All Roads Lead to Pizza w/ Scott Wiener

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On this episode, join us for an intimate conversation with Scott Wiener, founder of Scott's Pizza Tours and Slice Out Hunger, pizza historian extraordinaire, and all around good guy.

 

From his early days as a sound engineer living on an Ellis Island ferry boat to building New York's premier pizza tour company, Scott shares how his passion project evolved into a thriving business and cultural institution. Discover how he transformed from an outsider with no industry connections into one of pizza's most respected voices, while maintaining his commitment to education and community.

 

Recorded in a storage facility surrounded by his legendary Guinness World Record pizza box collection, this candid discussion explores the changing landscape of pizza culture, competition judging, and why sometimes the best business plan starts with just showing up.

 

Key Ingredients:

• Started Scott's Pizza Tours in 2008 with $7,000 savings while living rent-free on a boat

• Grew from 100 tours/year to 700+ tours annually serving 7-10,000 people

• Created Slice Out Hunger which now has 800 pizzeria partners nationwide

• Believes newer pizzerias often understand dough science better than legacy shops

• Advocates for standardized pizza competition judging with style-specific certification

• Maintains world's largest pizza box collection (requiring formal archival gloves!)

Chapters:

00:00 - The Evolution of NYC Pizza Scene

22:10 - From Sound Engineer to Pizza Professional

34:19 - Building a Tour Company from Scratch

52:49 - Becoming a Pizza Industry Voice

01:07:03 - Competition Judging & Standardization

01:34:40 - The Birth of Slice Out Hunger

01:42:03 - Rapid Fire: Overrated/Underrated

01:48:27 - Inside the World Record Collection