Pizza Quest with Peter Reinhart

This is my first follow up on my broccoli pepperoni experiment.  I think I’m onto something here. Pepperoni is so popular because it is a great topping for pizza.  It offers a spicy kick with concentrated salt accents. It has a deep flavor with spicy and salty exclamations! When I’m making pizzas at home I tend to use a good salami rather than a traditional pepperoni but, every once in…Read More…

Last week I took a local reporter, Michael Solender, on a local mini-Pizza Quest for a story he is writing for a local magazine. We were accompanied by photographer Tonya Russ Price. We picked four local places to visit, all of which I consider among Charlotte’s best: Wolfgang Puck Pizza Bar; Luisa’s Brick Oven Pizza; Mellow Mushroom; and Pure Pizza (where I serve as “consulting partner”). Michael’s article, which I’m…Read More…

This will just be a quickie, as I’m working on a deadline for a project, but I wanted to give everyone a heads up that in the coming days I will be posting a report on my recent mini-pizza quest around Charlotte, where I had a chance to visit with the Executive Chef of Wolfgang Puck’s new “Pizza Bar.”  For some unknown but beneficial reason for me, Wolfgang chose Charlotte…Read More…

Broccoli Pepperoni?  Broccoli and pepperoni don’t go together in a sentence very often. The pepperoni pizza is, by all accounts, the most popular pizza here in the USA. Picture your average 10 year old boy walking into his local pizza shop.  “Can I have a medium pepperoni pizza, uhmm…also with roasted broccoli?!!”  That just isn’t going to happen.  Maybe I’m wrong though.     I love broccoli.  Even my daughter…Read More…

Hi Everyone, In light of our recent webisode posting about the Basta/Bruery Pizza/Beer Challenge, I think this announcement is very timely. Sadly, it will be more useful to those of you who live near Charlotte, NC so, if you don’t, but have friends or family in this area, please feel to tell them about it. On Saturday, March 2nd we will be hosting a “Farm to Fork” Pizza/Beer Pairing Dinner…Read More…

We are moving now closer to the showdown between Kelly Whitaker, Al Henkin, and me on pizza versus Patrick Rue on beer.  It all began at, and was inspired by, this dinner at Basta – Wood Fired Eatery and Pizzeria, where Kelly and Al came up with a wonderful tasting menu inspired by some of the beers from Orange County artisan brewery, The Bruery.  In this segment you will see…Read More…

Note from Peter: If you’d like to read all five of John’s columns on this subject you can go to the Guest Columns section instead of scrolling down the home page. There, you will find them all in one place. Either way, please do read them; it could make all the difference between success and failure. And even if you’re not thinking of opening a place, this is great, universal…Read More…

Note from Peter:  We’ve been writing about this new Baking Steel for a couple of months, so I asked its creator, Andris Lagsdin, to tell us more about it in his own words. I love his inspirational story, one that exemplifies what Pizza Quest is all about, and am thrilled to be able to share it with you now. Enjoy! Although for my day job, I work for a family-owned…Read More…

Hi Everyone, I plan to write more about my recent trip through Texas, and we have some new postings to add this week, but my friend Steve Steingard, with whom I’ve shared many pizzas (and cheese steaks) while growing up together in Philly, just sent me this link and I wanted to share it with you, asap, because it highlights some very spectacular pizzas, both traditional and innovative.  No list…Read More…

Great news. —  the Craftsy mini-pizza course launched yesterday and we already have 2,200 subscribers! To get the free video course, “Perfect Pizza at Home” go to www.craftsy.com/pizza and sign up. Did I mention that it’s FREE!!  I just watched the whole series from my hotel room (yes, I’m still in Texas) and I have to say, I’m really pleased with how it turned out. Check it out and let…Read More…