It’s been a hectic few days and I have a meeting to attend in a few minutes, so I will return later today to fill in the blanks. Meanwhile, here’s what you have to look forward to this week:<\/p>\n
Wed:<\/strong> A new recipe by Brad English, our “everyman” pizzaiolo. This time he tackles the challenging Marinara Pizza.<\/p>\n Thursday:<\/strong> A new video — this week an interview with the editor of Salute Magazine who visited us while we were filming with Tony Gemignani, about the Italian-American experience and how it relates to the entire immigrant experience of melting pot America (now often referred to as a “salad bowl” rather than a melting pot because of how many diverse cultures are getting tossed together).<\/p>\n Friday:<\/strong> A new guest column by the popular John Arena.<\/p>\n As I said, I’ll be back later today with more Peter’s Blog<\/strong>. A full week of new content awaits….<\/p>\n Okay, I’m back, having just come from the location of Charlotte’s soon to open 7venth St. Public Market. Construction and build-out is going on at a brisk pace in order to be ready for the ribbon cutting on November 30th at noon (come if you are in the area). It will be our (Charlotte’s) own version of the Ferry Terminal Market I wrote about a few weeks ago in San Francisco. Ours will, of course, be much smaller and have a style of its own, a Charlottean style, featuring locally grown or\u00a0prepared foods and other artisan\u00a0products. I’m on the market’s board, so am especially proud of it and of our Executive Director, Christy Shi, who is doing an amazing job of bring the vision into focus (here’s a portion of the market’s vision statement: “The 7venth St. Public Market provides high-quality, fresh, and affordable food from local farms and regional purveyors. It is the anchor of a dynamic market district that serves as an authentic community gathering place.”<\/p>\n One of the market’s purposes is to serve as an incubator for food-related businesses, and so I am happy to report that there will be a brand new pizza cafe located in the market featuring sprouted wheat pizza crust. I am serving as a consulting partner in this cafe (the name has yet to be announced),\u00a0and we’re getting very excited about being the first pizzeria anywhere\u00a0to use organic, sprouted wheat (and also sprouted ancient grain blends), milled right here in North Carolina (for newcomers to this site, go back to the April Peter’s Blog archives to read about this amazing flour, which I first presented at the Asheville Bread Festival with miller Joe Lindley).\u00a0The\u00a0pizzeria won’t be ready to open on the market’s opening day — there’s a lot of electrical and construction still to do —\u00a0but hopefully by the end of the year. I will tell you more as we get closer to launch, but I can say that everyone involved in this project is very excited, not only because of how delicious the pizzas will be, using fresh products brought to the market every day by the other vendors,\u00a0but also about the whole market, and how it will reflect and support\u00a0the sustainability values of this region. For us, it’s a perfect fit at the perfect time; for Charlotte, it’s a huge step and statement about its commitment to supporting local farmers, growers, and artisans. For the public, it will especially mean good eats!! I’ll report on the opening in two weeks and also on the progress of the pizza cafe, so keep checking back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"