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This week, we start our Pizza Expo Interview Series from the show floor at Pizza Expo 2025. We kick off this special edition of The Hot Slice Podcast with two operators who were inspiring speakers at this year’s show. They are:

Eric Redfield, co-owner of Camporosso in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky. We caught up with Eric a day before he gave a powerful keynote address on his Purpose-driven business that had the room in tears. Watch his entire keynote address. Camporosso was Pizza Today’s 2024 Pizzeria of the Year.

Jonathan Fell and Zachary Black, along with Jonathan’s father Marty who founded Jason’s New York Style Pizza in Bangor, Maine, 1997. Jonathan and Zachary brought fresh energy as new speakers this year with a session called “Innovate to Elevate”. We talk business, longevity and continuing the legacy.

Stay tuned as we continue our interviews from Pizza Expo 2025.

Check out more news from International Pizza Expo, including pizza competition results, show floor takeaways and happenings in our Pizza Expo News Hub.

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Alaska native Beau Schooler has been on the James Beard Foundation’s radar for years. This spring, Schooler is nominated for Best Chef in the Northwest and Pacific region, and he’s cooking at the James Beard Award after party on June 16 in Chicago.

When he’s not rubbing elbows with a who’s who of the restaurant industry, Schooler is executive chef at Juneau, Alaska-based In Bocca Al Lupo, which serves Alaskan cuisine “through the lens of an Italian restaurant.” The dinner menu at In Bocca Al Lupo includes nine or 10 wood-fired pizzas at any given time, though Schooler says getting kiln-dried wood to run the oven can be a challenge since the restaurant is in a coastal rainforest. Other challenges include receiving fresh produce by barge and balancing local expectations with dreams of global cuisine.

You won’t want to miss Schooler discussing how he blends the cuisines of Alaska, Calabria and the Philippines to create a one-of-a-kind menu that draws diners from across the globe and across the street.

Learn more about In Bocca Al Lupo at https://www.inboccaallupoak.com/ and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/juneaulupo.

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In June, Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana turns 100. The iconic New Haven pizzeria continues the legacy of Frank Pepe, who opened New Haven-style "abeetz" restaurant on the now famous Wooster Street in New Haven, Connecticut in 1925. On this week’s episode, we chat with Kevin Gagliard, Vice President of Operations for Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana.

He shares how the family has maintained the culinary heritage and legacy of the century-old pizzeria, while strategically growing the business. Today Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana has 17 locations in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, Virginia, and South Florida. See how the legendary pizzeria plans to celebrate the momentous occasion. Find out how the century-old pizzeria has stayed relevant in a changing pizzeria landscape. Get insights on the operations of an extremely high volume pizza business.

Pepe’s success story includes:

A Legacy of Quality: The iconic, 14-foot coal-fired ovens, signature white clam pizza, and commitment to authentic, high-quality ingredients.

Family-Run Resilience: How generations of the Pepe family have navigated changing times, from the Great Depression to the rise of modern restaurant operations.

Cultural Impact: Pepe’s helped put New Haven-style pizza on the map, influencing America’s love affair with pizza while maintaining its artisanal roots with its crispy yet chewy, slightly charred crust.

National Appeal: Frank Pepe’s has amassed a legion of fans around the country and is a beloved brand of celebrities, including actor Paul Giamatti, former president Bill Clinton, Henry Winkler, and more.

Learn more about Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana at https://pepespizzeria.com/ and on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/frankpepepizza/ .

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Mark & Kira Zabrowski left the teaching profession to pursue their passion for pizza. They had a vision to open a mom-and-pop pizza business. That vision has been realized in Much Ado About Pizza in Pleasanton, California. They found more success than what they had dreamed of. They are creating systems to fine-tune the pizza operation.

But now Much Ado About Pizza has hit max capacity. They are at a crossroads of when and how to grow the business. We talk about the opportunities in front of them. We also chat about the roles of their partnership, community growth, third-party delivery and more.

Don’t miss Mark and Kira’s advice on what they learned at Pizza Expo to start their pizzeria. We also talk about competing on the international level as well as being named one of Yelp’s Top 100 Restaurants two years in a row.

Learn more about Much Ado About Pizza at https://www.muchadoaboutpizzaca.com/ and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/muchadoaboutpizza/.

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Lynn’s Chicago Pizza began with Lynn Humphrey and Brandon Bruner, Sr. trying to solve a problem. They couldn’t get pizza delivered to their Southside Chicago neighborhood so Brandon, a trained chef, began experimenting with making a Chicago Deep Dish pizza. Soon, they started making pizza for friends and family. The two started selling pizza at a nearby bar and the virtual pizzeria was born doing popups.

They ventured into a brick-and-mortar restaurant partnership but soon realized that they wanted to create their own vision in their Woodlawn neighborhood that was in need of restaurant options. Landing the location that the two had their eye on came with an application process. After great strides, Lynn’s Chicago Pizza opened serving up deep dish and Chicago thin crust pizza.

Lynn and Brandon opened more than a pizzeria. Lynn’s serves as a community hub with events and special nights for people to gather.

Their efforts have drawn local and national attention. Brandon and Lynn share how they’ve built momentum for their young business.

Learn more about Lynn’s Chicago Pizza at https://lynnschipizza.com/ and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/lynnschicagopizza/

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It’s Pizza Expo week! While we are meeting all of you in person in Las Vegas, we wanted to share a replay of a favorite episode. George Panagopoulos spent this week with us and even gave an amazing seminar on Innovative Pizzeria Technology.

It’s easy to see why we tapped George to lead the seminar when you hear how he has modernized a 50-year old pizzeria. George Panagopoulos owns of Dedham House of Pizza, in Dedham, Massachusetts. This tech-savvy operator has taken over an over 50-year-old pizzeria. He is driving the business into future by developing a custom AI chatbot. As he has stepped into the owner role, George has implemented self-ordering kiosks, mobile app, rewards program, online specials and third-party delivery companies.

Listen as George shares what motivates him to advance his business technology and offers insights on how other operators can do the same.

We talk about what the future of Dedham House of Pizza will look like and how he is helping educate his customers to get there.

Here is a brief overview from Dedham House of Pizza:

Dedham House of Pizza is a Greek family-owned pizzeria located in the heart of the historic Dedham Square, a suburb of Boston. Serving up an array of New England Greek pan-style pizza prepared with daily-made, in-house dough, calzones, subs, roll-ups, pastas, salads, beer, wine, desserts and more, DHOP has been providing fresh food to the local community for over 50 years. Through implementing recent innovations such as self-ordering kiosks, a mobile app, a rewards program, online specials, catering offerings, gluten-free pies and three third-party delivery companies, third-generation owner & operator George Panagopoulos has taken an individually-owned mom & pop pizza shop to a nationally-recognized pizzeria.

The pizzeria’s patriarch, Andreas Panagopoulos, immigrated from a small Greek village called Eleochorio (Village of Olives) outside of Greece’s third largest city, Patras. Andreas and his siblings were farmers growing grapes and olives, and they made their humble living producing wine and olive oil. In search of the American Dream, Andreas arrived in the U.S. in his mid-20s, working a variety of jobs and falling in love with pizza. Andreas arrived in the U.S. in 1981 and by 1983 was working as an employee at the pizzeria. By 1991, he was managing it and by 1996, he and his wife Maria owned it, eventually enlisting their entire family to work as well including their son, George, who serves as the current owner and operator.

Learn more about Dedham House of Pizza at www.dedhamhouseofpizza.com and on Instagram at www.instagram.com/dedhamhouseofpizza.

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Pizza Expo starts soon. To get hyped up for the Las Vegas show, we’re chatting with Nick Bogacz, founder of Caliente Pizza & Draft House in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His deep-dive, four-hour workshop is part of the 2025 School of Pizzeria Management Workshops that will kick off Pizza Expo week on Sunday, long before the show floor opens Tuesday.

His session, “You Opened Your First Pizzeria! Now What???” gives insights into labor costs, food costs and guerilla marketing. We chat about the workshop and his two education sessions, “Managing Your Inventory” and “Purchasing an Existing Pizzeria”.

With more than 20 years of experience in the industry, he opened his first location in 2012 in Pittsburgh and has grown to four current locations. Caliente has won numerous awards in the industry, including 2016’s first place in the Pan Division of the International Pizza Challenge at Pizza Expo. We talk competition and how he predicts his team will do.

Nick is bringing 14 Caliente team members to Pizza Expo. We chat about how his team will make the most of the show. He shares the Impact Primer that he has his team complete before they go. I’ve included it in the show notes.

Learn more about Caliente Pizza & Draft House at https://worldsbestpizza.com/ and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/caliente_pizza/

Safe travel to Las Vegas and we will see you at the show.

Show Notes:

Keep up with all things Pizza Expo News and Updates in the Pizza Expo News Hub at https://pizzatoday.com/topics/industry-news/pizza-expo-2025-all-news-from-the-worlds-largest-pizza-show/

As promised, Nick was kind enough to allow us to share the Impact Primer that he has his team complete before the show. Try this with your team:

IMPACT PRIMER

“Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.”—Alexander Graham Bell

EVENT: DATE:

| CHALLENGE Three biggest problems/challenges I am currently faced with. |
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| OPPORTUNITY Three greatest growth areas I need new ideas and knowledge. |
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| PEOPLE Three most important people I need to find right now (partners, vendors, employees, etc.) |
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| RESOURCES Three most important resources I need right now. |
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| IMPRESSION How do I want to “show up” at this event? How do I want to be described by those I meet. |
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| IMPACT Three greatest contributions I can make to others at this event (ideas, connections, resources, etc.) |
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WHO, WHAT, HOW & WHY—clearly and simply describing what I do: We help _____________ do ______________ through ______________ so that _______________.

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Tori Tiso grew up in her father’s pizzeria, the famous Louie and Ernie's Pizza in Bronx, New York. She could have easily continued the pizza dynasty at Louie and Ernie’s. Instead, she decided to strike out on her own in Long Island straying from the standard New York slice the acclaimed Bronx spot was known for to open Tori T’s Pizzeria. On this week’s The Hot Slice Podcast with Pizza Today, Josh and Denise have a great chat with Tori on her decision to go solo and what’s happened since the pizzeria opened almost a year ago.

While New York style pizza is still very much a part of Tori’s business, The No. 1 seller is Detroit-style pizza. She opened the pizzeria serving eight Detroit pizzas. Now, the pizzeria serves 15. Tori shares what sparked her love of Detroit style pizza and how it has captivated Long Island customers.

We also dive into being a women-owned business and what Tori forecasts a continued rise of women in the industry. She shares how just as she was mentored, she is focused on developing new pizza makers and pizzeria owners.

A mission for Tori early in her business’s inception was engraining the pizzeria and herself into the community. We cover the steps she has taken to make that happen.

Learn more about Tori T’s Pizzeria at https://toritspizzeria.com/ and on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tori_tspizzeria/