The pizza life chose me.
Just a small town girl from Dayton, Ohio—Miriam Weiskind moved to NYC in 2004 on a coin toss and a few hundred dollars in her pocket. Little did she know that her calling would be pizza.
Pizza Tours? Yes, Pizza Tours.
In 2010, I won the NYC Pizza Run—which consisted of running 4 loops around a tiny Manhattan park and eating 3 slices of pizza along the way. The two things I was born to do, running and eating pizza.
The male winner that year won tickets to Scott’s Pizza Tours; the female [me] won a pizza stone. Shocked that such a thing even existed—the tours not the stone—I returned in 2011 to claim the NYC Pizza Run title and my pizza tour tickets.
That same year I became a freelance art director and Scott Wiener happened to be on the hunt for another pizza fan to help him lead tours.
After some meatballs and a cheese pie from John’s of Bleeker, I was hired and about to embark on what would be my first chapter in the new pizza life.
Over the next 8 years, I spent every Friday leading 16 strangers around NYC on the greatest tour NYC offered—the tour that retraced the footsteps of the evolution of pizza, it’s history and teaching the science behind cheese, sauce and crust.
“World pizza does exist—16 strangers from around the world come together for 3 hours and fall even more in love with pizza.”
— on working with Scott’s Pizza Tours
A new beginning in 2020.
With encouragement from friends and family, I began to bake pizza at home in 2019. People sort of assumed since I knew so much about it, that I was an expert baker.
To be honest, I was not very good at baking pizza. But a pizza my heart was yearning to learn, conquer and capture pizza fans.
On January 1st, 2020 I created an image board that revolved more around pizza and less around design. With that sign, I decided to trade in a six figure career to pursue pizza more full-time.
What was the best way to learn everything about pizza? Get a job in the pizzerias I loved and learn everything I could to master the craft to find my own.
I asked around to many pizzerias and the first person to say yes without hesitation was Paulie. As in THE Paulie Gee.
“It was love at first bake.”
— upon finishing my first bake at Paulie Gee’s
And then life came to a pause.
Only after a few short months as a pizzaiola at Paulie Gee’s and leading corporate pizza tours for Scott’s Pizza Tours, the pandemic struck NYC. I lost both jobs and like the rest of New Yorkers, was left isolated at home scared of the uncertainties that would lay ahead.
Feeling scared and lonely, I feared the worst but my mom encouraged me to bake pizza to stay busy and happy.
Using what supplies I had in my apartment and only leaving once a week to buy groceries, I began to explore and bake pizza to help time pass.
After a week, I decided to help my neighbors out by putting up a menu to give out free pizza to everyone who had also lost their jobs.
They really like the pizza and soon, people outside of the building were ordering from my menu and offering to pay pies forward to keep helping others.
I soon increased my pizza baking from 4 to 12 pies a night, offering them for free to any New Yorker who lost their job, anyone who was a first responder, or anyone who was having a tough time in life.
Doing good for others, inspired and encouraged by my mother.
“One small act of kindness can change everything for someone.”
— Barbara on the 1st floor who couldn’t leave the building enjoyed pizza every Monday night
The hardest 5 weeks of my life.
After baking over 1,000 pizzas to help New Yorkers and looking forward to a new chapter in life after the pandemic, both of my parents got COVID.
I kept baking pizzas from home by night and working at Paulie Gee’s during the day. Hoping everything would be ok.
My mother spent 5 weeks in the hospital and passed away in August of 2020.
There aren’t quite words to describe just how heartbreaking it was to lose her. She was my inspiration in life and I felt shattered to the core.
And so, I continued to bake on in her loving memory. I continued to spread happiness and kindness to others, just as she had taught me.
“Every pizza I bake is like a beat of my mother’s heart. She’s always with me, each and every pie.”
— Hyla Weiskind 06/01/48—08/21/20
And so the pizza band played on…
My small acts of kindness soon began to inspire others around the world to Do good and be good to others.
Breville loaned me some ovens and people around the world began to donate to help me pay pies forward to fellow New Yorkers in need.
After 8 weeks, I finally made it back to Ohio to visit with my father and bake him pizza for the very first time.
It was the happiest we’d seen him in months and a moment I will cherish forever.
“My father’s first pie. He left me a solid review and said he would order again.”
— Ray Weiskind, my biggest pizza fan
5,000 pizzas and counting…
The waitlist grew from 1 week to 2 months. Soon more than my neighbors inside and around my building began to love my pizza and support my cause.
Breville loaned me 2 ovens to keep me baking and happy. The New York Times noticed me and I even made Kelly Clarkson cry. The Sun loved that.
While I didn’t ever dream of being a pizza baker as a young girl, I discovered in the hardest year of my life that I would become a woman in pizza, helping to change the world one pie at a time.
And so, here I am Baking the Pizza Dream with the hope and goal to open my own tiny Brooklyn pizzeria in honor of my mother, Hyla Weiskind. #formom
Thank you to my family, my partner, my friends, and everyone who has supported my cause—ordering pizza to honor my mother.
#dogoodbegood
