Sooner or later, you are going to need to take a break I have had several calls in the past few months that touch upon this question: “When is the right time to step away from your restaurant?” This is tough because sometimes you may never feel 100-percent...
Multi-grain doughs are making their way to the mainstream This year I decided to compete again at the World Pizza Championships in Italy. It’s been three years since I have actually competed in an Italian cooking competition. As a competitor you are always trying to...
July is a time when fresh garden tomatoes become available at local Farmer’s Markets. Whether they’re “Early Girls” or “Big Boys” or any of the other available varieties, you simply cannot beat a fresh heirloom tomato. When they are available, you should definitely...
I’m sitting in the car driving from Pittsburgh to Akron, Ohio, with Scott Anthony. We are finishing up a whirlwind trip of my book tour. We started in Punxsutawney, then to Altoona, Pittsburgh, Akron, and Columbus. I have toured big cities like New York, San Francisco...
I took a group of pizzeria operators to Central Milling in Petaluma, California, recently and we worked with Nicky and Keith Giusto. These guys are rock stars in the bread world. Nicky formulated several recipes for breads using different flours, pre-ferments and...
Tony Gemignani shares his Grandma Pie Recipe Last month I talked about my experiences with the “Grandma” pie that originated on Long Island. Over the past few years I’ve seen this simple — yet delicious — pizza turn up in other parts of the country. It’s time you give...
Tony G. explores the rising national popularity of this Long Island staple -- Grandma-style pizza Nearly 15 years ago I tried a grandma pizza near Bari, Italy. Ironically, it was in a pizzeria named Big Apple Pizza. I was with George Giove at his family’s pizzeria....
Coal-fired oven or wood-fired oven, which is better? Every time I teach a course at the International School of Pizza I have students ask me if my coal-fired or wood-fired oven is better. After all, Neapolitan, Old-World and artisan-style pizzas are still hot right...
For many years Chianti has been called the wine of Italy. Well known for its original straw bottle, Chianti goes very well with pizza and pasta due to its light character and good acidity content. Other wines, such as Barberesco, Lambrusco or Gragnano, are also...
One of my favorite styles of pizza is pizza Romana. Some people can get confused because, like New York-style, there are sub-categories. For example, there’s Pizza in Teglia (pizza in the pan), Pizza al Taglio (pizza by the slice), Pizza a Etro (pizza by the meter),...
Being critiqued is difficult for any restaurant owner. And it’s not just newspaper and magazine critics anymore. These days there are so many critics or “want to be” critics out there when you take Bloggers, Yelp, Tripadvisor, etc. into account. It can be tough,...
When opening a restaurant, one of the worst things you can do is over price your menu. You can always raise your prices, but when you see a restaurant lower them that could be the sign that they are in trouble. This principle not only applies to menu items but also...
