Peter's Blog

Hi Everyone, Here’s a link to a great post from our friend, Bill Rogers, mastermind behind Culinary TV, about the new designation accorded to Wood-Fired Pizza by the United Nations!  Check it out here: https://www.culinarytvshow.com/unitednations  As we approach the magic hour, enjoy this article and we look forward to giving you more wonderful postings, webisodes, recipes, and guest columns here on PizzaQuest during 2018. Have a wonderful New Year from the…Read More…

Hi Everybody, Hard t believe it’s almost Christmas — seems like I just wrote a Christmas post just a blink ago! But here we are, so this is just a short thank you for another great year and for your ongoing support. We are just moments away from making an exciting announcement about the growth and expansion of Pizza Quest, but I can’t say it yet until we sign the…Read More…

Note from Peter: I met Will Grant in October, in Atlantic City during the Caputo Cup Pizza Championship, where I was serving as a judge in the Non-Traditional Category (this meant, pretty much, anything goes, as opposed to the Traditional category which limited total toppings to three). Will had come to my interview, earlier that day, with pizza maestro Joe Beddia, and afterward he filled me in on his life…Read More…

Hi Everyone, As reported here in the past, I was fortunate enough to have been invited by Nathan Myhrvold to contribute to his monumental book project, Modernist Bread, about five years ago. Well, what he originally suggested might be a two or three volume collection has at last been published. It didn’t take long for Nathan and his resident Modernist team of bakers and chefs to realize that it would…Read More…

Hi Again, Last week I was waiting for the final, amended results for the Caputo Cup Pizza Competition and, at last here, here they are:  Caputo Cup 2017 Pizza Championship Traditional Pizzas (NY Style, no more than two toppings) 1st – Derek Sanchez of Mia Marco’s Pizza (Selma, TX) 2nd (tie) – Allen Raymond of That’s Some Pizza (Bainbridge Island, WA) 2nd (tie) – Michael Ricca of Ricca Brothers Brick…Read More…

Hi Everyone, I just returned from three weeks on the road, culminating in a lively few days at the first ever Pizza & Pasta Northeast Show in Atlantic City where, in two presentation sessions I got to interview pizza maker extraordinaire Joe Beddia, as well as three pasta luminaries (Antimo DiMeo, Hari Cameron, and Lorenzo Boni) on the future of pasta. In addition, I served, along with John Arena, as…Read More…

Hi Everyone, While you are reading this I will be in Napa, CA, attending the Puratos Bread Symposium: Taste Beyond Imagination (where I will be delivering a presentation called, “The Next Big Thing in Bread”).  When I return I will post more about this symposium, as well as the upcoming Northeast Pizza and Pasta Show in Atlantic City, where I head to next.  So, since the Puratos symposium is all…Read More…

Note from Peter: I grew up in Philadelphia, a city that takes its food pretty seriously. We always had a few great, iconic pizzerias (Tacconelli’s, Marra’s, Francoluigi’s, Caccia’s Bakery, Santucci’s and others) but, unlike New York City where pizza is a primary marker of cultural identity, it was really the cheese steak, hoagie, roast pork sandwich culture that gave Philly its culinary claim to fame. But, in the past few…Read More…

Note from Peter:  This came in yesterday so I thought I’d share it with all of you. Roberto and Tony are good friends of Pizza Quest and this is a great cause. If you go, please say hi for me.   Pizza Powerhouses Roberto Caporuscio and Tony Gemignani to Share Neapolitan Pizza-Making Techniques and Tasting at Newest Kesté Pizza and Vino Location Collaborative Pizza Benefitting Hurricane Victims to be Unveiled…Read More…

Note from Peter: I first met Chris Bianco just before he burst on the national scene, sometime back in the late 1990’s. One of my baking students was from Phoenix and told me about him and, when I went to Phoenix for an IACP Conference and needed a place to bake breads for a presentation I was making, my student said, “He not only makes the best pizza in Phoenix…Read More…