Archives: Podcasts

We always have a couple of panel discussions and demos at Pizza City Fest, and a few weeks ago in L.A., we brought together three brilliant pizza makers who think visually as much as they do about the recipes. Justin De Leon (Apollonia’s), Ines Glaser (Lupa Cotta) and Thomas McNaughton (Flour & Water Pizzeria, SF) join the LA Food Podcast’s Luca Servodio to talk about their process.

Every Pizza City Fest has a series of informative panel discussions and demos, and at this year’s L.A. event, we brought back “The Dough Whisperers,” three of the top bakers on the West Coast, sharing best practices. ⁠Tony Gemignani⁠ (Tony’s, Capo’s, Slice House), ⁠Daniele Uditi⁠ (Pizzana) and ⁠Sarah Minnick⁠ (Lovely’s Fifty-Fifty) join Karen Palmer in the conversation.

Chris Decker worked for 26 years under John Arena at ⁠Metro⁠ in Las Vegas, but now he’s the guy in charge at ⁠Truly Pizza⁠in Dana Point, CA. They offer two very distinct styles of pizza and both are incredible. Chris and his crew are going to be featured at Pizza City Fest LA this weekend, where they’ll be showing off a very unique pie. He previews it for us on this week’s show.

 

Jeff Barris has always been into pizza, but when he had a chance to buy an established pizzeria in Atwater Village, he jumped at it. ⁠Hail Mary⁠ already had a cult following, but now that Barris and his team have taken over, they’ve changed very little (just the sauce), keeping the same all-natural starter intact and employing four different flours.

Coming back after a few years of so-so attendance, still recovering from the pandemic, the 40th International Pizza Expo was a smash in almost every way. I spoke with a few attendees about why they made the trip.

 

Connie Zotta is the 2nd generation to run ⁠Salerno’s⁠ in Chicago’s West Town neighborhood. The pizzeria has been around since 1966, when it opened in a near suburb of Chicago (Berwyn). Zotta’s dad, Joe Salerno, founded the business with his brothers, but since he passed away recently, she has been tasked with keeping the tradition alive.

 

Alex Koons has had an interesting career – audio engineer, pizza delivery guy – but his biggest challenge was attempting to open a vegan pizzeria in L.A. It didn’t take long to realize he had to pivot. Today his pizza at ⁠Hot Tongue⁠ in Silver Lake (both vegan and meat-friendly) is among the best in the city, due mainly to his remarkable dough recipe (with four flours!).

 

Peter Dorrance and Eric Ehler met while working at Mr. Jiu’s, the Michelin-starred restaurant in San Francisco’s Chinatown. They left to open ⁠Outta Sight⁠, a NYC-style pizzeria in the Tenderloin. Convincing locals that it’s OK to re-heat slices to-order took some getting used to!

Katsuya Fukushima spent 15 years working for José Andrés in Washington D.C., and it allowed him to travel the world. But his upbringing in Hawaii also influenced his palate, and his Japanese heritage also plays a role on his menus. He now cooks Wafu – Japanese inspired Italian – at ⁠Tonari⁠ in D.C.’s Chinatown, where he and pastry chef Mary Mendoza have collaborated on a mentaiko corn Detroit style pizza that is just stunning.

Like several of Knoxville’s best chefs and restaurants, owner Brian Strutz is an alum of Blackberry Farm’s kitchens. ⁠A Dopo⁠ is an homage to a life-changing trip he took to Italy years ago, where all they had was an oven. Strutz still uses an all-natural starter and his staff pulls mozzarella curds each day. Serious Old School in Tennessee! NOTE: on this episode, we also mention ⁠Potchke⁠, an Eastern European-inspired deli Strutz is involved in. His business partner Laurence Faber and wife Emily Williams are the creators of that concept.