Join the conversation! Pizza Quest is certainly about pizza, but it’s so much more! It’s an engaging celebration of artisanship in all its shapes and forms. Award winning author Peter Reinhart interviews many of the greatest pizza makers in the world, as well as growers, cheese makers, millers, and food producers of all kinds who all who have one thing in common: an unquenchable drive to experience and express the highest level of excellence in their work, and to share it with their friends, family, and customers. Peter explores the varying journeys that led them to achieve prominence in their fields, and also offers listeners demonstrations of their craft, whether making their signature pizzas, or taking us on an in-depth tasting tour of their olive oil, tomatoes, cheeses, and toppings. As Peter is fond of saying, “It’s more about the quest than the pizza, and the quest never ends.”
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Join the conversation! Pizza Quest is certainly about pizza, but it’s so much more! It’s an engaging celebration of artisanship in all its shapes and forms. Award winning author Peter Reinhart interviews many of the greatest pizza makers in the world, as well as growers, cheese makers, millers, and food producers of all kinds who all who have one thing in common: an unquenchable drive to experience and express the highest level of excellence in their work, and to share it with their friends, family, and customers. Peter explores the varying journeys that led them to achieve prominence in their fields, and also offers listeners demonstrations of their craft, whether making their signature pizzas, or taking us on an in-depth tasting tour of their olive oil, tomatoes, cheeses, and toppings. As Peter is fond of saying, “It’s more about the quest than the pizza, and the quest never ends.”
Bird Pizzeria - The Original Creators of the Viral Kale Caesar Salad
Pizza Quest
51 minutes 19 seconds
1 month ago
Bird Pizzeria - The Original Creators of the Viral Kale Caesar Salad
Welcome back to Pizza Quest!
Charlotte, NC is starting to generate more and more national buzz as a culinary destination city. Top Chef is in pre-production here in preparation for its next season, with Charlotte as the host city, and some of the local chefs and restaurants are getting recognition by The James Beard and other prestigious organizations. And, on the pizza front, a couple new pizzerias are getting a lot of national recognition and, in the case of our guests on this episode, international acclaim. Bird Pizzeria a tough reservation to get these days, with a 60 day wait list and a location that is slightly off the beaten path, but the pizzas are uniquely their own -- a combination of East Coast as well as Chicago and Cleveland influence. In addition, due to the magic of TikTok and Instagram, the Kale Caesar Salad has gone viral and now people from as far away as New Zealand are filming themselves doing knock-off versions. Who knew?
As a Caesar Salad junkie myself (I sometimes flirt with the idea of doing a companion website called Caesar Salad Quest), I had to get over there to find out what all the hoopla was about. My wife, Susan, and met up with Blaine and Honey Parker (who you will meet in a future episode here if you aren't already a subscriber to Blaine's newsletter, Free the Pizza), who had driven 600 miles just to experience Bird Pizzeria as part of their own pizza quest (like I said, the buzz has extended beyond the city walls), and we all shared the (yes) amazing Kale Caesar as well as two signature pizzas, The Plain (their take on a Margherita) and also the White, with half pepperoni and half sausage and a few other embellishments. You'll hear more about the salad and the pizzas during this podcast.
In this episode, Nkem and Kerrel share their journey with us, and tell us how they ended up landing in Charlotte and developing their menu. Their story, like many others we've showcased here, is unconventional, loaded with unexpected moments of struggle and grace that somehow have serendipitous, happy endings. Sometimes you throw out the playbook and just follow your gut. Those are the places that often end up becoming legends in the making.
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Pizza Quest
Join the conversation! Pizza Quest is certainly about pizza, but it’s so much more! It’s an engaging celebration of artisanship in all its shapes and forms. Award winning author Peter Reinhart interviews many of the greatest pizza makers in the world, as well as growers, cheese makers, millers, and food producers of all kinds who all who have one thing in common: an unquenchable drive to experience and express the highest level of excellence in their work, and to share it with their friends, family, and customers. Peter explores the varying journeys that led them to achieve prominence in their fields, and also offers listeners demonstrations of their craft, whether making their signature pizzas, or taking us on an in-depth tasting tour of their olive oil, tomatoes, cheeses, and toppings. As Peter is fond of saying, “It’s more about the quest than the pizza, and the quest never ends.”
