@BigMamas -- Is there an email address I can use to reach you? Got some questions about the box for a project I'm working on. Hit me at scott at scottspizzatours dot com

Just a note: I was hiring but

Gotto get that box!

@jedd Yes but difference in food cost in minimal. Addition of a second size was a big change for the industry.

Thanks to all who supported the event! It took about three months of constant work to make it happen and our crew of volunteers was absolutely incredible. This is a 100% volunteer-run event pulled together by people who just want to see it happen and we're always looking for ways to improve it. This year's event set a pretty high mark with regard to the money we raised and the mechanics of room flow. I didn't set a date or do any real work until we had St Anthony's on board but I must say it's an ideal venue and worked perfectly. We were so overwhelmed by last year's massive turnout that I made a list of improvements and sketched a map of a better room flow right after I got home from the event and the result seems to have worked really well. We also had walkie talkies for better communication between inside and outside teams and signage so folks would know what pizzerias were across the room so they could save space on their plates / pizza boxes.

We're limited by how much pizza restaurants are willing to donate but I still think we could get some more next year. I'd love to have an even 500 pies, if not more. I'd also like to streamline the prize area next year. We picked the winners but I haven't contacted them just yet. Probably going to do that tomorrow morning. It's funny, I spend months pulling it together but it isn't over when we run out of pizza -- I still have at least a week of getting prizes to people and dealing with contacting everyone with info and getting the money to City Harvest. (if anyone needs napkins or paper plates please contact me, I have a million of them.)

You guys have lots of great ideas and we'll definitely consider any thoughts you have. As Adam said, we're always looking for ways to improve. The best way to help out is by volunteering to help at the event itself. We have meetings in advance where we talk about how the event will work and collectively brainstorm ways to make it better. So definitely shoot me an email or respond to the call to arms that Slice puts out about a month before Slice Out Hunger every year. I'd love to do something really big next year, so contact me EVEN IF YOU AREN'T IN NYC. I'm talking to you PHILLY, CHICAGO and LA (or wherever you are that has lots of people and pizza). There's also talk of doing one just for NYU in the near future.

Sorry for the long comment and for taking so long to chime in on this but I went from a tour yesterday right to event setup then stayed until the venue was spotless then toured this morning before doing a Pizza History talk at the New York Public Library this evening. Plus I've been apartment searching for the past 3 weeks, so it has been just a bit more hectic than usual lately. Also explains my spotty Scott's Pizza Chronicles posts as of late, but I assure you they shall return.

Thanks again to all who helped, to Serious Eats for donating prizes and covering the heck out of SOH, to Adam for BEING a prize and to everyone who attended and had a blast eating pizza for a good cause. Every slice eaten effectively rescues 12 pounds of food for the homeless and hungry. That means the event will rescue over 153,000 pounds of food via City Harvest!

Jeff is one of my favorite pizza makers so I'm not too worried about his gear. The proof is in the pie.

@blaise I've seen it in Roman pizza shops but not so much anywhere else. Are they regular kitchen shears or long scissors?

@adam People are afraid to get it for you because they think you already have a closet full of them.

@millions It's true, there is no ice machine at Suprema. Really strange but that's just their deal. Good news is they're thinking of adding some nice draft beers to the counter!

@adam I agree, the striped shirts are rad. Joe said they've been wearing them since late 1960s. Very sharp indeed.

They use BOTH deck and conveyor. Starts on the belt, then finished on the deck. I'm not a big Pete & Elda's fan but Federici's does it right for thin crust. Really cool place, too. Hungry now...

I've had more bad experiences than good ones at Artichoke lately, but only at the MacDougal and 17th Street locations. Haven't been to 14th street in over a year. Tastes better after the sun goes down, that's for sure.

@dmc Update on dough info via email from John Arena....
"Regarding fermentation 24 hours is minimum and is based on space limitations and previous days use. I much prefer 36 to 48 hours if possible."

@dhorst Good call on balling vs rounding... even though I'm sure people get the idea of what I'm talking about I do agree about not abusing dough. Since words do have power I changed them all to rounding for when this posts to my blog tomorrow. No more balling anything!
blog.scottspizzatours.com

Totally agree about the St Louie... definitely my favorite pie at Speedy's. This place is a block from my apartment and I waited patiently for it to open, hoping desperately that it would be decent. It's beyond decent and I'm so nervous that I'll be spending too much time there. As far as I know they are the only Provel users in NYC and it's just for that one pie. Super super super good.

I completely understand the skepticism about trade shows but you don't have to look far below the surface to see how much information is contained in one convention center. Of course the purpose of the show is to sell products but I don't own a restaurant, don't buy 50 lb bag of flour, don't want a cheese shredder, have never made dough in a mixer, don't buy cheese in bulk and don't plan on doing so any time soon yet these folks are still more than happy to answer all my questions. And believe me, I bombard them. The folks at Escalon answered some questions about acidity levels in canned tomato products. General Mills explained why they source, mill and sell different products based on regions throughout the US (explains a lot about regional crust differences). I learn more about oven construction, tomato packing, flour milling and all the rest from the short trade show than I would by doing anything short of visiting the plants, farms and factories (and I have done that as well).

There's a lot of goofiness at the show, like pizza box folding, dough acrobatics, largest stretch competitions, inflatable pizza suits, etc but those are just for camaraderie. That's what I thought I would see when I went to my first pizza trade show but I only go back because I have yet to experience a show in which I didn't learn something new.

Just ask the guys from Pizza Brain, the pizza museum/pizzeria coming to Philly in a few months. They went to expo this year and almost exploded with joy. Next year I propose a Slice excursion, maybe we can even do a seminar from the "pizza fan/blogger" perspective.

@scotdc I do apologize for spending more than a couple words about Las Vegas itself, but I only meant to use it to demonstrate that I wouldn't go to the show just for an excuse to be in Vegas. Lots of people probably go for a tax deductible vacation but I'm there for the show. That being said, I did have some of the best Thai and Japanese food on this trip as well as some ridiculous breakfasts at Hash House A Go Go.

@gabagool That photo above is from a couple years back but I do believe they still make whole tomatoes. Most of their line is crushed (you can get it at Costco now) but Stanislaus is right across the road and their Alta Cucina whole tomatoes are great. As for their booth, it's great for two reasons.... 1. They do serve great food and 2. The sales people DO NOT try to sell you things. Their job is to hang out with you. Their customer care level is staggering.

@John Woz You're too smart to think you've learned enough. As for the Japanese pizza, it's Japan's interpretation of pizza as a genre in the same way tomato sauce and low moisture mozzarella is the American version. Use the foods you know locally and you'll eat well, right?

@Meredith Still on the Japanese pie, the ingredients are as follows....
1. rice flour in the dough
2. soy and japanese mayo in the sauce
3. slices mochi, Gouda and mozz blend, corn, teriyaki, dried seaweed, dried fermented and smoked skipjack tuna flakes

Even though it didn't win, I thought it was the strongest "non-traditional" pizza.