Nick and Siler talk with one of the original legends of the pizza industry - John Arena. John is a Brooklyn born pizza maker with over 5 decades of experience. He began his professional career in his family shop in NY in 1967. In 1980 he and his cousin Sam Facchini opened their first Las Vegas pizzeria. Today they operate 6 Metro Pizza locations and a bread bakery.
John is the creator of America’s first 3 credit university level course for aspiring pizza entrepreneurs. He has traveled extensively around the world as a student, guest lecturer, and consultant to the pizza industry. He is a sought after industry spokesman and the staff writer of a monthly column for the pizza industry’s premier trade journal.
A prolific teacher John has introduced thousands of pizza makers of all experience levels to the joy of making pizzas. His students have gone on to open successful pizzerias across the US and in countries including Korea, China, Canada, Pakistan and Brazil. John’s pupils have been awarded dozens of medals in pizza competitions including 3 world championship medals at the International Pizza Expo. He is an active member of the World Pizza Champions team, the most acclaimed group of pizza professionals in the nation.
John has had the privilege of making pizzas for 5 US Presidents and numerous luminaries in the sports and entertainment world and has been a guest on dozens of nationally televised programs.
In 2017 he was part of a 3 man group that led the team that captured the Guinness World Record for the longest pizza ever made. He produced a pizza over 5800 feet long that provided food for dozens of shelters and charities in the Los Angeles area.
Most recently John was a finalist on Food Network’s series Chopped. The episode entitled Pizza Poetry was one of the most popular installments in the show’s history.