The Hot Slice

Send us Fan Mail This week, we hear the pizza journey of Evan Eriksen, who owns Pie 95 Pizza in Jacksonville, Florida, an artisan style, neighborhood pizzeria. His path to owning a pizza shop wasn’t a direct route and took him to some far-off places. After culinary school Evan worked with leading chefs in New York City, San Francisco and Sydney, Australia. But it was a pizza trailer that sparked h...

Send us Fan Mail This week on The Hot Slice Podcast, we are chatting with creative pizza genius John Gutekanst about his and our favorite subject, pizza dough. John is a past keynote speaker at Pizza and Pasta Northeast. He owns Avalanche Pizza and Slice House in Athens, Ohio, is a contributor with Pizza Today, Emcee at the International Pizza Challenge and frequent demo and seminar presenter. He...

Send us Fan Mail Thomas Reinhard talks Wage Theft Lawsuits and Prevention, Importance of Estate Planning on The Hot Slice Podcast Lawsuits impacting restaurants have been all over the news. Two dispute issue that we are seeing that you should be aware of are wage theft and estate and will lawsuits. We’ve tapped Thomas Reinhard, practicing attorney and co-owner of Cascadia Pizza Company in Seattle,...

Send us Fan Mail This week on the Hot Slice Podcast we talk mobile pizza business with Chris Hill, owner of A Slice of New Jersey in Byram, New Jersey. Before starting A Slice of New Jersey, Chris was a physical education/health teacher. After being laid off during the COVID-19 pandemic, Chris began his pizza odyssey with no background in the pizza or restaurant business. For 10 years though, he h...

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 This week, we bring you the last of our Pizza Expo Sessions on The Hot Slice Podcast from the show floor at Pizza Expo. On the podcast, we have Bill and Cheryl Crawford and Ian Foster of Righteous Slice in Rexburg, Idaho; Robert Wagner, co-owner of Need Pizza in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and Jhonathan Naranjo, founder and CEO of JoJo’s NY Style Pizza in Hollywood, Florida. Be patient wi...

Send us Fan Mail This week, we bring you more of Pizza Expo Sessions on The Hot Slice Podcast from the show floor at Pizza Expo. On the podcast, we have retired teachers/pizzeria owners Suzanne Francis, Ruth Matheny and Katie Agor of The Grove Wood Fired Pizza in Granbury, TX. We also have Phumzile Siboza who traveled from Johannesburg, South Africa representing the Debonairs Pizza chain. Be patie...

Send us Fan Mail This week, we bring you more of Pizza Expo Sessions on The Hot Slice Podcast from the show floor at Pizza Expo. On the podcast, we have Jason Dascoli of Rock City Pie Ice, Superior, Colorado, and Bill Bartz and Emily Knudsen with Pleasant Grove Pizza Farm in Waseca, Minnesota. Be patient with the sound. It will be worth it to hear the enthusiasm and energy of pizzeria professional...

Send us Fan Mail This week, we bring you more of The Hot Slice Podcast on the show floor at Pizza Expo. On the podcast, we have Jeremy Shirk of Conan’s Pizza in Austin, Texas; Stacey and Josh Kearney of  Society Pie in Beaverton, Oregon; and Joseph Ledwidge of Ranger Joe’s Pizza in Kalispell, Montana. Be patient with the sound. It will be worth it to hear the enthusiasm and energy of pizzeria prof...

Send us Fan Mail This year, we took The Hot Slice Podcast to the show floor at Pizza Expo. Be patient with the sound. It will be worth it to hear the enthusiasm and energy of pizzeria professionals at the show giving us updates on their pizzerias, the pizza business and Pizza Expo. First up, we have Andrew and Ruel Gregory of Post Alley Pizza in Seattle, Washington, followed by Alex Funke, a franc...

Send us Fan Mail Happy Pizza Expo Week! While we are gathered in Las Vegas, we are sharing a favorite episode with Sarah Minnick, chef/owner of Lovely’s Fifty Fifty in Portland, Oregon. Her approach to pizza, a farm-to-table menu and mastery of unconventional ingredients has earned her coveted culinary esteem and an entire episode of the Netflix’s hit Chef’s Table. Listen as she shares an operatio...

Send us Fan Mail Get ready for Pizza Expo 2023 with Jeremy, Denise and Josh. We highlight some of our favorite show moments, provide insider tips to enhance your show experience and dive into keys to a successful show.   Before you go... Watch the Pizza Expo Preview Show. https://pizzatoday.com/topics/industry-news/the-2023-pizza-expo-preview-show/   Read Pizza Expo 2023: Going for the Record. htt...

Send us Fan Mail We sit down with Tony Gemignani to discuss his upcoming opening keynote address at Pizza Expo in Las Vegas. While we have him on the line we also dish on pizza styles, the ups and downs of pizzeria ownership and who has had the most influence on his career in pizza. 

Send us Fan Mail Lisa Dahl is one of the brightest minds in the pizza industry and culinary arts. She owns Pisa Lisa with two locations in Sedona, Arizona, along with several other concepts. We talk startup, business fluctuations, culinary creativity and pizza passion.

Send us Fan Mail The funky and quirky Cross Eyed Cow Pizzeria sits on the iconic Route 66 in California. We talk to mother/daughter team Donna Grainger and Weather Preston about how the pizzeria balances tourist stop and community-engaged business. Don’t miss the story of its WV Bus and what happened when it was stolen.

Send us Fan Mail Buccilli's Pizza of Clare in the small town of Clare, Michigan, is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2023. Shari Buccilli sits down to chat with us about running the family owned pizza business, how the company is celebrating its big milestone and how Buccilli's has managed to keep up with the times through five decades.

Send us Fan Mail Kelly and Brian Glynn met while working at Village Idiot Pizza in Columbia, South Carolina in the 1990s. The couple purchased the business in 2003 and have spent 20 years growing the business to three locations, being the hot spot in Columbia and earning regional and national accolades along the way. Hear their pizzeria story and what’s next.

Send us Fan Mail This week, we find out how Mike Bausch was able to break the Guinness Record for the World’s Largest Pizza Party and raise over $40,000 for Make-A-Wish. The is A LOT that goes into a Guinness Record attempt. See how his Andolini’s crew, the World Pizza Champions, event sponsors, the University of Tulsa and the Tulsa community came together to pull off the record-breaking event. 

Send us Fan Mail This week, we talk to Joey Karvelas of Karvelas Pizza Co. with four Georgia locations and a fifth opening in Alabama. Joey gets real on growing pains — especially during a turbulent financial market, what it takes to open new locations and how to optimize menus and staffing for expansion. Stick around until the end when the interviewee becomes the interviewer and Joey asks Jeremy...

Send us Fan Mail This week, we chat with the talented Sarah Minnick, chef/owner of Lovely’s Fifty Fifty in Portland, Oregon. Her approach to pizza, a farm-to-table menu and mastery of unconventional ingredients has earned her coveted culinary esteem and an entire episode of the Netflix’s hit Chef’s Table. Listen as she shares an operational shift, details of her sourdough and her ingredient philos...

Send us Fan Mail Denise and Jeremy are back to talk pizza consumer trends and marketing from the State of the Pizzeria Industry Report. What resonates with pizza consumers? We tapped Technomic and its 2022 Technomic Pizza Consumer Trend Report to get a snapshot of pizza consumers. Read the full State of the Pizzeria Report at https://pizzatoday.com/industry-research/state-of-the-industry-report-20...

Send us Fan Mail Denise and Jeremy are back with more State of the Pizzeria Industry Report insights. This week, they talk independent pizzeria market trends, sales and profit margins, employees, online ordering, third-party delivery and more. Read the full State of the Pizzeria Industry Report at https://pizzatoday.com/industry-research/state-of-the-industry-report-2023-access-portal/ Show Notes:...

Send us Fan Mail Jeremy White and Denise Greer dive deep into the State of the Industry Report findings to share menu trends. They reveal what’s happening in top pizza styles, new styles, hot pizza toppings, trending appetizers, and other popular menu items. Next week, we’ll look at sales, employees, and operations trends. We surveyed 750 pizzeria owners from all 50 states to see what’s happening...

Send us Fan Mail Happy New Year from the Pizza Today Team. Jeremy White, Josh Keown and Denise Greer recount some of the best moments of 2022 and look to 2023. We wish you great success and joy in the new year. 

Send us Fan Mail Happy Holidays! Are you loving the the On Deck column in Pizza Today with Chris Decker? Chris is managing partner at Metro Pizza in Las Vegas. He’s one of the brightest minds in the business and we all drool over his @Everythingbutanchovies Instagram. This week, we're replaying a favorite episode where we talk recipe column, pizza creativity, anchovies (of course), pizza pair...