The Hot Slice

Send us Fan Mail This week, we continue our Pizza Expo Interview Series from the show floor at Pizza Expo 2025 . This special edition of The Hot Slice Podcast with two operators who’s passion for the culinary experience surrounding a pizza business has catapulted their businesses to a well-defined dining experience. They are: Julia Duncan-Roitman owns Joy Hill Pizza Club in Denver, Colorado. We ta...

Send us Fan Mail This week, we start our Pizza Expo Interview Series from the show floor at Pizza Expo 2025 . We kick off this special edition of The Hot Slice Podcast with two operators who were inspiring speakers at this year’s show. They are:  Eric Redfield, co-owner of Camporosso in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky. We caught up with Eric a day before he gave a powerful keynote address on his Purpose-d...

Send us Fan Mail Alaska native Beau Schooler has been on the James Beard Foundation’s radar for years. This spring, Schooler is nominated for Best Chef in the Northwest and Pacific region, and he’s cooking at the James Beard Award after party on June 16 in Chicago. When he’s not rubbing elbows with a who’s who of the restaurant industry, Schooler is executive chef at Juneau, Alaska-based In Bocca...

Send us Fan Mail In June, Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana turns 100. The iconic New Haven pizzeria continues the legacy of Frank Pepe, who opened New Haven-style "abeetz" restaurant on the now famous Wooster Street in New Haven, Connecticut in 1925. On this week’s episode, we chat with Kevin Gagliard, Vice President of Operations for Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana. He shares how the famil...

Send us Fan Mail Mark & Kira Zabrowski left the teaching profession to pursue their passion for pizza. They had a vision to open a mom-and-pop pizza business. That vision has been realized in Much Ado About Pizza in Pleasanton, California. They found more success than what they had dreamed of. They are creating systems to fine-tune the pizza operation. But now Much Ado About Pizza has hit max...

Send us Fan Mail Lynn’s Chicago Pizza began with Lynn Humphrey and Brandon Bruner, Sr. trying to solve a problem. They couldn’t get pizza delivered to their Southside Chicago neighborhood so Brandon, a trained chef, began experimenting with making a Chicago Deep Dish pizza. Soon, they started making pizza for friends and family. The two started selling pizza at a nearby bar and the virtual pizzeri...

Send us Fan Mail It’s Pizza Expo week! While we are meeting all of you in person in Las Vegas, we wanted to share a replay of a favorite episode. George Panagopoulos spent this week with us and even gave an amazing seminar on Innovative Pizzeria Technology. It’s easy to see why we tapped George to lead the seminar when you hear how he has modernized a 50-year old pizzeria. George Panagopoulos owns...

Send us Fan Mail Pizza Expo starts soon. To get hyped up for the Las Vegas show, we’re chatting with Nick Bogacz, founder of Caliente Pizza & Draft House in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His deep-dive, four-hour workshop is part of the 2025 School of Pizzeria Management Workshops that will kick off Pizza Expo week on Sunday, long before the show floor opens Tuesday.  His session, “You Opened Your...

Send us Fan Mail Tori Tiso grew up in her father’s pizzeria, the famous Louie and Ernie's Pizza in Bronx, New York. She could have easily continued the pizza dynasty at Louie and Ernie’s. Instead, she decided to strike out on her own in Long Island straying from the standard New York slice the acclaimed Bronx spot was known for to open Tori T’s Pizzeria. On this week’s The Hot Slice Podcast w...

Send us Fan Mail It is March, you know what that means… It is almost showtime. The team at Pizza Today gather to bring you the Pizza Expo Preview Show on The Hot Slice Podcast. We’re covering all the highlights of the pizza industry’s biggest event.  In this episode, we’ll talk Show Overview, Keynote Addresses, Show Schedule, Education Sessions, Competitions, Networking Events and Announcements. ...

Send us Fan Mail Eleven B has been a pizza mainstay in the East Village for 18 years. But owner Vincent Sgarlato has been in the business since he was eight years old. Vincent reached out to us wanting to share his story with the pizza community.  His early start began in his family’s pizzerias in Brooklyn. As the business grew, the family expanded into malls. Vincent shares how that time was pivo...

Send us Fan Mail Melinda Carbajal, Managing Member and CEO of Simply Pizza, a unique woodfired, mobile, and hybrid restaurant business, is bringing her knowledge and experience to Pizza Expo. As a new Pizza Expo speaker, we wanted to learn more about Melinda and get a little sneak peek into her sessions at Pizza Expo. Her Pizza Expo sessions include: S30 Writing Your Food Truck Business Plan, S09...

Send us Fan Mail This week, we’re bringing you a fun episode with the Pizza Today Team giving our “Hot Takes” on pizza. And we didn’t even talk about pineapple on pizza. We dive into pizza styles. Whether toppings go over or under the cheese, chicken’s place, charring on pizza, olives, best cheese on pizza, childhood pizzas and more. We’re also inviting you to send us your “Hot Takes”. We’re givin...

Send us Fan Mail This week, Elizabeth (Liz) Badami joins the podcast with Executive Editor Denise Greer and Senior Editor Kate Lavin. Liz has overcome trials and tragedy to reopen her pizzeria, Mary Jane’s Stone Baked Pizza in Chester, West Virginia in December 2024.  Liz and her husband Chris often told Liz’s mom Mary Jane that they would open a pizzeria and sell her signature treats. After Mary...

Send us Fan Mail Don’t miss this back-and-forth conversation with a mentor and mentee in the pizza business. This week we chat with Pete Raskovic, owner of Bentley’s Log Cabin Pub and Grill in Hollandale, Wisconsin and his mentor, the pizza icon and visionary John Arena, who owns Metro Pizza in Las Vegas.  Pete reached out to us wanting to share just how much John Arena helped him as he developed...

Send us Fan Mail This week, Denise and Josh sit down with Joe Argento, co-owner of Mama’s Meatballs & Pizzeria in Pennsauken, New Jersey. Joe grew up in the pizza business and began working at his grandmother’s shop at age 8.   Joe went on to own his own pizzeria, but was ready to switch directions. His wife, Katherine, wanted to be in the food truck business, but Joe still wanted a storefront...

Send us Fan Mail This week, we chat with Chef Daniel Holzman, who owns Danny Boy’s Famous Original, a two-location operation in Los Angeles, California.  We spoke with Daniel a few days before the catastrophic wildfires broke out in LA. So, our conversation with Daniel focused on his career, the growth of Danny Boy’s and what he has learned in the restaurant business.  Danny Boy’s locations are cu...

Send us Fan Mail Old Scratch Pizza in Dayton, Ohio, had a huge year in 2024. The Dayton pizza company opened its fourth location in a revitalized fire station. And in November, the pizzeria took home three Pizza Today PIE Awards : Pizzeria of the Year – Midwest Region, Most Interesting Menu and Most Unique Pizzeria Location.  We sat down with owner and founder Eric Soller and Executive Chef Josh S...

Send us Fan Mail Happy New Year, pizza fam! The Pizza Today Team of Jeremy White, Denise Greer and Josh Keown kick the year off with conversation.  We talk 2025 goals, dream podcast guests, reminisce a little, share restaurant stories and changes the industry has experienced.  We want to know who your dream guest would be? Tell us on social or reach out to Denise at dgreer@pizzatoday.com . If you...

Send us Fan Mail As we wrap up 2024, The Hot Slice Podcast with Pizza Today has featured some incredible guests from top pizza makers and pizzeria owners as well as the pizza industry’s thought leaders. The most popular episode of 2024 features Audrey Kelly. She co-owns of Audrey Jane’s Pizza Garage in Boulder, Colorado. She is a World Pizza Champion, frequent speaker at International Pizza Expo a...

Send us Fan Mail The International Pizza Challenge at Pizza Expo 2025 is set to be the biggest and best pizza competition. Executive Editor Denise Greer went one-on-one with Jeremy Galvin, who along with Michael LaMarca oversee the competitions.  Jeremy shares how the competition is changing in 2025 and steps the Master Pizza team is taking to improve the competitions and enhance the experience fo...

Send us Fan Mail During PizzaCon 2024 in Philadelphia, Executive Editor Denise Greer took the opportunity to sit down with various pizzeria operators in person to talk pizza shop. Conversations in this episode include:   Corey DiGiovanni, Pie Society Pizza in Virginia Beach, Virginia – His mobile pizza company has a military base clientele. We talk about that unique market. We also talk Pie Societ...

Send us Fan Mail We caught up with this year’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year Weather Preston with her mom and business partner, Donna Grainger, at PizzaCon in Philadelphia. They, along with Jim Grainger, own the quirky and fun family-run pizzeria, Cross Eyed Cow Pizza  sits on the iconic Route 66 in Oro, Grande, California.  Weather has taken the reins to lead the pizzeria into the future. She wa...

Send us Fan Mail This week, we talk with co-executive chefs and partners Thomas McNaughton and Ryan Pollnow at San Francisco-based Flour + Water to get the skinny on the direction their taking their highly successful pizza concept. Check out more details provided by Flour + Water: Thomas McNaughton, Co-Executive Chef & Founding Partner, Flour + Water Hospitality Group (Flour + Water, Flour +Wa...

Send us Fan Mail This week, we share our conversation with Nicole Bean, co-owner of Houston-based Pizaro’s Pizza Napoletana . During PizzaCon 2024 in Philly, Executive Editor Denise Greer had a lively conversation with Nicole about top-of-mind pizza business issues, taking on a leadership role in the pizza industry, multiple pizza style and using AI in the business and an in-depth talk about diali...