Welcome back to Pizza Quest! NYC is a treacherous place to open a new pizzeria. The competition is fierce and public is vocal and not always diplomatic. But the lure of reaching for holy grail of pizza is hard to resist, and now Chef Ian Coogan, formerly of Eleven Madison Park and the Jean George lineage of great chefs (among other top-tier mentors), and currently the culinary director at the popular Motel Morris in Chelsea, has taken the plunge a few blocks away with the opening of KID. To assure success, Ian brought in Roberta's and Tartine alumnus, Max Blachman-Gentile to nail down the dough and the fermentation game plan. In this episode we are graced by having them both here to share with us the rest of the story, including their creative process that resulted in a highly inventive yet relatable menu and whimsical ambience. They also share the how-to of training their team to deliver the KID experience on the highest level on a daily basis. It's all here on this week's episode of Pizza Quest!

My long-time friend, Peter Scott Ruben, is the best guitar player I know, having personally watched him jam with some of the great rock and blues musicians of the seventies (Joe Perry in his pre-Aerosmith days and Kim Simmonds of The Savoy Brown Blues Band are two who immediately come to mind -- I read that Simmonds died two years ago in England and the band had to break up after an amazing fifty-five year run). Since then, Peter has fronted his own bands, and has also carried on his father's legacy as leader of the premier special events orchestra/band in Philadelphia, through which he met "the great one," Frank Sinatra, at a White House gig the orchestra was playing during the Reagan administration back in the 1980's. He also donned a wig a few years ago and played as Eric Clapton in a Cream tribute concert (and I seem to recall he even played a set as Jimmi Hendrix). In addition to his amazing playing, he knows way more about music than anyone in my social orbit so, now that he has embarked on an Act 3 career performing a Frank Sinatra and Bobby Darin one-man tribute show (having bought performing rights to the original Nelson Riddle and other Sinatra/Darin charts), I thought it would be fun to pick his brain here on Pizza Quest regarding why he thinks Sinatra is the greatest performer of all time as well as to see if together we could create a top ten list as well as a Mt. Rushmore top four list of the greatest of the greats. It was so much fun recording this episode -- as you will see and hear -- that I plan on inviting him back to do a similar retrospective on the greatest guitar players and also another on the best bands and performing groups of our time. Peter and I used to stay up all night during our college days talking about stuff like this, so I know he's game for it, as you will hear in this conversation in which we explore not only Sinatra's greatness but also dive deeply into the why and how of what made him the GOAT (and why Bobby Darin was the prince in waiting until he died way too young). So, as we like to say, it's more about the quest than it is about the pizza, and this time around we jump into Peter Ruben's quest for what distinguishes the good from the great when it comes to musical artists. The topic may have changed, but the game remains the same -- and the quest never ends....

Welcome back to Pizza Quest!

Elizabeth Brasch is committed to delivering what she calls, "a higher order of pizza," at Mellow Mushroom, where she serves as VP of Marketing and Menu Innovation. As anyone who has been to any Mellow Mushroom location knows, the notion of a pizzadelic experience is not at all far-fetched. And, for those who own their brands, this conversation with Elizabeth will be especially enlightening as we hear how a University of Georgia-born hippy-era pizzeria grew over the past fifty years into a formidable multi-unit operation with a fanatically loyal following wherever they pop up another location. After all these years, how do they keep it fresh and updated, while always staying true to their brand and its roots? That, and much more, will all be revealed in this week's episode of Pizza Quest.