ABOUT KEVIN KONN

I’m a Pittsburgh-based pizza consultant, dough developer, instructor and Polselli Flour ambassador focused on helping pizzamakers understand the process at a deeper level. My background combines professional kitchen experience, technical dough development, hands-on training and advanced pizza education in Italy across Neapolitan, contemporary and Roman styles, along with extensive experience developing and working with American pizza styles and production methods.

HOW I WORK

I’m less interested in handing someone a recipe than helping them understand why it works. My approach combines technical dough knowledge with sensory-based training—what you see, feel, smell, hear and recognize through the process—so the information becomes practical, repeatable and easier to retain.

HOW I GOT HERE

Pizza came before culinary school for me. What started as a side job while I was in college became something I wanted to understand more deeply—the dough, the process and the craft itself. At the recommendation of a chef and mentor, I went on to study at the Pennsylvania Culinary Institute’s Le Cordon Bleu program, but by then I already knew pizza was the direction I wanted to take.

That direction really took shape while working at Il Pizzaiolo in Mt. Lebanon with Ron Molinaro, one of Pittsburgh’s early artisan pizzamakers. Ron’s deep approach to dough pushed me beyond simply making pizza and into wanting to understand why it worked. That became the foundation for the way I still approach pizza today.

From there, I began working with Manzo Foods and Polselli flour, expanding into technical training, consulting and dough development. That work led to instruction through the Roman Pizza Academy in Miami, independent consulting projects, industry expos and competitions, and continued work with both American and Italian pizza styles.

Most recently, that path took me to Italy for advanced professional training with Polselli across Neapolitan, contemporary and Roman pizza, further developing my role as a Polselli flour technical specialist and ambassador. Through every stage, the focus has stayed the same: understand the dough, understand the process, and help other pizzamakers do the same.

BACKGROUND & EXPERIENCE

My experience spans professional pizza production, dough development, restaurant operations, technical training and consulting. I’ve worked across both Italian and American pizza styles, combining hands-on production with a deep understanding of dough systems, fermentation, workflow and real-world service demands.

THE GOAL

The goal is simple: help people become better pizzamakers by understanding the process well enough to make informed decisions, solve problems, and develop their own style with confidence.

WANT TO GO DEEPER?

Whether you’re refining your own pizza, developing a new dough, training a team or trying to solve a specific problem, I’d like to hear what you’re working on.

WHAT I BRING TO THE TABLE

I bring together technical dough knowledge, real-world production experience and a teaching style built around clarity. I understand the science, but I also understand what it’s like to make pizza under pressure, train staff, troubleshoot in real time and adapt a dough system to the environment it actually has to work in.