Pizza Quest

Once again, the operative word for this episode is Quest, as we welcome author, mentor, and game changer, Dr. Marc B. Cooper. Marc's mission and personal quest is to restore a sense of meaning and purpose for those of us who fall into the "senior citizen" bracket (but, really, it's a timeless mission for all of us regardless of age). The title of his new book. "Older to Elder," says it all, so I won't try to recap it for you here but, rather, encourage you to listen to this fascinating conversation that might very well transform your life. Marc is, like me, a Philly boy, so I plan to invite him back to talk pizza in a future episode, but in this episode, you will hear the culmination of a lifelong journey of wisdom-seeking that far surpasses the search for the perfect pizza (except in the metaphorical sense, of course).

For those who want to follow-up and get his book (and this is unsolicited, as I get no kickback from Amazon or anyone for promoting Marc's book), here's a link.

In the meantime, join Dr. Marc Cooper and me as we discuss why becoming an elder is far more important than simply becoming older.....

NOTE: This episode marks the end of our 2024 season, a year full of a number of fabulous conversations with fellow questers on pizza and other important matters.  Our tagline, as you may know, is a "Journey of Self-Discovery Through Pizza," and this year's episodes have taken us deeper into the "self-discovery" aspect of that mission.  Check out our archives for episodes you may have missed. We plan to return in early 2025 with a whole new season of thought-provoking and, of course, delicious explorations in our never-ending Pizza Quest, both literal and metaphorical. Have a joyous holiday season and we'll see you in the new year!

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As most of you know by now, for us it's as much about the Quest as it is about the Pizza, and this week's guest, author David Amadio, takes us on a deep dive into the quest of his father, Jerry Amadio, a master carpet installer and rug expert, who is just as dedicated to his own craft as any pizzaiolo that I know is to making the perfect pizza.  Jerry Amadio is legendary in the carpet community, especially in Philadelphia, where he has been honing and expressing his skills for the past 50 years. David, as his (sometimes) dutiful son, worked alongside his father for a number of years, learning much (but not all) of what his father knew. But, then, he realized his own path was to be a writer and teacher, not a "rug man," so he instead wrote a book about what he learned from his dad, and called it "Rug Man." It is, technically, a work of fiction, a novel with fictional characters, but it is based on real occurrences in his father's life, dealing with high maintenance customers, arrogant foremen, slacker/stoner co-workers, and undocumented immigrants who are just as dedicated as he is to respecting this noble craft. The story unfolds while the "rug man" practices his fading art of proper carpet installation and antique rug restoration, all while racing the clock against a looming back injury that might lay him out at any moment.

I, like David Amadio, grew up in my family's carpet business, and both of my brothers earned their livelihood in it. My brother, Harry, actually still works for the same company as Jerry Amadio. It was Harry who told me about the book and connected me with David.  His book is so well-written that one needs to have no knowledge of, or even interest in, carpet and rugs to fully enjoy the read, as it skillfully captures the universal and fathomless sense of quest that any dedicated artisan feels for his or her craft. It's no surprise that the book is so much fun to read, since David's day job is as a Professor of Creative Writing at Lincoln University, just outside of Philadelphia. He brings the same dedication to story-telling as his dad does to his beloved carpet work.

Learn all about the connection between between the art of creative writing and how closely it parallels the world of the "rug man." Please join us for this stimulating conversation, right here on Pizza Quest.

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Marco Pacelli is doing something wonderful in Redondo Beach, California at his pasta shop, Fatto a Mano. After a lifetime of working for Michelin-level fine dining restaurants, he and his wife Arlene decided to open a small pasta and Roman-style pizza shop showcasing the foods inspired by Marco's Aunt Concettina. She was the woman who shaped his culinary passion during the summers he spent with her as a youth on the Amalfi coast. The rest is history, as customers discovered that they could establish their own vivid taste memories through the amazing homemade pastas, sauces, and pizzas at Fatto a Mano.

Hear in this lively conversation with Peter how Marco shares his culinary vision by connecting his own passion to everyone who comes into his pasta shop by recreating the authentic flavors of his youth and his beloved Aunt Concettina.

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Chef Tandy Wilson is an important player in the Nashville culinary renaissance. Hear how this classically trained chef paid his dues and then returned to his roots to create a signature style all his own (while winning a James Beard Award in the process), in this latest episode of Pizza Quest.

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Chef Fiore Tedesco was born completely deaf and couldn't hear anything until he was five years old, when his hearing was miraculously recovered through a risky series of operations. He made up for lost time after that, retraining himself to not only hear, speak, and expand his vocabulary, but to also play drums in a rock band and then travel the world with his bandmates. Eventually, he brought together childhood family food memories with the joy of creating flavors based on his global travels, and reinvented himself as a superstar chef in Austin, Texas. His latest restaurant is L'Oca d'Ora ("The Golden Goose"), which is named in honor of his daughter, Lucinda (whose nickname is Lucy Goose). At L'Oca d'Ora, he pays tribute to the Italian cuisine and pizzas that inspired him during his remarkable journey of self-discovery. In this illuminating conversation with Peter, Fiore fills in all the gaps that brought him to the creation of L'Oca d'Ora, fueled and inspired by his love for the one and only Lucy Goose.

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Pizza and bagels in the Mississippi Delta might have once been considered a non sequitur, but Marisol and Rory Doyle have put the small town of Cleveland, Mississippi on the global pizza map, thanks to a recent NY Times article featuring their destination wood-fired pizzas. What started as a once-a-week bagel cart has grown into a local treasure and destination pizza cafe. Hear all about the Doyles, Leña Pizza and Bagels, Rory's award-winning photography, and Marisol's culinary journey from Mexico to Mississippi in this week's new episode of Pizza Quest with Peter Reinhart.

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On today's episode we welcome back to one of our long-time favorites, pizza master Leo Spizzirri. When we first featured Leo on Pizza Quest about seven years ago we introduced him as the "Greatest guy you never knew," but a lot has changed since then. His ever-present short reels on Instagram, his feature length YouTube instructionals, the many demos he performs at every pizza and food conference, his brand ambassadorship on behalf of a number of food and equipment products, and his ongoing classes at Pizza University have brought Leo to the attention of thousands of food lovers everywhere. He's also an avid collector and replica builder of vintage rock guitars (seems like pizza making and rock and roll music making go together like peas and carrots), which we'll also touch on in this episode.

But, most importantly, in this episode we announce the collaboration between Leo and me on an upcoming three-day sourdough pizza intensive at Pizza University on Oct. 21-23 (click here for all the details) and we'd love for you to attend. We talk about this, as well as Leo's 25-year journey to perfect his craft and unique teaching methods, and lots of other pizza-loving geek-out stuff in this latest episode of Pizza Quest. Join us for the ride....

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Brigit Binns first appeared on Pizza Quest a few years ago when we filmed some cooking segments with her and her husband, actor Casey Biggs, at the Forno Bravo Wood-Fired Oven Expo in Salinas, California in 2017.

Brigit and Casey have also been operating a wonderful retreat and event center in California's Central Coast Wine Country called Refugio. But, she's far too prolific for settling into the so-called good life, and so keeps writing fabulous cook books for Williams-Sonoma and others, as well as, more recently, a memoir called Rottenkid about growing up in (and surviving) a neurotically crazy Hollywood family (the title says it all). In this delightfully candid conversation, she shares it all with us, including some good, old-fashioned Hollywood gossip – hey, you can't make up this stuff!

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In this episode we step away from pizza for a moment and focus on culinary teaching for the everyday person. I first met Chef Alyssa Gorelick about 15 years ago when she was at the helm of a very innovative vegetarian restaurant called Fern. She was young and single and super talented. Fast forward to today and she is now Alyssa Wilen, a mother, happily married to her husband Andrew, and for a number of years they have been operating a cooking school here in Charlotte (where we all live) called Alyssa's Kitchen. Along the way I found out that Alyssa was not a vegetarian when she was the chef at Fern, but adapted her skills to that cuisine because, well, she could.

It's that kind of artisanal spirit that propelled her and Andrew to tackle the daunting task of opening a cooking school for home cooks, then navigating through the pandemic to survive, and ultimately growing an important and beloved local business. Resilience and entrepreneurship are the key words here, so tune in as we hear all about the journey and creative process of Alyssa and Andrew Wilen, here on Pizza Quest.

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We are in the midst of American greatness on the International pizza stage. First, we recently had Caputo Cup champion Siler Chapman on with us. Now, his compatriot and fellow member of the US Pizza Champions team, Audrey Kelly, is here to tell us about her own championship gold medal in the pan pizza category at the Caputo Cup. Audrey has been on Pizza Quest in the past, showing us how she makes her signature Grandma Pizza at Audrey Jane's Pizza Garage in Boulder, CO, which she calls "The Patty." You can find that episode here.

As we learn in this new episode, it was a variation of that very same Grandma Pizza that she made for the judges in Naples that earned her this year's big prize. Audrey is also one of the early founders of the Women in Pizza movement and is a regular contributor to Pizza Today Magazine. And, she has the most adorable twin boys, who seem to have taken over her Instagram reels at @audreyjanespizza. Welcome back, Audrey!

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