Pizza Exit Interview: Dan McGhee of Woodfired
Dan McGhee is hanging up the pizza peel after over four years of building the pizza program at Woodfired. Plus, local legend Ed Stalewski wins another pizza competition.
Hi there!
A few weeks ago I revisited Woodfired pizza in East Liberty and was really impressed. The pizza looks nothing like it did when it first launched (in a good way). To learn more about it I reached out to Dan McGhee who has been leading the pizza program at Woodfired for the past four years. I was bummed to hear that he is leaving Woodfired!
It’s great that Dan was able to build a pizza program, learn about the food and get it out in the wild. Evolving the product over time as he learned new things. That’s the pizza business.
So consider this an exit interview. By the time you read this Dan may have moved on, but the next generation of Woodfired pizza is beginning. You can keep up on any pizza exploits by following him on Instagram.
Exit Pizza Interview with Dan McGhee
Dan Tallarico: When you started Woodfired, what were the expectations?
Dan McGhee: Well, when I started, Woodfired was already a slowly starting brand. Two cooks from our sister restaurant, Independent Brewing Company, were running Woodfired as a takeout-only spot on weekends. After about 4 months of that, the owner (Pete) wanted to operate on a more full-time basis so he reached out to me with a head chef position to run Woodfired. I had a short stint of working for Pete in the past, and added some pizza experience since I had first worked for him (shoutout Pete Tolman and the Iron Born team) so he essentially hired me with an arrangement of, “here are the keys, here’s a company card, build me a pizza shop.” Prior to my week of testing both the Acunto Forni oven and the dough, I had never made a woodfired, or even a round pie, in my life.
DT: Did you feel any pressure from having to work in the Pizza Taglio space? Maybe I’m forcing a narrative here, but I feel like there must be some expectations to live up to the spot.
DM: Hmm, I wouldn’t say “pressure” but I definitely felt that Tony had built such a respected brand at Pizza Taglio, that I had to honor that legacy and try to live up to the quality of pies he was serving there.
DT: What was the biggest change for you from when you first started to where you are now?
DM: Having a much deeper and fuller understanding of why dough behaves the way it does, how tweaking certain elements like dough hydration or oven temp can drastically change the final product.
DT: After you got settled at Woodfired you updated your cheese and changed to a longer ferment on the dough. Where did those shifts come from? How did the patrons react?
DM: Longer fermentation came from doing more pizza research and discovering that cold fermentation can improve the depth of flavor in the dough, and it actually made daily production much easier. For cheese, I ended up using and loving the fior di latte from Caputo Brothers Creamery in Spring Grove, PA. It’s important to me to try to serve more local products and I was very excited to find a great cheese made in Pennsylvania. Both were received well by patrons, with a noticeable uptick in comments about the cheese on the Margherita pie.
DT: You’re ending a 4+ year run at Woodfired. What kind of legacy do you hope you leave behind? What did you learn from your time there?
DM: I hope that I’ve opened some people’s minds as to what you can put on a pizza. Coming from more of a restaurant line cook background, I think my approach to creating pizzas is slightly different and that’s where I end up with a potato, bok choy and Gochujang pizza.
I’ve learned an endless amount of dough knowledge, how to better manage people and systems, and how to improve the guest experience.
DT: What is next for you on your pizza journey? There’s more and more pizza makers starting up a pizza business using mobile ovens. Is that something that’s appealing to you?
DM: My next steps for pizza will be practicing and playing with new ideas at home. I’ll be moving onto a culinary position with Giant Eagle so my work might not be pizza, but my passion for the craft and love of eating it is still strong. The restaurant hours simply aren’t working with a family and a 20 month old son, but there are a million different ways to share pizza with the world (shout out to EddiesPizza412 killing the at-home pizza game!)
DT: What’s your take on the Pittsburgh pizza scene? Where do you see growth?
DM: The growth has been completely mind blowing. I’ve always felt that Pittsburgh has been torn between mediocre large portion type of foods and nicer quality, chef-driven style restaurants. I am extremely glad to see so much amazing pizza pop up around the city versus some of the classic heavy cheese, heavy grease style pizzas. My top 3 are Gus Franco’s, Pizza Lupo and Driftwood. (Disclaimer: haven’t had Rockaway yet but it’s on my list!)
DT: What keeps pizza so exciting for you?
DM: It’s an extremely approachable and usually affordable food that can cross cultures and cuisines. I think of pizza dough almost like an artist with a canvas…the possibilities are endless and you can put whatever you want on it. I think the possibilities being infinite is what really keeps me excited and engaged.
The Legend of Ed Stalewski Grows with a Win at the California Pizza Contest
I was checking my spam folder the other day when I say a curious name in an email: “Ed Stalewski.” Ed is a local Pittsburgh pizza legend. As a hobbyist and Ooni user, he has taken his pizza to Pizza Expo where he wins regional divisions and places high in the overall rankings. And he’s competing against pizza makers from across the world. Pizza is in his DNA.
Ed won with his Iron Crust in the “On the Menu” category. According to the California Pizza Contest email, the pizza is as follows:
“The Iron Crust pizza is a bold, flavor-packed creation prepared in a cast iron pan featuring cupping pepperoni and layered with Real California Mozzarella, Provolone and white Cheddar cheeses, topped with whipped Ricotta and grated Gouda.”
Sounds tasty! Congrats to Ed. Read more about the competition here. Follow Ed on Instagram for more pizza content!
Wow how insightful! Getting into the psyche of a pizza professional is always interesting. I’ll be on vacation next week so might be missing out on a newsletter. We will see. Hope you’re enjoying some great summer pizza!
Pizza ya later!
-Dan Tallarico, Pizza Journalist