Welcome back to Pizza Quest.

You may remember Blaine Parker from an earlier episode, awhile back, in which we discussed his book and website, Free the Pizza, which is a humorous, step by step manual for how to make restaurant quality pizzas in a home oven. Well, Blaine is back, along with his talented wife and writing/producing partner, Honey Parker, to tell us all about a new documentary film they are making. The full is titled, "Little Miss Margherita: A Misundertood Pizza in a Misunderstood Place." The place they are referring to is the state of Mississippi, along the Gulfport Coast. There's a lot more to the story, and it's much more fun to hear Blaine and Honey tell us about it in their own words. Also, Honey talks a bit about her series of rom-com novels, "The V-Life," about Sugar Bernstein, a New York ad-woman who also happens to be a vampire (yes, you heard it right). We even discuss who Honey hopes will be cast to play Sugar when the books become a movie. Tune in to find out who is on the wish list....

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Welcome back to Pizza Quest,

Rye bread, the way we remember it -- at least those of who grew up near Jewish bakeries and delis -- has never really gone away but it does, at times, seem like an endangered species. Steven Katz, a Washington DC attorney and policy consultant, who also happens to be a published food writer and recipe developer, along with his longtime friend, library archivist and guardian of cultural taste memories Donna Webber, worked together over the past few years to develop a Jewish rye bread that checks off all the boxes connecting past with present. Steven, as the baker, calls his loaf, "Katz Rye Has Soul." His food roots go deep in the American culinary industry, having been raised in Chicago's meat packing world in a family business selling some of the finest steaks and other meat products known to mankind, and his collaboration with Donna resulted in a synergy that tapped into both of their passions for quality and authenticity. If you too are part of the rye renaissance, you will not want to miss this stimulating conversation. As we often say, it's more about the quest than it is about the pizza, and Steve and Donna's journey is a perfect example.

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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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