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Pizza Brain Museum of Pizza Culture
Company typePrivate
IndustryRetail
FoundedPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania (2011)
FounderBrian Dwyer
Joseph Hunter
Michael Carter
Ryan Anderson
HeadquartersPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, US
ProductsPizza
ParentBrian Dwyer, Michael Carter
Websitewww.pizzabrain.org

Pizza Brain is an American pizza culture museum and pizzeria, and home to the world's largest collection of pizza memorabilia and collectibles,[1] headquartered in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, United States, with the flagship restaurant on Frankford Avenue.

History

In May 2010, Kensington-based artist Brian Dwyer, along with Christopher Powell, organized "Give Pizza Chance"—Philadelphia's first pizza-based art show—in which pizza served as muse for more than 25 artists who displayed their work at a local gallery.[2] Inspired by the show's success, Dwyer became fascinated with the communal and seemingly boundless reach of pizza, seeking out more pizza-related memorabilia, with the intention of turning the pizza art exhibit into a yearly occurrence. The company's name comes from the frequent misspelling of Dwyer's first name, in which the 'a' and the 'i' are transposed to spell 'Brain', which had been Dwyer's art alias.

In January 2012, Pizza Brain announced its formal partnership with Little Baby's Ice Cream via comic strip.[3] They followed up with an in-depth interview shortly thereafter.[4]

In August 2012, Pizza Brain was profiled by Time Magazine’s NewsFeed online for having what the “Guinness Book of World Records has named the largest collection of pizza memorabilia in the world." [5]

On September 7, 2012, Pizza Brain opened its doors to the public.[6]

Museum and collection

The collection ranges from the familiar (toys, puzzles, magazine ads, comic books, etc.) to the absurd - including a stainless-steel pizza cutter shaped like the USS Enterprise, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Pizza Drop plinko arcade game circa 1990, an original Spanish poster print of the film Do the Right Thing, a copy of the John C. Holmes adult film Hot and Saucy Pizza Girls, and more than 150 vinyl 45s and LPs honoring pizza in song and lyric.

Pizzeria/press

In December 2010, Dwyer met Joe Hunter, a pizza chef hailing from South Carolina interested in opening a community-minded pizzeria in his adopted home of Philadelphia. The following month in January 2011, businessman Michael Carter and carpenter Ryan Anderson teamed up with Brian and Joe. Hunter immediately set to work on Pizza Brain’s unique pie concepts and flavor profiles. Carter provided curatorial direction to Dwyer’s collection and developed the business’ strategic model, including its emphasis on content-rich social media. Anderson applied his considerable carpentry talents to the design of Pizza Brain’s physical space, making creative use of reclaimed and found materials. Collaboratively, the quartet turned an art show into the Pizza Brain museum and restaurant concept: a place that serves delicious artisan pies in a museum-like space that captures and commemorates pizza as a cultural icon.

A cascade of additional articles followed as the concept gained notoriety, including Zagat,[7] Huffington Post,[8] Philadelphia Inquirer,[9]Fox News,[10] Food Network Magazine, Metro,[11] Laughing Squid,[12] and the magazine for Australia's national airline Qantas.[13]

NPR's All Things Considered also covered the story,[14] as well as TV outlets like NBC10 [15] and Good Morning Sacramento.[16]

In September 2012, The New York Times,[17] Associated Press,[18] Condé Nast Traveler,[19] USA Today,[20] TIME,[21] BBC Travel [22] and The Guardian [23] all profiled Pizza Brain during its opening month, garnering further national and international attention.

On September 26, 2012, CBS This Morning [24] aired a nationally televised news feature on the museum/restaurant, resulting in Pizza Brain being selected as a topic of discussion on Jeopardy!'s Twitter account.[25]

Guinness World Record

On July 31, 2011 Guinness World Records certified Dwyer as having "the world's largest collection of pizza-related items".[26] The 2011 Record and enthusiasm led to Dwyer being awarded the title of "Phoodie of the Year" from Philebrity.com,[27] closely beating out candidates ?uestlove, Iron Chef America star Michael Solomonov, Philadelphia foodwriter and Green Aisle Grocery owner Adam Erace, and Tom McCusker aka 'Honest Tom' of Honest Tom's Tacos.

See also

References

  1. ^ Johanna Hesling (3 Aug 2011). "Pizza Enthusiast Sets New Memorabilia World Record". Guinness World Records.
  2. ^ Drew Lazor (5 May 2010). "Of Slice and Men: The story behind Philly's first pizza-centric art show". Philadelphia City Paper.
  3. ^ Drew Lazor (2 Feb 2012). "Pizza Brain Hearts Little Babys". Mealticket blog.
  4. ^ Drew Lazor (3 Feb 2012). "More on the Pizza Brain Little Baby's Collabo". Mealticket blog.
  5. ^ Frank L. DeFazio (14 Aug 2012). "Pizza Brain Restaurant and Museum Coming To Fishtown". CenterCityTeam blog.
  6. ^ Drew Lazor (7 Sep 2012). "Pizza Brain, Set To Debut, Rethinks the Pie". Philly Daily News.
  7. ^ Danya Henninger (Feb 2011). "Pizza Brain Is Coming to Fishtown: Meet Its Pie-Crazy Creator". Zagat blog Philadelphia.
  8. ^ Joe Satran (Feb 2012). "World's First Pizza Museum, 'Pizza Brain', To Display Brian Dwyer's Record-Setting Collection In Philadelphia". Huffington Post Food.
  9. ^ A.D. Amorosi (Jul 2012). "Pizza Museum a Testament to American Culture". Philadelphia Inquirer.
  10. ^ Molly Aronica (May 2012). "World's Most Bizarre Food Museums". Fox News.
  11. ^ Brian X. McCrone (7 Jul 2011). "Hot Slice of Culture: The Pizza Museum". Metro Philly.
  12. ^ Rusty Blazenhoff (Jul 2012). "Pizza Brain, The World's First Pizza Museum & Restaurant". Laughing Squid.
  13. ^ Melissa Pearce (1 Aug 2011). "Exploring the World's Food Museums". Qantas: Spirit of Australia.
  14. ^ Elizabeth Fiedler (30 July 2012). "New Pizza Museum Offers A Slice Of American Food And Culture". NPR All Things Considered.
  15. ^ Stacy Shauffer (30 July 2011). "A World Record Worthy Pizza Man". NBC10 Philadelphia.
  16. ^ Cody Stark (6 Aug 2012). "Pizza Museum". CW31 Good Morning Sacramento.
  17. ^ Vindu Goel (6 September 2012). "World's First Pizza Museum Opening in Philadelphia". The New York Times.
  18. ^ Kathy Matheson (18 September 2012). "Pizza Museum Serves Up Memorabilia, Slices". Associated Press.
  19. ^ Sharyn Jackson (7 September 2012). "Pizza Museum Opens in Philadelphia. Yes, Philadelphia". Condé Nast.
  20. ^ Laura Bly (7 September 2012). "Food for Thought: World's First Pizza Museum Opens in Philly". USA Today Travel.
  21. ^ Terri Pous (7 August 2012). "Slice of History: First Pizza Museum to Open in Philadelphia". Time Newsfeed.
  22. ^ Lindsey Galloway (4 September 2012). "The World's First Pizza Museum". BBC Travel.
  23. ^ Helen Ochyra (26 September 2012). "Welcome to The World's First Pizza Museum". The Guardian.
  24. ^ Michelle Miller (20 September 2012). "World's First Pizza Museum Opens in Philadelphia". CBS This Morning.
  25. ^ Jeopardy! (26 September 2012). "Jeopardy! Question of the Day". Jeopardy!.
  26. ^ Hawk Krall (3 Aug 2011). "Pizza Brain: World's Largest Collection of Pizza Memorabilia in Philadelphia". Slice.
  27. ^ Joey Sweeney (16 Dec 2011). "Philebrity Awards: Winners and Wrap-up". Philebrity.com.
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