I want to welcome you to the launch of our new site, Pizza Quest. You'll see that at the top of the page it says Pizza Quest with Peter Reinhart and, yes, while I will serve as narrator and primary host, there is a whole team of serious pizza freaks involved in this site. We have been avidly shooting video footage of some our favorite pizzerias -- seems like new ones are opening on a regular basis, so this promises to be a long quest --  and have been editing it for a television series that will be on the air one of these days (we'll be giving you updates on that as they develop).

Until then, every week we'll be posting a short extract from the series, we call them webisode segments, to give you a taste of our search for the perfect pizza and to introduce you to some of the interesting people we've met along the way. You'll notice that not all of the webisodes will be about pizza, as we met many artisans who are only indirectly related to pizza, and some who have nothing at all to do with pizza but who share that same obsessive

intensity, a fire in their bellies, that we found among pizza freaks.

In addition to the webisodes, we'll post instructional videos from time to time, photos from our quests, and we'll also post thoughtful articles from some of the featured performers on the TV series as well as from other friends and noteworthy contributors. There will also be a members Forum section where all of us can interact and share our obsessions. As it says in our Vision Statement, this site is about more than pizza (but certainly it is about pizza!), but also what pizza represents about us, about the world, and how similar a quest for the perfect pizza is to a quest for quality of all kinds. We use the word artisanship to define that level of quality, and we plan to explore artisanship of all types, yes, through the lens of pizza, but also for its value in our personal journeys of self-discovery.

The site will grow as more of you join us. We encourage you to send it to others, post the videos or link them to your own blogs, and join the conversation. We promise to keep streaming interesting things to you on a regular basis, as fast as it comes in, and look forward to you streaming things back to us. I will provide ongoing blog commentary to accompany the webisodes and instructionals, as well as news and updates.

A personal note of thanks to our launch sponsors, Bel Gioioso Cheese and Forno Bravo (yes, I have one of their wood-fired ovens in my backyard — what fun!!).

Also, thank you to Cary Steiner, who took the photo of me at Umberto's in Queens (and introduced me to Umberto's Grandmother pie--a local legend, as many in Queens and beyond know) , and who, along with his wife Lillian, have a wonderful pizza blog at www.passion-4-pizza.com (details in the Sites We Like section).

Finally, I want to thank James Bairey and FornoBravo.com for being our web development partner and host site. We couldn't think of a more kindred site and company to partner with and, without James' technical internet prow ess, along with his team, I know I could never have conceived of and executed such a dynamic site. We think you're going to enjoy the ride and hope you will come back again and again--and bring your friends.

Till the next time,
May Your Pizzas All Be Perfect!

Peter