Pizza Talk

Welcome back to Pizza Quest! There is no question that Ooni Ovens have taken the world by storm, even eclipsing their worthy competitor RoccBox, which had a nice head start. How have they done it? Fortunately, we have Scott Deley with us, who just published a book called, The Ooni Pizza Project. The book is loaded with inspiring recipes created by Scott (but inspired by his many pizza heroes), who has…Read More…

Welcome back to Pizza Quest! This episode features a conversation with Chef John Ash, who for the past 40 years has been known in Sonoma and Napa as the Godfather of Wine Country Cuisine. His restaurant, John Ash & Company, helped to define that regional aspect of what later became known as California Cuisine back in the 1980’s and 1990’s. He, along with chefs like Alice Waters, Jeremiah Tower, Joyce…Read More…

Welcome Back to Pizza Quest. In this episode of Pizza Quest we take a tangential detour away from pizza (as we often do in our ever-expanding celebration of artisanship wherever we find it) with one of our longtime, favorite guests, Meathead Goldwyn.  Meathead (yes, that’s his name, the origins of which he explains in this conversation), is the creator and host of the hugely popular website, AmazingRibs.com, where for many…Read More…

Welcome back to Pizza Quest! Chef Ryan Hardy has been killing it in the Lower East Side of New York City with his wood-fired Neapolitan pizzas and other fire-cooked menu items at Pasquale Jones. And now, a few yards away, he has opened a hot new Sicilian-themed cafe called Bar Pasquale, where sficione-style pan pizzas reign. Ryan describes his vision for both places and shows us the difference between these…Read More…

Welcome back to Pizza Quest! We recently did a show that we called Bourbon 101 (June  ), and have done other shows that celebrate artisanship in subjects adjacent to our usual focus on pizza (olive oil, mezcal, tomatoes, and various types of cheeses). But, when Joe Salonia, co-host of HRN’s podcast series, Cutting the Curd, offered to take me on a journey of his personal specialty cheese category, Swiss, it…Read More…

Welcome back to another episode of Pizza Quest. In our never-ending celebration of artisanship wherever we find it, this week’s episode turns a lens onto one of the truly great American crafts, distilled whiskey, most notably, Bourbon. And here to explain it all is my long-time friend, culinary educator, and award-winning author Albert Schmid, whose newest book, Bourbon 101, was just recently released by The University Press of Kentucky.  Many…Read More…

Welcome back to Pizza Quest. In this episode, we meet Meghan Murphy-Gill, aka The Reverend Meghan Murphy-Gill, an Episcopal priest who also happens to be a serious baker of bread and, most importantly, a fabulous writer who has authored a new book, The Sacred Life of Bread. The subtitle of her book is “Uncovering the Mystery of an Ordinary Loaf.”  As we continue our back and forth exploration between “pizza”…Read More…

Welcome back to Pizza Quest. In this episode we continue to expand the scope of Pizza Quest to include a focus more on the quest than on the pizza. Bread, as many of you know, is the uber-mensch in my own quest, of which pizza is a delightful sub-set. Lately, more and more authors have added their own words and thoughts to the multi-dimensional sense of meaning embodied by bread….Read More…

Welcome back to Pizza Quest where, as you will see this week, it is often more about the Quest than it is about the Pizza. Michael Goldfarb is one of my oldest and best friends, beginning back in the third grade at Belmont Hills Elementary School, located just outside of Philadelphia, over 60 years ago. We’ve stayed in touched ever since, each on our own quests for adventure and meaning….Read More…

Welcome back to Pizza Quest, As you know, we’ve been putting a lot more emphasis on the Quest aspect of Pizza Quest these days and this episode is a great example. In 1971, over 50 years ago, I was a founding member of a restaurant collective in Boston called Root One Cafe, one of the early organic food restaurants in the country. Yes, we were pressing out carrot juice way…Read More…