There are no shortcuts to greatness. OK, maybe one.
YOU WOULDN’T COMPROMISE YOUR REPUTATION. NEITHER WOULD WE.
LEADING WITH EMPATHY
Juan Robles, executive chef at Triple Beam Pizza in Los Angeles, has never forgotten how his mom, a single woman raising three kids, had to miss his sports games because she worked three jobs and couldn’t get time off. “That resentment wasn’t toward her—she had to work to make a living,” Robles says. “It was toward her managers. I just feel like….there’s always a way of being able to do things [for your team members].” In his leadership role at Triple Beam, owned by Nancy Silverton and Matt Molina, Robles has implemented a culture of empathy in the kitchen. Team members, he believes, have a right to a fulfilling life outside the workplace. If that means allowing more flexibility in scheduling—so employees can get away for their kid’s soccer game or to deal with a family member’s health issues—it pays off in the long run. “When you start [leading] in this empathetic manner…they realize that you care for them, and when they realize that, they start caring for you through the work,” Robles says. “They start doing things for you because they want to, not because they have to.”
ELEVATING THE BUSINESS OF PIZZA
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CONTENT
EDITOR IN CHIEF Rick Hynum rhynum@wtwhmedia.com
SENIOR EDITOR Charlie Pogacar cpogacar@wtwhmedia.com
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Tracy Morin tmorin@wtwhmedia.com
ASSOCIATE EDITOR/USPT COORDINATOR Brian Hernandez bhernandez@wtwhmedia.com
VP, ASSOCIATION AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Allison Dean adean@wtwhmedia.com
VP, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Greg Sanders gsanders@wtwhmedia.com
ART & PRODUCTION
ART DIRECTOR Eric Summers esummers@wtwhmedia.com
SENIOR ART DIRECTOR Tory Bartelt tbartelt@wtwhmedia.com
DIGITAL PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Blake Harris bharris@wtwhmedia.com
A Publication of WTWH Media, LLC 662-234-5481
Volume 28, Issue 8
October 2024 ISSN 1937-5263
CONTENT STUDIO
VICE PRESIDENT Peggy Carouthers pcarouthers@wtwhmedia.com
WRITER Ya’el McCloud ymccloud@wtwhmedia.com
WRITER
Olivia Schuster oschuster@wtwhmedia.com
SALES & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
VP, SALES Lindsay Buck lbuck@wtwhmedia.com
NATIONAL SALES MANAGER Tom Boyles tboyles@wtwhmedia.com
VP, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Eugene Drezner edrezner@wtwhmedia.com
CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE
Brandy Pinion bpinion@wtwhmedia.com
FOUNDER
Steve Green
PMQ PIZZA Issue 8 October 2024 (ISSN 1937-5263) is published monthly in January, March, April, May, June, August, September, October, November and December by WTWH Media, LLC, 1111 Superior Ave #2600, Cleveland, OH 44114-2560.
Periodical postage pricing paid at Cleveland, OH. Additional mailing offices at Bolingbrook, IL.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to PMQ PIZZA, 1111 Superior Ave #2600, Cleveland, OH 44114-2560.
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October 2024
The Memory Makers
Creating loyalty is about more than great food and a rewards program. It’s about crafting a true dining experience your customers will never forget.
32
Battle of the Indulge
Whether your guests want a decadent feast, a healthy meal or a treat tailored to their body’s individual tolerances, a balanced pizza menu can satisfy every craving.
40 Breaking News
Media coverage isn’t as hard to get as you might think. You just need to know the story you want to tell and then develop a strategy to get local journalists’ attention.
46
Showdown in the Golden State
The inaugural California Pizza Challenge, held in late August, spotlighted the state’s wide variety of cheeses with dazzling recipes from leading pizza chefs.
Influencers on the Rise
Some influencers can change your business overnight. Others make their impact felt in different ways. These 20 online foodies have two things in common: a passion for pizza and a genuine desire to help you sell more of it.
By RICK HYNUM and CHARLIE POGACAR
COVER PHOTO BY RON LAI
RON LAI
Building our future on a decade of achievement and over 100 years of heritage.
VIA 313: BETTER GIVING THROUGH PIZZA
AS KIDS, DETROIT NATIVES BRANDON AND ZANE HUNT WERE raised by a single mom, and money was tight. It’s safe to say their finances have improved with Via 313, their Detroit-style pizza concept that started in Austin, Texas, and recently added its 20th location. Meanwhile, Via 313’s loyalty app reached 125,000 members in August, and the brand climbed to No. 1,726 on the Inc. 5000 list after growing more than 300% in the past three years. But the brothers still remember the lean days, which is why
they launched the Better Giving Through Pizza initiative. Every month, each Via 313 store picks a charity in its market to receive $1 for every item sold from its monthly specials menu. And for each new store, 25% of the grandopening sales go to an additional charity. In the first six months of 2024, Via 313 donated more than $100,000 to 20-plus nonprofits. “We grew up poor in Detroit, and we know how hard life can be sometimes,” Zane said. “Giving back is just part of our DNA.”
Founders Brandon and Zane Hunt, speakers at PMQ’s Pizza Power Forum last month, have seen Via 313’s business grow by 300% over the past three years.
BRAIN FOOD FOR LUNCH
When Justin Neel, Luke Luttrell and David Hopkins, owners of Sungrano Pizza and Social Tap Drinkery, wanted to donate money to feed low-income school kids in Wichita, Kansas, they learned it wasn’t so easy. “We’d been working on getting this going with any lunch service for over a year but didn’t realize that [public] school districts cannot just take our money, and, if they did, it would likely not go to the food program,” Neel says. Instead, they founded a nonprofit, Help Fuel Kansas, and partnered with the local Catholic diocese’s Support for Catholic Schools, which provides free and reduced-price lunches to kids who might otherwise go all day without a meal. Sungrano and Social Tap donate 5% of all their food sales to the project. Co-located on the Wichita State University campus, the two businesses already have a built-in clientele. But their social mission compels Neel and his partners to go beyond serving brain food for stressed undergrads. “Our love has always been to try and help the next generation of our community,” Neel says. “We know how hard some kids have it to find a good meal for lunch—quite honestly, for breakfast and dinner, too— but we set our sights on helping fuel kids through the day at lunch….It’s been a great fit for us to help in the exact way we wanted.”
TREASURE HUNTERS
Zachary’s Chicago Pizza, with five stores in California, has been hiding a secret treasure all year—and only one person knew about it. Moreover, that person isn’t even an owner. They’re a local artist, one of the winners in a spring 2023 art contest held at Zachary’s Grand Lake location in Oakland. Their artwork presents a puzzle that, when solved, directs guests to one of 15 $10 gift cards for the restaurant, redeemable via email by the artist, who has remained anonymous. After a year passed without anyone knowing about the secret “puzzle,” the artist informed the pizza company, who spread the word. Since then, treasure hunters have been coming in to scan the 16 winning pieces that decorate the restaurant’s north wall. And that’s just part of the challenge. They still have to find and decode the puzzle itself. But the artist gave one clue in a recent SFGate.com article about the painting: “Perhaps my painting looks like maybe it was done by a 7-year-old.”
ZACHARY’S CHICAGO
PIZZA
Justin Neel and his partners bake up both wood-fired and tavern-style pies at Sungrano Pizza in Wichita.
SUNGRANO
PIZZA
An art contest winner hid clues to a treasure trove of free gift cards in a painting hanging on the wall at Zachary’s. But which painting? Customers have to figure that out for themselves.
Polly-o mozzarella is the best part of the pizza
Developed specifically for New York style pizza, our new loaf is the perfect combination of quality and convenience. With a superior melt, stretch and browning, this formula is full of flavor with less residual oil.
CHEESE, Made in New York since 1899
email info@polly-o.com to request samples
IP Phone Service
Increase revenue and lower cost
• No Busy Signals
• Call Recording
• Call Queuing / Auto Answering
• Multiple (random) start of call upsell messages
• On hold music/message loops
• Detailed reports—hold times, lost calls etc
• Callerid delivered to POS system
• Auto attendants— ”If you have arrived for curbside pickup press one ”
Cellular Backup Internet
Protect against outages
• When your Internet fails our cellular backup router keeps your phones, credit card processing and web orders all working.
• The backup kicks in automatically in seconds. So quickly you will not even drop calls in progress when your primary Internet goes down!
• The same router can be used to create chain wide virtual private network to connect your locations.
• SD WAN LTE/LTE A (4G/5G) modems.
On the PBX
“Press one to receive a text message with links to our onlne ordering ”.
SMS Marketing
Manage bulk text message marketing from our system to drive increased revenue. As low as $0.01 per message. Group text messaging to communicate with your employees (drivers, bartenders, all staff etc).
PizzaCloud
Text Message Marketing
Drive additional revenue through text message marketing, with the messages coming from your store phone number!
Either through direct integration to your POS system, or by exporting lists from the POS to import into our platform, you can schedule & manage outbound text message marketing to increase revenue.
Examples of How it Works
1) Send a X Dollars off coupon message to customers who ’s last order was more than 90 days ago, with the goal of “re activating” those customers.
2) Send an “upsell” coupon for add on items to more active customers
3) Automated campaign to send a few hundred messages per day, with the goal of adding 10+ additional orders per day. Messages can be coupons, but you can also get great traction with messages such as “Happy Monday. Did you know you are allowed to eat pizza on Monday? ” followed by your online ordering link.
Text message marketing can have the highest return of any form of marketing, with real time results.
Price for this service varies based on type of message & volume.
We apply volume discounts across entire chain, so individual location owners benefit from total chain volume.
As low as $0.01 per message for high volume customers.
Text messages have up to 95% open rate within minutes, vs a few percent for email!
The Memory MAKERS
Take inspiration from pizzerias that are creating unforgettable dining experiences for their customers.
BY TRACY MORIN
IN TODAY’S INCREASINGLY DIGITAL WORLD, customers crave a dining experience that engages all of their senses. As a pizzeria, you’ve already got “taste” down pat, but how else are you thrilling customers, both inside and outside the restaurant? Are you merely serving food and drinks—or, like these successful memory makers, creating full experiences and memories that’ll last a lifetime?
CASE STUDY #1: Organ Stop Pizza
Organ Stop Pizza in Mesa, Arizona, is home to the largest Wurlitzer theater pipe organ in the world, making it both a tourist destination and a local favorite. While most pizzerias don’t house this kind of attraction, they should take notes on the many ways Organ Stop creates a memorable experience through (and during) live entertainment. Assistant manager Linda Guthrie explains:
The experience we provide allows guests to unplug, slow down and recharge, giving them the ability to better face the realities of the world after they leave our doors. On some level, we provide a safe escape from the pressures of everyday life.
It’s a highly sensory experience: You can smell pizzas cooking in the oven and taste our cool salad bar or ice cream. Our live organ music is obviously a large part of the experience, but as you sit and listen to the music, your other senses are also engaged. Lighting effects all around the room chase, change color, and brighten or dim as the organist plays. Other lights show when percussion instruments, which hang from the ceiling, play. We have dancing cat puppets that periodically make an appearance, and bubbles fall from the ceiling. Some of our larger pipes actually shake the building, and you can feel that vibration while dining.
Our organists are experts who can easily change the tone of the room with just one song. One minute, it’s filled with excitement and energy as “Sweet Caroline” plays, then the organist can cater to a room filled with kids singing “Let It Go” and end with a more reflective tone as everyone stands for the National Anthem. Every night,
our organists take requests and also announce birthdays and anniversaries, highlighting individuals and playing their special song.
We regularly post on all social media platforms to alert returning and new customers of promotions or events, and to share guest experiences to highlight the wonder our restaurant holds. We also partner with influencers so they can share the experience with their followers and encourage new customers to give us a try.
Regarding logistics, most of our staff/customer interaction happens outside of the dining room. Orders are placed in our service area, and when orders are ready, they light up on the number board in our dining room. This allows customers to enjoy their experience in the dining room with minimal staff interruptions.
You need to find your niche. Try different things and see what works. One of my favorite things at Organ Stop Pizza, which we haven’t always done, is our Christmas in July fundraiser. We decorate the restaurant and play Christmas music throughout the month. Santa makes appearances on weekends, and every evening the organist does Christmas trivia, giving away Christmas stockings filled with Organ Stop Pizza goodies. It’s a fun way to get to know our guests just a little bit better, and I love the Christmas-y excitement from our staff and customers, especially when the temperatures in Mesa are well over 100º! And I love that we get to support our local community with food donations. We wouldn’t have been able to enhance our experience without taking a leap and trying it out.
CASE STUDY #2: Mattenga’s Pizzeria
Co-owners Hengam and Matt Stanfield have grown Mattenga’s Pizzeria to eight locations in San Antonio, plus two more scheduled to open by the end of the year, by going above and beyond to provide the full guest experience. Because so many of their customers are made up of young families, events and special in-store touches help stamp their business as a welcoming part of the community, not just a place to order pizza. Hengam shares her many strategies:
As restaurants, we don’t want to feel transactional. That’s an asset that we have as a local pizzeria [versus chains]: creating experiences for people. Events are a great opportunity to meet people face-to-face and build that loyalty, while having fun as an owner and bringing people together. You can host a pizza-and-beer pairing event—just contact a local brewery, and they’ll bring beer samples, because they want to get in front of your customers. You can charge customers or do it for free. When you partner with local businesses, it’s mutually beneficial for both. We’ve also done pizza and pottery events, where kids build their own pizzas and
“As restaurants, we don’t want to feel transactional. That’s an asset that we have as a local pizzeria [versus chains]: creating experiences for people.”
Hengam
Stanfield, Mattenga’s Pizzeria
work on pottery—charging $25 and splitting profits with the pottery painting company. We also host demos in the restaurant, like they have at food trade shows, with taste testing of two or three fun ingredients, like balsamic glaze.
We like to celebrate holidays and seasons. We ask: What’s on people’s minds, and how can we become part of those traditions? Like using seasonal flavors on a pizza
“Our live organ music is obviously a large part of the experience, but as you sit and listen to the music, your other senses are also engaged.”
Linda Guthrie, Organ Stop Pizza
of the month, or, for Halloween, getting people to come here before trick-or-treating. Also, October is National Pizza Month, so that’s an opportunity to tell a lot of stories and a great opportunity for PR. Local TV loves local restaurants; we’ve been on TV probably eight times in the last year! List what makes your pizzeria different— for example, we use unbleached, unbromated flour, and National Pizza Month is an opportunity to tell that story.
On a Friday night, we’ll have team members who are good at dough tossing come out into the dining room, and customers want to try it for themselves. You don’t get that at other establishments, so it’s really memorable. We do build-your-own pizza events and birthday parties. And we sell pizza kits with dough, sauce and cheese. When local daycare centers visit us for field trips and tour the kitchen, we give kids a kit to take home to their families. People love something they can touch, and they love to be educated.
We share our events through emails, text messages, in-store receipts, fliers, and personal visits to local businesses. When you have good relationships with local businesses—we drop off a lot of free pizzas—they’re happy to help out. Also, local Facebook groups are fantastic; people are always looking for fun events to do on weekends. We religiously post once or twice per week on pages like San Antonio Restaurants. It’s a noisy world, so just be everywhere to stay top-of-mind.
One easy idea is to try fun decor, like a fall or Halloween theme for October. We create a little “photo booth area.” People are looking to take pictures and share on them on social, so give people a reason to tag you. Be creative. And plan early—by August or September, have a plan ready for October!
Tracy Morin is PMQ’s
associate editor.
Experience Inspo
Need more inspiration? Here are some big and small ways pizzerias nationwide are creating unforgettable experiences, from one-off events and creative collaborations to quirky themed decor:
ADORO LEI in New York City went TikTok-viral with its Boozy Pizza Making sessions, now available every Sunday for brunch. The twohour open bar with beer, wine and prosecco, paired with a chef demo for make-your-own pizzas and two additional courses served family-style, costs $89 per person, with private room and DJ options available for parties.
STADZ PIZZERIA in Blacklick, Ohio, encourages a rollicking dining room atmosphere with open mic night on Mondays and live local bands on weekends. The pizzeria then posts professional-quality images from events on its blog page, driving guests to the website long after the night ends.
MEL’S WOOD-FIRED PIZZERIA in New York City hosted Mel’s F.O.M.O. Pizza Series IV from July to September this year. Though FOMO here stands for Friends of Mel’s Oven, customers do get a sense of FOMO (fear of missing out) if they don’t grab these limitedtime “pizza collaborations with Philadelphia’s top chefs.” In a rotating lineup, each of the five chefs’ collabs graced the menu for about two weeks.
GRATEFUL HEAD PIZZA OVEN in Broken Bow, Oklahoma, “inspired by the love and fellowship of Dead Heads” (Grateful Dead fans), creates a hippie haven designed to “share the experience of all the joy and fun of a live Dead show.”
In an old abandoned school house in the Oauchita Mountains, the Dead-themed shop plays the band’s songs on loop. Yes, it’s a niche experience—but successful enough to have already spawned a second location, in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
every ZIP code in New York, spotlighting notable shops in her polished, high-energy
and
INFLUENCERS RISE ON THE
By RICK HYNUM and CHARLIE POGACAR
Lead photo by Harjinder Singh Other photos courtesy of featured influencers
Simone Hanlen of @nycmuncher has been running to pizzerias in
Reels
TikTok videos.
We’re living in the age of the influencer, and who’s complaining?
PMQ names 20 standout pizza influencers for 2024, based on impact, reach and/or genuine love for the industry.
WHAT IS A “PIZZA INFLUENCER,” ANYWAY?
A pizza loving foodie with an army of followers on social media? A pizza chef or pizzeria owner with a “brand name” whose every move commands attention online or off? A food critic, podcaster or blogger who covers the pizza space? A goodwill ambassador for the industry? It seems like a simple question, but it’s not, because there’s no single, concise answer. For the purpose of this list (which, as you’ll note, is not ranked), here’s what we decided: A pizza influencer can be any or all of the above. That covers a lot of ground, so we’ve narrowed it down a bit by choosing 20 standout influencers, particularly those who are making a positive difference in the industry as a whole. Granted, one of them is, well, controversial (but there’s no denying his firepower), while others will humbly deny that they’re influencers at all. And, yes, some probably deserved to make the list but didn’t. Our list, our call!
Ariana Klugiewicz and Kyle Bone @committedtothepizza (Instagram and TikTok)
Klugiewicz and Bone are so committed to the pizza, they’re traveling by RV all over the country—and Canada—to eat more of it. Back in 2020, they spent their first date hiking in the Appalachians, only to get caught in a storm. “We coaxed each other through by pretending there was a Cicis Pizza just over each ridge, saying, ‘We’ve just got to stay committed to the pizza,’” Bone recalls. In July 2021, the lovebirds started shooting videos of their conversations about pizza while dining out. “We eventually ran out of pizza in our town, and our lease was coming up,” Bone says. “We decided to sever our ties with suburbia and sell most of our belongings.” They’ve been “chasing pizza” ever since, working their day jobs on the road while discovering new pizzerias. “We try to share the details in such a way that they could be objectively understood by the viewer to help determine if it’s something they may like or not,” Klugiewicz says. Even when they’re not impressed with a pie, the couple’s joy of discovery is infectious—and their chemistry downright electric.
Dave Portnoy One Bite Reviews
Love him or hate him, Portnoy cannot be excluded from any list of pizza influencers. He is who he is, and who he is, for the purpose of this article, is a major force. A high score—or even a pretty good one—from El Presidente guarantees a jump in business overnight. Give him a little attitude, and he’ll give it back in spades and punish you with a terrible score. Then watch your Yelp rating plummet. But, mostly, Portnoy focuses on the positive in his reviews and champions local pizza businesses with genuine—if blustery—conviction.
Dave Portnoy visited Brittany Crevier in Denville, New Jersey, and gave Café Crevier a stellar 8.5 rating.
Keith Lee
@keith_lee125 (TikTok and Instagram)
With more than 16.5 million followers on TikTok alone, this former MMA fighter orders all types of food to go and usually reviews it from the front seat of his car (complete with random close-ups and hilarious asides). We categorize Lee as a pizza influencer for two reasons: He partnered with Pizza Hut last spring to raise funds for a pair of underserved public schools that he and his wife, Ronni, attended as kids, and his glowing review of Frankensons Pizzeria likely kept the then-struggling Las Vegas eatery from going out of business in early 2023. The Keith Lee Effect, as the saying goes, is real.
Simone Hanlen @nycmuncher (Instagram and TikTok)
The athletic Hanlen has been running (literally) to find the “most notable” pizza in every ZIP code in New York City—and we’re talking 200-plus ZIP codes. She’ll tell you how many miles she ran to get there and what she loved about the pizza and other menu items, with mouthwatering visuals, all in under a minute. Every video is informative, engaging and polished to a shine. But why the most notable pizza? Why not the best? “I do try to find the best pizza in each ZIP code, but that isn’t possible in all of them,” she says. “Some examples of what ‘notable pizza’ could mean: the largest slice, the lowest-rated slice, the most unusual location—like in a subway—or sometimes, the only pizzeria in a ZIP code.” Even so, she has her favorite spots, like Kesté, Lucia of Avenue X, Mama’s TOO! and Pizza Fenice. “I’ve learned so many unique things about New York City that I wouldn’t otherwise know,” Hanlen says. “For example, there’s this neighborhood called The Hole [on the border of Brooklyn and Queens]. It’s called that because it’s below sea level. Pretty much nobody lives there because it’s really dangerous. It’s known as a place where the mob used to dump bodies because it constantly floods. So I was, like, ‘Oh, I can’t wait to run to this place. There must be a pizzeria.’ And there is. There’s one pizzeria: It’s a Chuck E. Cheese.”
Alexandra Mortati and Stephanie Swane Women in Pizza
Founded by Mortati and bolstered by Swane’s Instagram Live interviews with talented pizzaiolas, Women in Pizza isn’t really about Mortati and Swane at all. They’re putting pizzaiolas center-stage on social media after nearly a century spent in the shadows of their husbands and sons. If you’re a female pizzeria owner or chef, they’ve probably spotlighted you already or are planning to—or just haven’t discovered you yet. After all, to paraphrase Katy Perry, pizza is a woman’s world, and we’re lucky to be living in it.
John Arena Metro Pizza and Truly Pizza
Arena wouldn’t call himself an influencer— he’s too humble—but pizza makers worldwide look to the Brooklyn native as a source of inspiration and wisdom. He has baked pizza for three U.S. presidents, taught courses on pizza culture at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and trained aspiring pizzaioli who went on to open restaurants around the globe. But in the pantheon of American pizza gods, Arena is one who doesn’t need your reverence. He just wants to feed you and send you home happy.
Toppings make the pizza. From pepperonis in any format to dried cured prosciutto and hard salamis and capicola, Margherita authentic Italian meats turn ordinary pizza into extraordinary. Make it with
Eidref Laxa
What’s Good Dough (podcast)
Salvatore
Mandreucci @sallyslices (Instagram, TikTok and YouTube)
You can’t get more Jersey Italian than the celebrated pizzaiolo at Marcello’s Pizza Grill in Hamilton Square, New Jersey, who boasts more than 4.2 million TikTok followers and 1.7 million fans on Instagram. He’s also part philosopher, part skit performer and part life coach. Every pie—available for nationwide shipping and made in the Corleone style that originated in Corleone, Sicily—comes topped with little nuggets of wisdom, and most Reels and videos end with the same three words: “I love you.” But when a gang of thugs tries to stir up trouble (as depicted on a wildly funny August 10 Reel), the tall, rangy pizza guy wields his peel like an enforcer, backed by former pro wrestler A.J. Befumo and a fearless kid known as “The Rizzler.” A melee will ensue. Sal and his boys will “bring the BOOM!” Then it’s peace out time again.
It’s your boy, Eidref! Laxa started his popular pizza podcast in early 2020 because he wanted to learn more about pizza making—and maybe start his own pizzeria one day. So why not learn from the best? He has done just that over hundreds of episodes that comprise an ongoing master class in pizzeria operations. He picks the brains of luminaries like John Arena, Tony Gemignani and Dan Richer as well as emerging pizzaioli from across the country, bringing us all closer together not just as an industry, but as a community.
Scott Wiener Scott’s Pizza Tours
Nicole Russell
Pizza Wars and Last Dragon Pizza
Russell named her now-famous restaurant, located in Rockaway, New York, after her favorite movie, The Last Dragon, a martial arts classic. But you probably also know this dynamic and innovative chef from First We Feast’s Pizza Wars on YouTube, where the good-natured Russell has matched pizza making chops with luminaries like Wolfgang Puck, Giorgia Caporuscio and Mark Iacono. In an industry where Black women rarely get a foothold, Russell has blazed a trail for others to follow.
He calls himself a pizza enthusiast, but we call Wiener an influencer— without reservation. For a guy who doesn’t own a pizzeria, he’s a legit expert on the craft and a go-to source for the national media. As a pizzeria tour guide, he has introduced hundreds of thousands of tourists to lifechanging food experiences around New York City. Not to mention that he’s the founder of Slice Out Hunger, which rallies independent pizza shops to serve people in shelters and soup kitchens all over the country. Inspiring others to do good—can there be a more positive influence(r)?
Achieve More with Less
E q u i p m e n t d e s i g n e d t o m a k e
d o u g h d i v i d i n g , r o u n d i n g , a n d
p r e s s i n g e f f o r t l e s s !
O u r S e r v i c e s
D o u g h P r e s s e s
D o u g h D i v i d e r s
D o u g h R o u n d e r s
D o c k e r s
C u s t o m D i e s
F u l l P r o d u c t i o n L i n e s
2 1 9 - 4 7 2 - 7 2 7 2 w w w . a m m f g . c o m
L A B O R - S A V I N G
D O U G H
E Q U I P M E N T
Tony Gemignani
Tony’s Pizza Napoletana, Slice House and others
He’s often called the GOAT, and we’re not arguing. Few, if any, pizza chefs can match San Francisco-based Gemignani’s achievements. From author of bestselling cookbooks to dough spinning world champ to the founder of a whopping 10 different pizzeria concepts, he keeps polishing his resume every year, it seems, most recently catapulting Slice House to new heights as a franchisor. He’s certainly the most famous American pizza man who’s not nicknamed Papa John—and he’s a lot less prone to sticking his foot in his mouth.
Jim Mirabelli NEPA Pizza Review
With a cross-platform presence that educates and entertains more than 60,000 followers—plus the readership on his popular blog—Mirabelli is Northeast Pennsylvania’s pizza ambassador to the world. He reviews small, independent pizzerias that few outside the region have ever heard of, and he delights in every new discovery. What he loves most, though, is helping boost each restaurant’s business (if he’s unimpressed with their food, you’ll never hear him say so). Although he’s a public school business administrator by profession, Mirabelli is a pizza guy at heart—and it shows in every post.
Sofia Arango
Latinos en Pizza
This Venezuela-born changemaker found true love with Italian master pizzaiolo Alessio Lacco in, of all places, Atlanta. As founder of Latinos en Pizza and a fast-growing Instagram account of the same name, she’s giving her fellow Latinos a voice and a platform to prove their skills and value to the industry. The couple, owners of Atlanta Pizza Truck, also created Latinos en Pizza Day, celebrated for the first time this year on September 15. “Most of the kitchen staff in a lot of restaurants is Latino,” Arango says. “But, normally, the face of a restaurant is not that of a Latino person.” Latinos en Pizza “gives us this platform and the possibility to showcase people that maybe don’t usually have that possibility in their life.”
Christy Alia @realcleverfood (Instagram)
A baker, consultant and instructor, Alia founded Women’s Pizza Month in March 2021 and took it viral this year in a team-up with Stanislaus Foods and Corto Olive Co. That partnership created five scholarships for women to attend Pizza University, plus a “For the Love of Pizza” kit for home pizzaiolas. Alia created Women’s Pizza Month, she says, because female pizza makers “were often overlooked, despite being pioneers in the artisan and pizza renaissance movements globally. This observation, coupled with the common underrepresentation of—and sometimes even disbelief in—women pizza makers was both heartbreaking and unacceptable to me.” For the inaugural Women’s Pizza Month and ever since, she has challenged all pizza makers to create a pie, name it after a woman who inspired them and share it on social media. In April, she also developed her own pizza style, called Pincho, a gorgeous pie blooming with crunchy florets of pinched crust around the edges. If that’s not influential, we don’t know what is.
Marc Schechter @pizza (Instagram)
Schechter, owner/operator of Square Pie Guys in the Bay Area, started running the powerhouse @pizza account through sheer serendipity. While growing his Detroitstyle brand, he was thrilled when @pizza shared one of his videos. He later learned that the account’s manager, Jason, was an old hockey pal from childhood. When Jason decided to walk away, he put Schechter in touch with the account’s owners. Schechter insisted that someone in the pizza business should run the account, and they agreed. His first order of business was to post Reels from some of his favorite pizzerias. Almost immediately, the account began to gain newfound momentum— Schechter says he has doubled @pizza’s following from around 600,000 to 1.2 million in two years. But he admits that, while getting your content shared on @pizza is “a big deal… it’s not going to change your business….I think there’s this perception that [it will boost traffic]. But it’s mostly just consumers or people who are just, like, trolling. They’re not about to buy your pizza. It’s nice, but there’s no intent.”
Giuliana Calascibetta
@pizzaprincessg (Twitch) and @giulianacalascibetta (Instagram)
The charismatic upstate New Yorker from Cam’s Pizzeria has been dazzling her ever-growing base of 177,000 Twitch fans (plus 182,000 on Instagram) since the early days of the pandemic. If she wasn’t the first operator to livestream on Twitch from a pizza shop—and we think she was—she’s certainly the most famous and beloved. In May 2024, Pizza Princess G celebrated 100 weeks of the Crazy Slice (think baked beans, M&Ms and tuna melt), along with her sister, Bianca, Cam’s marketing wizard. Cut her loose at TwitchCon in San Diego every year, and watch Calascibetta represent the pizza industry with humor, infectious joy and never-met-a-stranger warmth.
Arthur Bovino
Pizza Pod Party (podcast) and @nycbestpizza (Instagram)
As executive editor of the Daily Meal, Bovino turned the world on to pizza list making with his “101 Best Pizzas in America” guides. Now it seems like every media outlet has followed his lead, but Bovino moved on. He’s currently Ooni’s pizza editor-at-large and, with his podcasting pal Alfred Schultz, coaxes celebrities (and real experts) into lively discussions about pizza. One example: author George R.R. Martin of Game of Thrones fame. “Maybe the Valyrians had pizza, I don’t know,” Martin said in a June episode of Pizza Pod Party. “In winter, there would be nothing on it…because it lasts nine years and they run out of food.”
Juan G. Perez @juangpizza (Instagram, TikTok and Facebook)
Now the executive chef at Boston’s Posto, Perez immigrated to the U.S. from his native Colombia as a teenager. In 2009, he landed a job in the dish pit at a California Pizza Kitchen store but was soon manning the oven. When he later started his Instagram account, the platform didn’t even support video yet. On-camera, Perez is a man of few words—he lets his beautiful pies do all the talking. But with a combined 886,000-plus followers on three platforms and a Gozney ambassadorship under his belt, Perez proves every day that Latinos bring skill, flair and a tireless work ethic to any pizza kitchen.
Stephen Winters
@ThePizzaHulk (Instagram)
When Stephen Winters decided to launch an Instagram account dedicated to New Jersey pizza, he looked to the Marvel universe for inspiration. Winters, who named his son, Logan, after Wolverine, dubbed the account The Pizza Hulk. “I always say, Marvel might come for me if the account gets big enough,” Winters says. “But that will just mean that I’ve made it.” @thepizzahulk has little to do with comic books, though, and everything to do with the thin-crust Jersey bar pies that have been a staple of his life. He doesn’t claim to be an expert, just a guy who loves New Jersey, pizza and a good discussion on just about any topic—which is why he recently started a podcast, Smashing Slices. Winters also makes ice cream parttime at Holsten’s, the iconic restaurant where the final scene of The Sopranos was filmed. Winters’ opinion: Tony didn’t get whacked.
Colin Caplan
Taste of New Haven
Caplan not only authored Pizza in New Haven, a love letter to one of the country’s fastest-growing pizza styles, he also co-hosts “The Pizza Files” segment on WTNH’s CT Morning Buzz. That’s when he’s not providing citywide pizza tours or leading a statewide movement to name New Haven the nation’s pizza capital. His latest project: the A-1 Toyota Apizza Feast, a partnership with Napoli Foods held on September 13 in New Haven. It included the first-ever Pizza Pie Relay Race—carrying a full pizza box, teams of contestants had to run a course through the city’s streets without dropping it. With 35,000-plus followers on Instagram (@atasteofnewhaven), Caplan is the city’s tireless ambassador of apizza to the world.
Rick Hynum is PMQ’s editor in chief. Charlie Pogacar is PMQ’s senior editor.
As a fast-casual concept with buildyour-own options and more than 30 toppings on the menu, Blaze Pizza
and
to
Battle of the Indulge
Does your menu offer healthy as well as indulgent choices? Three multilocation pizzerias show how a smart combination of both helps cater to all tastes across the country and world.
BY TRACY MORIN
DEPENDING
ON YOUR LOCATION, CUSTOMER BASE and time of year, you may want to place your focus on menu items that are healthier or more indulgent—but, ideally, you always offer a little bit of both. While many customers plan for a calorie splurge when dining out, others may be watching their diet. And most pizzerias are equipped to meet all of their needs.
caters
vegans, vegetarians
carnivores alike. BLAZE PIZZA
“When our customers order from us, they’re often seeking something delicious and indulgent,” says chef Brian Brindza, director of menu and culinary development for Toppers Pizza, based in Whitewater, Wisconsin, with nearly 80 locations. “However, we also recognize the need to cater to health-conscious customers. That’s why our menu features a balanced mix.”
Balancing Act
The term “healthy,” of course, is relative—and everevolving. The question you might ask is: What do your customers consider healthy? Are they on keto or glutenfree diets? Do they gravitate toward plant-based and/ or vegan? Or maybe you’re located next to a gym and could lure in loyal new faces with high-protein recipes. “Our customers consider gluten-free cauliflower crust, keto-friendly crust, plant-based/vegan options, highprotein toppings, and dairy-free mozzarella and ranch as healthy choices,” Brindza says. “We see a demand in all of these categories.”
To satisfy these demands, Toppers’ menu masterminds stay up-to-date on dietary considerations through regular customer feedback, market research and observing industry trends. They also test new items as specials to gauge customer interest before adding them to the permanent menu. “We’ve added some LTO and permanent menu items to satisfy diet trends, and we’ll continue to do that as long as our customers are asking for it,” Brindza explains. “For example, we introduced our keto crust after noticing a growing demand for low-carb keto options.”
However, Brindza adds, even when they’re seeking healthier choices, all customers want to eat food that tastes great. “We make sure that those who are looking for a healthy option are also getting something that’s crave-worthy,” he notes. “Healthy doesn’t mean boring!”
Top sellers at Toppers in the healthy category include vegan pizzas, plant-based chicken tenders, and pizzas made with its gluten-free cauliflower crust. “But the best seller would be our dairy-free cheese, since we’re the only QSR pizza chain that offers it,” Brindza says. “In the indulgent category, customers love anything with meat, like our Meat Topper and classic pepperoni pizza, as well as TopperStix and rich desserts.”
Like Toppers, Toronto-based PizzaForno, which has more than 70 automated-pizzeria locations globally, uses limited-time offers as a way to test the waters with both healthy and indulgent recipes. “Recent LTOs
“We make sure that those who are looking for a healthy option are also getting something that’s crave-worthy. Healthy doesn’t mean boring!”
Brian Brindza, Toppers Pizza
Toppers Pizza complements its meat lover’s options with a Plant Powered Menu, featuring toppings like dairy-free mozzarella and plant-based chicken.
TOPPERS PIZZA
have included Pickle Pizza, Holiday Festive Pizza and Dessert Lovers (with Nutella and strawberry coulis),” says Les Tomlin, co-founder and president. “Our new Breakfast Pizza, with mozzarella and cheddar cheese, precooked eggs, bacon, ham, onions, and green and red peppers, came to fruition after we identified a high demand for quick, on-the-go breakfast options. It began as an LTO and has turned into a full-time offering.”
Christian Kuhn, chief marketing officer for Atlanta-based Blaze Pizza, with more than 330 locations across 38 states and six countries, also believes it’s important to continuously adapt to dietary trends and listen to customer feedback, introducing new items as specials first to test their popularity. “Our revamped menu includes the new Chef Inspired & Fast Fire’d Signature Collection,” he says. “Popular indulgent items from this menu include The Carnivore and The Blazed BBQ, while healthier options like The Herbivore and the Veg Out pizzas are best sellers.” Ultimately, it’s about offering something for everyone—no matter what mood they’re in or diet they’re on. “At Toppers Pizza, we live by one of our core values: Give customers what they want,” Brindza says. “Whether satisfying New Year’s resolutions with a keto crust or selling rich TopperStix, we’ve got all cravings covered.”
“regional differences do exist-for instance, coastal locations tend to see a higher demand for gluten-free and vegan options compared to more inland locations.”
Christian Kuhn, Blaze Pizza
The automated-pizzeria concept PizzaForno tests the popularity of both healthy and indulgent menu items through limited-time offers.
Ispirazione Italiana
What's my Italian Inspiration? It’s offering customers a well-traveled menu. Our team searches the world to bring the best flavors and methods home to the Florida coast—including Detroit-style pizza. Our Detroit is getting national attention thanks to tried-and-true technique and superior ingredients like Galbani® Premio Mozzarella. With that frico cheese edge and amazing stretch, it’s worth the trip.
Jamie Culliton, Owner, The Nona Slice House Learn more at GalbaniPro.com
“last year, we launched a keto crust for the new year, and for next year, we’re really excited about a new health-focused core menu launch.”
Trend Watching
While it’s usually a good idea to offer at least a couple of healthier items year-round, certain times of the year are going to offer built-in sales opportunities, so be prepared for them. “During the summer, we see a higher demand for lighter options, like our gluten-free cauliflower crust and vegan pizzas,” Brindza says. “Last summer, we launched a white pizza that was perfect for the hot weather months. After New Year’s, there’s always an uptick in demand for health-focused items as customers work on their resolutions. Last year, we launched a keto crust for the new year, and for next year, we’re really excited about a new health-focused core menu launch.”
In addition, different demographics might be more likely to choose more indulgent or healthier options regardless of season, so it pays to know your customers. “We definitely notice that younger customers tend to prefer healthier options over older customers,” Brindza says. “They often choose vegan, high-protein selections, gluten-free crusts and dairy-free mozzarella for health and dietary reasons.”
In addition to balancing both healthy and indulgent menu items, Blaze Pizza caters to customers’ everchanging needs with the ability to customize most offerings. “While some guests are drawn to our indulgent artisanal pizzas with rich toppings, others prefer our lighter, healthier choices, especially during the warmer months and when resolutions are top of mind,” Kuhn says. “Younger customers often lean toward healthier options like our vegan pizzas and gluten-free crusts, whereas older customers sometimes favor our more indulgent choices.”
Interestingly, PizzaForno has seen the opposite trend: Younger folks often go for the indulgent pizzas, while older crowds might lean toward healthier options.
In general, though, Blaze Pizza customers have shown a strong demand for various healthy and dietary-specific items. Plant-based, vegan and vegetarian choices are particularly popular, alongside gluten-free and ketofriendly items. Therefore, Blaze Pizza offers several crust options, including original thin, high-rise and gluten-free crusts, plus a cauliflower crust, which is both gluten-free and lower in carbs.
For brands working across the country and world, regional variations are also likely. “Urban areas tend to have a higher demand for vegan, dairy-free and glutenfree options, while suburban and rural areas show a greater preference for traditional, indulgent pizzas,” Brindza says. To help customers everywhere make informed choices, the brand provides calorie counts and nutritional information on its menus and website.
“We’ve noticed a growing trend toward healthier dining choices, particularly among younger demographics and in urban areas,” Kuhn agrees. “Regional differences do exist—for instance, coastal locations tend to see a higher demand for gluten-free and vegan options compared to more inland locations. Regardless of these differences, we’re committed to offering a wide range of choices that cater to both healthy and indulgent preferences, ensuring that every customer can find something they love.”
Tracy Morin is PMQ’s associate editor.
TOPPERS PIZZA
Brian Brindza, Toppers Pizza
NEWS BREAKING
ILocal reporters probably won’t come to you, so you’ll have to reach out to them.
Here are 5 tips for becoming a media darling in your hometown market.
BY RICK HYNUM
F YOU’VE BEEN SITTING AROUND WAITING FOR DAVE Portnoy to show up at your pizzeria and give you a glowing One Bite review, dream on. There are tens of thousands of operators like you out there, and Portnoy is just one man. Maybe he’ll get to you one day, but, then again, maybe not.
Meanwhile, there’s another influencer you might have overlooked: the local news media. A feature article in your hometown newspaper or news website will give you that coveted opportunity to tell your story to the entire community. A visit from a local or regional TV reporter can put your pizzeria in front of tens of thousands of potential customers. And a live-on-the-air cooking demo for your city’s local morning news show is virtually priceless publicity that won’t actually cost you anything but a little time.
But unless you’re already well-established in your market, the media probably won’t come to you. You will have to reach out to them, and you will have to keep on reaching out until you get somewhere. Here are some tips for pizzeria operators trying to attract local media attention and build a strong community presence.
Know your story and be ready to share it. Every pizzeria has a story. What’s yours? You’ll need to go beyond the standard “we use only the freshest ingredients and make our dough by hand every day” or “we treat our customers like family.” Most independent pizzeria operators can say the same thing. Reporters are looking, first and foremost, for an attention-grabbing news angle. So what can you offer them? What makes your pizzeria different and interesting? You need to
craft a compelling narrative that sets your pizzeria apart from the rest. Whether it’s a unique pizza recipe, a pizza style that no one else offers, an engaging family history or a heartwarming personal backstory, help the local media find that news angle they’re looking for. Take some time to think about your own backstory, write it down, place it in the About Us section of your website, and learn to tell that story by heart. Media coverage is always going to be about good storytelling.
Establish relationships with local journalists.
If you don’t know who they are, you’re already running behind. Do your research. Read past articles on your community’s food, beverage and entertainment scene. Watch the hometown TV news. Who’s reporting those fun, lighter stories? What draws them to a story? Once you’ve nailed down a list of contacts, start emailing and calling them—reporters, entertainment editors, food writers, TV news producers and anchors, radio personalities and bloggers who cover food and events in your area. Introduce yourself and share your story. Invite them to your pizzeria for a free meal and give them the royal treatment. Show them around. Teach them how to toss dough or to make their own pie from scratch. Building relationships with media professionals can open doors to coverage opportunities and could even lead to recurring appearances on local morning shows.
Offer to go live.
Your local TV morning shows are always looking for lighter news with broad appeal. And what’s more appealing to people than pizza? Contact the local TV news station and offer to teach program hosts how to make one of your most popular menu items on the air. Maybe it’s your vodka pizza or a gluten-free pie. Know what you’re going to make before you even approach the media outlet—but if they have other ideas, listen to them and follow their lead. Don’t try to call the shots yourself. They know what makes for good TV better than you do!
Katie Collier, owner of Katie’s Pizza & Pasta Osteria in St. Louis, has shared her story with numerous TV and print media outlets, including the St. Louis Business Journal and Feast Magazine
KATIE’S PIZZA & PASTA OSTERIA
Leverage social media to attract the news media.
Use social media platforms to your advantage. Share engaging content, such as behind-the-scenes glimpses, pizza making tutorials and customer testimonials. Don’t just post about your daily specials. Followers want to see beautiful pizzas and other menu items. They want to feel like they know your servers and your pizza makers. And so do local journalists, anchors, influencers and media outlets. Tag them in your best posts to grab their attention (but do not tag them in every post, or you’ll just get on their nerves). You can even shoot a TikTok video or Instagram Reel with a personal invitation to your favorite reporter. Make it fun and, if possible, funny— something memorable that will be liked, commented on and shared by your followers. Encourage your followers to tag those same media personalities whom you want to reach in their replies to your posts. Start a social media campaign to get featured in the news, and your loyal customers will help you push it further. (Note: Never use these posts to complain that local reporters haven’t covered your business in the past. Keep the tone light and positive.)
Create pizza making contests for civic leaders. If you want to make the news, go after the news makers. In Denton County, Texas, Motor City Pizza hosts the annual Mayoral Pizza Cook-Off, in which the mayors of towns and cities across the county vie for top honors to benefit their favorite charities. It’s a one-of-a-kind promotion that virtually guarantees media coverage. You can do the same thing, whether it’s a countywide event or one that brings together city officials—the mayor, aldermen and alderwomen, supervisors, police chiefs and sheriffs, school superintendents, you name it. Or sponsor a contest featuring local schoolteachers or coaches, with the proceeds going to a school project. Make sure to invite the local news outlets to cover the event and tag them in social posts advertising the contest. Remember, media darlings are not made overnight, even if it sometimes seems that way. It starts with having a compelling story to tell and telling it—again and again, if necessary—to the right people. Be patient, be polite and be persistent. It will pay off for you over time!
Rick Hynum is PMQ’s editor in chief.
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Showdown in the Golden State
The nation’s best pizzaioli battled to the last curd using Real California cheeses in the California Pizza Challenge.
BY BRIAN HERNANDEZ
THE FIRST ANNUAL CALIFORNIA PIZZA CHALLENGE, held August 25 through 27 at the California Restaurant Show in Los Angeles, was a resounding success, showcasing eight winners overall, two of whom won grand prizes to compete in the World Pizza Championship in Parma, Italy, in April 2025. The event, which took place in the Pizza Tomorrow Summit Pavilion, was sponsored by Real California Milk.
U.S. Pizza Team member Giovanni Labbate of Tievoli Pizza Bar, located in Palatine, Illinois, won first place in the Non-Traditional category and the 3-Cheese Challenge and claimed the title of grand champion in the Secret Basket Face-Off. Labbate floored the judges with his California Peach Perfect Pizza for his Non-Traditional win, while his entry in the 3-Cheese Challenge was simply dubbed the 3-Cheese Pizza.
Labbate’s Non-Traditional entry featured a New York-style dough topped with a garlic and olive oil base, peach bacon jam, fresh and shredded mozzarella, burrata, prosciutto, cherry tomatoes, basil, grilled peaches, honey,
flaky salt and fresh lemon juice. “We knew we were going to California, so we felt California peaches would be perfect for our Peach Perfect Pizza,” Labbate said. “The rest of the pie was really built around that idea.”
Giovanni added, “The 3-Cheese Challenge was a great way to highlight California cheeses and to make a simple pizza full of complex flavors. We chose fresh mozzarella, shredded mozzarella and ricotta, because they’re wellbalanced cheeses that work very well together.”
Labbate’s grand prize-winning pizza had to use a mixture of secret basket items featuring Cowgirl Creamery Wagon Wheel, Sierra Jack Hatch Chile and San Joaquin Gold cheeses, plus blueberry-infused bacon, Margherita Genoa Salami, white sweet potatoes and tree oyster mushrooms. Labbate’s creation, made on a New York artisan dough, showcased a garlic and oil sauce base with fresh spinach, roasted white sweet potatoes, blueberry bacon, peach bacon jam, Wagon Wheel cheese, mozzarella, red onions and shaved Asiago cheese.
David Whisker successfully defends his title of Fastest Pizza Maker.
McKenna Carney clenches her 4th trip to the World Pizza Championship as mentor and pizza capo Jamie Culliton watches with pride.
Giovanni Labbate proudly shows off his grand prize-winning Secret Basket creation, featuring Cowgirl Creamery Wagon Wheel, Sierra Jack Hatch Chile and San Joaquin Gold cheeses, blueberry-infused bacon, Margherita Genoa Salami, white sweet potato and tree oyster mushrooms.
“Everyone brought their top pizza game this year,” said judge and honorary USPT member Rudy Waldner of Marketing From the Trenches. “With so many different categories, it really allowed the pizzaioli’s creativity to flow, even when bound by strict category rules, like in the 3-Cheese Challenge.”
Winning first place in the Pizza in the Pan contest was Tore Trupiano of Mangia e Bevi, who also took second place in the Secret Basket Face-Off. Rounding out the event was George Taylor of Taylors’ Pizza House, who earned top honors in the Best Traditional Sauce event. An honorable mention goes to Kira Zabrowski of Much Ado About Pizza, located in Pleasanton, California, for the only perfect score in the entire competition, for her Best Traditional Sauce entry.
Dominating the athletic field was superstar David Whisker of B.C. Pizza in Boyne City, Michigan. He successfully defended his titles in both the Fastest Pie Maker and Fastest Box Folder competitions. In a seemingly unending battle for second and third place in the athletic games, Jamie Culliton and McKenna Carney of The Nona Slice House, located in Safety Harbor, Florida, passed the baton back and forth. But when it came to Freestyle Acrobatics, Carney pulled out all the stops with a mesmerizing routine set to “Applause” by Lady Gaga. McCarney won her fourth trip to Parma. “Competing is always fun,” she said. “You get to come out and see all your friends and support each other, but winning is pretty cool, too.”
Brian Hernandez is PMQ’s associate editor and U.S. Pizza Team coordinator. For more details, pictures and scores, visit uspizzateam.com/cpc24.
Here's a look at the overall results:
Non-Traditional:
1st—Giovanni Labbate, Tievoli Pizza Bar, Palatine, IL
2nd—Alex Koons, Hot Tongue Pizza, Los Angeles, CA
3rd—Jamie Culliton, The Nona Slice House, Safety Harbor, FL
Pizza in the Pan:
1st—Tore Trupiano, Mangia e Bevi, Oceanside, CA
2nd—Dustin Finnegan, The Nona Slice House
3rd—Michael Pitera, Pizza a Modo Mio, Charleston, SC
Real California 3-Cheese Challenge:
1st—Giovanni Labbate, Tievoli Pizza Bar
2nd—Ali Haider, 786 Degrees, Sun Valley, CA
3rd—Nicholi Ludlow, Psychic Pie, Sebastopol, CA
Best Traditional Sauce:
1st—George Taylor, Taylors’ Pizza House, Endwell, NY
2nd—Kira Zabrowski, Much Ado About Pizza, Pleasanton, CA
3rd—Rico Lunardi, Slice On Broadway, Pittsburgh, PA
Freestyle Acrobatics:
1st—McKenna Carney, The Nona Slice House
2nd—Gracie Vinson, The Nona Slice House
3rd—Dustin Finnegan, The Nona Slice House
Largest Dough Stretch:
1st—McKenna Carney, The Nona Slice House
2nd—Wilhelm Rodriguez, Papa’s Pizza, Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico
Pizza in the Pan winners Michael Pitera, Tore Trupiano and Dustin Finnegan flexed their pizza making muscles at the California Pizza Challenge.
SLICE INTO A FREE ITALIAN ADVENTURE
Register today for the Galbani Professionale Pizza Cup & Acrobatic Trials for your chance to win one of two FREE TRIPS to compete in an international pizza competition in 2025!
This two-day whirlwind of pizza action boasts two grand prize trips to Parma, Italy (one for culinary and one for acrobatics) to compete in the World Pizza Championship alongside the U.S. Pizza Team. The event will truly test the pizzaiolo’s creativity and mastery of the basics of pizza making. While your imagination is the only limit in Non-Traditional, there‘s nowhere to hide in the Best Cheese Pizza category, so choose your events wisely.
The USPT will also be looking for the next big deal in pizza spinning with its East Coast Athletic Trials. Bragging rights, cash and even a trip to Italy are on the line, so sign your entire crew up today.
The U.S. Pizza Team wishes to extend its eternal gratitude to Platinum Sponsor Galbani Professionale for its continued support of the team, its members and the industry. You support the team that supports the industry, and we all thank you from the bottom of our pizza pans.
• Non-Traditional
• Best Cheese Slice
• Freestyle Acrobatics
• Largest Dough Stretch
• Fastest Pie Maker
• Fastest Box Folder
Thank you to the 2024 Pizza Power Forum sponsors for making the event a resounding success!
Additionally sponsored by
Gold Sponsors
Silver Sponsors
TOOLS
TOMATO PRODUCTS
WINGS
SAUCE
(Clockwise from top left)
Founders Salvatore and Rosa Russo still pitch in at Riccardo’s Pizza; Salvatore passed lessons in pizza to his son, Vito, from a young age; a fire destroyed the original Riccardo’s location in the early ’90s; Vito stood on chairs and phone books to reach the oven and countertops in his childhood years.
Riccardo’s
Pizza
When Salvatore Russo arrived in New York from Palermo, Sicily, with $50 and a visitor’s visa, he couldn’t find work in his trade, cabinet making. Instead, he landed a dishwasher job at a pizzeria in Queens, working his way up the ranks and sleeping in the basement. After years of saving and with a $12,000 loan, he opened up the 900-square-foot Riccardo’s Pizza in the sleepy Pine Barrens town of Browns Mills, New Jersey, on his 25th birthday in July 1974. “It was really slow in the beginning,” recounts Vito Russo, Salvatore’s son and current owner. “There’s no ‘Eureka!’ story, where everybody found us.”
Despite its off-the-beaten-path location, the family persevered through old-fashioned hard work. Salvatore and his wife, Rosa, enlisted little Vito, who went to the pizzeria every day after school, standing on chairs and phone books to wash dishes, grate cheese, and help make dough and sauce. By the late ’90s, Vito assumed operations, though Rosa and Salvatore—who remains the sole dough maker—still help out daily. After a fire destroyed the original building in 1992, the family rebuilt and now oversees a 4,200-square-foot space with outdoor seats, an upscale-casual indoor dining room, and photos lining the wall. “Some restaurants have
BY TRACY MORIN
STATE OF NEWJERSEY
STATEOFNEW J ERSEYL
famous people on their wall,” Vito says. “I have photos of my customers and a neon sign that says, ‘Everything you see, I owe to pizza.’”
Known for its signature Browns Mills Tomato Pie with fresh mozzarella made in-house, Riccardo’s has scored a 4.8 rating on Google with nearly 2,500 reviews, an appearance on Philadelphia’s Fox 29 news station, and spots on numerous best-of lists, including Yelp’s. But perhaps more meaningful are the Russos’ quieter achievements: a yearly scholarship given to local students for culinary education; the lifelong learning passed from father to son; the pizzeria’s small farm growing roses, jasmine, basil for the restaurant, and figs and grapes for customers to pick themselves. These pleasures help alleviate the notorious grind of pizzeria ownership. “You’re tired, you get up. You’re sick, you get up. There’s no such thing as ‘I don’t feel like it today,’” Vito says. “But we have people who travel hours to come here and take pictures of our food. What better reward is there? That’s the greatest form of advertisement you could get.”
Tracy Morin is PMQ’s associate editor.
Introducing Caputo Burrata Tray Packs
Our individually packaged burrata is crafted for your convenience. Each single portion is sealed for freshness, ensuring an extended shelf life. Savor the creamy richness of burrata at your own pace, minimizing waste without compromising quality.
