Pizza Quest

Join Peter as he meets with three of the leading voices in the USA pizza movement: Laura Meyer , Stephanie Swane , and Alexandra Mortati . As more and more women take the helm of their pizza businesses, they encounter similar but also different challenges than their male counterparts, and bring new creativity to the craft. You will hear all about it on this week's enlightening episode of Pizza Que...

Chef Ryan Hardy has been killing it in the Lower East Side of New York City with his wood-fired Neapolitan pizzas and other fire-cooked menu items at Pasquale Jones . And now, a few yards away, he has opened a hot new Sicilian-themed cafe called Bar Pasquale , where sfincione-style pan pizzas reign. Ryan describes his vision for both places and shows us the difference between these two classic sty...

One of the recent paradigm shifts in the pizzeria world is that customers are now familiar with and in search of many styles of pizza, be it classic Neapolitan, New York and New Haven, thin-crusted parlor and bar pizzas, Detroit and Sicilian thick crusted, and all of the variations in-between. In response, a number of popular pizza experts have expanded their repertoires to include pizza styles th...

Welcome back to Pizza Quest! We recently did a show that we called Bourbon 101 (June 11), and have done other shows that celebrate artisanship in subjects adjacent to our usual focus on pizza (olive oil, mezcal, tomatoes, and various types of cheeses). But, when Joe Salonia , co-host of HRN's podcast series, Cutting the Curd, offered to take me on a journey of his personal specialty cheese categor...

Over twenty years ago, Jonathan Goldsmith fell in love with traditional Napoletana wood-fired pizza while living in Italy, and then became a mid-life apprentice to the local pizza masters.  He then decided to bring the experience back to his hometown of Chicago, where this style was still a new thing. Spacca Napoli was thus born on the North Side, and has become a pizza pilgrimage destination ever...

In our never-ending celebration of artisanship wherever we find it, this week's episode turns our lens onto one of the truly great American crafts, distilled whiskey, most notably, bourbon. On the show to explain it all is Peter's long-time friend, culinary educator, and award-winning author Albert Schmid , whose newest book, Bourbon 101 , was just recently released by The University Press of Kent...

Central Milling Flour has emerged as one of the most highly sought premium brands for artisan bakers of all types of products, but especially for breads and pizzas. We caught up with managing partner and baking phenomenon, Nicky Giusto , a long-time favorite here at Pizza Quest, the day before the doors opened at the International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas in March, 2023. He was putting together his...

Welcome to this special Memorial Day edition of Pizza Quest, with our special guest, Steven Raichlen , author of The Barbecue Bible , now celebrating its 25th anniversary with a new, updated edition. Memorial Day signifies many things important to us all as we honor those who have made our freedom possible. It also instinctively compels us to break out the BBQ grills and charcoal. In this episode,...

On this week's episode, join Peter for an illuminating conversation with the team that brought L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele to California, and now, to New York City. How do they recreate, re-imagine, and live up to the over-hyped expectations of the legendary pizzas from the original "mother house" in Naples? With a lot of hard work, as you will learn when you listen to this latest episode of Pizz...

On this episode of Pizza Quest, we meet Meghan Murphy-Gill , aka The Reverend Meghan Murphy-Gill, an Episcopal priest who also happens to be a serious baker of bread and, most importantly, a fabulous writer who has authored a new book, The Sacred Life of Bread . The subtitle of her book is "Uncovering the Mystery of an Ordinary Loaf."  As we continue our back and forth exploration between "pizza"...

Daniele Uditi is a pizza rock star, establishing his uniquely personal Neapolitan pizza technique (along with his signature Cacio e' Pepe pizza) at Pizzana , his destination Los Angeles restaurant (with more locations popping up around the country, as you will hear). Daniele is also the head judge for the popular Hulu competition show, Best in Dough . He shares his journey and all the Pizzana news...

In this episode, we continue to expand the scope of Pizza Quest to include a focus more on the quest than on the pizza. Bread is the big umbrella in Peter's own quest, of which pizza is a delightful sub-set. Lately, more and more authors have added their own words and thoughts to the multi-dimensional levels of meaning embodied by bread. Kendall Vanderslice (oh what a perfect name) is one of them....

Michael Goldfarb is an accomplished journalist and political author, and one of Peter's oldest and best friends. Michael has produced several award winning documentaries on NPR and the BBC, and published books on the Iraq War ( Ahmad's War, Ahmad's Peace ) as well as the 1,000 year old modern Jewish Diaspora ( Emancipation ). More recently, he started a podcast called FRDH , where he examines curr...

Steve Dolinsky is a legendary, multi-James Beard Award winning broadcast journalist who is also Mr. Chicago when it comes to food (especially pizza). Steve joins us from the International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas, along with Pizza Quest’s longtime “ Pizza Yodi, ” Brian Spangler of Apizza Scholls , and Justin DeLeon, owner of Apollonia's Pizzeria in Los Angeles (whose Detroit-style “Crown Pizza” pro...

As you know, we've been putting a lot more emphasis on the "Quest" aspect of Pizza Quest these days and this episode is a great example. In 1971, I was a founding member of a restaurant collective in Boston called Root One Cafe, one of the early organic food restaurants in the country. One of our members was a young student from Antioch College, Steven Shore, who had decided to do his work-study i...

At the 2022 Northeast Pizza Expo held in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Peter sat down with Pizza Quest favorite, Scott Wiener , the founder of Scott's Pizza Tours in New York City and the driving force behind the philanthropic movement, Slice Out Hunger . Scott's knowledge of pizza is encyclopedic and insightful, as you will hear during this far-ranging conversation about all things pizza. Click here...

In addition to hosting Pizza Quest, Peter Reinhart is also the Executive Director of the Johnson & Wales University International Symposium on Bread where, for a number of years, he has hosted many of the world's foremost thought leaders on the subject, who gather to explore the future of bread. In this presentation, delivered at the 2022 Artisan Bread Expo in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Peter...

Join Peter at the Northeast Pizza, Pasta, and Baking Expo as he spends time with Traci Rennaker , President and CEO of Lloyd Pans . Lloyd Pans is the leading manufacturer of every kind of pizza pan known to mankind, whether square, deep, long and thin, round, perforated, Sicilian or Detroit-style -- you name it, they make it. You'll learn more than everything you need to know about pans in this fu...

Listen in as Rachel Wyman , Bryan Ford , and Serhan Ayhan , three rising stars in the baking and pizza community, swap stories of their unique journeys finding their distinctive voices in this big, yet small world. Click here for the video versions of Pizza Quest .  If you count on HRN content, become a monthly sustaining donor at heritageradionetwork.org/donate . Pizza Quest is Powered by Simplec...

Peter is joined by Michael Fox , the coordinator of Clubhouse's audio community sector known as Pizza Club . Throughout the week pizza freaks of all types gather in the virtual clubhouse to share all manner of pizza obsession. Michael explains how it all works and how you can be a member. Click here for the video versions of Pizza Quest .  If you count on HRN content, become a monthly sustaining d...

Peter presented, and HRN recorded, his seminal exploration of bread baking as a multi-dimensional journey of self-discovery and transformation at this year's Northeast Pizza, Pasta, and Baking Expo. Hear it all in this week's episode of Pizza Quest. Click here for the video versions of Pizza Quest .  If you count on HRN content, become a monthly sustaining donor at heritageradionetwork.org/donate...

Brooklyn pizza legend Paulie Gee delivered the keynote address at this year's Northeast Pizza, Pasta, and Baking Expo in Atlantic City. He recaps for Peter (and for us) what he told his audience, and shares his journey and mid-life transformation from working in an unfulfilling mainstream job to becoming a pizza legend and mentor to dozens of others. Click here for the video versions of Pizza Ques...

Fred Mortati and his family grew a third generation New Jersey food importing business into one of the most important companies in the American pizza and restaurant industry. Hear how they did it, and how they introduced Caputo Flour and other Italian products to America, in this week's episode of Pizza Quest with Peter Reinhart. Click here for the video versions of Pizza Quest .  If you count on...

In this episode Peter takes us "behind the curtain," of the Young Pizza Makers competition at the Northeast Pizza, Pasta, and Baking Expo in Atlantic City. He speaks with three of the judges, who describe what they look for in a championship pizza and how the future looks bright as the next generation of pizza makers prepares to step to the plate. Click here for the video versions of Pizza Quest ....

Pizza Quest returns with a new season of episodes, kicking off with the first in a series of presentations and interviews by Peter Reinhart recorded at the Northeast Pizza, Pasta, and Bakery Expo held in October, 2022, in Atlantic City, NJ. This week's episode is entitled "Tinkering With Your Dough," with Peter and guest panelist, pizza master John Gutekanst of Avalanche Pizza in Athens, OH,  fiel...