Presented by Steve Dolinsky,
James Beard award winning broadcaster and author
and
Chef Peter DeRuvo,
Davanti Enoteca’s Corporate Executive Chef

Steve Dolinsky and Chef DeRuvo will prepare Davanti’s traditional Neapolitan pizzas for people to sample as they regale us with Chicago and Italian pizza lore.

In his new book, Pizza City, USA: 101 Reasons Why Chicago is America’s Greatest Pizza Town, Chicago’s eminent food journalist and impartial pizza judge extraordinaire, Steve Dolinsky, embarked on a self-described “Pizza Quest,” methodically taste-testing 185 different pizzas all over Chicagoland before coming up with his 101 best. He’ll share the secrets unearthed during that quest, including the fact that the Windy City offers a stunning 10 distinctive categories of pizza.

Steve Dolinsky and Chef DeRuvo will also discuss:
What makes Chicago Pizza City, USA?
What are the essential ingredients to great pizza? What do locals prefer? How are the best pizzas made?
What is true Neapolitan pizza? What is D.O.C.?

Join us to learn more about Chicago is “America’s Great Pizza Town.”

Steve Dolinsky has won 13 James Beard Awards for his TV and radio work. Currently, he is the Food Reporter for ABC 7 – Chicago. His “Hungry Hound” reports air on the ABC 7 News at 11 a.m. on Fridays and 10 p.m. on Saturdays, covering a range of food and drink-related topics. He is the Co-Creator/Host of The Feed Podcast with Chef Rick Bayless (which garnered a Beard award in 2015 for best podcast).

Before joining ABC 7, Steve was Executive Producer and Host of “Good Eating.” The weekly, half-hour show aired on CLTV, the 24-hour cable news channel owned by The Tribune Company. He produced and hosted 52 shows per year for 8 years, garnering six Beard Awards for his work there.

Chef Peter DeRuvo, current Corporate Executive Chef at Davanti Enoteca and the Francesca’s Restaurant Group, graduated from Johnson & Wales in Providence, Rhode Island where he studied the culinary arts and hotel and restaurant management. In 1993, DeRuvo began his culinary career as a Chef at Al Forno an Italian restaurant in Providence, where he obtained immense learning skills and philosophies about cooking that would sustain him throughout his entire career.

DeRuvo made his way to the Bay Area to cook under Chez Panisse alum Chef Paul Bertolli and Paul Canales at Oliveto in Oakland, where he was able to fine tune his cooking techniques. While living in the Bay Area, DeRuvo was introduced to olive oil producer, Albert Katz where a brilliant friendship formed. Katz sent DeRuvo to Tuscany, Italy where he spent a year gaining vast knowledge of the entire olive oil industry where he tended to the olive groves at Montecastelli, a well-known producer of Italian wines, olive oils and balsamic vinegars. Exploring the world of olive oil in the land of plenty, DeRuvo continued to cook at two star restaurant Casalta Ristorante with Chef Lazzaro Cimodoro. DeRuvo continued his studies of olives traveling throughout the South of France to cities such as Nice and Monte Carlo.

When he’s not bringing his unique approach to Italian dining as Francesca’s Restaurant’s Corporate Executive Chef, you can find him spending time traveling, golfing, reading and of course, eating.

Wednesday, October 24, 2018, 5 PM – 7 PM
Davanti Enoteca, 1359 W. Taylor St, Chicago, IL 60607
Street parking

Pizza samples will be served.
(All beverages and any extra dishes are at your expense.)

FREE! Limited seating available, please reserved via BrownPaperTickets.com

This program is hosted by the Greater Midwest Foodways. To reserve, please e-mail: greatermidwestfoodways@gmail.com or call 847-432-8255. Copies of Steve Dolinsky’s book will be available for purchase.

The Greater Midwest Foodways Alliance is dedicated to celebrating, exploring and preserving the American Midwest’s unique food traditions and their cultural contexts.

www.GreaterMidwestFoodways.com