What is a PizzaFest Anyways?
Pittsburgh PizzaFest! A Slice of Delish is June 12th at East End Brewing
PizzaFest! For most Americans we celebrate Pizza every Friday night. Sometimes Saturday night. Or the random Wednesday. Wacky Pizza Wednesdays some call it. I don’t know the origin, cut me a break. But you, person who subscribed to a newsletter exclusively about pizza, knows the value of pizza. You certainly celebrate its merits more than the average person.
And why shouldn’t you? Pizza rules. It’s truly the greatest food. It’s anything you want it to be. A chameleon of flavor happily transforming itself to meet your needs. It can be vegan, vegetarian, or meat centric. Whatever you want, pizza is it.
Even though we celebrate pizza every day, sometimes it’s good to set aside special time to focus your energy for your love of pizza. Similar to how Scrooge realizes that he should harness the spirit of Christmas every day after being visited by those three spirits.
Pittsburgh PizzaFest! Slice of Delish aims to be that concentrated pizza holiday. The one event a year that reminds us why we love pizza.
It takes place this coming Sunday at East End Brewing. There are two sessions, but the first session is entirely sold out. Could be the hottest ticket in town! Check it out here. If you’re a pizza enthusiast you’ll have the opportunity to meet the people behind and try pizza from:
Slice On Broadway
East End Chewing
Colangelo’s
Mediterra
Caliente
Alta-Via Pizzeria
Pizza Parma
The highlight of the event will absolutely be Mediterra and Slice On Broadway. I’m heading to the early sessions so if you see me please say hi!
I’m attending the show as media, and I will say that I would hope a pizza event would showcase a more eclectic pizza lineup. You have some standards, a few of the new shops, but this barely scratches the surface of Pittsburgh pizza. I completely understand that East End Brewing is a small venue, so I’m intrigued to see how Pizza Fest plays out. Hopefully we are treated to some truly revolutionary and unique pizza.
An Interview with The Organizer
I was unfamiliar with PizzaFest and what Slice of Delish was, so I reached out to Dee Weinberg who heads up Good Taste Pittsburgh, which has been around for over a dozen years. Would it shock you to hear the organizer of Pizza Fest didn’t have pizza until college? Here’s that interview with Dee Weinberg.
Tell me about the origin of PizzaFest! - What is your mission with the event? Why was it created? Why pizza?
GoodTaste! Pittsburgh has been doing food shows for more than 15 years. We have looked for the latest food trends and hot food sectors to bring to the public. Pittsburgh has always been a great pizza town and now is #2 in the country. No one was celebrating the great pizza diversity and artisanry in the ‘Burgh. PizzaFest! was created as that showcase.
What is your personal relationship with pizza? Favorite spot growing up? Where do you go for your Friday night pie?
I grew up in Cleveland and never tasted pizza until I went to college!
No pizza until you went to college? Please tell me more. I can’t fathom. What was that first pizza you ate? What was your experience like? Was it instant love?
I was raised in a kosher home in Cleveland and pizza was never even available. Loved it the first time I had a cheese pizza. Mediterranean style is my go-to -- I don't eat meat.
Pittsburgh has a rich tapestry of pizza - what comes to your mind when you think of Pittsburgh Pizza?
You can find all types of pizza from round to square, thick or thin, loaded or not with cheese, and incredibly different toppings. The shops in Pittsburgh aren’t afraid to experiment and create new taste experiences for pizza lovers.
The Pizza Fest event has a good cross-section of pizza shops representing different styles, but mostly newer spots. Was that intentional?
The shops we chose have taken pizza making to the next level. They experiment with dough and sauce in new and exciting ways. Some are truly artisans in their relationship with dough and they aren’t afraid to experiment with their products.
Is there a pizza place you feel like is really pushing the boundaries on what pizza is? Caliente is always doing wild stuff so it’s fun to see them put new pizzas on the menu.
I agree with you about Caliente's. I also think that the Pizza Expo in Las Vegas has helped pizza makers raise the bar to artisan level. Competition demands creativity!
What do you want someone who attends PizzaFest to think about pizza as they leave? What would someone tell their friends about?
What a great opportunity to try 7 different artisan pizzas and talk to the chefs that make them. Hopefully attendees will have found that new place for Friday night pie and beyond.
What sort of events / activities will be at PizzaFest?
To carry out the pizza theme, we have a roving accordion player, Kevin Soleecki, who loves to play for the crowd and give them some entertainment as they wait for their slices.
We will be featuring Matt Hickey, award winning pizza dough acrobat. Matt is amazing in what he can do with dough – not only does he perform but he loves to get the crowd involved
Some of our guests will have the opportunity to try what Matt has perfected.
I hadn’t realized GoodTaste! Pittsburgh has been around that long. What other food shows have you done? How could it have taken this long to get to pizza?
Our first shows were all around the Food Celebrity Chefs and we brought it so many of them to the Pgh market. And then the shift was to local and we developed Hometown-Homegrown - A Celebration of Pittsburgh's passion for food neighborhood by neighborhood. This is our 10th year partnering this event with the Heinz History Center.
Food vendors, cooking demos by local chefs, demonstrations on all sorts of food related topics. Great fun and 5 floors of food-themed events at the History Center (this year October 15).
We were also the first to do a food truck festival both outdoors and indoors. We are the only indoor food truck festival in the country (Food Truck A Palooza) and we've done a craft beer show a few years ago, before Craft beer blew up in the region. And we also do a Neighborhood Culinary Crawl that is a modern version of the old progressive dinner.
What a newsletter! Hope you enjoyed it. I’m fairly skeptical of “fest” events, but Dee seems to have some real enthusiasm and love for food. I’m eager to see how this plays out. I’ll report back next week.
-Dan Tallarico, Pizza Journalist