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Brian Erst

@brianerst

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With the Columbus @pizzaexpo kicking off this weekend, we figured we’d throw it back to Vegas and the International Pizza Expo this past March. 🍕

One of the best parts of this industry is the people you meet along the way. Getting to reconnect with old friends that share the same passion and grind that you have.

I had a blast getting to share the experience with some of our Pizza Di Farfalla crew! Hands down the best team to work with in the business @jake_benchak @brodywaj @max_devito.

We also had the opportunity to spend time w/ Bruce (@smartpizzamarketing) and the crew at the @slice booth w/ @chef_juanrobles of @triplebeampizza and @tori_tspizzeria.

We slung pizzas w/ @pizzalee33 in the @pizzamaster_mpm booth. What an awesome experience.

Of course we had time to hang and have a little fun w/ our friends in crust. This reel barely scratches the surface of all the incredible people and moments from that week.

We won’t be making it to Columbus this weekend, but wishing all our pizza friends and fellow pizza makers the best of luck!

Keep pushing this industry forward. We will catch you at the next one.

#Pizza #PizzaExpo

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Love love love comin’ to @pizzaexpo.

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Forget the dough, the real battle at the @abtelectronics pizza cook off was for a place in our stomachs. The chefs got fired up on the @alfaovens.usa pizza ovens for a cause, bragging rights, & a charity of their choice. I’m honored to be back once again to judge these delicious creations.

This tasty event featured five talented pizza chefs. Chef @glabbate13 @tievolipizzabar created a Harvest Pizza which was made with roasted garlic & oil sauce, baby kale, butternut squash, mozzarella & fontina topped with balsamic caramelized onions, applewood bacon, parmesan cheese, roasted pumpkin seeds & pomegranate glaze. It was the perfect slice of fall.

Chef Giovanni Oriente from @pizzadifarfalla created a Beef & Giard Beef with fresh garlic, sliced Italian beef & pepperoncini topped with red sauce & house made @carusoprovisions giardiniera aioli. I’m a sucker for a beef sandwich on a pizza. The spicy aioli really brought the pizza together.

Chef Victor Joua @wgpizzas served up their Pizza A La Vodka with vodka sauce, calabrian chilis, basil & smoked mozzarella. I love the flavors along with the tavern crust.

Chef Joey Beach @pizzalobo_ made a Manhattan pizza with garlic oil, garlic, ricotta, roasted tomato, mozzarella, vodka sauce & a nut free basil pesto. This is one of their most popular pizzas at the restaurant.

Rounding out the competition was
@princestreetpizza with their signature spicy Sicilian pie. The crust crispy & those small pepperoni cups were just magical.

All of the chefs cooked their pizzas on the @alfaforni.official outdoor pizza ovens. These ovens have been handcrafted in Italy since 1971. I love all the fun colors. It’s fun to see chefs outside their comfort zone in a competition. They all faced a learning curve with the live fire but were able to deliver fantastic bites.

The winners of the competition were the audience choice @pizzalobo_ & the judges choice @pizzadifarfalla. Congrats to all the competitors!

A big thanks to @abtelectronics for hosting this event showcasing their amazing products along with giving to the chef’s charities. You do not want to miss this contest next year!

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Abt hosted their 3rd Annual Pizza Cook-Off 🍕

There were five pizza restaurants that competed for a grand prize of a $2000 donation towards their charity of choice.

@pizzalobo_
@princestreetpizza
@wgpizzas
@tievolipizzabar
@pizzadifarfalla

The event was emceed by the ICONIC @stevedolinsky. All of us judges had a blast walking around getting to know all the chefs & tasting their creation. It is insane how much thought, effort and passion goes into making all these unique pizzas!

🥇Judged the pizzas with some of the best out there @sherriesavorsthecity , @brianerst & @anthonymartorina

🏆Congrats to @pizzadifarfalla on your win, 2 years in a row!

#abt #abtelectronics #pizzacompetition #princestreetpizza #pizzalobo #pizzadifarfalla #wgpizzas #tievolipizzabar #stevedolinsky #glenview #glenviewillinois

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We had a blast at @abtelectronics for the 2025 Pizza Cook-Off 🍕🔥

We rolled out a new pizza: Italian Beef, fresh garlic, pepperoncini, splashes of red sauce, and our house-made giardiniera aioli.

Proud of our crew—this pizza took home the win and scored $2K for The Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Foundation

Thanks to the guest judges and the team at Abt for pulling together another fun event where #PizzaForGood was the ultimate prize!

#Pizza #NewLenox #PizzaForGood

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At @pizzacityfest Nashville, thanks @brianerst You ROCK! @perfectcrustpizzaliners

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As some of you may recall, I am a big fan of Neopolitan style pizza, and it’s time to add @pizzaserio on Belmont, just west of Ashland, to the list of my local favorites alongside @spaccanapolichicago and @deathbydough and @lanternpizzaco

They call their style NeopolAmerican East Coast, which I didn’t realize was a subgenre, but I call it flat out delicious. The crust was firm and chewy, the sauce was not too sweet and the sausage was nicely spicy.

Great beer list and all drinks are $5 on Thursdays. Highly recommended. No reasons not to getcha some!

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For me, this may likely be remebered as the summer of brilliant, thin crust pizza on Friday nights in Albany Park with my pals at @templestowepub from Pizza Y Pan Pa’Ya, the Colombian restaurant at Troy and Montrose ( @todoloricocolombiano ).

Not the first time I’ve posted on this pizza, so to recap, the way to go is easy cheese and sausage. We hit it hard with red pepper flakes straight out of the oven into the box before carrying it across the street to eat to release those spicey flavors. The crispy, buttery crust is so good: this one was a little well done and just perfect (again)!

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Took me a year to find out that @spokencafe in my neighborhood near the Brown Line at Montrose is owned by a couple from New Iberia, LA. So thanks to @bowser_ for the tip.

Tried the carry out, frozen boudin first and after a thawing and trip to the Beville toaster oven I was doing a Zydeco Cha Cha.

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Finished writing a chapter about pizza in Chicago and had my first shot of Malört to celebrate.

Celebration or punishment, I’m not sure.

What does pizza have to do with Malört? They were both nourished in Chicago taverns.

There’s a great, fun book called, “Malört: The Redemption of a Revered and Reviled Spirit” by Josh Noel coming out this year that I’ve preordered. A fascinating story. I encourage you to do the same if you’re into cocktail culture, history and marketing.

The taste may be terrible (frankly, after everything I heard, I kind of expected much worse) but the culture and story are great and the hype is real. There are few shops that stock it in NYC and the one I preordered it at in Brooklyn, Grain & Vine, sold out two shipments the same day they arrived since I placed my order. Crazy.

Chicago, I never thought as a New York Knicks fan as a kid growing up in the 90’s tortured by Michael Jordan that I’d so willingly spend so much time thinking and writing about you.

A big thank you to all the Chicago folks I have been texting, emailing, zooming, and Google Meeting over the past few months. Can’t promise you won’t hear from me over the next week or so as I contemplate deep dish.

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#ItsPizzaNight and we’re at Professor Pizza in Chicago’s West Loop.

@ProfessorPizza’s government name is Anthony ‘Tony’ Scardino, who until the last year-plus has been sort of an itinerant pizzamaker, working in various Chicago pizzerias throughout the Windy City all while making a variety of pizza styles.

When I visited him for this video (in May 2023), he was preparing to open as the pizza vendor at West Loop rooftop bar Tetto, where he and his crew serve multiple styles: Detroit, Sicilian, grandma, New York–style, and Chicago cracker crust. Scardino has since opened a second location — a full-service Professor Pizza — in Chicago’s Old Town, near Second City.

Since the main thrust of my trip from NYC to Chicago was to sample thin crust, I asked Tony to make his favorite thin crust pie. That turned out to be one with two kinds of sausage, Sweety Drop chiles, whipped ricotta, and fresh basil.

While Scardino has worked Chicago pizzerias like Paulie Gee’s and Dough Bros — and at a variety of non-pizza restaurants — his main influence can be traced to Tony Gemignani’s International School of Pizza in San Francisco, where Scardino studied under Gemignani and Laura Meyer. Gemignani’s school is known for its multidisciplinary pizza program — which goes a long way in explaining Scardino’s own wide-ranging menu.

My friend @BrianErst (mentioned in this video) recently opined on his IG feed that Scardino’s best pie is his grandma, and I wish I’d have tried it. But traffic was bad and time was tight that day, so I focused on one of Chicago’s indigenous styles.

It’s worth noting here that Scardino is doing a cured-crust method — but his crust is pretty different from the more traditional (Pat’s) and revival cured crust places (Kim’s Uncle, Crust Fund). The video shows how different it is.

#ItsPizzaNightAtProfessorPizza #akubanXchicago #ThinCrustPizza #ChicagoCrackerCrust

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What a wonderful night with some really cool people and fantastic pizza!! Thank you @professorpizza for such a fabulous night and showing us your new venture… congratulations to you!! Great experience and incredible to see all the work you’ve put into it all. Thank you for having us🖤

#pizzovers #pizzafreaks #professorpizza🍕🍕🍕

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