Melinda Carbajal, Managing Member and CEO of Simply Pizza, a unique woodfired, mobile, and hybrid restaurant business, is bringing her knowledge and experience to Pizza Expo. As a new Pizza Expo speaker, we wanted to learn more about Melinda and get a little sneak peek into her sessions at Pizza Expo. Her Pizza Expo sessions include: S30 Writing Your Food Truck Business Plan, S09 Growing Through Catering and S35 Strategically Giving to Grow Your Business.

Josh and Denise chat with Melinda the food truck business, getting innovative with the business model, catering, and mentoring in the pizza industry.

Her Pizza Expo speaker bio includes: With a background in government and education, Melinda has carved out a niche in the food industry, leveraging her extensive knowledge of systems, grants, and nonprofit management to drive her business forward in innovative ways.

As a dedicated mother of five, Melinda balances her entrepreneurial endeavors with an active role in her community. She serves on five nonprofit boards and holds an elected position in her city, reflecting her commitment to community engagement and service.

Melinda thrives on building programs, navigating complex systems, and making a positive impact. Her journey from the realms of government and education to the culinary world is a testament to her adaptability and passion for serving others."

Learn more about Simply Pizza at https://www.simplypizzatruck.com/ and on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/simplypizzatruck/

Check out the full Pizza Expo education schedule at https://pizzaexpo.pizzatoday.com/education/education-schedule/

This week, we’re bringing you a fun episode with the Pizza Today Team giving our “Hot Takes” on pizza. And we didn’t even talk about pineapple on pizza. We dive into pizza styles. Whether toppings go over or under the cheese, chicken’s place, charring on pizza, olives, best cheese on pizza, childhood pizzas and more.

We’re also inviting you to send us your “Hot Takes”. We’re giving a fresh direction on the old-fashioned letters to the editor. We call it “Hot Take”. Do you have a “Hot Take” on a subject relevant to pizzeria operators and the pizza business? This is a space for you, the pizza professional, to share your passionate and succinct opinion with fellow pizzeria operators.

Hot Take is designed to allow you to share personal narratives and commentary, challenge industry norms, introduce big ideas or offer a new perspective. It’s an opportunity to focus on hot-button pizzeria topics, from operational concerns, trends, safety and community to workplace culture, technology and everything in between.

Our "Hot Take" section is a dynamic and interactive way for Pizza Today and our readers to capture the pulse of what’s on the minds of pizzeria operators with urgency and personality. Hot Takes are short writings in an informal style, usually written in first person.

If you have a Hot Take, we want to hear from you.

To submit a Hot Take:

Email Denise at dgreer@pizzatoday.com or Jeremy at jwhite@pizzatoday.com

Format:

Subject: HOT TAKE with Pizza Today – (Topic Discussed)

Headline (Limit 65 characters)

Your Hot Take should be between 300-800 words in paragraph format. Be sure your Hot Take is concise, informative and remains on the subject matter.

Your Name:

Pizzeria:

City and State:

<>

Email and Phone to verify identity and information.

This week, Elizabeth (Liz) Badami joins the podcast with Executive Editor Denise Greer and Senior Editor Kate Lavin. Liz has overcome trials and tragedy to reopen her pizzeria, Mary Jane’s Stone Baked Pizza in Chester, West Virginia in December 2024.

Liz and her husband Chris often told Liz’s mom Mary Jane that they would open a pizzeria and sell her signature treats. After Mary Jane was killed in a car crash in 2015, Chris started to make that idea a reality. The Badamis incrementally started acquiring everything they would need and opened the pizzeria in 2017. Liz began learning the pizza business and handled the ops side while Chris tackled the pizza.

In 2018, Chris suffered a fatal heart attack. Liz was left to either close the pizzeria or figure out how to manage the entire business on her own with two children. She leaned into learning pizza making and continued on.

Maneuvering through the COVID-19 Pandemic became another hurdle. Then she lost her location when the landlord sold the building. But Liz wasn’t giving up. She knew she wanted to reopen. But this time, she wanted to own the building.

Listen to Liz share her powerful story of perseverance and grit to reopen in a new town.

Read a great local newspaper article on Liz: https://www.reviewonline.com/news/local-news/2024/12/pizzeria-owner-makes-comeback-in-chester/

Learn more about Mary Jane’s Stone Baked Pizza at https://www.maryjanesstonebakedpizzeria.com/ and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/mary_janes_stonebaked_pizzeria/

Don’t miss this back-and-forth conversation with a mentor and mentee in the pizza business. This week we chat with Pete Raskovic, owner of Bentley’s Log Cabin Pub and Grill in Hollandale, Wisconsin and his mentor, the pizza icon and visionary John Arena, who owns Metro Pizza in Las Vegas.

Pete reached out to us wanting to share just how much John Arena helped him as he developed his pizza and pizza concept. Pete’s background is in IndyCar mechanic. He grew up in New York and wanted to bring New York-style pizza to his small town in Wisconsin. A friend suggested he reach out to John Arena for help getting started with pizza. Pete was surprised when John responded and offered so much of his time, talent and technique. Pete referred to as a “pizza boot camp”

We talk about asking for help, the culture of this amazing pizza industry to mentor new operators and the role industry veterans can play for incoming and new operators. Pete says that John answering his call changed his life. Whether you are new to the business or an industry veteran, this is a can’t-miss episode.

This week, Denise and Josh sit down with Joe Argento, co-owner of Mama’s Meatballs & Pizzeria in Pennsauken, New Jersey. Joe grew up in the pizza business and began working at his grandmother’s shop at age 8.

Joe went on to own his own pizzeria, but was ready to switch directions. His wife, Katherine, wanted to be in the food truck business, but Joe still wanted a storefront of some kind. As luck would have it, an existing restaurant/food truck became available in Pennsauken. While, at first, the business functioned as a sandwich shop, Joe and Katherine quickly knew that pizza needed to be part of the equation.

Mama’s Meatballs & Pizzeria has an expanded menu and drives creativity with offerings, like turning jumbo garlic knots into sliders. The delivery and carryout shop serves New York-style, Sicilian and Grandma pizza, an assortment of sandwiches and five different meatballs.

We talk shop in a casual conversation. We even explore when Joe and Katherine decided to reverse course on expanding the business into a neighboring storefront and honed in on the future of the business to one day own the space and build his dream kitchen and storefront, include dine-in seating.

Learn more about Mama’s Meatballs & Pizzeria at https://www.mamasmeatballs.com/ and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/mamas.meatballs/.

This week, we chat with Chef Daniel Holzman, who owns Danny Boy’s Famous Original, a two-location operation in Los Angeles, California.

We spoke with Daniel a few days before the catastrophic wildfires broke out in LA. So, our conversation with Daniel focused on his career, the growth of Danny Boy’s and what he has learned in the restaurant business.

Danny Boy’s locations are currently safe. We would like to recognize Danny Boy’s, who has quickly provided sanctuary for those affected. Both pizzerias are feeding the community, firefighters and first responders.

More background on Daniel:
Daniel started his cooking career at the age of 15 at Le Bernardin in New York City and remained there for four years until (at the suggestion of chef Eric Ripert) he attended the CIA. He then accepted a position at the soon-to-open Palladin in New York City under chef Jean-Louis Palladin (and worked alongside Wylie Dufresne and Sam Mason, among others). He went on to begin what would ultimately become a 10-year culinary journey through some of the West Coast’s finest restaurants, including The Campton Place, The Fifth Floor, Aqua and Jardinière.

In 2010, he co-founded The Meatball Shop in New York City. The fast-casual mix-and-match menu of meatballs was an instant hit. Five more locations of The Meatball Shop opened in NYC in quick succession, and he also co-authored The Meatball Shop Cookbook, published in 2011.

He moved to LA in 2019 to embark on a new passion -- pizza -- and opened Danny Boy's Famous Original, the slice joint of his childhood dreams, in 2021. Describing the years-long his years-long odyssey to perfect the New York-style slice: "As a classically trained chef, I approach pizza with reverence. Pizza isn’t fast food; it’s one of America’s most important dishes. And to understand how to make it great, I deconstructed everything about it. I searched out masters across the country, learned the history, and sampled thousands of pies. I interrogated oven makers, traveled to tomato farms, tried grains from countless flour mills, and experimented with the perfect cheese blend."

Since opening, he's received praise from LA Magazine for his "ultrawide, perfectly foldable, tangy-crusted slices [that] nail it"; LAist for being a "NY-style pizzeria that absolutely rips"; and Eater LA, which claimed "There may be no better New York-style slice spot in LA than Danny Boy’s right now.”

He just opened his second location of Danny Boy's this past summer, and has his sights set on a third.

He's also the co-author (with Matt Rodbard) of Food IQ: 100 Questions, Answers, and Recipes to Raise Your Cooking Smarts, released in 2022. (Some of the questions they answer include: "Why does pasta always taste better in a restaurant?", "When is it okay to cook with frozen vegetables?", and "What is baker's math, and why is it the secret to perfect pastry every time?")

Last but not least, he also co-hosts On the Line, a podcast during which he and co-host Chef Amanda Freitag interview culinary innovators.

More on the LA Wildfires

Among the horrible devastation from the wildfires in Los Angeles, we know there were pizzerias have been lost. Our new Senior Editor Kate Lavin is reporting on the LA Wildfires and the Pizza Community, including local pizzerias directly assisting the efforts on the ground, as well as Slice Out Hunger, who is rallying pizzerias in a fundraising effort to provide emergency funds. Read Kate’s s

Old Scratch Pizza in Dayton, Ohio, had a huge year in 2024. The Dayton pizza company opened its fourth location in a revitalized fire station. And in November, the pizzeria took home three Pizza Today PIE Awards: Pizzeria of the Year – Midwest Region, Most Interesting Menu and Most Unique Pizzeria Location.

We sat down with owner and founder Eric Soller and Executive Chef Josh Swinford to find out more about the red-hot pizza company. We talk about the pizzeria’s employee-centric approach, it’s Midwest Neapolitan-ish pizza, logistics of its growth, what real estate works for the concept, scratch menu, commissary and more.

Learn more about at Old Scratch Pizza at https://www.oldscratchpizza.com/ and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/oldscratchpizza/.

More on Old Scratch Pizza from a release:

Established in 2016, Old Scratch Pizza has become synonymous with exceptional pizza, creative wood-fired vegetables, and a large selection of regional craft beers. With a focus on quality, hospitality, and innovation, Old Scratch strives to be a local and regional restaurant community leader. Old Scratch currently has four locations in Southwestern Ohio - Downtown Dayton, Centerville, Beavercreek, and Troy.

Rooted in the classic Neapolitan style pizza, Old Scratch pizzas redefine tradition in a “Midwesternly Neapolitan” style. While still serving classics like the Margherita or Prosciutto Arugula, many of their pizzas feature more familiar ingredients like pepperoni, bacon, or the signature housemade hot honey. Wood-fired roasted vegetables, not-your-average salads, and 20 rotating taps of local craft beer round out the menu offerings.

The original Old Scratch Pizza was opened in 2016 by owners Eric and Stephanie Soller in a converted mechanic’s garage in Downtown Dayton, OH, and the concept has since grown to include locations in Centerville, Beavercreek, and Troy, Ohio. Every restaurant has a distinct visual identity, celebrating its roots while remaining faithful to the essence of Old Scratch. All of their locations offer an open kitchen and communal "beer hall" style seating, creating a shared space where guests can connect with family and friends, embodying the spirit of the Old Scratch community.

Happy New Year, pizza fam! The Pizza Today Team of Jeremy White, Denise Greer and Josh Keown kick the year off with conversation.

We talk 2025 goals, dream podcast guests, reminisce a little, share restaurant stories and changes the industry has experienced.

We want to know who your dream guest would be? Tell us on social or reach out to Denise at dgreer@pizzatoday.com.

If you would like to be a guest on The Hot Slice Podcast, e-mail Denise and let her know a little about your story and what you want to talk about on the show.

We wish you all a successful and happy 2025.

See you at Pizza Expo and Pizza Expo Columbus.