Pizza City with Steve Dolinsky

Frank Kabatas came to the U.S. in the late 90s, and his first experience with New York style pizza was as a delivery guy for East Village Pizza . He eventually moved to the West Side, working for a different pizzeria, then eventually returned to the East Side, when he bought the business in 2003. It wasn't easy. Kabatas had to learn English, and figure out how to stay afloat in a very competitive environment, but now more than 20 years on, his business is thriving. Note: this is the FINAL show of 2025 and for our podcast. I've decided after seven years, we've covered pretty much all there is to say about pizza right now. I hope you've enjoyed this run, we sure have.

Andy Kadin just knew he had to get back into pizza, after spending years perfecting his breads at Bub & Grandma's in L.A. He has opened a sibling pizzeria to his cafe on the East Side of the city, where they make an East Coast-inspired pizza that will knock your socks off.

Townsend Smith and Daniel Sorg were friends in NYC, but both moved to Austin and then reconnected over their mutual love of pizza. They converted a former post office in the suburb of Hyde Park into allday pizza , one of the best pizza places in the city, and definitely a must-visit if you're ever in Austin.

Mr. Mangieri is a two-time winner (#1 ranking) in the 50 Top Pizza list and is currently on the 6th iteration of his Una Pizza Napoletana , now on New York's Lower East Side. He spent 9 years in San Francisco, with stints in New Jersey as well. But now Mangieri is firmly in control of his craft, limiting the offerings to just a half dozen each night with a few simple starters and a pair of desserts. It's truly a Neapolitan worth the journey. (Note: we are re-airing this episode on Oct. 3, 2025, since Una Pizza recently came in #1 in the U.S. and tied for #1 in the world, on the 50Top Pizza list.)

Arnaud Atché has only been making pizzas for about 15 months, but the former consultant has poured himself into the daily rigor of making his dough and baking with precision from a seaside restaurant in the town of Zandvoort, about 30 minutes west of Amsterdam. Piatti on the Beach is certainly a one-of-a-kind pizzeria in the middle of nowhere, but very close to the F1 track.

Brett Feeley did what a lot of amateur cooks did during the pandemic: make pizza. Little did he know it would lead to Slowhand - a Detroit style operation on Toronto's East Side, where a sourdough starter is the key to a unique pie.

Chris Pandel teamed up with fellow Boka Restaurant Group Chef Lee Wolen to create Zarella , a pizzeria and taverna with two styles of pizza: a thin artisan and an even thinner tavern. Pandel tackled the latter, and he's damn proud of the results.

Argentinian born, Italian raised. Guillermo Paolisso came to Chicago and realized there was a gap in the market: Roman style. He and his wife now make their crunchy slices each day at Capriccio in the Lincoln Square neighborhood.

Hunter Leslie started out with a food truck, but realized pretty quickly as he moved from Detroit to L.A., the future was in a brick and mortar. He was one of the first Midwest transplants to open a Detroit style pizzeria in L.A. with Detroit Pizza Depot .

Jeff Scheer ended up on Maui like a lot of people - by accident. But his commitment to the culinary scene there, as nascent as it is, has been admirable. We discovered his sourdough pizza at Marlow , in an upcountry mall, where the menu has lots of highlights.

Their motto is "One Part Milan, One Part Brooklyn, All Maui," so you know a pizza from Sal e Pepe is going to be special. This is a love story for sure, but it's also a story of resilience and courage, in the wake of the deadly Lahaina wildfires from 2023.

Bronwen Kinzler-Britton & Jose Ibarra both came from more fine-dining backgrounds, but realized they just wanted to work for themselves and make great pizza. Naughty Pie Nature operates out of a tiny corner kitchen space (no dine-in) in Echo Park, but they've had a nice, steady growth pattern since they were just a pop-up a year or so ago.

Alex White's Great Great Grandfather used a sourdough starter when he ran a shop in the Yukon Territory more than 120 years ago. That same starter lives on in a Las Vegas pizzeria: Yukon Pizza , where they make sourdough crusts as well as some NYC slices.

As a born-and-bred New Yorker (from Long Beach), Vito DeCandia was literally brought up in a pizzeria. He was stretching dough by the age of 12. His lifetime of baking eventually led him to the West Coast, where his wife was from. Two years ago he opened Angel City Pizza in Venice, where he continues to make what he knows: NYC style slices, squares, and even Grandmas! Vito will be one of 40 pizzerias participating at Pizza City Fest L.A. April 26-27. Get your tickets at pizzacityfest.com

John Notaro may have spent his early years in Brooklyn, but there's no denying pizza and baking are in his DNA. He spent years at Sbarro, then ran a bakery until he became partners at Famous Ben's , a SoHo landmark since 1979 (they celebrate 46 years in business this month). We talked about his "Palermo" which aficionados will recognize as a sfincione (sans anchovies).

Wylie Dufresne has spent his life and career in New York City. He worked for Jean Georges Vongerichten, ran notable restaurants like 71 Clinton Fresh Food and WD50, and was starting a doughnut business until the pandemic changed everything. Pizza saved him, and his creation - Stretch - has brought a new evolution to what "NYC Pizza" means.

The Federighis had successful careers in commercial production and modeling, but all of that changed during the pandemic, when they shifted more into their love of pizza making. Hopscotching around Chicago and the suburbs, making artisan, then Sicilian and finally Chicago thin (tavern style), they've opened one of the most in-demand pizzerias in the city - Pizz'Amici - which makes a textbook Old School Chicago thin pizza.

Darby Aldaco got into some big trouble as a kid, stealing pizzas from stopped delivery cars. At 18, he was arrested for stealing a Domino’s pizza, subsequently losing his prom date. He wound his way through the L.A. bread scene, worked for Nancy Silverton at Triple Beam , then began commuting to Portland for a pizza project. The result is Pizza Thief (and the Bandit Bar next door). They make 18 inch pies and focus on sour dough and whole grains with high hydration. Like so many of their peers in Portland, they get all of their ingredients from local farms, markets and mills in the Northwest.

The Mexico City pizza scene is still in its infancy. Most of the styles tend to follow the Neapolitan model - wood fired, high heat, etc. Ardente has two locations in CDMX and we visited their newest location in the Condessa neighborhood, where Alfonso Jarero has brought his expertise in gelato making and is now also making excellent pizzas.

Chicago has a wealth of pizza styles - deep-pan, deep-dish, tavern and stuffed are the homegrown styles, but there's also Sicilian, Detroit and Neapolitan. When it comes to Roman pinsa, however, choices are more limited. Adam Weisell was born in Rome, so he brings a lot of experience and his own taste memories to the menu at Munno , an Italian restaurant with a dedicated pinsa program.