Peter Reinhart, who grew up in Penn Valley, graduated from Harriton High School, won the James Beard Award for his book “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice” and ate a lot of pizzas, steak sandwiches, and hoagies at Mama’s – Was back in town last month, teaching a group of wannabe pizza makers at Drexel University’s Philly Chef Conference how to make Detroit Style Pizza.
Reinhart lives in Charlotte and is on the faculty at Johnson and Wales University. In addition to demonstrating his pizza-making expertise, he also demonstrated how you can take the boy out of Philly, but you can’t take the Philly out of the boy.
He told the class at Drexel, “All pizza is good, but today we’re not just going for good; we’re going for memorable.” Staying true to his Philly roots, Reinhart enhanced his Detroit-style pizza with a healthy dollop of “Secret Sauce,” inspired by the concoction of vinegar, oil, herbs, and God knows what else – that skilled Philadelphia Hoagie makers put on top of their meats, lettuce and tomatoes – making their iconic sandwiches not just good, but memorable.