Pizza Blog from pizzatherapy.com

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...