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                  Some of you have seen my video presentation (or witnessed it live at last year’s Pizza Expo and also at the Atlantic City Pizza and Pasta Show East, in which I tell the story of Mama’s Pizzeria and Cheese Steaks, my childhood go-to place for the best pizza and cheese steaks in Philadelphia. For those who haven’t heard my talk, here…Read More…

Welcome back everyone!  During the past year or so we posted a number of webisodes filmed at the Forno Bravo Oven Expo a few years ago. I had the chance to meet and cook with some great chefs and teachers, work side by side with the Obi Wan Kenobi of pizza, John Arena, and meet hundreds of kindred spirits who, in one of the episodes, we referred to as our…Read More…

Hi and welcome Back! Here’s a webisode we’ve been saving from the Forno Bravo Oven Expo where I get to bake my favorite thing (beside pizza): bread!  And not just any bread but a remarkable mini-baguette made from a wet, ciabatta-like dough, that puffs up beautifully in a hot oven immediately after shaping (and this will work not just in wood-fired oven but even in a home oven set to…Read More…

Look at that pizza! I was recently recommending some pizzerias for my brother to take his family while on a trip to New York City. I sent him a link to Una Pizza Napoletana.  I told him about Anthony Mangieri and how he was one of the pizza greats who literally makes every pizza he serves.  After I sent him the link I poked around the website and checked out…Read More…

Welcome back! As promised, here’s the second part of our ongoing series of webisodes with Anthony Mangieri, founder of Una Pizza Napoletana. In this episode, Anthony takes us deeper into his personal story; his striving for excellence and ongoing personal growth. I find it interesting that, while Anthony works on a narrow canvas of just one style of pizza with only a few menu options for the customer, it’s not…Read More…

Note from Peter: Thank you to our friend and regular guest columnist, Joseph Calcagno, for this holiday reflection, as he looks back over a year filled with a number of indelible pizza memories. This man takes the quest seriously, as I’m sure many of you do as well. Please let me know if you, like Joseph, would like to share some of your pizza adventures here. The more the merrier!…Read More…

I’ve been home for over three weeks now but am still enjoying flashbacks from Pizza Expo 2018. With over 8,000 people attending everyday, and hundreds of booths, there are probably over 8,000 versions of what Pizza Expo means to the attendees and vendors. For sure, plenty of pizza to taste, ingredients to sample, equipment to test drive, seminars and workshops to attend, and numerous competitions, there are just too many…Read More…

Hi Everyone, Once again, here is John Arena, the legendary pizzaiolo from Las Vegas, Nevada, mentoring us all in the craft and history of pizza, with a little help from me, as we make a pizza in reverse, so to speak. You’ll see what I mean when you watch and, who knows, it may give you some ideas to play with on your own. Note: I just returned from the…Read More…

There’s this New York style pizza place nearby, in Hermosa Beach, CA, called Paisano’s Pizza that has been a go-to slice and pie place for me for years.  When I first started going in I felt at home.  This was the real deal.  It was an East Coast pizzeria sitting right there, steps from the Pacific Ocean.  There was just enough chaos in the normal operation of the place to…Read More…

This webisode is part of our ongoing series from the 2015 Forno Bravo Oven Expo, at Talbott Vineyards in Salinas, California. For three glorious, sunny days we had the opportunity to meet and cook with passionate, fellow “fire-freaks,” and work side-by-side with talented chefs, oven owners, growers, cheese and wine makers, and famous pizzaiolos like John Arena. John, as many of you already know, is a regular Guest Columnist here…Read More…