As we review and repost some of the most popular shows of the past year, the bagel theme is still the hot nationwide trend. In this episode, our beloved pizza Yodi's, John Arena and Brian Spangler, return to explore their latest obsession. They are joined by the "Bagel Whisperer," (or maybe, better, "The Gandalf of Bagels"), Philip Korshak, who was recently on the show to discuss the closing of his legendary Philadelphia shop, Korshak Bagels. Together, these pizza and bagel wizards geek out together on their shared passion for bagels, and also show off their recent experiments in the quest of the perfect bagel.

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Previous Pizza Quest guest Chef Wylie Dufresne recently had an extensive cameo in the momentous season ending episode of "The Bear" on Hulu. The episode features appearances from many of the chefs (both real and imaginary) that inspired the restaurant in the show, so it seems timely to look back on our conversation with Wylie from the Fall of 2023. In the episode, he described his move into the pizza sector with his new restaurant called Stretch Pizza. Let's see if we can find any "Easter Eggs" in this episode that hints at what's to come. Regardless, it's momentous whenever a celebrated fine dining, innovative chef of Wylie's stature starts making pizzas (and they all do, it seems, unless they go into burgers instead), so tune in to see what's behind this major shift in the WD-50 legacy. Could Italian beef sandwiches be far behind?

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Korshak Bagels, nestled in the heart of Philadelphia’s historic Italian Market neighborhood, was like the mouse that roared. Producing only 1,000 hand-shaped sourdough bagels a day, Philip Korshak‘s love-child of a bagelry garnered national press during its brief two-year run, and elicited deep mourning and lines two blocks long during its final week, even when folks were warned they could buy only two bagels per person. Was it Phil's viral Instagram poetry posts (@korshak.bagels.poetry), or the original shmears and curated smoked salmon and "pastrami lox," or simply the amazingly plump sourdough bagels themselves that cemented Korshak Bagels as an eternal star in Philadelphia’s legendary food constellation? Find out straight from Phil’s own mouth as we revisit this conversation from the Fall of 2023, in an enlightening and heartbreaking debrief about a once and shining South Philly "Camelot" moment.

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We are joined this week by Charles Wekselbaum, owner and head salumeriest for Charlito's Cocina, makers of fine charcuterie. Is it salumi or salami? We'll find out, as Charles guides Peter through a tasting of three of his most popular Spanish-influenced products, and explains how he transforms fresh meat products into cured and fermented dried meats in which his goal is to evoke the full potential of flavor trapped in the meat through application of his charcuterie craft. Together, Peter and Charles explore the many parallels between the crafts of breadmaking, as well as cheese, wine, and beer making, to the art of charcuterie. In the end, the common bond is the concept of transformation. It's fascinating and delicious, so learn all about it here, in this episode of Pizza Quest with Peter Reinhart.

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This week's guest is a long time friend of mine (we go back to 7th grade together, circa 1963), Tim Lorsch, Nashville musician/sideman, who has created a one-man performance piece called "The Suitcase." The show was inspired when Tim unexpectedly received an old suitcase that had formerly belonged to his great uncle before being sent to Auschwitz, where he was killed by the Nazis. The suitcase triggered a flood of family memories and emotions, so Tim packaged it all into a one hour performance and has been taking it on the road, performing it in venues across the country. You'll learn all about it when you join us in this episode of Pizza Quest with Peter Reinhart. You'll also learn a lot about "looping," a technique Tim uses to layer his music into overlapping montages used in the show and, also, in his recordings in general.

Note: If you would like Tim to bring The Suitcase to your town, you can write to him at info@thesuitcase.world.

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Peter's brother Harry was with Peter the day they discovered Pizzeria Beddia about eight years ago. They watched together as Joe Beddia rocketed to superstardom in the pizza world (not because of us, but our timing was pretty good). So, when Harry called Peter a few weeks ago, excited to have found "the next Pizzeria Beddia," he was taken very seriously.

Harry then introduced Peter to Dave Ravanesi, the founder and solo pizzaiolo of Ravanesi Pizza Napoletana in Glen Mill, PA, just outside of Philadelphia. Ravanesi's is currently one of the worst kept secrets in Philly, in that word of mouth is rapidly spreading the rave reviews without the help of any social media. By the time you read this, it will probably be even harder to get a pizza there, but the key is to call a day ahead and order your "dough(s)" before you show up. Without that, fahgetaboudit (though he sometimes has extra doughs available for newbies who didn't know any better). Here's the number: (484) 840-8912. Tell whoever answers that you heard about them here on Pizza Quest (that and about $25 bucks should get you a dough ball, soon transformed into a pizza).

Before you go, be sure to listen to this conversation, in which Dave and I digress all over the map; from pizza, to jujitsu, to country rock (yes, he's also a published song writer), to the passion, dedication, and drive it takes to become a true craftsman. Hey, act quickly; the secret is out...

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Welcome back to Pizza Quest with Peter Reinhart. Our guest this week is Domenico Tolomeo, World Pizza Champions team member, owner of Taglio Pizza in Minneola, NY, and corporate chef for Orlando Foods (importers of Caputo Flour and many other made-in-Italy food products). Domenico, affectionately known in the industry as Mimmo, shares with us his journey from paying his dues during his years as a deli meat guy who then fell in love with pizza, to being mentored by Roberto Caporuscio at Keste in NYC, to now mentoring others. It's the great American success story, and Mimmo is its newest poster boy.

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In this episode we welcome Paul Tiffany, director of product engineering at Lloyd Pans, to update us on the latest new pan pizza products and to explain the unique manufacturing process that allows Lloyd Pans to respond and customize pans so quickly for the pizza and other food service industries. He also shows us a very cool new product for making handheld Detroit-style pizzas, about the size of a hotdog or burrito, that holds great promise as a concert or ballpark product. I actually made a pizza in this pan after we recorded the interview and I'm very excited about its frico-laden possibilities. Find out all about this, and learn more than you ever knew about pans, in this new episode of Pizza Quest with Peter Reinhart.

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