Pizza Blog from pizzatherapy.com

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...