Archives: Podcasts

We’re taking a long look back at 2020, a year we’d just as soon like to forget. But these four interviews were unforgettable – full of insight, advice and history. We talk with pizza writer Arthur Bovino (@nycbestpizza) about how he goes about covering his beat; John Arena discusses the finer points of Sicilian from Las Vegas; the CEO of Home Run Inn talks about the company’s origins and World Pizza Champion Tony Gemignani discusses his competitive streak and an almost obsessive focus on recreating the nation’s various styles of pizza all under one roof.

Thom and James Elliot fell hard for Neapolitan pizza, and decided to buy a small van and drive through Italy, discovering and learning all they could about pizza making. The result is “Pizza” a new book about their adventures, which include a few cities in the U.S. They now have 14 locations of their Pizza Pilgrims brand in the U.K., where you can even get pizza making kits for home (if you live in London).

Chefs Nick Krunkkala and Caroline Zeller are the driving force behind Oysterhead Pizza Co., a tiny shop perched above the flowing Damariscotta River, about an hour-and-a-half north of Portland. This vacation town now has a serious pizzeria, where the dough is thoughtfully made and the wood-fired (rotating) deck oven burns a bit lower than your typical Neapolitan joint, producing chewy-crunchy pies. Also, Nick is a whiz with naming his pizzas.

Noah Sandoval has to be the only two-star Michelin chef currently making pizza. His fine dining restaurant – Oriole – was taking a break during the pandemic, so he and his business partners came up with a new take on Sicilian pizza, previously unseen in Chicago. With complete humility, he reached out to an expert in Las Vegas for guidance. The result? Pizza Friendly Pizza in the Ukrainian Village/Humboldt Park neighborhood.

Mike Keon and his business partner, Anthony Allen, founded Otto Pizza in 2009 in Portland, Maine. Over the past decade, they’ve expanded in New England, due in part to their creative take on toppings – including bacon, mashed potatoes and scallions, among others. Steve spoke with Mike just a few yards from the original store in downtown Portland.

Michael Zaffiro was born into the pizza business. His family has run Zaffiro’s for more than 60 years, satisfying a local craving for thin and crispy, square-cut “bar pies” that rule in the Midwest. He shares a few family secrets in this very candid interview.

Steve Lanzalotta created a unique Sicilian-style of pan pizza while working at Micucci Grocery in Portland, Maine, but after a falling-out, left to continue that tradition with partners Emily Kingsbury and Chris Bassett at Slab Sicilian Street Food, located in the old Public Market. You can get one pound slices, four pound half sheets or even 8 pounders (entire sheet pans) that look like bricks, but eat like feathers. The key is hand-mixing and making dough throughout the day (plus high hydration).

Thomas McNaughton has had success with Flour + Water in San Francisco for more than a decade, but he wanted something more substantial than the delicate Neapolitan pies from that wood-burning oven. His latest – Flour + Water Pizzeria, in the Mission – emphasizes long fermentation, wet dough and electric ovens, to produce some glorious pizzas with exceptional crumb.

For the past 15 years, Jonathan Goldsmith has led the charge for authentic Neapolitan pizzas in Chicago at Spacca Napoli, a result of spending several years living and working in Italy alongside master pizzaiolos. But he got a late start in life, after spending many years in academia and clinical social work. He continues to train, educate and nurture others in the industry, while also furthering his own knowledge of the craft. These days, he’s wrestling with the idea of putting in an electric oven to accommodate the large number of to-go orders for a style of pizza that traditionally does not travel well.

Neal DeNardi spent years working for various heavy hitters in San Francisco’s pizza world: Pizza Hacker, Tony Gemignani, Del Popolo among them. His hard work led to the birth of his own place – Long Bridge Pizza – located in the Dogpatch neighborhood just south of downtown. If you miss the large, semi-greasy NYC-style slices from back East, you’ll want to spend some time eating your way through his menu, which takes a more artisan approach to the standard slice.