The Hot Slice

Send us Fan Mail Listen to Melina Piroso Felix, owner-operator of The Pizza Bandit in Denver on The Hot Slice Podcast with Pizza Today Melina Piroso Felix had an established career in marketing and branding when the pandemic prompted her to rethink her goals in 2020. Prior to that point, she had graduated from being the night manager at her uncle’s restaurant in Miami’s South Beach district to und...

Send us Fan Mail This month Davide Lubrano has been named a Rising Star of the Pizza Industry. We sat down with Davide and Vince Gallagher, co-owners of the two-unit Pizzata Pizzeria in Philadelphia.  We talk about Davide’s recognition and his recent pizza competition winning streak at Pizza Expo and in Italy. They also share the other benefits of competing. Pizzata is growing. They recently added...

Send us Fan Mail Listen to Jhy Coulter, restaurateur and creator of Orange by Devoured in Kansas City on The Hot Slice by Pizza Today Jhy Coulter has always felt at home when working at restaurants. Even as her graphic design career grew, Coulter often kept a part-time job to stay close to the food industry. On Aug. 15, she will celebrate the one-year anniversary of her Kansas City-based pizzeria,...

Send us Fan Mail This week, we catch up with the great Mike Bausch. He brings such knowledge, energy and leadership to the pizza community. Mike now has 12 restaurants in the Tulsa, Oklahoma area, including Andolini’s Pizzeria and a newer fine dining spot, Prossimo Ristorante. He’s an Oklahoma’s Small Business Entrepreneur of the Year, No. 1 Amazon best-selling author, Tulsa’s Restauranteur of the...

Send us Fan Mail Muhammad Abdul-Hadi just finished a national book tour for his first release, We the Pizza. Since opening Down North Pizza in North Philadelphia in 2021, he has been on a whirlwind of success, from creating Down North Foundation, winning a James Beard Leadership Award and publishing his book. We chat with Muhammad about the book and how its stories and recipes that work to reduce...

Send us Fan Mail Jason Cipriani always dreamed of opening a pizzeria. Years into his career as a tech journalist, the rise of portable pizza ovens got him thinking more seriously about making the leap. After months of research, trials in the kitchen and purchasing equipment and supplies, Cipriani sold his first pizza this April. As he details in his new, weekly column at PizzaToday.com , Cipriani...

Send us Fan Mail Charles Canaankamp spent 34 working at a local pizzeria in Ohio. Two years ago, he decided it was time to open his own pizzeria with his children. Pronto Pizza & Coffee in Manfield, Ohio, was born of Charles’ love and passion for pizza. He shares what he has learned in the industry over the years that has been integral to his pizza startup. Charles’ goal was to build a busines...

Send us Fan Mail George Peyton and Casey Conner never could have imagined their first year of business at Good Pizza Company in Swannanoa, North Carolina would unfold as it did. The pizzeria opened on August 15 and a mere six weeks later, the town of Swannanoa would become one of the hardest hit natural disaster areas in the aftermath of the devastating Hurricane Helene. The former pizzeria that t...

Send us Fan Mail Isaiah Ruffin and Colleen Constant began their pizza business journey in a renovated school bus in Colorado, always envisioning a brick-and-mortar restaurant. After evaluating that Fort Collins, Colorado, wasn’t where they would open a brick and mortar, the couple began traveling to cities, researching areas in Chicago, Washington, D.C., Austin and others. Seattle stood out and af...

Send us Fan Mail This week, we continue our Pizza Expo Interview Series from the show floor at Pizza Expo 2025 . In this special edition of The Hot Slice Podcast, we talk to passionate franchisees and a dedicated pizza enthusiast. They are: Tyrell Reid and JR Lambert partners at Westshore Pizza in Brandon, Florida started out as employees of Westshore before becoming franchise owners. We talk Tamp...

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 operators who bring excitement and passion to the pizza business with their pizza ownership journeys. They are:  Jimmy Casapizzaiolo from Casa Pizza in Western Massachusetts shares his passion for tinkering with pizza dough and making m...

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...