Billy Zureikat started out as a producer for ESPN 1000 radio during its heyday. A lifelong Chicago sports fan and athlete, he unwound by hitting the courts whenever he could until a diagnosis of lamb-girdle muscular dystrophy impacted the strength in his legs and changed his life.
Like anyone faced with an huge unknown, he went through a period of denial and frustration. During this dark period he turned to the kitchen and fell in love with cooking.
He used his new culinary skills to raise awareness and money to fight muscular dystrophy through a series of pop ups that began with a shishito-spiked pizza at Paulie Gee’s Logan Square.
Over the last three years he’s popped up making sandwiches at J.T.’s Genuine and Tempesta Market and tavern-style pizza at Hexe coffee, and so many other spots.
You might sometimes see him hand-selling his Tripping Billy Giardiniera Salsa a collaboration with Caruso Provisions at Agora market.
Billy’s pizza skills earned him a spot as a Gozney pizza oven ambassador (in my opinion they make one of the best ovens for consumers who want to replicate Neapolitan pizza at home).
He currently has a Chicago Squares series at Pizza Matta where every Sunday he makes a tavern-style pizza with flavors inspired by the Chicago Bears’ opponent.
Since I first wrote about him, Billy and I have become friends. He’s just a good dude and an inspiring presence. It’s probably why we had a two hour conversation. We probably could have done ten.
We spoke about Billy’s time at ESPN, his food and health journey, and his “hot takes” including why he ignores the algorithm when producing social media content, why hot honey is a crutch, and how people who make sweet love to their food on camera are questionable. He also shared the surprising advice he got from Chicago celebrity chef Art Smith. If you’re short on time and you can’t listen to the whole pod, the hot takes which start at 1 hour and 15 minute mark are a super fun and dense snippet.
Also, for the first time I noodle around on this podcast with a new segment called “picture roulette” whereby my guest chooses a random photo on their phone and then tells the story of the picture.
Billy happened to land on a moment where he met Joel Burt, the winemaker for Las Jaras wine. You can hear the story behind the photo on the podcast.
If you want to support Billy and he’s in between pop-ups, you can donate directly to his MDA fundraiser here.
I hope you enjoy the podcast. Also, apologies for the sneezes and tone of my voice. I was managing the late season fall allergies brought on by the unseasonably warm weather.
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