This year’s International Pizza Expo was back in full force after a couple of years of limping along. The Las Vegas Convention Center was filled with all kinds of vendors and suppliers, as well as pizza fanatics. I lost my voice the day before the Expo started, so it was a challenge talking to people, but I managed to hear a number of voices from different perspectives in the industry.
Archives: Podcasts
Matt Lyons from Tribute Pizza in San Diego
Matt Lyons built Tribute Pizza as an homage to some of the greatest pizzas he’s ever had. He makes 13″ Neo-Neapolitans, pan-baked grandmas and 18″ NYC style pies, hand stretched and tossed like a pro. We spoke with Matt just before service, as he make one of his new favorites, inspired the pizzas he had at L’Industrie in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Salvatore Grasso from Pizzeria Gorizia 1916 in Naples, Italy
When most kids were figuring out Play Dough, Salvatore Grasso was literally playing with real dough, a result of a combination of double zero and zero flour. Today’s show is all about family and history. Growing up in a legendary Naples pizzeria – Gorizia 1916 – he is the fifth generation. We spoke to him and his wife, Lucia, about how they’ve maintained tradition while also adapting to keep up.
Franco Pepe from Pepe in Grani in Caiazzo, Italy
Franco Pepe has been in business since 2012, but it was the Chef’s Table: Pizza episode that helped catapult him into stratospheric popularity among pizza aficionados. He has built a temple to the art of pizza – Pepe in Grani – where all dough is mixed by hand, and toppings are curated from around the country, oftentimes transformed into unrecognizable shapes. We got a rare tour of his space, in a renovated 14th Century structure hidden away on a tiny side alley.
Sexton Garcia from Editor Pizza in Miami Beach
Tucked into the first floor of the Urbanica Hotel in South Beach, a Brooklyn-style pizza awaits, topped with Bianco di Napoli tomatoes and Grande cheese. Yes, not all slice joints in S. Beach are equal! Editor Pizza is taking the beach pizza concept a few steps further, with a slight Argentinian twist.
Robert Maleski from Milly’s Pizza in the Pan in Chicago
Robert Maleski grew up on Chicago’s North Shore, devouring tavern style, thin crust, square-cut pizza. But a visit to Burt’s in Morton Grove as an adult changed his life, literally. He’s been obsessed with deep pan pizza ever since. He opened Milly’s Pizza in the Pan during the pandemic, and just moved into a permanent space about a year ago, where he still makes every pizza himself.
Dan Kluger from Washington Squares in NYC
Dan Kluger took a very different route to pizza making. A classically trained chef who has worked with NYC legends like Danny Meyer, Tom Colicchio, Floyd Cardoz and Jean-Georges Vongerichten, he started Washington Squares as an answer to COVID restrictions, when his restaurant – Loring Place – was shuttered. Now the grandma-style squares are available all of the time from the basement kitchen; even on Goldbelly for nationwide shipping.
John Margulies from Magic John’s in Berlin
From Israel, to New York City and then…Berlin of all places. John Margulies went from clubs and electronic music to pizza, deciding to open his own pizzeria – Magic John’s – just days before the world shut down in 2020. Today, he’s on a path toward expanding his brand all over Germany with his unique take on New York style and Detroit style pies. One of the things that has served him well is his innate hustle, and his ability to pivot almost daily. You think you have supply issues? Imagine starting from scratch when it comes to flour sourcing, or cheese and sauce, when there is no such thing as Grande or Bacio or Stanislaus.
Fred Eric From Pi’ L.A. in Los Angeles
What is “L.A. style” pizza? Fred Eric has some strong opinions on the matter. For one thing, it means using local toppings inspired by the immigrants who settled there, so Korean and Latin for starters. But it also refers to the use of kombu in the water used to make the dough. The result at Pi L.A. is an über light and crispy base for a pie that has perfect proportions and OBR (Optimal Bite Ratio).
George Bumbaris from George’s Deep Dish in Chicago
George Bumbaris has had more jobs than most pizza makers: home inspector, real estate broker, and professional cook after attending culinary school. But he tapped into his own Greek heritage to come up with a dough for a deep pan pizza unlike anything else in the country, at George’s Deep-Dish. This is 3rd Wave deep-dish for sure, since Bumbaris is using an all-natural starter for his dough.
