Pizza Blog from pizzatherapy.com

Everybody knows that to cook great pizza, you need a hot oven. The hotter the better. My electric stove at home is barely nudging up to 550 F. +, give or take a few degrees. I recently got an email from someone who claims his pizza ovens will heat up to 1,000 F. Now we're talking! Now we're taking. His name is Willard Gustavsen and here is what he had to say" Albert: Have you been making pizza long? Willard: I started baking my own pizza 5-6 years ago, but I didn’t start making my own dough until a couple of years ago. I would buy the unbaked pizzas from the local pizzeria and bake it myself in a make shift wood-fired oven, and finally took the plunge a couple of years ago and started making my own dough and sauce. Albert: How did you come about to develop your pizza grill?Tell me about the process... Willard: As a kid growing up my dad would bring home pizza from an Italian pizzeria that had a wood-fired oven. It had that special taste that I came to associate with wood ...

Ed LaDou, A Pizza Hero I went to lunch with some friends the other day. We ended up at California Pizza Kitchen . Certainly not my first choice, but I was out voted. Not that I have anything against CPK , the pizza there is OK. It's just that when I see the sign, I think it should be called "Ed LaDou's California Pizza Kitchen". Let me explain. Ed LaDou is one of the true unsung heroes of pizza. When CPK was slated to open, the chef quit at the 11th hour. That left a brand new restaurant, without a menu. In a panic, the owner's contacted Ed to put a menu together. He was able to create an extraordinary menu of pizza, pasta and salads. Ed LaDou created the whole CPK concept. He also is credited with creating Wolfgang Puck's pizza menu. Nobody really talks about the fact that Ed is a pizza genius. You can read the whole story by Joan Nathan , right here. It is a fasciating tale of pizza wonderment and adventure. You can see Ed in Pizza, The Movie . This m...

Let's face it: if you have a blog or website, you need to get traffic. Multiple streams of traffic. Viral traffic. You need to unlock viral markets. If you don't, you're stuck in no-where land. What's the purpose of sharing information, if you are not getting your message out there? Pizza Therapy had a case of the Low Traffic Blahs . I mean the Alexa rating was so low, the site didn't even show up in the rankings. Oh my. That's all changed. I'm very pleased to announce, I found a cure. I was invited by Brett Ingram to help promote his brand new web tool called Viral Link Tracker . I was honored he came to the rescue. When I started playing around with Viral Link Tracker , I couldn't believe it. Brett is onto something BIG here. Huge. Gigantic. Viral Link Tracker has the ability to cloak links as well as give stats. You need to be able to cloak your affiliate links. As any serious marketer knows, stats are also extremely important. You need to know w...

Ever since I created The Pizza Therapy Pizza Book, I have dreamed of a follow up volume. I didn't want my follow-up book to be like the The Pizza Therapy Pizza Book, I wanted it to be completely different. I wanted something that would help pizza fans, celebrate pizza. Of course it would contain recipes, but I wanted it to be more than that. A Pizza Book that would be an operations manual and guide to help with the pizza celebration. Of course you have heard of Chicken Soup for the Soul. It's a book of heart warming tales and stories. Each one unique and wonderful. Each one original. I decided to borrow an idea from the authors of that book. You know they asked for help in writing the book. They wrote some of the book, but not all of the book. Most of the book, was written by other people. Then they went ahead, and with the help of others, wrote a bazillion other Chicken Soup Spin off books. Then I thought: why couldn't I do the same thing? I only want to write one book.....

Pizza is a universal food. Most of us grew up with pizza. All of us have an opinion about pizza. If you are from New York, it's New York pizza. If you are from Chicago, it's Chicago Deep Dish. The West Coast pizza fans have their own traditional Italian pizza as well as New Wave pizza. Of course if you are from New Haven, Connecticut, you spend hours debating who makes the best apizza: is it Sally's or Pepe's? Then there are those who favor Modern Apizza. New Haven pizza fans are fanatics. Woven across the U.S. are small pockets of regional pizza favorites. For example, on Long Island, New York, it's a type of pizza called Grandmother's Pizza. If you are from a certain area in Pennsylvania, you favor Old Forge, pizza. There are types of pizza for every different taste: there is thin crust Neapolitan pizza, and there is thick crust Scilian pizza. Chicago deep dish, is a pizza unlike an other. California pizza can be thin with unusual ingredients for unique tastes...

I recently received this great video from two different sources, about Wooster Street in New Haven. The video was created by bgrant19 She did a fantastic job! (Thanks Gary B. and Tony C. for sending me this video...) I am very happy to share it here. The great thing about Wooster Street is that once you get there, you are in a time warp. Wooster Street exists in its own universe without regard to the rest of the world. Time stands still, on this street in New Haven . There has always been a friendly rivalry between Providence, Rhode Island and New Haven . Both are very Italian towns. Providence has Federal Hill (That's where my mom grew up). While New Haven has Wooster Street . A few years back, the mayors of each city took part in a contest. New Haven came out on top. Blame it on Wooster Street . True, Federal Hill has some great Italian restaurants. But, Wooster Street has Pepe's , Sally's Apizza and Libby's Italian Pastry Shop . If you've ever been t...

I got an email from my friend Gary Bimonte , co-owner of Pepe's Pizzeria Napolentana . Gary was featured on Legends of Pizza, Volume 1. He explained how his grandfather, Frank Pepe created the legendary clam pizza. Gary was excited to give me the news that Pepe's had opened another pizzeria in Manchester, Connecticut. Here is the address: 221 Buckland Hills Drive, Manchester, CT. The phone number is: 860-644-7333. Pepe's has always been a family owned operation and it continues to be a family operation. During my Legends of Pizza, Volume 1. , interview, Gary discussed how the family had decided to take Pepe's in a different direction. Pepe's opened it's first restaurant outside of New Haven in Fairfield , Connecticut. It was an immediate success. Lines were out the door with loyal customers screaming for more pizza. For over 80 years, Pepe's Pizza , was limited to Wooster Street , in New Haven . Then suddenly they were in Fairfield . Now they ha...

There are certainly plenty on reasons why you should be making easy. How about this: it's easy. Its fun. And it will save you a ton of money. Making pizza has changed my life. I know it will change yours. Pizza is the universal comfort food. As such, there are just not many people who do not like pizza. Make pizza, be happy. Make more pizza, make everyone happy. You can read my entire article of why you should make pizza: Click Right HERE You can get a free copy of my World Famous Pizza Dough recipe by signing up for Pizza News at: http://pizzatherapy.com ( Pizza Therapy ) Pizza on Earth, Albert http://pizzatherapy.com/ http://grandepublishing.com/ http://pastatherapy.com/ http://hawaiisecret.com/ The Unusual, The Unexplained… http://bimwah.net/ http://lawofreciprocity.info/ http://albertgrande.com/

In this pizza video, I show you step by step how to make pizza dough from scratch. It really is pretty easy. The hardest part is the clean-up. You can get a free copy of this recipe by signing up for Pizza News at http://pizzatherapy.com Pizza on Earth,Albert http://pizzatherapy.com/ http://grandepublishing.com/ http://pastatherapy.com/ http://hawaiisecret.com/ The Unusual, The Unexplained… http://bimwah.net/ http://lawofreciprocity.info/ http://albertgrande.com/

Here is a very short video of a pizza demonstration for a group of students. I am discussing Chef Peter Reinhart's take on the future of pizza... Maker sure you check out Peter Reinhart's incredible pizza book, American Pie Pizza on Earth, Albert http://pizzatherapy.com/ http://grandepublishing.com/ http://pastatherapy.com/ http://hawaiisecret.com/ The Unusual, The Unexplained… http://bimwah.net/ http://lawofreciprocity.info/

I am regularly reminded why I created the website: Pizza Therapy . I wanted to share some of the joy, my friends and I received, when my Dad (Big Al) , would mke pizza for us. I'm sure my Dad would be very proud. He is a recent email from my friend, Jaime : "Albert, my family - Grandpa , Grandpa , my sisters , my brothers , nieces , nephew , in-laws, husband , my two kids and some friends all had their hand in pizza and calzone making last night. There were 20 of us all together from age 1 - 74. Master kamado Chef David had the kamado cooking up our pizza's and calzones just right. Here's some pictures of our "Pizza in Palisades Night". Everyone just loved your recipe for the pizza crust!" Here is a picture of a kamado (a type of Japanese grill): Thanks, Jaime . Now that's what I'm talking about: Pizza Therapy in action! Pizza on Earth, Albert http://pizzatherapy.com/ http://grandepublishing.com/ http://pastatherapy.com/ http://hawaiis...

Albert's Pepperoni Pizza During the last couple of weeks, I had a chance to sample some great pizza. Pepe's and Sally's Apizza , (Wooster Street, New Haven, Connecticut) did not disappoint me. They were fantastic, as usual. On one of my adventures, I stumbled into a pizza joint. The family was busy shopping, so I took it upon myself to check out a new pizza place. The pizza looked good. The crust looked good. The taste was OK. It was not the best pizza I ever had, and it wasn' t the worst. It was good pizza. I agree with Peter Reinhart who says there are two types of pizza: good pizza and great pizza. In some ways pizza is relative,: had I not just had Pepe's or Sally's , I might have rated this pizza much higher. Pepe's and Sally's make great pizza. Anywhere in the pizza universe, this pizza may have been a solid 8 or 9. After Pepe's and Sally's, I would rate it a 6 or 7... Sometimes you can't get great pizza. Sometimes good, is goo...

The whole family went back to Sally's Apizza on Wooster Street last night. We're glad we did! We got there early, so we would be able to make it for the first seating. We patiently waited for the Sally's lights to be turned on. A few minutes later the doors opened. Unfortunately, we did not get our pizza order in right away, so we had a bit of a wait. This is the price you pay for good pizza. One couple who were seated just ahead of us, got tired of waiting, and ended up walking out. Oh, well. We ordered a medium anchovy, a large bacon and a medium potato pizza. (The potato pizza is not on the menu, so you have to ask). Our pizzas were fantastic. The crust was slightly burnt, just the way I like it. The coal fired oven imparts a great taste to the dough. The crust is ultra thin and very tasty. The toppings were perfect. I had a chance to chat with Flo Consiglio , owner of Sally's , for a couple of minutes. I asked her if there would be anything new at Sally's . Sh...

Here is a picture of a Portobello and Capacolla Pizza Before I get into the magic of the portobello mushroom, I want to give you an update of what I am doing. I'm currently on the East Coast, completing the last leg of my vacation. I like to call it: The East Coast Pizza Tour . I was able to get to Pepe's as well as Sally's Apizza . The pizzas at each pizzeria were both memorable and very satisfying. I was able to do some great interviews, which I will be making available at pizzatherapy.com in the near future. In the meantime, I have been creating several videos which I want to share with you. I did a review of my favorite mushroom, the Portobello . I have found these mushrooms very easy to work with as well as having a great taste. You can use them in pasta sauce, sandwiches, on the grill and of course as a topping for pizza. I think the potobello really adds to any dish. they have a beefy texture and a wonderful flavor. Videos are something new to me, but I think the t...

I couldn't believe it. Here I was back at my favorite pizza place in the world, Pepe's Pizzeria. We could hardly wait to order. Of course, we ordered the famous clam pizza. We wanted to try something a little different so we got half pepperoni and have bacon. OK we had ordered this before, but it was like the first time! The pizza was as usual fantastic. I am always amazed at the incredible consistency and quality of Pepe's pizza. I just love the taste! I was able to vist with Gary Bimonte , a true Legend of Pizza. . Gary ,was his usual positive self. I even did a short interview with him. He explained Pepe's , will be opening another location in Manchester, Connecticut. I had to ask him about a Pepe's in Hawaii... he said that "would be a beautiful thing". I can keep dreaming about that one! I had to order a large pepperoni to go. We had it for breakfast. It was still great the next day... I am very excited to be back in New England. I plan on continuing...

The first thing I noticed was the locked doors and empty tables. Although there never seemed to be much activity in this pizza place, there was at least a little activity. Now there was no activity. I used to joke to people that the pizzeria had to be a front for the mob. They intentionally were losing money so they could launder illegal profits. There was no way they could stay open with the amount of customers they had. A pizzeria needs customers. This pizza place had few customers. Very few. But they remained open. Until, now. So I went next door and asked what happened. The cashier said she didn't know. Just one day they didn't open. She said the people that worked there were just as surprised. They came to work but they were locked out. Seems like this pizzeria went belly up. The owners just forgot to tell the employees they were out of a job. They just left. To tell you the truth, I never had their pizza. I guess it was OK, but it was a multi-unit pizza chain. One of the ...

After answering countless pizza questions, sending out dozens of newsletters ( Pizza News ) , creating a Best Pizza in the World section ( Best Pizza in the World ) and a Pizza and Pasta Forum , you just wonder if anyone is listening. Then you get an email, that slaps you in the face and reminds you why you started this whole pizza website to begin with: "Hi Albert This is Franz, I want to thank you for your pizza dough recipe. I made my first pizza. Three small 10 inch round to be exact. I made some changes in the recipe. I used whole wheat flour and yeast. I had to laugh because I had never cooked with yeast before. When I put the yeast, sugar and warm water together , the yeast began rising out of the cup before I could get everything together. I said to my wife look at that. I wish our love life could rise that fast. My wife thought it was funny and laugh. Several hours later I rolled out the dough and and placed it in three pie pans. I put pizza sauce low calory cheese and p...

It was one of those special emails that you get. Sally's Apizza, located on Wooster Street in New Haven , Connecticut was officially on the Internet. I like to think in some small way, pizzatherapy.com assisted the process. Sally's is like no other pizzeria in the World. (Hey, I'm not getting in the middle of a Pepe's vs. Sally's debate here... I'm to smart for that....to see what I'm talking about click on the link above. Or just Click Here ) Let's just say, there are people who love Pepe's and there are those who love Sally's I love them both... Here is the email: "Hi Pizza Therapy: I 'm delighted to annouce to the world that Sallys Apizza in New Haven , Connecticut now has a website, with pictures even and the menu. Here is the link: http://sallysapizza.net/default.aspx This development was prompted by the pizza lovers of the Yale Class of 1987 who, before their twentieth reunion to New Haven, contacted Sallys (by using the pizz...

Over the lifetime of pizzatherapy.com I have received countless questions about pizza. These include dough problems, pizza peel issues, the best flour to use, does water make a difference in pizza. Where is the best pizza? Do I favor Chicago Deep Dish pizza over New York pizza ? I want to start a pizza business. ..where do I start? How do make 100 pizzas at a time, can you help? ( Yes: go here .) Who makes the best pizza? Pizza fanatics write to me, asking if I know the inside secrets of the pizza from their favorite pizzeria . They want to know if I can help them recreate a certain pizza. Pizza fans want to know about pizza! You get the idea. I also get lots of questions asking if I know the true secret of Pepe's on Wooster Street , in New Haven, Connecticut . (You can read some of the many comments sent to me here. ) People of course, are also interested in Sally's Apizza also located on Wooster Street . I always tell them: if I knew the real secret of Pepe's or Sa...

I was shocked when I read the email. C'mon: Things like this only happen in movies and on TV, but not in real life. Here is the email that made me fall out of my chair: "Hi Guys We're the writer's on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live . Just saw you on the Travel Channel . Best looking of all the pizzas they showed. We're constantly debating the best pizzas. Any chance you guys ship your pies? Would love to hook Jimmy up with some. Thanks and great work! Tony Barbieri" I read the email in total disbelief. Now first of all, these guys saw me on the Travel Channel. "Amazing," I thought, "simply amazing. I don't even remember being on the Travel Channel, but if these TV guys saw me, well, it must be true!" Secondly, I had the best looking pizza! Finally, they wanted me to ship a pizza to Jimmy Kimmel . Now, I can't say I watch Jimmy Kimmel all of the time, but I do know who he is. If he wants me to ship him a pizza, well, no problem! I m...

This interview is an excerpt from Legends of Pizza Volume 1 and 2 e-Book The following interview was done with Brian Spangler of Apizza Scholls located in Portland, Oregon. Brian is, according to Peter Reinhart, : "one of the up and coming superstars of pizza. Brian discusses how the original location of Apizza Scholls , was actually forced to move because they were to popular. "Albert : Can you tell me a little bit about Apizza Scholls and where the name came from and what it means? Brian : Well, Apizza Scholls , this is our second location. Originally we were out in a rural district here in Oregon just outside of Portland . The township that we were in was called Scholls. We originally just called it Scholls Public House . Due to an overwhelming response to our product and articles in newspapers, again we were in a rural area; people just bombarded us to the point that we were causing some pretty severe traffic issues out there. We ran into an issue with Washington ...

Here are some excerpts from my interview with noted bread baker and pizzaiolo for the Legends of Pizza Project. Albert: Peter, tell me how you got started Peter : Well, I started by doing it because I just enjoyed doing it. I was cooking, and actually cooking in a seminary in San Francisco, which is, of course, noted for having good bread. I just started doing it because I thought it would be kind of neat to put home baked bread on the table. I found out unexpectedly that I kind of had a feeling for it. It got into me. It got into my system and I really took it on. For about eight or nine years, I baked just for fun and entered some of my breads in County Harvest Fairs and things like that and started winning. My wife and I both had a culinary background; at least a cooking background. We had some ideas for a ministry built around a café. We decided as part of the menu we would bake our own breads. Before we knew it the café had its own little following, but the bread sort of took off ...

Albert Grande , of pizzatherapy.com proudly announces the release of: Legends of Pizza Volume 1 and 2 e-Book® You will learn all of the inside secrets and pizza tales in this exclusive e-Book . This e-Book is for anyone who ever enjoyed a pizza. If you are in the pizza business , you need to claim a copy. If you make pizza, you need to get a copy. If you love pizza, you will love: Legends of Pizza Volume 1 and 2 e-Book® These historical conversations were released as CD and downloads as part of The Legends of Pizza Volume 1 and The Legends of Pizza Volume 2 Now these same pizza discussions have been transcribed and bundled into an e-Book . You can unlock the pizza secrets and feel the pizza passion of six celebrated pizzaiolo. Unlock the secrets shared by conversations with: Brian Spangler Tony Gemignani Ed LaDou Peter Reinhart Gary Bimonte Chris Bianco I spoke to Chris Bianco recently. Chris Bianco is the most celebrated Pizzaiolo in the United States. He was sought after by Galy...

I got an email from my friend Franco, telling me there was a new pizza video on msn.com . "Watch it", he said. The video was an episode of : "A Big Life" with Sissy Biggers . In the episode Sissy learns to make pizza for the first time from scratch. I saw the finished pizza and it looked pretty good. Imagine my pleasant surprise when in the opening moments of the episode, up drives The Big Green Pizza Truck. "It's a small world after all..." I thought! The pizzaiolo of The Truck were going to teach Sissy how to make pizza. Owners Douglas Coffin and Kevin Spooner , gave Sissy some pizza making lessons as well as truck driving lessons... Watch the video right here>>> "Sissy Makes Pizza." Last year I had heard a number stories, about the The B ig Green Pizza Truck , a mobile pizzeria, with a full on, wood fired pizza oven, in the back. I knew I had to track down the truck and owner . I was finally able to track down Douglas a...

The phone rang a few days before Christmas. I said, "Hello". "Albert, this is Chris Bianco." "Hey Chris, how are you doing?" "Fine, fine. I just wanted to say, thanks Albert. I appreciate all of the work you are doing. I liked the way Legends of Pizza turned out". I was humbled. Here is one of the finest pizzaiolo in the country, calling me up to say "thanks". Chris as usual was easy to talk with. I had to ask him about his recent appearance on Oprah.(I had discussed his appearance in the November 2006 issue of Pizza News. ) I can't remember his exact words, but basically, he told me it was no big deal. Hey, if I ever show up on Oprah, I may give you my autograph. Maybe. But not Chris Bianco. Chris Bianco is one of the most modest people on the planet. It doesn't matter to him that he was featured on the most popular television show in the World. It really does not, matter. He just wants to do what he does best, make pizza. He i...

The Transcripts of The Legends of Pizza Volume 1 and 2 are now available. As you may know, I spent hours interviewing the most famous pizzaiolo in the pizza industry. Pizza makers like Peter Reinhart , Tony Gemignani and Chris Bianco . Dedicated pizzaiolo such as Ed LaDou , Gary Bimonte and Brian Spangler were also included. I released these interviews on CD as Legends of Pizza Volume 1 and 2. The response to these recordings has been incredible. (Visit the Legends of Pizza Right Here: http://pizzatherapy.com/1and2.htm ) The content was so explosive, I had to turn these interviews into a book. I just spent hundreds of dollars getting all of the recordings transcribed to the written word.. Everyone who has read the Legends transcripts has been amazed. Here is what Peter Reinhart said: "" ...Those are the kind of places that I think of as memorable pizzas. There are a number of them. There are thousands of good pizzerias in America. The only way you can make a bad piz...