Brian of Pizzaspotz
I first met James through Twitter soon after beginning PizzaSpotz.com. I believe he started up his pizza blog the Keystone Pizza Critic about the same time PizzaSpotz began. I’ve learned a lot from James about pizza and was grateful when he donated time to write a great post for PizzaSpotz on how to review pizza. Check it out after your learn all about James below. And don’t forget to leave comments below, James will respond if he has enough time in between pizzas :)
Now, onto the interview….
The first question I need to ask is why pizza? Why didn’t you become a hamburger or sushi reviewer? Is there just something special about pizza to you?
The short answer is I don’t know, but I’ll speculate and offer some possibilities… I was introduced to pizza by my family when I was a young boy; we used to go to the same pizzeria every Friday. While I still hold that particular pizzeria in high regard, one of the great things about pizza is that you can go to ten different pizzerias and get ten very different tasting pizzas. It’s one of the most versatile foods that there is. I also grew up in an area (Northeast Pennsylvania) that has a rich pizza history and is saturated with pizzerias. When I was an adolescent I used to criss-cross over a lot of territory while exploring my freedoms. Being that I enjoyed pizza, it was cheap, and I was always around new-to-me pizzerias, I guess the pieces started to fall into place. As an adult I have a strong entrepreneurial spirit that longs to open a pizzeria. It’s a food that I love. It’s a food that I believe that I am good at making, and that’s all that I can tell you.
What is your earliest memory of pizza, both eating it at home and out at a pizzeria?
My earliest memory of eating pizza at home is one that I’m sure that I share with others, that would be eating Ellio’s frozen pizza. The memories are a little vague, but I believe that it was my grandmother who chose to always keep a box of Ellio’s in the freezer. My earliest memory of eating pizza at a pizzeria is that of going to Sabatini’s Pizza in Exeter, PA with my parents on most Fridays. Sabitini’s pizza is a thin cracker style crust which we would get with extra sauce and onions. Around thirty years later and that’s still what I crave and how I order it when I’m in town.
You focus on Northeast Pennsylvania for your reviews. So far, which pizzeria that you’ve reviewed would receive your highest recommendation?
Choosing a favorite is an impossible task; on any given day it can be one of at least five, which all differ in style. If I’m in the mood for round, thin pizza then I’ll have to say Sabatini’s, the first pizza I remember having as a child. If I’m in the mood for square, pan-fried then I’ll have to say Ciccoli’s Pizza in Parsons, PA. Ciccoli’s has a history that predates the actual pizzeria. While it is popular to locals in the immediate vicinity, in my opinion it is one of the best kept secrets in the region.
How many total pizzerias have you reviewed?
I’m guessing that I’ve reviewed around sixty, maybe seventy pizzerias. When I first started doing reviews in December of 2012 I was doing them on a regular basis, but after some time I slowed down. And, I don’t always do reviews for new pizzas that I try. Once I put some finishing touches on my new website I plan to do reviews more frequently.
How many pizzerias have you eaten at in the past year which you have not reviewed? I wonder if you ever eat pizza for fun.
It’d be hard for me to come up with a number, but I continually eat at new pizzerias and don’t review them. Sometimes it’s because it was never my intent, sometimes it’s because I go to that pizzeria often and so I know that I can do it another time, and sometimes it’s because I let too much time go by before starting the review and the details of my experience start to fade.
You describe on your website Keystone Pizza Critic that the pizza in NEPA is most similar to Detroit Style pizza. For all of us outside of PA (and Detroit for that matter), can you describe your local pizza in more detail?
Like anywhere, Northeastern Pennsylvania has several styles of pizza, but the kind in question is what I refer to as pan-fried. Some people call it Sicilian style, but I think that it’s a little thinner than most Sicilian style pizzas. The bottom is crispy but still pliable. The middle, which is called the ‘crumb’, is soft and porous, sometimes resembling a sponge. The edge, or handle as I like to call it, can sometimes contain a bit of caramelized cheese. The toppings obviously vary, but in NEPA it is common that onions are automatically included (due to the type of sauce used on the pizza) but pizza can be ordered without them, and white cheddar cheese is commonly part of a cheese blend. Peanut oil is often the oil of choice for many of the pizzerias that make this style of pizza. NEPA pan-fried pizza is similar to Detroit style pizza, with the two biggest differences I believe being the types of cheese used and the order in which the ingredients are put on top of the pizzas.
Has anyone ever given you free pizza to review or do you always pay for the pizzas you mention in your reviews?
I am not well known enough to introduce myself as a pizza critic; it isn’t something that I’d feel comfortable doing even if I were well known, so no, I don’t get free pizzas to review. I have had several pizzerias offer me freebies after they had seen that I had reviewed them, but I decline their offers; again, it’s something I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing, and, I would hate for anyone to have any misperceptions. That’s my personal preference; I don’t necessarily think that it’s bad for others to do.
Your ultimate goal is to one day open your own pizzeria, have you learned any lessons about operating a pizzeria simply by doing reviews?
Just from doing the reviews I would say no, there isn’t much that I’ve learned by doing reviews, except for maybe coming to some realizations pertaining to different things that I would include or exclude from my menu if I were to ever open a pizzeria. I have, however, gained a lot of knowledge from the various pizza communities and industry experts via the internet.
Would you want to open an independent pizzeria or would you consider owning a franchise of an established pizza chain?
It might be good for some people, but opening a franchise will never be something that I’ll have an interest in doing. I take pride in my pizza and would not want to cook someone else’s generic recipe and limit my business by having to adhere to the corporate office’s operating procedures.
The tagline on your pizza website says, “My gluttony – your gain.” Do you mind telling our readers how much you weigh? And is it all due to eating pizza? : )
Hmmm. Let’s just say that I weigh a lot, and while I look a little heavy I am heavier than I look. I’ve always been a bit of a foodie, but once my adolescent metabolism started to wear off I started to gain weight. Add in the fact that I quit smoking a few years ago and I have an insatiable sweet tooth, I’m doomed :)
Are there any pizza websites or pizza blogs you read regularly or from time to time?
For learning specifics I usually will turn to the forums at Pizzamaking.com. Other than that I mostly end up at blogs that are linked to Facebook posts or tweets on Twitter, usually ones pertaining to NEPA or NYC. I know another pizza blogger from NEPA, NEPApizzaReview.com, who I follow; it’s always fun to see how our reviews compare to one another when we happen to both review the same pizzeria, and, because he lives in the area he gets to a lot of areas in NEPA that I don’t get to, so I get to learn of some of the must-try pizzerias that he’s discovered. The only other blog that I frequent that isn’t a forum or a local-to-me blog is Pizzaspotz.com. I love peeking in on his blog and lists!
Besides eating pizza, how else do you occupy your time?
I love to run, hike, and mountain bike, though I don’t do any of it as much as I’d like to. I spend way too much time obsessing over pizza recipes and testing variables. I also enjoy traveling with my wife and caring for our pets (four dogs and one cat). Oh, and wine! I’ve been getting into wine!
Thanks James for a great interview. Outstanding answers. And remember everyone, don’t forget to leave your comments below and then go check out James’ site Keystone Pizza Critic.