Pizza Talk With Me Episode 15: Pizza Expo Recap, Spak Buffalo Chicken, Pizza Talia, F&F Pizza

Long time no pizza! Hard to believe we took a bit of a pizza hiatus. Funnily enough I was at the doctor today and they told me I need to “take a break from tomato sauce”! This means nothing but white pizzas for next week’s episode.

In the month or so we’ve been gone, too much has happened. We recap the wonderful winners of Pizza Expo. Winners include Eric Von Hansen who can’t seem to stop making award winning pizzas. Additionally, Pete Tolman from Iron Born placed second to Eric with his forager pie.

Pizzas We Ate

We go through our inventory of pizza and we ate a variety of slices between recordings. The biggest surprise for me was a box of frozen pizzas that arrived on our doorstep. Made in Italy, then put to sleep until they’re ready to be eaten, Pizza Talia is a clever and novel pizza invention. It’s a remarkable product that replicates authentic Neapolitan pizza. Check out Pizza Talia.

We eat Spak fairly often, but hardly dip into their specialty pizzas. We are big Buffalo Chicken Pizza fans so we gobbled up Spak’s take on the legendary style of pizza. It’s quite good!

During a recent trip to NYC, we got pizza from the “under rated” pizzeria F&F pizza. This is a newish shop in Brooklyn and is some of the juiciest pizza I’ve ever had! I’d compare it to a Pizzeria Davide. Very delicious, worth the trip.

Join the Pizza Walk With Me Discord to talk about all things pizza with your new pizza besties!

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Pizza Talk With Me Episode 11: Spak Brothers Pizza in Garfield

Well it certainly was a hiatus, but we are back to bring you some greasy, gooey, ooey takes on Spak Brothers pizza. Spak Brothers is one of our classic go-to shops. With a wide selection of toppings, hoagies galore and salads that will bust your gut wide open.

Our Order:

• Large pizza, half capicola half plain

• Spak Bros. Mediterranean salad

• Half of a buffalo chicken hoagie

A couple of items we talk about:

• Driftwood Oven is closing for a month for some supreme renovations. We talk about what some of those renovations are and how excited we are for this upgrade.

• Rockaway Pizzeria has created a Buffalo Chicken pizza, sans ranch. Is it really Buffalo Chicken pizza?

• The international pizza expo is adding an Italian Sandwich category to their championship competition. What hoagie would you submit?

• What is up with Altoona Hotel Pizza??

• Spirit and the Vandal turned six years old! HBD to them, true staples of Lawrenceville.

Join the Pizza Walk With Me Discord to talk about all things pizza with your new pizza besties!

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Find your pizza date with Pizza Date With Me

Spak Bros Mediterranean salad

Pittsburgh Pizza Update - 9/2 - Spak Interview, Pizza Company & a Trip to Pizza Taglio

Pittsburgh! The most livable city, dripping with pizza. 

Maybe not entirely true, but man oh man is there a lot of pizza activity happening in Pizza. Each week I hear about a new mobile pizza unit, a restaurant trying some new pizza stuff or innovation happening with cooking techniques. Here's some pizza news for you to chow down on.

Spak is Back Baby

I spoke with Ryan Spak of Spak Brothers about their pizzeria, the surge of community support and their role as a pizza shop. They do their best to give back to their community. One of my favorite tidbits from the interview is that thanks to everyone spreading the word about Spak on social media, they saw their highest sales ever. 

“The Thursday and Friday immediately following were our best sales to date which is just awe-inspiring.”

— Ryan Spak

The Pizza Company Opens in Lawrenceville

The Pizza Company exudes a sense of gawdiness and luxury that is foreign to most pizza places. Most pizza shops favor the neon or plastic sign to advertise their business. They spend most of their time in the kitchen, they'll never see it.

But The Pizza Company opts for a gold-plated sign. What does this mean for their pizza? I'm not sure. I haven't eaten their pie yet, but I know they offer a myriad of slices and their website ends in a .biz. I can't tell if that's genius or what.

The Pizza Company is a franchise local to the Pittsburgh area. The founders, Ray Stahl and Larry Stahl, opened a shop in 1992 then quickly opened three other locations. Is it manifest destiny that compels them to dot western Pennsylvania with pizza franchises?

I'm worried they put an emphasis on business first and quality second, but I'll be stopping in soon for a proper review. 

A Quick Trip to Pizza Taglio

I'm trying to do a better job of chronicling pizza trips. They can get a bit crazy and a series of photos just don't do it justice.

Here's video and some thoughts on my most recent trip to Pizza Taglio. Take a look and let me know what you think. 

On the pizza innovation side of things, Tony at Pizza Taglio is working on perfecting the 2-minute pizza. He's experimenting with different flours and dough to see what works best. Stay tuned for more coverage on that process right here on Pizza Walk With Me!

[update] Pizza Shop Gets on Twitter, World Explodes

[update] - it looks like that Spak Brothers account was a fake. Hope no one got duped by the offer of free pizza. The fact that a fake Spak account could set the world on fire goes to show the community Spak has cultivated, quietly, over the years. Here’s a tweet from the real Spak Brothers account that has since been removed:

@SpakBros @EastEndBrewing @moarhops hey whoever is manning this fake account I’m going to find out who you are and fuck up your entire life.

The following is the original article, complete with the now removed fake tweets.

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I’ve worked a few jobs specializing in social media. Depending on where you work it’s like being confined in a crib complete with a rattle and a stuffed animal. It’s fun at first, but boy does it get tired when everything is covered in your slobber.

Spak Brothers, one of my favorite Pittsburgh pizza places, got a fancy new Twitter account and is completely off the handle in the best way possible. Does pizza making day in and day-out turn you crazy? Or does Spak pizza give off an aura that makes life thrilling, exciting, and worth living? Either way, the enthusiasm they show for their fans and product make me want Spak more than ever. Is that what viral marketing is?

Anyways, they’re killing it and I wanted to share some of their tweets with you.

Hey real quick.. if you want Organic Veg’s or Artesian spices, go out in a field and lick some dirt #worldsGreatestPizza

Toying with the idea of setting up apartments above SPAK so #superSpakFans can be close to the pies as possible

Don’t forget fam. Free slice till end of Jan. Stop by and show this tweet

Just a reminder: Chicky Parm, Philly Steak, BBQ, Portobello… All key players in our #HoagieGame.

Another day. Another several dozen of the world’s best tasting pizzas. Voted number 1 8 years in a row by planet earth.

Nothing tastes as good as a slice of Spak soaked in a glass of @WigleWhiskey overnight.

Like this if you think we should get an Adams Family pinball machine for the dining area.

Follow Spak Bros. on Twitter. Worst case scenario you get a slice of pizza.