Peter’s Blog, March 12, 2012

March Madness begins this week in college basketball — my favorite sporting event of the year, full of last second drama and indelible moments of sports greatness. But it is also a big week for pizza too. Tomorrow, the annual Pizza Expo begins in Las Vegas — the biggest, baddest pizza show in the world and we’re sending the intrepid Brad English to cover it for Pizza Quest. I expect he’ll have some terrific stories, adventures, drama, and photos to share with us when he returns. For those of you who are also going to be there, look for him — he’s the big, bald dude with the camera, probably with a slice in the other hand. Introduce yourself to him and let him know your a Pizza Quest fan — it will make his day!

Hey, I just got an e-mail from the Delfina’s Restaurant group and guess what? Our friend and super-obsessive pizzaiolo Anthony Strong, featured in our Pizzeria Delfina series of webisodes, has just been announced by the San Francisco Chronicle as their 2012 Rising Star Chef for his work at the newest addition to the Delfina restaurant constellation, Locanda. We saw his talents at the pizzeria, but now he’s on an even bigger, broader stage so if you’re in SF, check him out at Locanda and tell him you heard about it here.

Also, and I assume the timing isn’t a pure coincidence, Parade Magazine made pizza the cover story for yesterday’s edition, which I’m sure many of you saw if you get the Sunday paper.  The article is by the wonderful Jane and Michael Stern, of Road Food fame, so they have true street cred. I’d love to hear your reactions to their honor roll list, which included a few places I’ve been to (Pizzeria Bianco, Al Forno, Serious Pie) and a lot of places I’ve never been to (Coletta’s in Memphis, Buddy’s in Detroit, Dean-O’s in Lafayette, LA, DiCarlo’s in Wheeling, W.V., Menches Bros in Green, OH, Hot Truck in Ithaca, and Frank’s in Silvis, IL). Suddenly, I feel like a Pizza Quest virgin again — I need to get out more!  For those who know these places, or the others in the Stern’s list, or who want to nominate a place not on the list, please write to us here in the Comments section.  It’s time to find out where greatness is happening and deserves to be recognized. If you do make a nomination, state your case — we need to know why it’s on the list, not just because you like it but by what criteria you make your claim.  Maybe we can assemble the most worthy nominations into a Pizza Quest Hall of Fame of our own.

So, again, just to be clear, tell us who but also tell us why — it doesn’t have to be long but it does need to be convincing. This is our version of March Madness — so let the madness begin!!