Pizza Today - July 2018 - 44

the road to pizza & pasta

Event organizers say this
year's show lineup is all set
S TORY JE RE MY WHITE

The Pizza & Pasta Northeast
2018 show is set to rock the
East Coast in just three months.
Scheduled for October 3-4, the
show promises to pack the Atlantic
City Convention Center with a
smorgasbord of pizza - and
pasta - sights, sounds and
smells. Building on the success of
last year's inaugural event, PPNE
organizers have devised a lineup of
speakers for workshops, seminars
and food demonstrations that will
complement the show floor and the
competitions.
In this month's installment of
"Road to PPNE" we take a look at a
couple of those speakers and what
they plan to bring to the show to
help attendees run their pizza and
pasta businesses better than ever.
John Gutekanst, owner of Avalanche Pizza in Athens, Ohio, will
be leading a pair of food demos
attendees won't want to miss.
"Meatball Madness" (Wednesday,
October 3 from 12:30-1:30 p.m.)
and "Creative Ravioli Fillings"
(Thursday, October 4 from
12:30-1:30 p.m.) will walk operators through the ins and outs of
producing great appetizer and
entrée pasta dishes.
"The attendees at both my sessions may be surprised," Gutekanst
quips. "Both of these foods started
with scarcity. Poor societies that
had to stretch foodstuffs by using
offcuts of proteins, vegetables and
limited amounts of ground grain.
These have now become stars on
the plate at many restaurants."

JG: Quality lies in provenance, care and craftsmanship. Foods that are fresh,
raised humanely and locally
are king. If these foods are
processed with an eye on
past traditions and a wink to
present trends, any independent can't go wrong.
PT: What common mistakes
do you see other pizzeria
owners constantly making in
their kitchens?
JG: It drives me crazy to see
pizzerias using low grade
sauce and tomatoes as well
as cheap cheese. But what
really infuriates me are
undercooked pies and slices.
Most humble pizza eaters
may overlook this, thinking
that the doughy gum-line
is cheese - but then that
uncooked dough ends up
ruining digestion.
PT: How would you describe
what attendees can expect
from your demos?
We sat down with John for
a quick Q&A to give PPNE
attendees a feel for what
they can expect from his
two demos.
PT: How do you intend to
get meaningful information
on these topics across to the
operators who sit in on your
sessions?
JG: I'm gonna blast some
fantastical combinations that

the attendees will be able to
taste and judge for themselves
which ones would suit their
own operations. Meatballs and
ravioli stuffings like Chorizo,
chicken, lamb, duck and vegetarian and vegan combinations
like chickpea and sprouted
lentil to accommodate this
new customer base.
PT: How do you personally
define quality when it comes
to these foods?

JG: My demos are going to
be very interactive. I want the
operators to have a hands-on
experience with different
pasta doughs like semolina,
squid ink and spinach. I also
have a sauce and meatball
pairing - complete with food
costs - and a great segment
on using caul fat to wrap
meatballs and Lardo for the
perfectly porktastic "Lardballs
from Heaven."

OCTOBER 3-4, 2018 / ATLANTIC CITY CONVENTION CENTER
4 4 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / J U LY 2 0 1 8
http://www.pizzaexpo.com/ http://www.PIZZATODAY.COM
Pizza Today - July 2018

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