By Tracy Morin
Anyone who has met Scott Wiener knows how passionate and knowledgeable he is about the industry. As founder of Scott’s Pizza Tours in New York City and Slice Out Hunger, he’s not only spreading the pizza gospel to enthusiasts from around the world, he’s making a difference through pizza.
But did you know that he actually started his career in the music industry—or that he harbors a deep love for parallel parking? We suspect not. To get to know the man behind the Big Apple’s premier pizza tour, we sat down with the Brooklyn-based pizza icon to get to know a bit more about him.
PMQ: Tell us about your life before pizza, and how did you eventually enter the industry?
Wiener: Before pizza, there was music. I was working in recording studios and record labels, touring with my rock band, and trying to make it all work. Pizza was always there in the background, but I never thought much about it as a main event. I really loved touring around the country because it allowed me to visit pizzerias everywhere we went. I got so into it that a friend made me a journal book so I could keep track. In college, I even promoted concerts under the name Pizza Magic Productions. Pizza was always there. But when the band broke up and iTunes demolished the music business, I was left to figure out my next step. That’s when pizza became my focus.
PMQ: How would you describe your role in pizza now?
Wiener: The pizza business is vast, and I feel like I exist in an odd crevice. I don’t own, operate or work in a pizzeria. I’m not even a home pizza making influencer. I think of my position as one of interpreter and educator. I explain to my pizza tour guests what they might not immediately notice when they visit a pizzeria. I also represent the pizza consumer when I provide translations to people in the pizza industry. On paper, I run a New York City pizza tour business and a hunger relief nonprofit, but the reality is that I strive to build community and provide a means of mutual benefit to like-minded people. And since pizza is the Food of the People, there are a lot of people with alike minds!
Recipe: Scott Wiener Shares His Recipe for the Mo-Heato
PMQ: What are your earliest pizza memories?
Wiener: I don’t have a first pizza memory, but it was ever-present in our lives, growing up in suburban New Jersey. Pizza started to mean more when I started associating it with that early independence of being a teenager. My friends and I would walk into the center of our small town and wander, spending the only money we had at the local pizzeria. I’ve always associated pizzerias with that same feeling of independence.
PMQ: What do you like to do in your downtime or to relax?
Wiener: My wife and I spend as much time with our three-year-old daughter. That might not sound so relaxing, but it really replenishes the soul! But pizza does bleed into most aspects of our lives, so it’s not something that drains our energy. I really feel energized when I’m doing something in the pizza world.
What’s your favorite travel destination?
Wiener: The easy answer here is Naples, Italy. I just love it there. So much energy and life! The initial draw was pizza, but now I see it as so much more than that. I’m very excited to be returning twice this year, leading weeklong pizza tours in September and November. It’s going to be incredible.
PMQ: If you weren’t doing your current job, what job would you be doing?
Wiener: I’d probably be teaching drivers ed. I want to shared my love of parallel parking!
PMQ: What are your best memories while working with and visiting so many pizzerias over the years?
Wiener: Flipping through the photos in my phone is like traveling through all the greatest memories. Most of them involve the people I’ve traveled with. I’ll never forget traveling to Naples with John Arena, Giulio Adriani, Michele D’amelio and Tony Gemignani for a project with Molino Caputo. That was just incredible. And every time Slice Out Hunger hosts a big pizza party in NYC, it’s like seeing all my favorite pizza people in one room for one night only. So incredible. I even got married in the backyard of a very special pizzeria. As I said, pizza seems to bleed into all aspects of my life!
Related: Tony Gemignani Wants You to Know That Success Didn’t Come Easily
PMQ: What’s your favorite part of your job? What is the most challenging?
Wiener: It’s challenging to run any business, especially one that’s not particularly common. I constantly have to explain what we do and how we do it. But that’s not so bad in the grand scheme. My absolute favorite part is getting to meet so many pizza lovers and having the opportunity to answer so many of their questions. I’ve asked so many pizza questions myself, it’s really great to be able to provide answers when people ask the same to me.
PMQ: What’s the best advice you’ve ever received or would pass along to a young person?
Wiener: Decisions are best made with a combination of data and instinct. Use the data to narrow down your options, then use your instinct to choose between them.
PMQ: What daily routine, habit or life hack do you swear by?
Wiener: I’m not good with routines. I need some more myself. The one thing I think helps for someone who eats pizza for a living is to start every day with a bowl of oatmeal.
PMQ: Who is someone you’ve looked up to, and why?
Wiener: I have so many mentors, but John Arena is a constant source of inspiration and guidance. I talk to him more than I talk to most of my family. He has such a steady perspective, and he’s always interested in learning more.
PMQ: What’s your most treasured possession?
Wiener: I have so many fun things I’ve collected over the years: vintage tomato can labels, antique pizza slicers, the literal largest collection of pizza boxes on earth…but my most prized just might be the stoufa (pizza warmer) from Roberto Caporuscio. He had it made for me by an artisan in Naples. It sits on top of a shelf, and literally nobody who visits my apartment knows what it is.
PMQ: What might people be surprised to know about you?
Wiener: I’ve lived on two different boats in my life! That’s two more than most people.
Tracy Morin is PMQ’s associate editor.
