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[pizzamaestro44]

A Mano will be hosting world-class Sorrento-based pizza master Antonino Esposito for a close up look at pizza craftsmanship on Monday, July 20th, from 6:00-7:30 p.m. by reservation only.  Widely heralded as a master of authentic Neapolitan pizza, Mr. Esposito will demonstrate his skills and share insights during this brief appearance at the Ridgewood trattoria.

A top 5 finalist in 2007’s International Pizza Challenge and grand champion of Sorrento’s Taste and Cooking International Championship, Mr. Esposito will share distinctive subtleties of dough making, dough stretching, and baking temperatures, as well as other unique elements that make his creations so widely celebrated.  The demonstration will highlight the contrasts between Neapolitan and Italian American pizza, showcase A Mano’s distinctive imported ingredients, and provide attendees with samples of Mr. Esposito’s pizza and selected menu items from A Mano’s menu.   

Who:   Antonino Esposito, renowned pizzaiuolo and Italian Food Channel star 

What: An intimate educational, complimentary cooking demonstration by esteemed pizzaiuolo and Italian Food Channel pizza maestro, Antonino Esposito, held at A Mano, Neapolitan trattoria, 24 Franklin Avenue in Ridgewood, NJ

When: Monday, July 20th, 2009
             6:00-7:30 p.m.

Where: A Mano
            24 Franklin Avenue
            Ridgewood, NJ 07450

Phone: (201) 493-2000
                 
Reservations Required:  Space is limited to the first thirty people.  RSVP to Heidi Raker, heidi@rakergoldstein.com of Raker Goldstein & Co., (201)784-1818.

[pcampbell]

OK.  I signed up.  Why not right? 

[JConk007]

see you there PC I am trying to sign up
John

[BurntFingers]

We signed up and got our confirmation from Heidi today.  Sounds like it will be a good event.

[pcampbell]

nice!!!

where are you from BurntFingers?

[JConk007]

Pretty cool guys. I talked to Hiedi today and I am in too! Should be great stuff.  Scott r ever hear of this guy?

 Burnt fingers where are you from ? See you patric, and bf on the 20th I am the big blonde guy. Hope we can all chat as well
Nice to meet someone beyond the keyboard.
John

[scott r]

John, I have heard of this guy.  I actually tried his pizza at pizzeria Da Gigino while vacationing in Sorrento Italy.   The pizza was very good, but in sorrento I prefered Del Franco which surprislingly was a bit more like american pizza than what you would find in Naples. Normally I would think this is a bad thing, but for some reason it worked. It sort of reminded me of sallys in new haven, but better.

The pizza at Da Gigino was a neapolitan style pizza, but it was different than the pizzas that Marco guided me to in Naples, largely due to a slower bake time.   Still, I am sure there is a ton of great info to learn from him, and I wish I could go.  If someone can ask him a question for me I would be very grateful.  In Sorrento the predominant pizza style is pizza by the meter.   I am wondering if they use lard, oil, or fats of any sort in the dough for this style of pizza. 

THANKS!

[David]

http://www.antoninoesposito.com/

[pcampbell]

Hum

Hopefully I will be able to figure out who is who ...

[tommy]

how did it go?  unfortunately i couldn't get over there in time.  would have liked seeing the demo and meeting some of you folks.

[JConk007]

Very well ! It was more of a Caputo pump up This guy speaks little to no English, mixes dough by feel !no scale for anything add water add yeast, then sprinkle in flour and mix, then salt last. He does the 2 dough balls at once one with each hand. 9 oz for a 12" pie owner said  1 liter of flour to 3lbs Caputo? sound right? Pizza was great ! and I stayed for my own they gave out samples of the newer whole grain offering from Caputo and also Gluten free coming soon to an oven near you! Tasted fine. Enjoyed the Buffalo Mozz. and Store made Mozz samples as well very tasty. Burntfingers who / where were you ? I did meet PC my neighbor! (I am right in Mahwah Tommy) so that was nice. I will put up picks when I am not so tired. Some wild creations there Nice talking with the owner who is importer by trade. but no Roberto
ciao
John

[JConk007]

 alright so I couldnt wait check out some of Antoninos work here! Fabulosa
How do you like the bird Bill gotta try that one eh?
soory forgot camers all black berry phone pics
John

[BurntFingers]

Yup, we (6 of us) went as well.  Stayed for dinner after the excellent lecture and demonstration.  The back of the house stuff was excellent. The front of the house left a bit to be desired.  I don't think they were prepared for people staying for dinner after the presentation.  Staying for dinner was good if only they could have had a more professional wait staff.  The pizza and appetizers were excellent if only they could have served them properly.  We ended up waiting and extremely long time and each person got served 10 to 20 minutes apart.  I think that they must be closed on Mondays and only the cooks came in and not their wait staff. Maybe next time I am up in that part of NJ, we will try it on a regular night to see if is the same or better. It is 11:30 pm and we just got home.   

 I took similar pictures as to those already posted.   I only wish I took one of him stretching the 250 grm dough ball into a round sheet about a meter across.

[David]

Thoroughly enjoyed the hospitality and generosity provided by the owners and staff at A Mano this evening.Through the interpretation provided by Fred Mortati we were introduced to some of the finer points of the components that go into Pizza Napoletana.Tastings of VERY fresh house made Mozzarella and Imported Buffala were offered and enjoyed.Hand dough mixing / balling was demonstrated and they were open to any questions posed.Caputo flour was prominently featured as this is the dominant brand preferred in Naples and the one represented in the US by Orlando Foods.For me the most interesting ,was the chance to try a rice based gluten free pizza flour that is in development.Fred ,Carlo and all at A Mano deserve a lot of credit for being innovative entrepreneurs and championing new products that they promote and endeavor to bring to a wider market.If you find Caputo on a supermarket shelf one day,chances are you've got these guys to thank.In it's relatively short life,A Mano has introduced us to the skills of Roberto Caporuscio,Antonio Starita,Antimo Caputo and Antonino Esposito.I personally do not know of any other home based organization that has done more to promote Neapolitan pizza or been as helpful to inquiries from this Forums membership as they, and they deserve our support
Regards,
David

[JConk007]

Guys, wish I could have met you all david and Burnt. Was it you who went to look at the pasta machine in the back? did not want to announce I have my own WFO and was looking for Pizza making .com members  but I stayed solo for a 90 second pie that took 30 min?so yes service was really bad But I will try again on regular service. Owner  Very freindly  and offered to get me Caputo Here is the dough stretch pic this is a 9 oz. ball! Talk about window paning thats a sliding door
john

[David]

In fairness to the people working last night,it seemed that a lot of people stayed for dinner after the presentation and there were regular customers upstairs.For the pizzaioli to get hit with 30 + orders almost simultaneously is no fun (Believe me i've done it ).It is therefore not unreasonable to have to wait 20 - 30 minutes for food IMO in that situation,even though it may actually only take 2 minutes to prepare and cook.
Regards,
David

[BurntFingers]

Yes, they did get slammed.  Been there and done that. (a few years in the business in both sides of the house) There are ways the wait staff can make it happen without the clients knowing it.  We knew they would be hit that is why we ordered wine, (a NJ wine from Alba Vineyards) and it was very good) appetizers then pizza's.  The spacing would have given them a chance to sort things out.  I will try it again at sometime in the near future. 

Yes, we went into the kitchen to check the dough mixer.  I can see how it makes the movements of the human arm while turning a bowl with 25 Kg of Caputo flour and enough water to make the dough. It was very gentle on the dough in its movements yet getting the structure to make that huge window pane without over heating it with friction.  20 minutes of kneading to get it right, along with the proper bench resting.  The presentation was very, very interesting.  The added benefit was refreshing my Italian language skills, meeting new folks & as well as learning some new pizza making techniques. It was a very worthwhile field trip.  If any of you are in the NY NJ area it is worth the ride to A Mano.  We put on lots of miles to get there and back.  The place is beautifully appointed.

[tommy]

Apparently, last night, Roberto was also giving a demo!

http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2009/07/how-to-make-neapolitan-pizza-crust-from-keste-pizzeria-vino-nyc-manhattan-roberto-caporuscio.html

Damnit.

[JConk007]

Same Tomatoes as A Mano! ?? Its proof Roberto was there in Ridgewood at some point.

[jimd]

Anyone else notice that Roberto's formula (see article from link above) calls for about 3.5% salt? This seems very high to me. We did eat at Keste's about 2 months ago and really enjoyed it. Roberto is very friendly, and the pizza fantastic. My wife commented at the time that the dough was saltier than my own, and that I needed to begin using more salt in my dough (she thought it enhanced the flavor overall). Roberto's formula is also fairly dry, at, if my math is correct, about 54% hydration.

Jim