The Hot Slice

Send us Fan Mail This week on The Hot Slice Podcast, Denise and Jeremy chat with Patrick Elston, who with his wife Mandy operates Gus Franco’s Pizza in Lower Burrell, Pennsylvania.   Originally started as a food truck, Gus Franco’s opened in 2017. He talks about the steady rise of the pizzeria. Family dynamics and raising kids in the family atmosphere pizzerias. The pizzeria named after their youn...

Send us Fan Mail This week on The Hot Slice Podcast, we hear Shelby Hall’s story. She owns Fox’s Pizza Den Cheat Lake in Morgantown, West Virginia and starting working at Fox’s Pizza Den as a teenager. While in college, she leaped into management. After graduation, she was presented with a franchise opportunity that she passed on. She waited for the right opportunity where the finances and locatio...

Send us Fan Mail This week, we continue our Pizza Expo Interview Series from the show floor at Pizza Expo . Denise interviews four pizzeria operators who are defining their pizza businesses in their own ways.   Jason Dascoli , Rock City Pies and Ice, Bloomfield, Colorado, checks back in to give us an update on his pizzeria. He talks about his personal and business growth, being guided by mentors,...

Send us Fan Mail This week, we continue our Pizza Expo Interview Series from the show floor at Pizza Expo. Denise interviews three operators with pizzerias doing business in California. Check out these Golden State pizza pros:   Zak Fishman from Prime Pizza. The pizza company has seven locations in Los Angeles, California. Zak shares how much the LA pizza scene has grown, details Prime’s authentic...

Send us Fan Mail This week, we continue our Pizza Expo Interview Series from the show floor at Pizza Expo . Denise interviews operators who are building their businesses and expanding their reach in the pizza industry. They are: Sofia Arango founded of Atlanta Pizza Truck a catering company in May 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia. She has also created a thriving pizza industry community, Latinos En Pizza....

Send us Fan Mail This week, we continue our Pizza Expo Interview Series from the show floor at Pizza Expo . Denise interviews experience multi-unit pizzeria operators: Zach Toth and Chris Brown of Blacksburg, Virginia-based Benny’s Pizza with 32 locations and Jonathan Schroeter from Il Primo Pizza & Wings with seven locations in Southwest Floriday Benny’s is home of the 28” Virginia Slice. Sin...

Send us Fan Mail The Hot Slice with Pizza Today marks its 200 th episode with a special episode. Listen as we look back some of our favorite episodes, talk about how the podcast has evolved and what to expect moving forward. Who is your wish list guest that you would like for us to have on the show? Let us know.  If you would like to be a guest on The Hot Slice Podcast, reach out to Executive Edit...

Send us Fan Mail This week, we continue our Pizza Expo Interview Series from the show floor at Pizza Expo. Denise spends some time with women who are in the mobile pizzeria business to get their perspective on business, mobile clientele, the pizza industry and Pizza Expo. Gina and Betsy Wolfe own the upstart Wolfe It Down Pizza in Princeton, Iowa. Gina is retiring this month, so the couple’s new p...

Send us Fan Mail Belfast, Ireland Pizza Scene began with John Arena We’re back from Pizza Expo in Las Vegas with story after story from pizzeria operators. For the next several episodes of The Hot Slice, we will take you back to the Pizza Today booth to listen to interviews with pizzeria operators from around the country and the world. We kick off the first episode with a unique tie-in to Pizza Ex...

Send us Fan Mail Happy Pizza Expo Week — the best week of the year!!! We hope you are having an amazing show experience and if you’re not at Pizza Expo, you can stay connected with show updates at https://pizzatoday.com/topics/industry-news/pizza-expo-2024-all-news-from-the-worlds-largest-pizza-show/ . While we’re in Las Vegas together, we’re sharing a favorite episode. Enjoy this Replay of Dough...

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 +W...

Send us Fan Mail This week on The Hot Slice Podcast Jeremy sits down for a one-on-one interview with pizza legend John Arena. The co-founder of Metro Pizza in Las Vegas will deliver the opening day keynote address at the 40th Pizza Expo later this month. During the discussion, John touches on his feelings about tinkering with dough formulas and pushing the industry forward through trial and error....

Send us Fan Mail This week on The Hot Slice Podcast we are going behind the judges’ curtain at this year’s International Pizza Challenge at Pizza Expo in Las Vegas. Jeremy and Denise get the inside scoop on IPC judging from longtime judges Hassi Sadri, Scott Wiener and Scott Anthony.   The International Pizza Challenge has long been the premier pizza competition and it’s getting even better. IPC h...

Send us Fan Mail The 40 th Pizza Expo is less than one month away. Jeremy, Josh and Denise dedicate this episode to all things Pizza Expo. From the show floor, competitions and demos to seminars and special events, there’s so much to look forward to this year. Pizza Expo 2024, commencing at the Las Vegas Convention Center, March 19-21, is expected to be biggest and best Pizza Expo yet. Attendees a...

Send us Fan Mail This week, we chat with Odie O’Connor, owner of Boxcar Pizza in Portland, Oregon. Boxcar is a vegan Detroit style pizza shop. His first venture into the pizza biz was a wood-fired pizza cart. On the show, we got the skinny on Odie’s next pizza project, a New York-style pizzeria in his hometown of San Diego, California, offering New York sourdough pies, as well as Sicilian and Gran...

Send us Fan Mail On this week’s Hot Slice podcast, Editor-in-Chief Jeremy White and Executive Editor Denise Greer sit down with Scott Sandler. The Pizza Expo speaker formerly owned a pizzeria in St. Louis that drew acclaim for its vegan slices. After selling that business and taking some time off, Sandler is jumping back into the fray with plans to open a new sit-down pizzeria with a wood-burning...

Send us Fan Mail On this week’s Hot Slice podcast, Editor-in-Chief Jeremy White and Executive Editor Denise Greer sit down with mobile operator and Pizza Expo speaker Siler Chapman. A long-time member of the World Pizza Champions, Chapman has most recently found success in the “food truck” realm. From weddings to corporate events, his catering gigs have taken his business to the next level. Chapma...

Send us Fan Mail This week, we catch up with Audrey Kelly, co-owner of Audrey Jane’s Pizza Garage in Boulder, Colorado. Audrey is a World Pizza Champion, frequent speaker at International Pizza Expo and contributing writer for Pizza Today. Audrey is also an Ambassador for Women in Pizza. Since opening in October of 2015, the Pizza Garage has been featured in numerous publications and even on the F...

Send us Fan Mail Gabriella Ottaiano said receiving an 8.9 score from Dave Portnoy’s One Bite at Barstool was life-changing for Calabria Restaurant & Pizzeria in Livingston, New Jersey. It was just what the pizzeria needed in the midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Since the review, Calabria’s has seen remarkable growth, a streamline operation and a marketing focus capitalizing on the review. The p...

Send us Fan Mail Listen to Sean Rowe, owner of St. Angelo’s Pizza in Atlanta, Georgia. Join this one-on-one conversation with Executive Editor Denise Greer and Sean Rowe, owner of St. Angelo’s Pizza in Atlanta, George. St Angelo’s is a pizza company with two locations with very high volume. Sean has a philosophy that he’s always only about 60% there which keeps him striving to improve his business...

Send us Fan Mail Jeremy White and Denise Greer Welcome 2024 on The Hot Slice Podcast We usher in a new year with a session where we talk shop on a variety of topics ranging from the Pizza Industry Excellence Awards to Pizza Expo 2024 competitions and more. We capped off 2023 by announcing the PIE Awards winners on PizzaToday.com. Here we give a quick shout out to the winners in 24 categories as we...

Send us Fan Mail Happy New Year! While we take a little break, we’re replaying one of our favorite episodes of the year. Mya Anitai, Franny’s Pizzeria & Restaurant, Highlands, New Jersey, on The Hot Slice Podcast Our guest this week is Mya Anitai. She owns Franny’s Pizzeria & Restaurant, Highlands, New Jersey. She took over a longstanding pizzeria Francesco’s Italian Restaurant in May 2019...

Send us Fan Mail IPC Coordinators Michael LaMarca, Jeremy Galvin with Master Pizza on The Hot Slice Podcast Pizza Expo 2024 in Las Vegas in March is our 40 th Anniversary. There are some huge updates to the International Pizza Challenge, so we have brought Michael LaMarca and Jeremy Galvin on the show to give us the skinny. Michael, Jeremy and their team at Master Pizza and beyond make IPC a succe...

Send us Fan Mail This week, we continue our conversation with Peter Reinhart about everything bread and pizza dough. Peter Reinhart is an instructor at Johnson & Wales University, founder of the Pizza Quest video and blog site, American baker, educator and author of numerous books, including “Bread Upon the Waters: A Pilgrimage Toward Self Discovery and Spiritual Truth”; “Crust and Crumb: Mast...

Send us Fan Mail This week, we talk everything bread and pizza dough with Peter Reinhart. Peter Reinhart is an instructor at Johnson & Wales University, founder of the Pizza Quest video and blog site, American baker, educator and author of numerous books, including “Bread Upon the Waters: A Pilgrimage Toward Self Discovery and Spiritual Truth”; “Crust and Crumb: Master Formulas for Serious Bre...