{"id":1593,"date":"2014-02-16T15:54:29","date_gmt":"2014-02-17T01:54:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/legendsofpizza.com\/blog\/?p=1593"},"modified":"2014-02-17T18:32:57","modified_gmt":"2014-02-18T04:32:57","slug":"la-strada-pizza-pizza-secrets-pizza-places","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/legendsofpizza.com\/blog\/la-strada-pizza-pizza-secrets-pizza-places","title":{"rendered":"La Strada Pizza on Pizza, Secrets, Best Pizza Places"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"lastradalogo\"<\/a>
La Strada Pizza logo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here is an interview I did recently with Nick Schneider, owner of La Strada, Pizza in Matunuck Rhode Island.
\nThe pizza was excellent. A thin crust with lots of taste. We were all impressed. I had to ask him
\nwhat were his secrets. How did he learn to make pizza?<\/p>\n

Nick gave me more than I asked for. He was honest and forthcoming…
\nand don’t even call him a pizzaiolo…he’s a pizza guy!<\/p>\n

Albert:<\/strong> Nick, tell me how you got into the pizza business?<\/p>\n

Nick:<\/strong> I got into the pizza business through my father Paul.
\nHe\u2019s been making pizza for over 50 years now. He opened his first place in his late teens
\nin Provincetown, Massachusetts called Spiritus Pizza, which is still there.<\/p>\n

Paul, my father and John Yingling, (Jingles) opened Spiritus together. So it\u2019s been around a long time,
\nthen he opened a bunch of other places. He is one of the original East Coast, New York Pizza Guys.
\nI\u2019m not saying that because he is my father but Paul Schneider is one of the original old school guys
\nand a lot of people have learned from him and used his recipe and are kind of pushing on.
\nHe\u2019s still around and that\u2019s
\nwhere I got all of my pizza stuff from.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s an artist and sculptor and a cook and a really interesting guy. That\u2019s where my pizza
\ncomes from and where my esthetic comes from.<\/p>\n

Albert:<\/strong> Is he still making pizza?<\/p>\n

Nick:<\/strong> Oh yeah, he\u2019s go a great place in a very unassuming spot,
\nin Ellsworth, Maine called, Finelli\u2019s Pizza.<\/p>\n

People are walking in there all the time with their chest out, saying I\u2019m from New York, I\u2019m from New Haven
\nand we know pizza. We\u2019ve heard all about this place. And once they have the pizza, they become believers.
\nAnd he\u2019s still there in Ellsworth, Maine and he\u2019s still doing it. He makes the best pizza I\u2019ve ever had! Ever!
\nWay better than mine.
\nYeah, the best.<\/p>\n

\"nickoven\"<\/a>
La Strada Pizza Oven<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Albert<\/strong>: So you learned to make pizza side by side with your Dad.
\nHe took you by the hand and showed you how to make pizza.<\/p>\n

Nick:<\/strong> I remember sleeping on flour bags as a kid. I\u2019d always stay there because there was a
\nrush (of customers)
\nand he would work really late, and I was a kid and I would stay in the pizza shop\u2026
\n\"lastradapizza\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Albert:<\/strong> Do you make your dough the day before?<\/p>\n

Nick:<\/strong> I make my dough a couple of days before. I at least make it a day before, I like to make it a couple of days
\nbefore\u2026Depends on how busy we are.<\/p>\n

Albert:<\/strong> So you use a cold ferment method, as opposed to a warm ferment?<\/p>\n

Nick:<\/strong> Both actually. I use a warm (proof) ferment, then a cold ferment and then a warm ferment.<\/p>\n

Albert:<\/strong> So you think that is the secret to great pizza?<\/p>\n

Nick:<\/strong> It\u2019s not a secret anymore, cause you just screwed it up for for me.<\/span> It was a secret!<\/p>\n

You know when you came in here you asked me if I was a pizzaiolo, and I said no, I\u2019m the pizza guy.<\/strong>
\nMy dad\u2019s a pizza guy, he\u2019s not a pizzaiolo either. That stuff I think a lot
of this stuff and secrets that is out on the Internet now,like the DOC stuff is coming from these certifications.
There is a school that says you have to use this flour, you have to use this method, you have to use this water.
You have to do this and you have to do that.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think that is the case. I\u2019m not a Prima Dona I don\u2019t know anything about anything.
\nYou just got to do what you
\ndo and love it and that\u2019s it.<\/p>\n

And the most important thing I believe is the way the dough is handled.
My father calls this dough management.
\nThe way the dough is handled, when it comes out, how long it is sitting around for before
it goes into the oven.
\nAnd of course the temperature of
\nthe oven.<\/p>\n

Your oven\u2019s got to be hot, hot hot!<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

And that\u2019s it\u2026<\/p>\n

\"Nick<\/a>
Nick of La Stada and Albert of Pizza Therapy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This \u201cyour oven\u2019s got to be made here by this guy, who is from this part of Naples, and using this flour,
\nthat\u2019s all”
\na little to much, \u2026 I\u2019m in Matunuck Rhode Island. I\u2019m not brining in the water from New York. I don\u2019t bring in any crazy stuff.
\nI just do it the way I was taught, which is the way my dad taught me. And it seems to work for us\u2026<\/p>\n

Here is the interview on You Tube:<\/p>\n