Pizza Blog from pizzatherapy.com

Joe Pergolizzi is a pizzaiolo, who founded “ The Fire Within”. The company, located in Boulder, Colorado , creates Mobile Pizza Ovens , and offers a total support system for those interested in succeeeding in the the pizza business. For Joseph this is a sacred mission. The Fire Within also offers classes, workshops, encouragement and assistance. This is an entire organization dedicated to pizza success through artisan pizza creation. On their website, Joseph explains: “We took the age old concept of a wood fired oven on a trailer and modernized it for today’s use. In addition to manufacturing a practical line-up of mobile pizza ovens and we created the tools you need to be set up for success. After a fiery debate, our 100+ customers across North America agreed upon a collective mission. It is the intention of the Fire Within mobile pizza caterers to save the world from common, cardboard-box-pizza one wood-fired pizza at a time. Taste testers welcome.” For the record: ...

Popular Plates Pizza The Popular Plates Pizza volume by Jane and Michael Stern, creators of Road Food,  is a must have book for any pizza lover. This project is a labor of love all about pizza by Jane and Michael Stern who are clearly obsessed with pizza. And not just any pizza: great pizza. In addition, they are intimately familiar with all the different regional styles of pizza. The Stern’s document 120 pizza reviews which are comprehensive, inspiring and fascinating. Much of this book was created with assistance of the members of their Road Food Team . The Stern’s sent out these Food Warriors all across the United States in search of the best pizza. These pizza aficionados traversed the country looking for the obscure and the well-known. The pizza analyses are extraordinary and mouthwatering. You will discover the origins of pizza, pizza lingo and the official way to make certified VPN DOC Neapolitan. You will unlock the secrets of making different kinds of fantast...

                             Steve Lieber is an incredible pizziolo. He is a member of the World Pizza Champions . He has an incredible story to tell. In the following interview he tells his pizza story. He explains how he got into the pizza business. He learned how to make pizza. He worked in a number of restaurants and decided he wanted to become a master pizziolo. According to his bio: Over the years, Lieber established himself working in high volume restaurants that posed many challenges and soon found great success…A self-described “pizza fanatic,” Steve regularly travels the globe to attend conventions and further his knowledge of the industry to perfect techniques and capitalize on the latest in pizza trends. In the following interview, he explains how he: •learned to make pizza •how his passion for pizza led him to try to ...

The following is an excerpt from an interview with Master Bread Baker Peter Reinhart for the Legends of Pizza Series . The Legends of Pizza is comprised of interviews with master pizziolo from the pizza Industry. Albert: I first encountered Peter Reinhart when he interviewed me for his book American Pie: My Search for the Perfect Pizza . Peter began by asking me a few questions about pizza. After spending a few minutes with him on the phone, I realized I was speaking to someone whose knowledge and love of pizza were extraordinary. At one point, Peter said to me, “ I’m writing the book that you should have written about pizza, Albert.” Unfortunately, my interview never made it into the book, but Peter did mention me and my website pizzatherapy.com . You know, I still get emails from people who have discovered that pizzatherapy.com will teach you to make pizza and dough , through his book. Peter was very easy to talk to. He shared lots of his knowledge and thoughts about making pizza as...

Peter Reinhart, James Beard Award winner. The following is a review of Peter Reinhart's book: American Pie: My Search for the Perfect Pizza . "Peter Reinhart starts his incredible pizza adventures in Italy and journeys across America in search of pizza perfection. To borrow a phrase from Bill Graham: “This book is not the best at what it does; it is the only book that does what it does!” Not only do we go on a quest to discover incredible pizzas, but we learn how to make them.! The first section of American Pie is the quest for pizza perfection. The subtitle should be “my search for the perfect “pizzaiolo” (pizza master), as Peter meets with a host of pizzaiolos who share ideas and philosophy about pizza. According to this book, there is more to pizza, than just throwing together flour, yeast oil, tomato sauce, cheese along with other toppings! The fact of the matter is that you must bake part of your heart into each pizza, to reach brilliance! (Albert's sidebar: "I ...

Tony G. knows pizza. He is an incredible pizza resource. I have been fortunate to speak with Tony on a number of occasions. He is a nine time World Pizza Champion . Tony won the Triple Crown of Pizza . In Italy no less! Tony is not one to sit back. He is always pushing the envelope of pizza. If you love pizza, you will love Tony Gemignani . Tony Gemignani presents his award winning pizza to the judges in Italy He was gracious enough to speak with me for my Legends of Pizza series. You can listen to another interview I did with Tony right now... Listen as he explains: How he had to make his dough in his hotel room during the Italian pizza competition. One of the judges was the Pope's personal pizza maker How he made it into the Guinness Book of World Records His latest project: the first ever Certified Pizza School in the U.S. His take on the New Haven Pizza (Wooster Street): Yes, he went to Modern, Pepe's and Sally's. Respectfully submitted, Albert Grande pizzaman-in-train...

Our own, Tony Gemignani made pizza history recently, at the International Pizza Makers Challenge - 2 Mari Trofeo Internationale Pizza Per Tutti 2008 . He accomplished what no other pizzaiolo has ever done: he won first place in three categories at the International Pizza Competition. He became the winner of the Triple Crown of Pizza . Tony who was featured in Legends of Pizza Volume 2 , proved once again he is a World Pizza Champion . Tony G. showcases a prized pizza in Italy. I had the honor of taking him to lunch in Honolulu, a couple of years ago. I'm thinking: maybe Tony would enjoy some sushi, or Dim Sum or perhaps Korean food. I was ready to suggest we go grab a Hawaiian Plate lunch. "What do you want to eat?" I asked. "Pizza" he replied. "I want to eat pizza". And that's exactly what we had for lunch. We went to Antonio's New York Style Pizza , in Kahala. And there was not much left over. Tony recently discussed his win: "This was...

What can you say about the most celebrated pizzaiolo in the United States? He is simply amazing. In the following video you can watch Chris as he makes pizza. He makes each pizza very quickly. You can see him as he creates a masterpiece. He does so with love. Chris truly cares about each pizza he makes. Watch, learn, enjoy. This is simply amazing: you can discover an interview of Chris Bianco at Legends of Pizza, Volume 1 Respectfully, Albert Grande Pizzaiolo-in-training

Its been a strange year filled with Pizza News and Weird Pizza Mis-Adventures. The year started with a phone call from Chris Bianco, of Pizzeria Bianco , who had just been featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show. It seems like I kept having more unusual pizza adventures, in 2007. I was contacted by Jimmy Kimmel's staff and for about 5 minutes, I thought I was on my way to Hollywood to make pizza. No kidding! I took Nine Time World Pizza Champ, Tony Gemignani to lunch in Honolulu ... Legends of Pizza Volume 1 and 2 was released as an e-book. That was good news. The Big Green Pizza Truck shared a Recipe for Pizza and other pizza secrets. More good news. I had a very revealing Interview with Jay Vogler from Pizza on Earth in Vermont... I reviewed Rachael Ray's pizza smackdown as she took on the pizza fanatics of Chicago and New York . I got into this incredible controversy about Vino's vs. Gino's in Little Rock, Arkansas. I announced how Nine time World Pizza Champi...

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...

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...