The Hot Slice

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...

Send us Fan Mail This week on The Hot Slice Podcast, we’re exploring the story of a 50 th anniversary and a love story and growth and change at Perry’s Pizza in Huntington Beach, California. We chat with owners Jess and Dawn Bingaman, and Lynette Swanson. Perry’s Pizza started long before Jess and Dawn came in the picture. The original Perry’s opened in 1973. Jess was a manager at Perry’s in the 8...

Send us Fan Mail On The Hot Slice podcast this week is veteran pizza maker/pizzeria owner Joe Carlucci. Joe owns Valentina’s Pizzeria & Wine Bar in Madison, Alabama. He followed up first-place win in the Traditional Division at last year’s International Pizza Expo with a Non-Traditional victory this year. He went on to win and be named Pizza Maker of the Year. This is the first time in challen...

Send us Fan Mail Pizza Expo 2024 turns 40 and we’re going all out. While we’re not disclosing what we have planned, we’re marking the occasion in a major way. This week, Jeremy and Josh talk Pizza Expo. Attendee registration opened last week. This also means competitors can register for the show and sign up for the International Pizza Challenge and World Pizza Games. For those not familiar with Pi...

Send us Fan Mail Pizza Expo 2024 turns 40 and we’re going all out. While we’re not disclosing what we have planned, we’re marking the occasion in a major way. This week, Denise and Jeremy talk Pizza Expo. Attendee registration opened this week. This also means competitors can register for the show and sign up for the International Pizza Challenge and World Pizza Games.   For those not familiar wit...

Send us Fan Mail This week on The Hot Slice Podcast, we catch up with Scott Rivera, owner of Scottie’s Pizza Parlor in Portland, Oregon. We last visited Scottie’s in 2018 to profile the hot Portland pizzeria as an On the Road Feature. In the feature, he shares, “I think a lot of New Yorkers and people from the East Coast can relate to not finding good pizza when they move away,” Rivera says, addin...

Send us Fan Mail Jeremy and Josh read and respond to some recent emails sent to Pizza Today by readers. They talk pizza tech, desserts and business in this episode. But the real gold is near the end when the 2024 Pizza Expo Opening Day Keynote speaker is announced. It takes a legendary person to get the 40th Anniversary of Pizza Expo call, and we know you won't be disappointed. Be sure to wat...

Send us Fan Mail The Hot Slice was back on the pizza show floor interviewing pizzeria pros at Pizza and Pasta Northeast on October 1-2 at the Atlantic City Convention Center. This is Part II of a two-part series of short interviews. We get the pulse of the industry from the exhibit hall. In this episode, Jeremy and Denise chat with: Melissa Rickman, Wholly Stromboli, Fort Lupton, Colorado Othoniel...

Send us Fan Mail The Hot Slice was back on the pizza show floor interviewing pizzeria pros at Pizza and Pasta Northeast on October 1-2 at the Atlantic City Convention Center. This is Part I of a two-part series of short interviews. We get the pulse of the industry from the exhibit hall. In this episode, Jeremy and Denise chat with: Louise Joseph, owner of Dough Girls, Inc. in Greenwich, Connecticu...

Send us Fan Mail This week on The Hot Slice, we sit down with Dan Collier. Dan Collier is co-owner and President of PizzaMan Dan’s, a regional chain in Southern California with 8 locations founded in 2012. Dan began his pizza career as a delivery driver in 1984. He served as President for a 20-store chain from 1987-2002 before becoming a Franchisee from 2002-2012. Dan has been a speaker and educat...

Send us Fan Mail 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 and rebranding the business into Franny’s in February 2020. Mya discussed the rebranding with us in a previous Conversation. She said, “Francesco’s had been in business for 40 years before I purchase...

Send us Fan Mail This week on The Hot Slice Podcast, we chat with Frank Zabski of New Haven, Connecticut. After a corporate career wore him thin, Frank got into the pizza business with a mobile unit he named "Fired Up Pizza Truck". With the catering business, Frank aimed to "bring the party to you, not just the pizza." The truck catered parties and events for 50-125 people and...

Send us Fan Mail Jeremy, Denise and Josh hop in this week’s podcast give all the skinny for the upcoming Pizza & Pasta Northeast at the Atlantic City Convention Center on October 1-2. Pizza & Pasta Northeast showcases top suppliers for pizzerias and Italian restaurants. The two-day show features a schedule of pizza and pasta demonstrations by top chefs, seminars and workshops given by indu...

Send us Fan Mail This week on The Hot Slice Podcast, we chat with Drew Butler, who perhaps has been destined to be in the pizza industry. Things aligned for Drew when he was making pizzas out of his house as fundraisers for youth sports. He had been looking for a building to start his business when friends shared that a beloved local market had an unused pizza oven. Instead of undertaking a costly...

Send us Fan Mail This week on The Hot Slice Podcast, we have our upcoming Pizza and Pasta Northeast Keynote Speaker Will Grant on the show. Will owns That's A Some Pizza in Bainbridge Island, Washington and Sourdough Willy’s in Kingston, Washington. One of four Master Pizzaiolo in the United States Will has been making pizzas for 39 years with his family pizzerias. He has opened 13 restaurant...