guests this week are Noel Brohner of Slow Rise Pizza, who has appeared on the show in the past, along with his colleague, molecular biologist James Gaffney. They have been working, along with a few other microbe geniuses, to create a powdered wild yeast sourdough starter that can be used just like instant yeast to make sourdough breads and pizza doughs without the need of keeping a starter in your fridge. How did they do it, when will it be available, and what are the implications of this breakthrough product for all of us? Tune in and fin...

In our never-ending celebration of artisanship wherever we find it, this week’s episode turns our lens onto one of the truly great American crafts, distilled whiskey, most notably, bourbon. On the show to explain it all is Peter’s long-time friend, culinary educator, and award-winning author Albert Schmid, whose newest book, Bourbon 101, was just recently released by The University Press of Kentucky.

In this episode, Albert takes us through a tasting of four distinct versions of corn mash whiskey, and explains what qualifies some as “bourbons” and others as, well, moonshine, Tennessee or Canadian whiskey, Scotch, Gin, and...

In this episode, Steven Raichlen shares with us his long journey from Reed College, to writing for an underground newspaper in Boston, to landing in south Florida where he has since authored 32 books and won numerous James Beard Awards — all driven by his global quest in search of every known iteration of cooking with fire. His books have sold millions of copies and his public broadcasting cooking shows have inspired us all and opened a world of international flavor possibilities. I often refer to our Pizza Quest followers as members of a tribe of kindred spirits we affectionately call “fire...

This week we celebrate the one-year anniversary of our conversation with the renowned expert on everything grilled, smoked, and cooked with or over fire, Meathead Goldwyn. Grilling season is still in full swing, so these evergreen tips and tricks from the master will serve as either new or refreshed information. Meathead: The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling, is his award winning and best-selling book, and he loves sharing his extensive knowledge with all of us, as you will learn during this delightful conversation, first posted on Pizza Quest in July of 2023.

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As we review and repost some of the most popular shows of the past year, the bagel theme is still the hot nationwide trend. In this episode, our beloved pizza Yodi's, John Arena and Brian Spangler, return to explore their latest obsession. They are joined by the "Bagel Whisperer," (or maybe, better, "The Gandalf of Bagels"), Philip Korshak, who was recently on the show to discuss the closing of his legendary Philadelphia shop, Korshak Bagels. Together, these pizza and bagel wizards geek out together on their shared passion for bagels, and also show off their recent experiments in the...

Previous Pizza Quest guest Chef Wylie Dufresne recently had an extensive cameo in the momentous season ending episode of "The Bear" on Hulu. The episode features appearances from many of the chefs (both real and imaginary) that inspired the restaurant in the show, so it seems timely to look back on our conversation with Wylie from the Fall of 2023. In the episode, he described his move into the pizza sector with his new restaurant called Stretch Pizza. Let's see if we can find any "Easter Eggs" in this episode that hints at what's to come. Regardless, it's momentous whenever a...

Korshak Bagels, nestled in the heart of Philadelphia’s historic Italian Market neighborhood, was like the mouse that roared. Producing only 1,000 hand-shaped sourdough bagels a day, Philip Korshak‘s love-child of a bagelry garnered national press during its brief two-year run, and elicited deep mourning and lines two blocks long during its final week, even when folks were warned they could buy only two bagels per person. Was it Phil's viral Instagram poetry posts (@korshak.bagels.poetry), or the original shmears and curated smoked salmon and "pastrami lox," or simply the amazingly plump sourdough bagels themselves that cemented Korshak Bage...