Peter’s Blog, April 24th, 2012, I’m Baaack!

I feel as if I’ve just emerged from suspended animation. I spoke too quickly in my post- IACP posting when I said “I’m still standing,” as a few days later I hit the wall, ended up in the hospital, and couldn’t stop coughing. Turned out it was just bad bronchitis and dehydration, all of it probably initiated by the major pollen drop here during the too-early spring and then complicated by over work and, well, just pushing too hard (too much Questing? Never!!). So, I’ve spent some time bundled up, reading, watching TV and movies, and coughing up …  well, let’s not get into TMI….

So I’ll keep this short and sweet and hope to follow up soon with photos and more commentary, but the main good news is that Pure Pizza has, at last, officially opened after nearly two years in planning and ideation, and we’re off to a great start. Actually, there has been no official announcement that we are open — just word of mouth and a few Facebook hints here and there. This first week has been intentionally a “soft” opening to work out all the kinks, but so far the response has been fabulous. When I can get over there I’ll take some photos and tell you more, but for now you can check out it out www.facebook.com/PurePizza and hopefully you’ll “like it” and help spread the word. It’s a really simple concept, located in the new, year-round  Seventh Street Public Market in downtown Charlotte, with a general, common dining area much like a food court.  There are lots of other cool venders in the Market, and we’re just 2 1/2 weeks from the “Grand Opening” of the whole market, when all the venders will be up and running along with lots of fresh spring produce (much of which gets used on our pizzas). I’ll get you some photos as soon as I can but, if you’re in the area, please drop by. (Note, the Public Market actually opened back in December, but it was, again, a soft opening in order for a few of the  venders to get up and running — it took us, Pure Pizza, until last week to get all the permits and equipment in place, for instance. The Market has long targeted May as the time for the big splash, when we’d be fully populated with venders, so it’s getting exciting to see it all flesh out and come to life — I’m loving being a part of this important civic project.)

In the meantime, I’ve heard from a number of Pizza Quest followers regarding their own adventures, including John Rudolph of In Two Worlds Productions (see my recent post regarding the street foods of Roosevelt Ave. in Queens), who wanted everyone to know that he and Andrew Silverstein and the rest of their team will be giving more of these tours in the coming weeks (May 19, and June 2 and 16). So, if you are interested in joining in, contact John at john@feetin2worlds.org   I can attest to how much fun it is.

Pizza Quest fan Sally Newton has posted her photos of following my recipe for croissants at http://bewitchingkitchen.com/2012/04/17/thrilling-moments/ Her excitement at being able to make killer croissants is as contagious as, well, as my recent coughing fits. Check it out and great work Sally!

Also, some friends of PQ as well as of The Fire Within, Victoria and Stephanie (Stephanie was a former student of mine at JWU a few years ago), have recently been nominated for best food cart in Richmond, VA, for their wood-fired pizza truck, Pizza Tonight.  Not sure if this link will work, but if you’d like to cast a vote for them try pasting this in: http://www2.richmond.com/special_section/besties-lunch-cart/2012/apr/17/best-lunch-cart-richmond-vote-now-ar-1838071/?referer=None&shorturl=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2FIgjEhG
Victoria was out in Boulder for the Fire Within Conference last year when we filmed some of the instructional videos shown here on the site, so I imagine she’s using some of the tricks and techniques we worked on there.  Based on the photos I saw on their Facebook page, they are doing amazing work in Richmond — if any of our readers are familiar with them, how about a few words or testimonials below in the Comments section?

Now that I’m starting to pick up some momentum, I’ll be back soon with more thoughts on the IACP Conference, Pure Pizza, and all sorts of other things sparked by this never-ending Quest. Brad has been inundating me with great photos of yet another New York City/Brooklyn pizza crawl he’s been on, including jumping on Scott Weiner’s NYC Pizza Tour, plus a visit to the legendary DiFara’s, and also to the unique and wonderful Roberta’s in Bushwick. I’m totally jealous.  More on all that soon….