Pizza City with Steve Dolinsky

Chris Decker worked for 26 years under John Arena at Metro in Las Vegas, but now he's the guy in charge at Truly Pizza in Dana Point, CA. They offer two very distinct styles of pizza and both are incredible. Chris and his crew are going to be featured at Pizza City Fest LA this weekend, where they'll be showing off a very unique pie. He previews it for us on this week's show. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pizzacity/support

Jeff Barris has always been into pizza, but when he had a chance to buy an established pizzeria in Atwater Village, he jumped at it. Hail Mary already had a cult following, but now that Barris and his team have taken over, they've changed very little (just the sauce), keeping the same all-natural starter intact and employing four different flours. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pizzacity/support

Coming back after a few years of so-so attendance, still recovering from the pandemic, the 40th International Pizza Expo was a smash in almost every way. I spoke with a few attendees about why they made the trip. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pizzacity/support

Connie Zotta is the 2nd generation to run Salerno's in Chicago's West Town neighborhood. The pizzeria has been around since 1966, when it opened in a near suburb of Chicago (Berwyn). Zotta's dad, Joe Salerno, founded the business with his brothers, but since he passed away recently, she has been tasked with keeping the tradition alive. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pizzacity/support

Alex Koons has had an interesting career - audio engineer, pizza delivery guy - but his biggest challenge was attempting to open a vegan pizzeria in L.A. It didn't take long to realize he had to pivot. Today his pizza at Hot Tongue in Silver Lake (both vegan and meat-friendly) is among the best in the city, due mainly to his remarkable dough recipe (with four flours!). --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pizzacity/support

Peter Dorrance and Eric Ehler met while working at Mr. Jiu's, the Michelin-starred restaurant in San Francisco's Chinatown. They left to open Outta Sight, a NYC-style pizzeria in the Tenderloin. Convincing locals that it's OK to re-heat slices to-order took some getting used to! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pizzacity/support

Katsuya Fukushima spent 15 years working for José Andrés in Washington D.C., and it allowed him to travel the world. But his upbringing in Hawaii also influenced his palate, and his Japanese heritage also plays a role on his menus. He now cooks Wafu - Japanese inspired Italian - at Tonari in D.C.'s Chinatown, where he and pastry chef Mary Mendoza have collaborated on a mentaiko corn Detroit style pizza that is just stunning. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pizzacity/support

Like several of Knoxville's best chefs and restaurants, owner Brian Strutz is an alum of Blackberry Farm's kitchens. A Dopo is an homage to a life-changing trip he took to Italy years ago, where all they had was an oven. Strutz still uses an all-natural starter and his staff pulls mozzarella curds each day. Serious Old School in Tennessee! NOTE: on this episode, we also mention Potchke, an Eastern European-inspired deli Strutz is involved in. His business partner Laurence Faber and wife Emily Williams are the creators of that concept. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pizzacity/support

Jenny Olbrich has had a multi-faceted career - from private chef to designer...eventually landing in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, at The Esters - a bar and restaurant with a tidy pizza program. She talked about her path, and how she managed to crank out hundreds of pies at a time in a kitchen the size of a walk-in closet. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pizzacity/support

Max Balliet has held odd jobs in mechanics, but a life-changing trip to Italy as a kid shaped his future career. He didn't see much of a pizza culture in his native Louisville, so he decided to create something completely unique - a neo-Neapolitan style pizza based on an all-natural sourdough starter - and now Pizza Lupo is one of the best places to grab a pie in all of Bourbon Country. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pizzacity/support

Lenny Rago has been working in professional kitchens since he was 14. Now in his 50s, the Chicago native has built Panino's into a pizza powerhouse, creating nearly a half dozen types of pie at three different locations. We met up with him at his Evanston location, where he showed off a classic Chicago tavern style, as well as a preview of his deep-dish, which will be launching in the new year. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pizzacity/support

Daniele Cason has been the Executive Chef at The Mandarin Oriental in Tokyo for more than a decade. As a Rome native, he wanted to bring pizza to the restaurant, and did so in the form of a small L-shaped bar with just a few seats called The Pizza Bar on 38th. He recently began offering only an omakase (tasting) experience for guests, requiring a two to three month advance reservation. His pizzas are simply sublime. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pizzacity/support

Ontario native Mike Lange was a graphic designer who happened to be backpacking in Australia when he met his girlfriend (a fellow Canadian). They decided to set up shop in her hometown of Calgary, where Noble Pie has been a hit almost since it opened. Demand these days is off the charts, for Lange's artisan thin pies, inspired by New York City pizza. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pizzacity/support

Connie DeSousa and her business partner, John Jackson worked together in San Francisco, and since both are Canadians, eventually moved back to open CharCut in Calgary. They’ve also got CharBar there, and more recently, Connie & John’s Pizza, which is a takeout only operation, though you can sometimes eat upstairs from CharBar if there’s seating open. We tried both their New York style, as well as their Detroit, and made an appointment to see them build one of those Detroits in their kitchen above CharCut one afternoon.  --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pizzacity/support

We’re back in Chicago and no, we're not talking about stuffed or deep-dish or tavern-style, but rather, a hybrid between New York and artisan at Bob's Pizza. The New York part comes from the dough – it’s stretched to 18”, the slices are foldable with no tip sag, they’re baked on stone hearths and toppings are applied judiciously, all in balance. The artisan part comes from the fact the chef and owner – Matthew Wilde – is a trained chef from Minnesota, who might sweat garlic and reduce cream for a base instead of just tomato sauce (which he also, incidentally cooks before adding it to a pie). He makes his pickles, he uses fine sea salt and most notably, uses beer in his dough rather than water. The results are mighty impressive.  --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pizzacity/support

James Durawa grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, but learned how to make artisan pizza while working at Apizza Scholls in Portland, Oregon. He and his wife moved back to Milwaukee several years ago and opened Wy'East Pizza on the west side of town, serving his guests a unique pizza (by local standards); a strong deviation from the ubiquitous tavern style pies all over town. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pizzacity/support

There may not be a straight line from the Italian deli and butcher business to pizza making, but Donny Mellozzi isn’t letting that stop him. His passion for pizza has been all-consuming the last several years, and its led to the creation of two types of pizza he’s making in a converted space above a paint shop in a Montreal suburb. Pizza Frankie's is truly a labor of love and commitment. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pizzacity/support

During the two-day festival at the end of August, we always hold a series of educational and informational panel discussions. We have excerpts this week from "The Dough Whisperers" and the "3rd Wave Deep Dish/Pan" panels, held at The Salt Shed in Chicago. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pizzacity/support

When he got tired of his corporate job, Brian Tondryk decided to get into the pizza business, because his grandfather - Fred Bartoli - inspired him as a kid. Bartoli started Gino's East in 1966 in Chicago. Tondryk had to talk to old timers, do his research and go back to his childhood to try to recreate the pies he remembered from the 1970s. He now has two Bartoli's locations in Chicago serving both deep-dish and thin pizza. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pizzacity/support

Devin Bogdan has worked in restaurants around the U.S., some that have received Michelin stars or James Beard awards. For the last four years, he's been in the kitchen at Smith & Lentz Brewery, an East Nashville bar and restaurant with an ambitious menu, drawing upon the seasons. The pizza he has developed is truly remarkable, using several flours, an all-natural starter and a particularly high hydration. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pizzacity/support