Guest Bloggers
Making Pizza for our Guru, by Cary Steiner
Note from Peter: Cary and Lillian Steiner are friends of mine from New York who have their own wonderful pizza blog called Passion-4-Pizza (you can link to their site through our Sites We Like section). In fact, the photo of me used on all my postings was taken by Cary when he and Lillian brought me to Umberto’s in New Hyde Park to experience my first “Grandma’s Pizza.” It was…Read More…
The MacBeth, A Pizza Memoir
*Note from Peter: “The MacBeth” is a delightful pizza memoir sent in by a friend of Pizza Quest named Jeffrey Ippolito. We loved it and thought it was a fun piece celebrating fond memories, good pizza (almost), and good friends. We hope you enjoy it as well, and keep the conversation going. If you have pizza memoirs that you’d like to share and see published here please send them to…Read More…
Wine, Food, Gardens, Bocce …
Note from Peter: Wes Bailey, a good friend of Brad and Jeff’s, was on his way to a long vacation with his family to Napa Valley. After hearing about these plans, Brad suggested that Wes keep an eye out for a quest-worthy story or two. Wes sent us this reflective essay that seems to capture the essence of the dichotomy of living the quest, as opposed to the idea of…Read More…
It’s the Heat (or is it?)
Lately, like many of us across the country I’ve been thinking about heat. Now, I’m no stranger to intense heat. I’ve been working in front of a pizza oven for over 40 years and I live in Las Vegas where, one day last week, the temperature topped out at 119 degrees. So, let’s just say heat is a big part of my life. As pizza makers and bread bakers, we…Read More…
Sourdough Pizza
Note From Peter: Teresa Greenway is a serious home baker and sourdough expert who has been corresponding with me for the past few years. She has written her own beautiful book on all things sourdough, loaded with photos, and is making it available as a free download for anyone who wants to get it from her website (see the link at the end of this article, or go to her…Read More…
Following the Chalkboards
A long time ago, I took a trip with my high school buddy, Milan. We went to Europe one winter to ski and roam around a little. The two of us didn’t have any real plans, beyond hitting some key ski spots like Chamonix, Zermat, Davos, St Anton, and Kitzbuhel among many others. We had a stop planned in a small farm town in Slovakia to visit his relatives but,…Read More…
A Pizza Farm
On my last couple of visits to Minnesota, I had been hearing about a unique and must see‚ pizza place in Stockholm, Wisconsin, about 90 minutes from the Twin Cities. So this year, during our annual summer visit to see my wife’s family, we decided it was time to make the trip out there. On our 14th wedding anniversary, my wife, Julie, and I packed up the car with our…Read More…
My Love Affair with Pizza Napoletana
My love for Pizza Napoletana started the first time I ever tasted a pizza straight from a wood burning oven in Napoli. I had only been in Italy a couple of days and was not prepared for what I was about to eat. These were the early 90’s, before food blogs or the internet. While I knew that Italy was the birthplace of pizza, I was uneducated when it came…Read More…
A few thoughts on Family and Pizza
Family, Food and Friends Why is pizza such a popular food all across the world? One reason may be that it is the perfect food to share. As I was recently writing and posting photos for my Mother’s Day Pizza pictorial, I had to search back through some old photos from a trip I took with my family to Vancouver, BC. I remembered taking some pictures in the Creperie that…Read More…
Is There Really a Perfect Pizza?
Recently I returned from a “pizza quest” to Southern Italy and would like to share my thoughts on where and what I think is the perfect or best pizza. I have been making dough for over forty years and pizzas for over twenty; it was only after a spell working at London’s most famous pizzeria, Franco Manca, that I felt capable of making a real pizza. The owner, Guisseppe Mascoli,…Read More…