The next time you bite into a Brixx muffuletta, pimento cheese BLT or chicken club at Brixx Wood Fired Pizza, you’ll taste a delicious new bread created in collaboration a James Beard Award-winning chef.

International baking expert Chef Peter Reinhart has collaborated with Brixx Executive Chef Richard Shinault on the recipe for Brixx’s new focaccia bread. The focaccia is made in loaves every morning at Brixx from scratch. It’s now available with eight sandwiches, the bruschetta appetizer, and as a side with salads.

Reinhart is one of the nation’s most popular teachers on artisan bread baking. He is currently a faculty member at Johnson & Wales University, Charlotte Campus. He received the Beard Award for his book, “The Bread Baker's Apprentice.”

“Bread has been my life’s passion, and it’s been very satisfying to work with Brixx on this new recipe,” Reinhart says. “ I appreciate the restaurant’s commitment to making so many menu items in house each day, from scratch. It was an honor – and a lot of fun – to work with Brixx to reimagine their foacccia. It fits perfectly with their culture.”

The recipe is now being used in all 33 Brixx locations across the country. Where needed, it’s slightly customized due to climate. In Denver, for instance, it requires more water in the recipe due to the higher altitude.

“We were looking for a way to rev up our sandwich menu and be as authentic as possible in our focaccia,” says Shinault, Brixx’s executive chef. “When we thought about who could help us create the best bread possible, Chef Reinhart was our ideal choice. Once we were done working together, we knew we had something that would change our entire sandwich menu.”

To coincide with the new focaccia, Brixx unveiled a new sandwich menu in May featuring four new items on the new bread.

Brixx specializes in pizzas built on scratch made dough, topped with a wide array of fresh ingredients and cooked in a 600-degree wood burning oven to infuse them with the natural flavors of the wood. The menu also features salads, pastas and sandwiches complemented by 24 craft beers on tap, 14 wines by the glass and cocktails.

The signature items on the Brixx menu are made from scratch every morning, including its fresh mozzarella and hummus. Brixx appeals to a wide array of palates and dietary needs, offering vegetarian and vegan items. The traditional and whole wheat doughs at Brixx are made with turbinado sugar and are 100 percent vegan. Vegan cheese is available at no extra cost. The restaurant also carries gluten-free dough and gluten-free bottled beer.