Pizza Quest with Peter Reinhart

This week we feature the first of our two part conclusion to the Pizzeria Mozza webisodes. In this segment, I’m sitting in the beautiful dining room of Osteria Mozza with Nancy Silverton and food writer Kristine Kidd. Osteria Mozza is located next door to Pizzeria Mozza, literally through the door around the corner of the same building, and never serves pizza. But, since the Osteria is open only for dinner,…Read More…

I’m not going to get into the history of how this dressing came into existence–you can read all about it on a bottle of Cardini’s, since Caesar Cardini owns those bragging rights (though I’ve heard it disputed by others who claim the dressing may have other origins–if you know these stories please tell us about them in the comments section). What I do want to say is that a good…Read More…

This week we return to Pizzeria Mozza for the first of the final two Mozza webisode segments, this one featuring a round table discussion held at Osteria Mozza (next door to Pizzeria Mozza) with food writer’s Russ Parsons and Kristine Kidd, as well as Nancy Silverton and me. Of course, the real stars are the pizzas, but it sure was fun making pizza talk with some serious, well respected fellow…Read More…

Lately I’ve been thinking about pizza and the industrial revolution. Ok, I know we think of pizza making as a craft or even an art form, but let’s face it; before the recent artisan pizza renaissance the state of pizza was in pretty sorry shape. So how did something that was an expression of individuality in the hands of a great pizza maker like Antonio Pero (founder of Totonno’s) become…Read More…

Here’s a great pizza from Kelly Whitaker of Boulder’s fabulous Pizzeria Basta. {youtube}bwjvziBf-5E{/youtube}   We asked him to create something on the spot, using Bel Gioioso Fontina cheese and he quickly pulled together a few other great ingredients: speck (smoked prosciutto), regular prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, local mushrooms, and a garnish of arugula. We all loved it! (I got to eat the slice you see me with in the video but…Read More…

I discovered this in northern Italy, in the Ligurian town of Recco, just south of Genoa. I’m in love with it!! It is made with the simplest of all doughs yet makes an extraordinary type of unusual focaccia. The dough is unleavened and, when rolled out paper thin, is not all that different from Greek phyllo (aka, fillo) dough. It is used not only in the Ligurian Focaccia col Formaggio…Read More…

Hi Everyone,We had a great demo today at Johnson & Wales University (JWU –JayWoo as we call it) by Chef Ben Roche, the Executive Pastry Chef at Moto Restaurant in Chicago. For those who don’t know about Moto, it is one of the few molecular gastronomy restaurants in the United States, featuring a 20 course tasting menu (also a 10 course version for the less adventurous) consisting of wildly imaginative…Read More…

Hi Everyone, We had a great demo today at Johnson & Wales University (JWU –JayWoo as we call it) by Chef Ben Roche, the Executive Pastry Chef at Moto Restaurant in Chicago. For those who don’t know about Moto, it is one of the few molecular gastronomy restaurants in the United States, featuring a 20 course tasting menu (also a 10 course version for the less adventurous) consisting of wildly…Read More…

Hi Everyone, This week we will be posting a new instructional video from Kelly Whitaker of Pizzeria Basta. His previous video, showcasing a wonderful burrata cheese appetizer, was such a hit we’ve decided to bring him back for an encore. This video will post on Thursday (and, if you missed it, you can see his previous video on the Instructionals page in the archives). On Wednesday, I’ll be posting one…Read More…

Note to readers from Peter: This is the the second part of Jenn Burn’s recent adventure in Costa Rica, picking beans on an organic coffee farm as part of a work study project. Jenn is a student at Davidson College, just outside of Charlotte, and has previously had numerous articles published that chronicle her transition from teenager to young adulthood (I hope to run some more of those here in…Read More…