Pittsburgh Pizza Fest Recap + Pizza Photo of the Week
Can you believe I went from Pizza Fest to Spirit to eat more pizza? I'm a mess. Plus, free Spak Bros pizza!
Hi there pizza fan!
I sincerely hope your week has been full of pizza. I’ve recently been experimenting with the Mediterranean diet and making a lot of exceptions for pizza. There’s nothing inherently unhealthy in a pizza. A pizza definitely will not be the nail in the coffin. I’m finding out how good olive oil is for you, so maybe drizzle your pizza with some olive oil to keep your cholesterol down and help to slide it down your throat slide.
Throat slide was a weird thing to type. Oh well, let’s talk about Pizza Fest!
Pizza Fest! Lots of Pizza! Lots of Fun!
Last Sunday I had the pleasure of attending Pizza Fest! A Slice of Delish. The event took place at East End Brewing and hosted a handful of pizzerias. Namely:
Slice On Broadway
East End Chewing
Colangelo’s
Mediterra
Caliente
Alta-Via Pizzeria
Pizza Parma
It was an event celebrating Pittsburgh pizza. These events are tough for the entrants because making pizza every day is like being in a career long science experiment. You spend years honing the atmosphere of your restaurant, expertly understanding and mapping out where the hot and cold spots are on your oven. The temperature, dough, and process is controlled and consistent.
When you put pizza makers under a tent on a scorching hot tent armed only with a gas powered Ooni, you may not get the most true pizza product. The ultimate test of pizza improvisation.
I chatted with Rico of Slice On Broadway about how he prepped for Pizza Fest. He anticipated bottle neck issues with the Ooni. To steer clear of any issues, he pre-baked his dough. Working with pre-baked crust he was able to accommodate the 200 entrants per session. I enjoyed a slice and there wasn’t a drop in quality.
Overall the pizza was remarkable. During my feasting, I noticed that most of the shops played it safe, relying on consistency and simplicity to please the crowd.
Kevin Konn at Mediterra couldn’t help himself as he delivered decadence in the form of two types of pizza: burrata and soppressata. I opted for the soppressata with pecorino romano, caramelized red onion, chili oil and basil. The dough was heavenly, a savory angel food cake. Basically evaporated into mist with the first bite. The ingredients melded together in a savory melody. It was gone in an instant and easily my bite of the event.
Pizza Parma had a textbook cheese pizza reminiscent of a NY Slice. Caliente had some slices that were as delicious as they were floppy (they were quite floppy).
Colangelo’s had a unique potato pizza sprinkled with red onions. Though, I was hoping for one of their square slices.
Overall, it was a solid event. I’m intrigued to see how Dee evolves this over time. It was great for a local pizza journalist to meet the owners of these shops and try a variety of pizza in one spot.
Pizza Photo of the Week - Only in New York
This week’s photo comes from esteemed reader, Kerry Tallarico. Kerry, who is sister to local pizza journalist Dan Tallarico, found this pizza crime late at night in the streets of New York. I can only assume it’s in the heart of the city, where a pedestrian was rushing across the busy street, slipped on a banana peel and dropped their slice.
If you have a pizza photo to submit send me an email!
Spak Bros Pizza Party at Two Frays Brewing
Wouldn’t it be great to be neighbors with Pizza Party experts, Spak Bros (they are Andrew W.K. certified in the party department)? An unattainable dream for most, but Two Frays Brewing on Penn Ave is living that dream and reaping all the benefits.
Today only, Spak Bros will be posted up at Two Frays to celebrate one year of business for the new brewery. It’s an awesome spot, great beer, solid outdoor area and now, great pizza. Definitely stop by if you can, it’ll be one pizza party you don’t want to miss. According to the Instagram post, they’ll have a “specialty pie” for the occasion. Hope it’s pickle based!
Wow what a week! I’ll be on vacation next week so who knows if you’ll get a pizza newsletter or not. Stay cool, eat pizza!
-Dan Tallarico, Pizza Journalist