I was in a local Italian restaurant waiting for a carryout order recently. A family of three walked in and asked for a table. I would estimate the parents to be in their 50s and the daughter to be around 20. They were politely told there would be a wait of 15 or 20...
Back in June, I received a call from Marissa Ross, Coordinating Producer for the Travel Channel’s popular "Food Wars" show. The program was filming a pizza showdown in the Big Apple, and the producers wanted me to serve as an expert pizza guest and a judge for the...
PIZZA VOLANTE We saw the blue car (pictured at left) out front and knew we had to stop. When we were served a bubbling hot pizza from a wood-burning oven, we were glad we did. The creations at Pizza Volante occupy the middle ground somewhere between a New York pizza...
Last month, in our annual "Event in Print" issue, Big Dave Ostrander floated ideas pizzeria operators could use to promote National Pizza Month. Not only is October National Pizza Month, but it also ends with one of our industry’s five most important sales days —...
Last September, we produced our 09.09.09 Event in Print. It was a massive — and innovative — undertaking. We promoted the issue via e-mail, direct mail, Twitter, etc. We lined up key industry personalities and translated the magic of International Pizza Expo into...
Any way you slice it, 105 years is a long time. That’s how long one of America’s favorite foods has been a part of our landscape, and much of our national fabric has changed since then. We’re still crazy over baseball and apple pie, to be sure, but we’re also driven...
Since it showcases our annual Independent Pizzeria of the Year, I always carry a little extra enthusiasm for our August issue. After all, running an independent pizza business to the highest of standards and success levels is the crux of what Pizza Today is all about....
Joe Fugere effortlessly strides through the open kitchen at the Westlake location of his four-store independent operation, Tutta Bella Neapolitan Pizzeria. We’ve been with him for an entire day in Seattle, driving around the city and visiting each of Fugere’s stores,...
Recently, I spoke to a reporter from USA Today. He asked me about pizza’s place in the fast-food hierarchy. When he picked up the phone to call me, I doubt he expected such an animated and strong response to what seemed like a simple, innocent question. I guess you...
A hearty congratulations to Domino’s Pizza is in order. As you can tell by the cover of this particular issue of Pizza Today, the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based juggernaut is our 2010 Chain of the Year. This represents the second time the company has been awarded the honor...
Though he was born in Los Angeles, Antonio D. Giner grew up in Argentina, traveled through Europe and lived in Mexico before settling down in El Paso, Texas. His travels exposed him to a variety of foods, but his love of fi ne fare and drink centers on Italian-style...
It’s now May as you hold this issue of Pizza Today in your hands, but I’m writing this column in March … just days after returning from the International Pizza Expo 2010 in Las Vegas. And let me tell you, my head is still spinning from the three days of informative...
