Slice

Chicago: Fontana Grill & Wine Bar, Pizza by Way of Boznia and Herzegovina

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:30:00 -0500

Slice–Serious Eats Chicago contributor Daniel Zemans (Chicago Pizza Club) checks in with another piece of intel on the Windy City pizza scene. —The Mgmt.

[Photographs: Daniel Zemans]

Fontana Grill & Wine Bar

1329 W. Wilson, Chicago IL 60640 (map); 773-561-0400; fontanagrill.com
Getting There: Red Line to Wilson, walk east 3 blocks
Pizza Style: Thin crust
Oven Type: Gas
The Skinny: Bosnian/Italian neighborhood restaurant provides nice atmosphere and good enough pizza
Price: 14-inch pizzas from $10 to $14; buy one, get one free Sunday–Thursday

Given that Bosnian cuisine is primarily a combination of Middle Eastern and Central European foods, it may seem odd that a Sarajevo native would open an Italian restaurant. But Bosnia and Herzegovina is a short swim across the Adriatic Sea, and Nino Divanovic was a big fan of Italian food while growing up in the former Yugoslavia. When violence struck the area in a major way in the early 1990s, Divanovic moved to Chicago, where he found work in the restaurant business, starting as a busboy.

Over the years, he worked his way up, including a stint as a general manager at Giordano's (reviewed here). About a year and a half ago, Divanovic and his wife, Milica, opened Fontana Grill & Wine Bar in Uptown. The menu includes a couple of Bosnian favorites like cevapi and American treats like burgers, but it is primarily an Italian place with a menu that includes seven pizzas.

The first pie of the evening was one that appealed to the side of me that thinks there's no limit to toppings that can work on pizza. The Viagra Vera pizza features New Zealand green mussels, 7 herbs and allegedly fresh mozzarella. Neither the server nor I have a clue what the name means, but I was prepared to call a doctor 4 hours after dinner if necessary.

This pizza was a disappointment. Each slice came with exactly one mussel. While the mussels were fresh and had nice flavor, they were only good for one bite of each slice because rather than cut them up into small pieces and spread them around the pizza, the chef opted to just put one whole mussel in the middle of each slice.

Still, it could have worked as a cheese pizza with a special bonus bite on each slice, but the seven herbs killed the chances of this being good. The basil, oregano, rosemary, sage, mint, thyme and parsley were all applied with a bit of a heavy hand, resulting in the most heavily seasoned pizza I've ever eaten. While my taste buds adjusted somewhat as the night went along and each slice was progressively a shade better, there was just too much going on with the herbage for the pizza to work.

The second pizza was the Capricossa, which came with much more traditional mushrooms and prosciutto. The mushrooms were fresh and flavorful and were generously spread all over the pizza. The prosciutto was fine, though nothing exciting. In sharp contrast to the Viagra Vera, the sauce on this pie was devoid of added seasoning. Fortunately the crushed tomatoes alone were enough to make a nice lightly sweet sauce. The crusts on both pizzas were a little underdone, although not as badly as the flash in my pictures makes it seem. Both crusts were too chewy for my tastes and added no flavor to the pizza.

While the pizzas at Fontana Grill are not worth going out of the way for, as a neighborhood spot, I'm a fan. The staff could not have been nicer and the outdoor patio may well be calling my name once summer gets here. Also, the prices are not bad at all. All pizzas are buy one, get one free Sunday through Thursday and bottles of wine are half price on Tuesdays.

Giordano's, a Stuffed Pizza Classic in Chicago

Serious Eats Road Trip: Tarry Lodge

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0500

From Serious Eats

Thanks to Buick LaCrosse for underwiting the Serious Eats Road Trip and for loaning us a Buick LaCrosse. We drove from New York City to Boston and back, checking out some of the great food experiences along the way.

[Photographs: Carey Jones]

From Walter's Hot Dogs in Mamaroneck, we zoomed up the road to Port Chester's Tarry Lodge. (But not before Ed had tuned the XM satellite radio to the '60s station and regaled us with tales of his concert-going past, complete with sing-alongs. He does a mean "Light My Fire"—and the car muffles highway noise so well, we got a full Ed audio blast loud and clear. You haven't heard The Doors until you've heard Ed Levine as backup vocals.)

But where were we? Ah, yes, Tarry Lodge. Opened in the fall of 2008 by chef Andy Nusser (opening chef at Babbo) and GM Nancy Selzer (Bar Jamón, Casa Mono, Babbo)—with Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich—it's a less urban incarnation of that team's now-familiar aesthetic.

If you're familiar with Otto in New York's West Village, you'll walk in and feel right at home. (Despite the lack of a train display or cheese counter.) Everything from the antipasti selection to the small-print back-of-the-menu wine list to the font of the menu lets you know whose restaurant you're in.

But Tarry Lodge has an energy all its own, as was clear at 1 p.m. on a Tuesday—when the place was packed to the brim. Older Italian men in suits at the bar, ladies in hats sharing Prosecco and pizza, a lively table of well-dressed office folk digging into plates of pasta. We hadn't expected lunchtime to bring out the crowds, but according to our waiter, it was pretty much par for the course.

With such an extensive, appealing menu, it's difficult to narrow one's options. But how could we not try a plate with a name like Fusilli alla Crazy Bastard ($15)? A veritable casserole of pasta that could easily feed two, the dish swirls goat cheese, beet greens, cherry tomatoes, and walnuts—plus garlic and red pepper—into a haphazard pile from which each bite is a new surprise: more sweet tomato here, more tangy goat cheese there. As delicious as it is unpredictable.

A salumi salad ($11) tasted precisely like what it was—a mound of cured meats, of the high quality Batali's restaurants are known for, elegantly sliced and tossed in a light dressing that doesn't get in their way.

And with Otto's perfectly rendered antipasti in mind, we ordered Smoked Trout with White Beans and Chorizo ($8), another straightforward, well-composed dish.

Each element of the Margherita ($10) pizza was bright and fresh-tasting, on a crust that really surprised us. Though we'd initially seen its low rise and grown somewhat skeptical, we found it pliant and well-salted, with a real outside char from the wood-burning oven, good interior hole structure, and a great balance of chew and crunch. Even fifteen minutes later, it didn't stiffen or dry.

But go a little bolder than the margherita; it was the topping combinations that really made these pies. Our favorite pizza of the list was the sausage with stracchino and shiitakes ($13), whose sausage, mushrooms, milky stracchino, and sharp Parmesan came together in each bright, salty, earthy, sweet bite. It's the kind of pizza you find yourself thinking about later in the day, so novel is the sensation of these ingredients together. Again, this could easily feed two moderately hungry lunchers.

Goat Cheese with Pistachios and Truffle Honey ($14) is a bit less sweet, more savory than the menu might have you expect, thanks to the red onions. The kitchen stays mercifully light on that truffle honey.

The first time a Guanciale, Black Truffles and Sunny Side Egg ($17) pizza took a ride through the dining room, it left a cloud of lingering earthiness in its wake, leaving a trail like a little girl who's gotten into her mother's perfume. There's no skimping on the truffles. But with the sweet, seeping guanciale, Parmesan, and rich yellow egg, they don't dominate or overwhelm the pizza. It's a fine dish, not just a fine ingredient. "A pile of black truffles for $17?" Nusser beamed. "That's the definition of affordable luxury." The guy's not exactly unbiased, but we're inclined to agree.

Equal parts accessible and refined, Tarry Lodge is every bit as polished and sophisticated as Batali's other restaurants, while reaping the benefits—more space, lower prices—of its less urban digs. Lucky you are, Port Chester. Lucky you are.

Post-Script

All right, do the math. Three eaters (one on a Serious Diet). Seven dishes—five of them, closer to two portions than one. And that's before the dessert.

Some of you have asked in the past: what happens to all that extra food?

Leftovers, my friends. Lots and lots of leftovers. And while they can be difficult to juggle on the New York subway, our trusty LaCrosse solved that problem for us. I just belted them into the spacious backseat, right next to me—safety first, particularly where pizza is concerned—and stretched my legs out, bathing in the scent of black truffles all the way up to Boston.

Tarry Lodge

18 Mill Street, Port Chester NY 10573 (map)
914-939-3111
tarrylodge.com‎

Comment of the Day

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 23:00:00 -0500

"There is a place in this world/country/city for 99¢ pizza. And that place is growing faster than the five-buck slice place." —1969mets

Where to Get 99-Cent Slices (aka Dollar Pizza) in NYC

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:45:00 -0500

View Where to Get Dollar Pizza in NYC in a larger map. (Key: Homegrown cheapos in blue pinpoints; Papa John's in red)

If by "dollar pizza in NYC," you mean Manhattan, here are all the 99-cent and/or dollar slice joints we know of in the city. If we've missed any, set us straight in the comments. Without further ado, cheap pizza, from the top of the island to the bottom.

Z Deli (Times Square)

803 Eighth Avenue, New York NY 10019
212-315-1659

Intel: "Either way, the pizza was good enough to make the $1 price tag a total deal. My wife liked it better than 99¢ Fresh pizza, and I liked it as much as any cheap pizza. The key, of course- is geting the fresh slices. Z Deli doesn't have the turnover that 99 Cent Fresh Pizza has, so it's going to be more of a crapshoot. Don't be shy, and ask for the fresh pie (it's probably hidden under the counter). If that doesn't work, just order one slice, take some photos, and go back for a second. It worked for me." [More $1 Pizza at the Z Deli »]

99¢ Fresh Pizza (Times Square)

569 Ninth Avenue, New York NY 10036 (at 41st Street)
212-268-1461

Intel: 99¢ Fresh Pizza does a nice job with the crust, browning it evenly and crisping it up fairly well. [Cheap-Slice Showdown: St. Marks 2 Bros. Pizza vs. 99 Cent Fresh Pizza »]

2 Bros. Pizza (Times Square)

542 Ninth Avenue, New York NY 10018 (at 40th Street)
212-695-2642

Intel: "Overall, the 2 Bros. pizza had a better flavor than the 99¢ Fresh Pizza slice. While the 99FP slice was better balanced in terms of crust-sauce-cheese ratio, that's not necessarily a good thing here, since that balance allows you to taste the sauce. It's flavored heavily with what tastes like powdered garlic--acrid and almost metallic-tasting. When scraped away on its own, the 2 Bros. sauce is bland but at least does not assault your tongue." [Cheap-Slice Showdown: St. Marks 2 Bros. Pizza vs. 99 Cent Fresh Pizza »]

99¢ Fresh Hot Pizza (Midtown East/GCT Area)

Note: According to Midtown Lunch, this place was started by a disgruntled former employee of 99¢ Fresh Pizza near the Port Authority. What's that, you say? Don't they have the same name? No! This is 99¢ Fresh Hot Pizza. Maybe the former employee-turned-pizzaman didn't think the original served its slices hot enough?

459 Lexington Avenue, New York NY 10017 (45th/46th)

Intel: "I kind of enjoyed the slice from the new joint a little better. They are pretty similar, but I think the new place might have a bit more flavor. Oregano... something? I don't know. It just was a bit better." [A New 99 Cent Pizza Battle Surfaces »]

99¢ Fresh Pizza (Midtown East/GCT Area)

151 East 43rd Street, New York NY (Lexington/Third)
212-922-0257

Intel: "It doesn't get any better than this... (unless you like your pizza great, and don't mind paying the money for it). Seriously... I only say it's not great pizza so I don't get a million comments questioning whether my taste buds still function. The truth is- I freakin' LOVE the 99¢ pizza place. Call me a cheapo, but I've never once asked for my penny back (and they've never offered it.)" [99¢ Fresh Pizza (Expands its Mini Empire!!!) »]

2 Bros. Pizza (Midtown West)

Eighth Avenue and 38th Street.
Intel: Too new at this time; none yet on the blogz

K-Food Corp. (K-Town)

18 East 33rd Street, New York NY (Fifth/Madison)
212-213-5100

Intel: "From what I could see K Food Corp. doesn't have the turnover right now to ensure the hot slices at all times. I arrived at around 2 p.m. and there was just one half a cheese pie out and it looked like it had been sitting for awhile-I've been to the other 99 cent pizza places at a similar time and scored a fresh piece. I paid my $1.09 and the guy took my slice around to the back to reheat it.... The sauce was too sweet and a little too heavy on the oregano for my liking. It was also topped with a fairly thick coating of cheese-which again is not really my thing, but for 99 cents, I was decently satisfied and happy to still have money in my pocket." [Checking Out the New 99 Cent Pizza Place in K-Town »]

8th Avenue Gourmet (Chelsea/MSG Area)

403 Eighth Avenue, New York NY 10001 (at 30th Street)

Intel: Moderate turnover; you're just as likely to get a hot-oven slice as you are a reheat. Lackluster cheese but good balance of sauce and cheese. People looking to fill up will say they skimp on the cheese. Note: Actually costs a dollar. (I suppose I could have asked for my penny back, like you can do at 99¢ Fresh Pizza, but I forgot to. [AK]

2 Bros. Pizza (Greenwich Village)

601 Sixth Avenue, New York NY 10011 (Waverly/West 8th)
212-206-8656

Intel: "The pizza is reminiscent of something you'd get in a high school cafeteria or an airport: a dimpled, doughy crust; premade sauce; and greasy, flavorless cheese. The only thing they've got going for them is that the slices are super fresh. At peak hours, they're slinging pies at such a fast clip, the slices don't have time to sit under heat lamps or get reheated. Slices go straight from the oven to your paper plate. Cheap and filling, it tastes oddly soulless and corporate." [Pizza for $1 at St. Marks 2 Brothers Pizza Plus »]

99¢ Fresh Pizza (Greenwich Village)

388 Sixth Avenue, New York NY (17th/18th)
212-780-0020

Intel: "How's the slice? Well, it tastes something like frozen pizza--the crust is distinctively un-yeasty, the cheese modest in volume, and the sauce nondescript. So what? The diners around me copping their slices were estatic. "Thank you so much," one woman exclaimed, "I love you 99ȼ Pizza." Indeed, if you don't expect it to taste like your favorite slice, it's totally OK." [The Cheese Slice at 99ȼ Fresh Pizza in Greenwich Village »]

2 Bros Pizza (East Village/St. Marks Place)

32 Saint Marks Place, New York NY 10003 (Second/Third avenues)
212-777-0600

Intel: "The pizza wasn't the greatest, but it was a dollar. I'd rate it as not quite as good as 99 Cent Fresh Pizza, but better than Prince Deli 99 cent pizza [Now closed. —The Mgmt.]. If you're a starving NYU student or a hungry person wandering around the village I give it two thumbs up." [More $1 Pizza »]

Mamani (East Village)

151 Avenue A, New York NY 10009 (9th/10th)
212-420-8574

Intel: "Mamani's pizza has the same thin, airy crust. It's less filling, but still has a nice crispness and flavor. The cheese and sauce are similarly fine, but nothing to go crazy over. Mamani has a much smaller crowd, which is great if you're in a hurry, but also means the pizzas aren't as fresh and hot as they are down the road. The verdict: if you don't mind a bit of a line, 2 Bros has the edge. But if you like eating in the park, Mamani's location can't be beat." [Another Slice, Another Dollar »]

99¢ Slices at Papa John's

We're not super into chains on Slice, but I knew Papa John's had 99-cent slices in some locations, so I called every PJ's in Manhattan. Only two do "99¢" slices. That's in quotes because with tax they're $1.08.

Trivia: Two more PJ's in Manhattan do sell by the slice, but for $1.50 ($1.62 with tax). They're at 37th b/n Fifth and Madison and at Second Avenue and 90th Street.

More trivia: The PJ's at 179th and Broadway in Washington heights sells by the slice but for $2! Who do they think they are, real pizza?

Papa John's (Kips Bay)

432 Second Avenue, New York NY 10010
212-481-7272

Papa John's (Chelsea)

213 West 28th Street, New York NY 10001
212-563-7272

Special thanks to: myinnerfatty for the nudge and Midtown Lunch for the great intel on cheap pizza.

Tower Pizzeria & Indian Foods: Is There Such a Thing as Indian Pizza?

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:30:00 -0500

From Serious Eats: New York

Note the picture of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, behind the pizzaman. [Photos: Joe DiStefano]

Singas Famous Pizza has always proved somewhat disappointing. Don't get me wrong, their smallish pan pizzas are quite tasty and the way they cut them with a scimitar-like knife is kind of cool too—but sadly the only thing Indian about it is the name. So when a friend asked me along to check out a place serving Punjabi pizza, I jumped at the chance. Tower Pizzeria & Indian Food is located in a heavily Sikh section of Richmond Hill, Queens. As my dining companion and I waited for our pizza to be served it was hard not to notice that all of the customers were eating Indian food rather than pizza.

The Sikh pizzaiolo balked at first when asked to do a half-and-half. After some cajoling, he soon agreed and made us a half Tower Punjabi and half creamy garlic vegetarian pie.

My first impression of Tower Pizzeria's pie was that there was a lot of, well, stuff on it—my second was that much of that stuff looked like it came from a can.

I can't help but wonder what Punjabi M.C. would make of Tower's ginger-spiked Punjabi slice. The Punjabi half of the pie was topped with mushrooms, chopped green peppers, red onion, green olives, fresh tomatoes, jalapeño, and copious amounts of fresh ginger. Sadly, they went too easy on the jalapeños. Say what you want about Singas, they're not shy when it comes to the peppers. All in all, it was a decent novelty slice, but certainly not the Punjabi equivalent of Joe's or John's.

With a name like "creamy garlic vegetarian" it's not surprising that the "creamy garlic sauce" tasted vaguely of salad dressing. With its toppings of green olives, shrooms, peppers, and cooked tomatoes, this slice was decent, but like the Punjabi, not a peak pizza experience.

A medium pie set us back $11.99 so I guess I can't complain too much, but next time I'm looking for Indian pizza, I'll stick to the South Indian snack utthapam. While not technically a pizza the South Indian snack is delicious. As for Tower Pizzeria, I'll be back—but not for the pizza. I've got a hankering to try the Punjabi catfish pakora.

Tower Pizzeria & Indian Foods

118-16 Atlantic Avenue, Richmond Hill NY 11419 (map)
718-846-2842

NYT on the Rise of the NYC Dollar Slice

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:30:00 -0500

[Photograph: Adam Kuban]

The New York Times's Manny Fernandez does a piece on the dollar slice uprising in NYC:

"I don't think a drunk college student cares about whether there's San Marzano tomatoes on their slice," Jason Feirman, 25, who writes a pizza blog called I Dream of Pizza, said of the $1 pizza trend. "It's a good business model. They're not catering to food blogs. The idea is to turn out these pizzas as fast as they can."

They talked to me, too, but I sound like a Grade A moron. My own fault. Mr. Fernandez simply quoted me talking about the "hole structure" of 99¢ pizza.

Yeah, I know, right? Tool Academy, are you accepting applications for the spring semester?

Pulino's Bar and Pizzeria, a Gallery

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:25:00 -0500

Don't worry, Nate Appleman here isn't angry at Slice. He was just pullin' a face for the camera. [Photographs: Adam Kuban]

Another week, another high-profile pizza happening, man. Today, Pulino's Bar & Pizzeria, the long-awaited pizza joint helmed by San Francisco arriviste Nate Appleman (late of A16 in the City by the Bay).

Other Coverage

AHNY (good breakfast pie info) »
Lunch Studio »
GSNY (nice interior shots) »
Guest of a Guest »
Food in Mouth »

Though to call it a "pizza joint" would be a bit of an understatement. The latest in Keith McNally's restaurant group (oh, he of Balthazar, Pastis, Schiller's, etc.), it's totally McNalley'd out—a large, airy space that's overall French brasserie in feel with a bit of New Haven throw in for good measure in the oven area. (Peep the gallery and see if you don't think the dual oven action and white tile doesn't remind you of Frank Pepe's.)

While it's too early to report objectively on the pizza, I know you want your pizza porn, so I headed down there today for snaps of this week's model. While a full-on raging critique will have to wait, I will say that I liked what I had. Mr. Appleman's "Bowery-style" pizza is a nice mixture of New Haven– and bar-style pizza. Once he and the crew get their sea legs, we'll be back.

Pulino's Bar & Pizzeria

282 Bowery, New York NY 10012 (at Houston; map)
212-226-1966; pulinosny.com

A Worthwhile Slice in Midtown at Previti Pizza

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:20:00 -0500

[Photographs: Adam Kuban]

Previti Pizza

123 East 41st Street, New York NY 10168 (map); 212-557-4992; previtipizza.com
Getting there: 4/5/6/S/7 to Grand Central, but I'm sure most of you reading this will walk
Pizza style: Classic New York slice
Oven type: Gas-fueled brick-lined oven
The skinny: A great, well-considered and properly built Margherita slice—one we can finally recommend in Midtown
Price: $2.50 plain slice; $5.50 for two plain slices and a can of soda

The Margherita slice is well considered and tasty. (And at $2.50 is priced on the lower end for non-dollar Midtown plain slices.) Thin, crisp, fairly well balanced (perhaps a bit heavy on cheese, but for a Midtown lunch, who cares—it'll fill you up). Previti's chef, Anthony Fiorentino, uses Italian-import San Marzano tomatoes and a blend of cheeses — low-moisture fresh mozzarella, fior di latte, and a blend of aged mozzarella (Grände whole milk mozzarella and skim mozzarella).

The cheese mixture shows how much attention to detail Mr. Fiorentino has put in to the slices here. It not only gives the slice a depth of flavor you normally wouldn't get in a Midtown pizza, it's built with the slice-and-go crowd in mind.

"If you used all regular mozzarella, the slice would be too greasy," Mr. Fiorentino said. "We want people to be able to take it to go and eat it while they walk without getting messy."

The besuited Midtown crowd thanks you, Mr. Fiorentino.

Mr. Brooks also recommended the artichoke focaccia pizza at Previti. It is technically a white pie, as it has no tomato sauce. It is also well-considered and has hearty chunks of artichoke on it, but the lack of tomato sauce didn't do it for me. I would much rather grab a couple of the Margherita slices.

Speaking of which, Previti has a good lunch deal: Two slices of Margherita and a can of soda for $5.50. Assuming the price of a can is $1, that drops the per-slice price to $2.25. Yeah, it's still more than the dollar slice stuff you can get nearby, but that stuff is nowhere near as good.

So, Twitter, Zach, and @itryilike, thank you all for last week's exchange. I tried. I liked. I can now wholeheartedly recommend a slice in Midtown, which has often been a bad area for pizza in this town.

Poll: Do You Eat and/or Dip Your Pizza Crusts?

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 08:25:00 -0500

A pile of crusts, or "pizza bones." [Photograph: Robyn Lee]

Among pizza-eaters there seem to be various crust-eater types*: those who leave the crust as "pizza bones," folks who relish the crust and eat every bit, and those who like to dip it in something to give it a little extra oomph. This week's Slice pizza poll asks which one you are (with a subset of answers on dipping preferences for the dippers among us).

* Yes, we've covered similar ground before—"Types of Crust Eaters"—but not in a poll, all pseudo-scientific-style.

This Week in Pizza

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 18:00:02 -0500

What You May Have Missed on Slice

The pie the owner of Patrica's eats. [Photograph: Adam Kuban]

Reviewed: Patricia's in the Bronx; Pizza Brutta in Madison, Wisconsin; Three Floyd's Brewpub in Munster, Indiana; and Naples 45 in Midtown Manhattan
Thousands of Words: Stunning photos from Antonio Starita's one-night-only "secret show" at Kesté »
Truckin': Eddie's, famous for its bar pies in New Hyde Park, New York, is launching a pizza truck in Manhattan in May »
Portland Rocks: The Oregon city has not one but three high-end pizza carts! Maybe four!
Opened: Paulie Gee's in Greenpoint, Brooklyn »
In the Year 2000: Pizza Girl talks about delivery tech of the future! »

Follow @slice on Twitter »
Friend Slice on Facebook »

From Serious Eats Talk

NYC: Kesté: What Did I Miss? »
Clone Zone: Need Help Re-Creating Restaurant's Pizza »
DIY Pizza Stones: Where Can I Find Oven Brick? »
Where to Find: Pizza in Beacon, New York? »
Dual Use: Can I Use a Splatter Screen as a Pizza Screen? »

In the News and On the Blogs

Video: A night in Roberta's (Brooklyn) pizza kitchen »
Chicago Pizza Club: CPC invades Pizzeria via Stato »
Pizza Girl: The Last I'll Say on Tipping »
I Dream of Pizza: Fun U.S. state pizza art »
Liza & Gary's DC Pizza Blog: Food Wars on the Travel Channel—We're Local Pizza Celebs! »
Passion-4-Pizza: Visiting Tony Gemignani's pizza school »
Pizza Rules! Pizza-face monster letter A and T-shirt »
Pizzalicious: Quentin Tarantino is pizzalicious »

This Week's Poll Results: Burning Questions, Sort of Answered

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 12:00:00 -0500

That was therapeutic, wasn't it? I think this week's little group session on "charring" vs. "burned" helped us all work through the issue and come to a better understanding of carbonized crust, of ourselves, and of each other. Though folks in the gimme-char (72%) and the char-it-not (29%)* camps may never see eye to eye, I think the discussion helped us all see the others' arguments, thanks to lots of great insight in the comments.

* Yes, I'm aware that adds up to 101%. I think the polling software rounds up with a hand that's a little too heavy.

Pizza Girl: Future Technology

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 16:00:00 -0500

Every week, Pizza Girl (Diary of a Pizza Girl) stops by with insights and a behind-the-scenes look into the world of pizza-delivery drivers. Take it away, PG! —The Mgmt.

Domino's Triton No. 1, an experimental pizza-delivery vehicle, at the Pioneer Auto Show, a museum in Murdo, South Dakota. It's a future that never came to pass, as most pizza drivers use their own cars for delivery. [Photograph: Hugo90 on Flickr]

Once upon a time, long, long ago, there were no such things as a GPS. This was before the "delivery fee" was even a twinkle in the Noid's eye. Cellphones were built like bricks, and pizza delivery dudes were all dudes. And in this land of my pizza-delivery forbears, drivers carried maps made of trees but mostly carried maps in their heads.

Whenever one of the older drivers starts going on about maps and stopping in at convenience stores for directions I shudder. Not only do I have a terrible sense of direction (though being a delivery driver has improved it at least within my delivery area) but I have a smartphone. My phone is my best friend out on deliveries. I can look up directions (I won't get started on how Google Maps seems to have a fundamental misunderstanding of one-way streets and solid objects), find where I am, call the store, call the customer, Twitter my tips. Granted, that last one probably isn't essential to a good delivery, but it keeps me sane.

I have no idea what technological improvement is going to come in next and make delivery better. My chain is supposed to be moving to "smart routing" soon, which I'm not enthusiastic about. When I was in Podunk, there were plenty of places that were physically near each other but with a long drive between them due to the positioning of the roads, and I have my doubts about whether a computer can understand such a concept.

Here are some of my ideas (far-fetched or not) that would be cool to see in the future:

Augmented reality, where my windshield displays house numbers superimposed on houses. It could also integrate while I'm on the job to track my mileage, give turn-by-turn directions, gather traffic information from other drivers, tell me how old each delivery is.
A database that tracked a household's historical tipping amounts. Of course, there would have to be a super pain-free way to access it, as I'm far too busy (and sometimes too lazy) to try to access a website to either do data entry or to look up houses. Maybe it could integrate with my phone's map feature. I suppose there's also some privacy issues to consider.
A convenient way (maybe in my trunk) to integrate a machine that makes the pizza as I drive to the house so that it's straight out of the oven (and sliced and boxed) when I get there.

Any ideas for what's going to change pizza delivery in the future? Will we even need pizza delivery in the future?

From Serious Eats Talk: 'How Is Paulie Gee's Doing? Any Experiences?'

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 14:35:28 -0500

Over on Serious Eats Talk, RJelli asks: "I live in Idaho, and would like to know how Paulie Gee is doing...I hope he is knocking them dead!"

If you've got intel, go drop a dime »

Comment of the Day: Hip Pizza Pundits

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 11:55:12 -0500

"Guys, guys—it's really cool right now to sound like you know a lot about pizza. This means that lots of people are going to try to sound like they know a lot about pizza. You probably should ignore them. At the end of the day, what you like is what you like, whether it's Luzzo or Papa John's. That said, good quality ingredients and a good measure of skill certainly can't be bad, no?" —djwackfriz

This Week's Tasty 10

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 08:00:00 -0500

From Serious Eats

According to our handy site-metering utility, the top 10 most delicious items across the Serious Eats family of sites this week were ...

1. How to Cook En Papillote
"After a week of cooking almost exclusively en papillote, I've found there's a lot to like about foods wrapped like little presents. Veggies, meat, fish, or whatever else you decide to stuff into the little package, comes out aromatic, tender, and flavorful— not at all the1980s-style health food you may be picturing."

2. The 5 Commandments of Sautéing Food
"When food is sautéed properly, it gets that golden, crispy crust and juicy, tender interior. But there's more to pulling it off than food-to-pan contact. Here are the five commandments of sautéing so that you can go forth against the evil that is gray, steamed food."

3. Dinner Tonight: Moroccan Ragout with Poached Eggs
"Those who are down with tomatoes and eggs might love this Moroccan-inspired twist on the classic Eggs in Purgatory. Not happy with a boring tomato sauce, the recipe amps up the flavor with merguez sausage, fire-roasted tomatoes, and a hit of complex spices."

4. Talk: You Might Be a Foodie If ...
"...you describe a night out at a show by beginning with what you ate beforehand.

"...your spouse's Christmas list for you can be completely filled at Williams-Sonoma.

"...you treat going to the supermarket as a field trip.

"...your reading list yields as many recipes as it does story lines.

"...you start navigating to a website where you might need to do banking, or studying, or some other pertinent task and your fingers just naturally type seriouseats.com."

5. The Food Lab: Slicing Meat Against the Grain
"Can you spot the difference between the two hanger steaks? They were both cooked to a perfect 130°F medium-rare in the same pan, both cut from the same piece of meat, and both sport a beautiful brown, crackly crust. Yet one of them is more tender than Otis Redding on a good day, while the other has more in common with a rubber band. What's the difference? It's all got to do with the angle at which it's sliced."

6. Scenes from a Pizzeria: Antonio Starita's One-Night-Only 'Secret Show' at Kesté
It was sort of like one of those secret rock shows where your favorite band comes to town and puts the word out via Facebook or Twitter that it's doing a one-night-only gig in an intimate setting. Only here, it was pizza. And the star was Antonio Starita, of Pizzeria Starita in Naples, Italy. Here, a beautiful photo set from his appearance at Kesté Pizza & Vino in New York City.

7. Sandwiched at the Whitney: Chefs, Lunch, Art, and You
"I was fascinated when I heard that Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group was going to open a sandwich joint in the Whitney Museum, featuring items designed by its chefs and pastry chefs. Why? Because it raised so many questions. First among them: Are chefs necessarily the best sandwich architects? We ate our way through the menu to find out."

8. Cakespy: Homemade Thin Mints
"Smug, smug little Girl Scouts. Those sweet-looking sugar-pushers can be found all over this time of year, lurking outside drugstores and markets with their addictive little missives of sweet cookies. Oh, they seem so friendly and accommodating now. But what happens in a month or so, when they're gone and you've got a serious jonesing for some Samoas or Thin Mints? You make your own, that's what you do."

9. Talk: Which Is Your Favorite/Least Favorite Culinary Herb?
"...in regard to the basic, fresh and readily available herbs (not lemon thyme or Thai basil), choose one favorite and one least favorite and explain why you chose these...."

10. Taste Test: Store-Bought Tofu
Not all tofu is created equal. Some tofu has a mild, sweet beany flavor and a smooth consistency, while other brands have flavor defects and strange textures. Our Seriously Meatless columnist Michael Natkin took one for the team and tried six brands of firm or extra firm tofu to help you out on your next grocery trip.

From Serious Eats Talk: 'Kesté — So What Did I Miss?'

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:35:52 -0500

Over on Serious Eats Talk, talent101 asks:

OK so after reading all the hype and hoopla surrounding Keste I gave it a try last week. Maybe it's my fault because everytime I read reviews before I go to a place that gets rants and raves I have been disappointed. I got the classic pie and while it was ok it was not great or even close to earth changing. The dough really threw me off and I cant exactly put my finger on it but was to doughy and seemed undercooked if you get what I mean.
I will try it again as everyone has an off night but my first impression of the place was ehhh it's ok. Little side note all three of us agreed which most of the time rarely ever happens, maybe I am over the artisinal pizza thing and just want my classic ny pie.

Head on over to discuss! »

UPDATE/CLARIFICATION: Portland, Oregon, Has Not Three But Four(!) Pizza Carts

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:50:17 -0500

Reaching in to the Slice mailbag, we've got ...

Give Pizza a Chance's menu board. It's more a "slice cart" than a "whole pie cart." Click it bigger for reference. [Photograph: I Dream of Pizza]

I sent your post to my pal from Portland (ppppp!) and he was surprised this one didn't make the list: givepizzaachance.com.
—Erin Zimmer

----------------------
Dear Erin,

Even though you are sitting not more than 10 feet from me here in the Slice–Serious Eats office, I have chosen to answer you publicly on the internetz. Why? Because I need to post something in my mid-morning slot on Slice today.

Hahahah. Just kiddin'. Actually, I'm posting so that Slice'rs will have a wider picture of the Portland pizza cart/truck/shack scene.

Yes. There is another cart. Give Pizza a Chance.

In the comments of the reblog I posted about Nick Zukin and Adam Lindsley's Portland pizza cart tour, Nick popped in and clarified why Give Pizza a Chance wasn't on their tour:

Give Pizza a Chance is primarily a slice joint. You go and order an already-baked sliced of pie. These other three all make pizzas to order only. Also, these three make 12" pizzas, whereas GPaC makes 16" pizzas. I'm not sure they work with the same sort of hot oven these others are working with. They even make calzones and Chicago pies, which I'm not sure you could make it an 800°F oven. And finally, they're only open at lunch, whereas these other three are dinner spots. So it's just a different animal. But when I worked downtown, it was on my regular rotation and despite the wheat crust ;-) is a darned good pizza.

I paraphrase Nick's explanation in terms fellow Big Applers can understand:

It's like, maybe, the difference between, say, Motorino and Artichoke Basille's*. The difference between "whole pies only" and "by the slice."

Of course, this all gets into the gray area of trying to classify pizza styles, etc. Most of the times it's clear cut, sometimes there's something that throws you for a loop the way a platypus would. This is probably one of those times, and I can see the logic in Zukin's methodology here.

Still, if I were to craft a post that was titled "Portland Cart Pizza," Give Pizza a Chance would have to be on it.

* If you don't like Artichoke Basille's and think it is overhyped and/or has gone downhill, substitute in this analogy your own highly regarded by-the-slice place that you think is a notch or three above the standard slice joint.

Naples 45: Skip the Neapolitan Pizza Here and Get Their New York–Style Slice Instead

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:00:00 -0500

"VPN accreditation aside, the regular New York slice is more authentic, truer to type and just plain tastier than the Neapolitan pies."

Naples 45

200 Park Avenue, New York NY 10166; map); 212-972-7001; website
Pizza Style: Neapolitan, VPN-certified
Oven Type: Wood-fired
The Skinny: This VPN-certified pizzeria fails to live up to the promise of the ingredients and oven, but there is an unexpected pleasure in the take-out section. Avoid the sit-down side of the restaurant and opt instead for the to-go slices
Price:Dine-in, Individual 10-inch pie, $16.95; take-away Neapolitan slice, $2.75; take-away NYC-style slice, $1.90
Notes: Pick-up and delivery available: 212-972-7000

Naples 45 is a sprawling, glittery restaurant located within the MetLife building that happens to be VPN-certified. Having eaten at the two other VPN-certified restaurants in New York (La Pizza Fresca [March 5, 2010] and Kesté [March 8, 2010]) just last week, I thought I should venture up to Midtown and see how Naples 45 stacked up.

The restaurant is not strictly a pizzeria; the menu offers a range of pastas and other Italian fare, and the place is certainly more upscale than your average pizzeria. It is staffed by hosts in suits and offers an extensive wine list. While the restaurant seems to attempt to create a casual mood, the place feels a bit stiff and a bit corporate. A fact not helped by the building's overzealous security guards, who will pounce on you for merely taking a picture of the restaurant exterior. That's never happened to me at a pizzeria before. Come to think of it, that's never happened to me at any sort of restaurant before.

Three ovens are used to pump pies for the restaurant as well as take out and delivery.

The Margherita DOC, surely the litmus test of a true Neapolitan pie, is the first thing on the the pizza menu and the last thing I would order here again. It is a pie with such potential—San Marzano tomatoes, hand-made fior de latte, Caputo flour, all cooked in a wood-burning oven, several factors involved in meeting VPN standards. Yet the resulting pizza is only spectacular in its mediocrity.

The cheese, a fior de latte, is completely dried out to the point of being pockmarked with black blisters—something I only want to see on the crust of a DOC pie; sadly the crust here was completely missing them.

The dough is dense and far too crisp. It has no resilience, no puffiness, no life. Unlike the cornicione of the best Neapolitan pizzas, which rise up like an inner tube of a bicycle tire and with almost as much air, the crust at Naples 45 is flat, barely rising above the cheese, and is crackerlike in consistency. I almost always finish the crust on Neapolitan pizza but this one was so dense that it was a chore to eat, the crust equivalent of a Monday morning. The center of the pie, which should require a knife and fork to consume, can easily be eaten by hand. I have seen more tip sag on New York street slices. Frankly, the dough feels overworked.

A sausage pie turned out to be much more palatable, though not because the foundation was any better. The sausage (despite being rather anemic and lacking succulence) was redolent with fennel.

I wonder what happened along the way that led to the pizza at Naples 45 devolving to its current state. Assuming, of course, that when they initially earned VPN certification they served a pie in keeping with what is served in Naples—a soft, liquid center surrounded by a soft, puffy cornicione. Perhaps the kitchen got sick of people complaining about the pies being undercooked and just started sending them all out well-done.

If so, it does raise a question about VPN certification: Are there any follow-up visits? And shouldn't part of the certification ensure that the restaurant educate its customers rather than cater to their whims? The mission of the VPN—a mission I wholeheartedly support—is to preserve a particular way of doing things rather than merely sanctioning ingredients and equipment.

Or perhaps the problem is that two different sizes of pizzas are served and that the ovens seem to be rather crowded—even though there are three of them. The restaurant is large and bustling; I bet they sell more pizza in a day than most VPN pizzerias sell in a week. And they even have a take-out and delivery section in the restaurant that sells pies by the slice. Here you can see the "Mezzo metro" sized pies—elongated, almost rectangular pies. They are no better than the personal-sized pies, although the crust is dense and laden with more toppings.

What's Worth Eating at Naples 45

And yet, among all this dysfunction, all these missed marks, there is a glimmer of hope for the pizza aficionado at Naples 45. Tucked away off to the side sits the unassuming selection of "New York–style" pizza. Classically constructed with the sweet sauce that is used on the other pies and with low-moisture mozzarella (the sort of cheese that can happily spend a lot of time in the oven without losing vitality), a plain slice only cost $1.90, and it is marvelous.

My fist bite was instantly familiar. The sweetness of the sauce; the soft, pliant crust (tender and yielding, yet with some snap and crunch); the milky cheese—all reminded me of Patsy's in East Harlem. Admittedly there was a little too much cheese on the slice, and it didn't have the sooty dusting and corresponding acridity of Patsy's, but it was close. The wood-fired oven did a good job on the crust, which seems to work better here than in anything else I tried.

It is ironic that the most unassuming and the cheapest offering at Naples 45 is also the easiest to recommend. Especially because it seems like a mere afterthought. The VPN accreditation aside, the regular New York slice is more authentic, truer to type and just plain tastier than the Neapolitan pies. which are just disappointing.

I Am Picturing Pizzablogger's Workplace, and It Looks Like This

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:20:41 -0500

I just read this in the comments, and it makes even me scratch my head and then visualize a scene similar to what I just Photoshopped above:

... Lemons and blood oranges are in season. Think I'll try the lemon pizza and also a blood orange pizza tonight. The dough sitting next to me at work says it'll look flashy wearing bright citrus colors, so who am I to argue?

Pizzablogger, why do you have dough AT WORK? You have truly taken pizza madness to the next level. (And do your coworkers know what you've got hiding under your desk?) LOL.

Only in New York*: Get Papa John's By-the-Slice, 99¢

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:30:00 -0500

[Photograph: Adam Kuban]

With the prevalent pizza culture in New York City favoring pizza by the slice, even major chains have to adapt. I've known for a while that Papa John's has offered single slices for 99¢, but it wasn't until the other day that I noticed the PJ's near the Slice–Serious Eats office was in on it, too. I stopped by the get some pics.

Um, 99 cents is a bit of a misnomer. Tax ain't included. So the 99-cent slice is actually $1.08. (Apparently you can still get the heart-shape pizza at this location.)

Slice pies are kept in a small, heated rotating platter cabinet. When I visited, it seemed like a lot of students from nearby FIT were taking advantage of the deal. Which meant turnover was fast and that the slices didn't suffer too much from sitting.

And there's what the underside looks like. Cooked on a screen, run through an impinger oven.

* Only in New York, as far as I know. I've never seen it done anywhere else.

Pizzeria Names All Menu Items After Ryan Adams Songs

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:30:00 -0500

Sticks and Stones Clay Oven Pizza in Greensboro, North Carolina, has gone and named all its menu items for songs by Ryan Adams. Pizzas include A Kiss Before I Go (tomato sauce, fried eggplant, wild mushrooms, mozzarella, carmelized garlic, fresh basil, Parmesan); New York, New York (tomato sauce, Giacomo's soppressata, arugula, fresh mozzarella,
pine nuts, fresh basil, Parmesan), and To Be the One (pizza Margherita), among others.

Sticks & Stones Clay Oven Pizza

2200 Walker Avenue, Greensboro NC 27403
336-275-0220; sticksandstonesclayoven.com

photosofpizzaboxes.com

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:00:00 -0500

Photos of Pizza Boxes is a blog whose title is pretty self-explanatory.

NYC Wine & Food Fest Planning a Blow-Out Pizza Party Event for 2010?

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:25:23 -0500

An interesting tweet from Lee Schrager, the man behind the NYC Wine & Food Festival:

@Lee_Schrager: "what are your fav pizza places in NY? we are lining them up now for Pizza Party at #NYCWFF this October..wouldnt Rocco be a great host?"

Very intriguing. If you're familiar with the Wine & Food Festival (sort of a South by Southwest of food), this should bring to mind such hot-ticket NYCWFF events as the annual Rachael Ray Burger Bash (which also takes place at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival) and last year's Meatball Madness party. While there are hundreds of sessions to choose from during the WFF weekend in October (seminars, tastings, lectures), these mega-events that bring together various heavy-hitter chefs and restaurants from the area (and beyond) are the ones that sort of anchor the weekend. (Burger Bash and Meatball Madness served as bookends last in 2009.)

Given that A) Slice–Serious Eats has hosted two very well-received pizza seminars* as part of the Wine & Food Festival (The Pieman's Craft 2008 and 2009) and that B) pizza is among NYC's iconic foods (if not the most iconic), and that C) there's been an pizza explosion in the last several years, we're not surprised that Schrager and company would consider going all out with a pizza-themed anchor event this year.

Which brings me to this question for you, Slice'rs: What pizzerias would you advise Schrager to bring into the mix? Answer here, and we'll try to zap over the collective wisdom to the Big Cheese himself. [via @Lock]

* I seem to recall reading somewhere that someone described our Pieman's Craft event as sort of a sleeper hit, but now I can't find that reference online anywhere. Still, the feedback we received on our two events was overwhelmingly positive. Trust me!

From Serious Eats Talk: 'When Should I Apply Lemon Juice to My Pizza Bianca?'

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:29:39 -0500

Over on Serious Eats Talk, msinche asks:

Hello! My favorite pizza at the moment is a pizza bianco made at a pizza place in my neighborhood. I am going to try to re-create it tonight but need some help. The ingredients are:
whole wheat crust
olive oil
mozzarella
spinach
fresh garlic
cracked black pepper
and the one I have a question about—lemon juice
So my question is: If I put the toppings on in the order above, when should I use the lemon juice? Before or after baking? You can taste it for sure on the restaurant's version, so my guess is afterward. Your thoughts?

Head on over to the thread to help! »

Doctors Propose 18% 'Pizza Tax' to Fight Obesity, Offset Health-Care Costs

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:30:00 -0500

If such a plan were enacted, a $2.75 slice in NYC, for instance, would jump 50¢ to $3.25.

Science Daily recently reported that researchers have recommended the use of surcharges (taxes and fees) on unhealthy food items like pizza and soda to help offset the nearly $150 billion a year the U.S. government spends on health care issues related to obesity.

Doctors Mitchell H. Katz and Rajiv Bhatia published an article titled "Food Surcharges and Subsidies: Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth Is" on Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine. The two suggest that raising the cost of or specially taxing food items that are high in saturated fats and sugar will have consumers thinking twice before making unhealthy meal choices. Their recommendation is an 18% tax on such items.

On a $2.75 slice (an average price point for slices in NYC), that would translate to a 50¢ surcharge. On a large pepperoni pizza from Domino's ($13.05), that's an extra $2.35.

This tax would be similar to the cigarette tax that some states have in place in an attempt to reduce smoking. For example, New York State places a tax of $2.75 on a pack of smokes, whereas homes of Big Tobacco charges far less. Virginia only taxes 30¢ a pack; South Carolina, 7¢. I wonder if pizza-producing states like New York would similarly tax less for pies if some such bill goes through.

But the bigger question is whether states should tax "unhealthy" foods to reduce obesity-related medical expenses or just mind their own beeswax. Shouldn't it be up to individuals to decide how they want to consume their ideal (or even not-so-ideal) daily caloric intake? And what about the inclusion of pizza in public school and other government institutions' cafeterias?

Should pizza be generalized as an "unhealthy food" when there are endless possibilities and variations?

We want to read your thoughts on this. What do you think?

Photo of Pulino's Pizza on 'ZagatBuzz'

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:55:16 -0500

ZagatBuzz manages to get a photo of a pizza from Nate Appleman's upcoming Pulino's Bar and Pizzeria. Of course you can't judge a book by its cover, and the photo from a Zagat reader is a little blurry, but the pie looks fairly interesting. If you recall, Appleman told Slice that he was going for a unique style of pizza. Pulino's will open Monday.

Pulino's Bar and Pizzeria

282 Bowery, New York NY 10012 (at Houston; map)

Video: Sushi Pizza at Edo Sushi in New York

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:30:00 -0500

From Serious Eats

Take a lightly toasted rice patty, top it with spicy mayo, chopped maguro (tuna), green onion, and tobiko (fish eggs), and voilà: you've got sushi pizza (er, "pizza"). The crew of a Japanese TV show that features wacky "Japanese" food served at Japanese restaurants in America visits Edo Sushi in Hyde Park, New York, to try the restaurant's sushi pizza. Although the hosts initially seem skeptical of the nontraditional dish, they end up liking it. Watch the video after the jump.

Sushi Pizza at Edo Sushi in New York

[via Japan Probe]

Video: Japanese Giga Pudding Commercial
Video: Watermelon Half-Pipe Performance Art on a Japanese Game Show
Video: Brad Pitt and Quentin Tarantino on Japanese Cooking Show
Video: Japanese Cheese Curry Cup of Noodles Commercial

Three Floyd's Brewpub: Top Notch Beer, Good Enough Pizza

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:45:00 -0500

Slice–Serious Eats Chicago contributor Daniel Zemans (Chicago Pizza Club) checks in with another piece of intel on the Windy City pizza scene. —The Mgmt.

[Photographs: Daniel Zemans]

Three Floyd's Brewpub

9570 Indiana Parkway, Munster IN 46321 (map); 219-922-4425; threefloydspub.com
Pizza Style: Thin-crust
Oven Type: Gas
The Skinny: Not worth the drive from Chicago just for the pies, but for a bar this is pizza well done
Price: 14-inch pizzas, $11 to $16

I have yet to meet a serious beer drinker in Chicago who does not love beer from 3 Floyd's, the Munster, Indiana–based brewery that's been pleasing discerning Midwestern palates since 1996. The company has undergone a few expansions in the dozen years it's been open, but demand is so high around here that widespread national distribution is still a ways away. In the meantime, if you are in the area or have a particularly good friend who is, Dark Lord Day is April 24, and if you want a golden ticket, you need to start following 3 Floyd's on Twitter now.

At the brewery sits Three Floyd's Brewpub, which I was introduced to at Chicago Gourmet last fall. There, when most of Chicago's best restaurants were offering samples of food, the jagerwurst with house-made mustard and braised red cabbage put out by Three Floyd's Brewpub was one of a handful of places I went back to for seconds. With those outstanding bites in mind, I went to Three Floyd's on my recent tour of Munster that also included John's Pizzeria and Schoop's for burgers.

I noticed a couple of things while perusing the menu. First, the restaurant has a wider variety of food than the kind of place where you typically find good pizzas. Second, while they have a build-your-own option, the specialty pies showed an impressive degree of creativity. I ended up going for one of the less ambitious pies, pepperoni and pickled jalapeños.

The crust is not made in-house, which shouldn't be too surprising in a restaurant that is far from being a pizzeria. But as Nick Kindelsperger has taught us, even a terrible crust can be somewhat saved by a hot oven, and Three Floyd's cooks its pies at 700°F. That's not to say the prefabricated pie was great—it was a bit too crisp—but it was not bad at all.

Both of the toppings were very good. I'm normally not a fan of pepperoni, but I correctly assumed that these guys weren't going to put out the salt lick that passes for meat at most places. This thin-sliced, oven-crisped pepperoni reminded me what pepperoni should taste like. The pickled jalapenos were also quite good, but the chef was surprisingly stingy with them. Jalapenos are not an expensive ingredient and if someone orders them on a pizza, I think the person making them can safely assume his customer is expecting some heat on their pie. That said, the bites that had both pepperoni and jalapeno in them had a great spicy, chewy, tangy flavor combination. Unfortunately, those bites were few and far between and the rest of the pizza was pretty ordinary, although still good for a bar.

Bottom line: If you are a fan of beer and are anywhere near Munster, you owe it to yourself to check out Three Floyd's. And if you want to eat while you're there, for pizza at a bar you can do a whole lot worse.

John's Pizzeria: Former Chicago Standout Lives On In Indiana

Kesté Now Serving Gluten-Free Pizza on Monday and Tuesday Nights

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:45:00 -0500

[Photograph: Adam Kuban]

From an email from Kesté Pizza & Vino:

Starting [Monday, March 8] we will be serving gluten-free pizza. We will only serve it on Monday and Tuesday evenings. We will start with our Marinara, Mast'Nicola, and Margherita pies for now.
We are using gluten-free Caputo flour.
We're using a different oven to bake the pizza and a different workstation so as to avoid any kind of contamination with regular flour, as we will be serving both regular and gluten-free pizzas at the same time.

Kesté Pizza & Vino

271 Bleecker Street, New York NY 10014 (b/n Jones and Cornelia streets; map)
212-243-1500; kestepizzeria.com

@slice on Twitter

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:40:00 -0500

If you're a twitizen and are looking for crusty, saucy, cheesiness throughout your day, you could do worse than follow @slice on Twitter. Carry on.

Slice

Chicago: Fontana Grill & Wine Bar, Pizza by Way of Boznia and Herzegovina

Fontana Grill & Wine Bar

Related

Serious Eats Road Trip: Tarry Lodge

Post-Script

Tarry Lodge

Comment of the Day

Where to Get 99-Cent Slices (aka Dollar Pizza) in NYC

Z Deli (Times Square)

99¢ Fresh Pizza (Times Square)

2 Bros. Pizza (Times Square)

99¢ Fresh Hot Pizza (Midtown East/GCT Area)

99¢ Fresh Pizza (Midtown East/GCT Area)

2 Bros. Pizza (Midtown West)

K-Food Corp. (K-Town)

8th Avenue Gourmet (Chelsea/MSG Area)

2 Bros. Pizza (Greenwich Village)

99¢ Fresh Pizza (Greenwich Village)

2 Bros Pizza (East Village/St. Marks Place)

Mamani (East Village)

99¢ Slices at Papa John's

Papa John's (Kips Bay)

Papa John's (Chelsea)

Tower Pizzeria & Indian Foods: Is There Such a Thing as Indian Pizza?

Tower Pizzeria & Indian Foods

NYT on the Rise of the NYC Dollar Slice

Pulino's Bar and Pizzeria, a Gallery

Other Coverage

Pulino's Bar & Pizzeria

A Worthwhile Slice in Midtown at Previti Pizza

See Also

Previti Pizza

Poll: Do You Eat and/or Dip Your Pizza Crusts?

This Week in Pizza

What You May Have Missed on Slice

From Serious Eats Talk

In the News and On the Blogs

This Week's Poll Results: Burning Questions, Sort of Answered

Pizza Girl: Future Technology

From Serious Eats Talk: 'How Is Paulie Gee's Doing? Any Experiences?'

Comment of the Day: Hip Pizza Pundits

This Week's Tasty 10

From Serious Eats Talk: 'Kesté — So What Did I Miss?'

UPDATE/CLARIFICATION: Portland, Oregon, Has Not Three But Four(!) Pizza Carts

Naples 45: Skip the Neapolitan Pizza Here and Get Their New York–Style Slice Instead

"VPN accreditation aside, the regular New York slice is more authentic, truer to type and just plain tastier than the Neapolitan pies."

Naples 45

What's Worth Eating at Naples 45

I Am Picturing Pizzablogger's Workplace, and It Looks Like This

Only in New York*: Get Papa John's By-the-Slice, 99¢

Pizzeria Names All Menu Items After Ryan Adams Songs

Sticks & Stones Clay Oven Pizza

photosofpizzaboxes.com

NYC Wine & Food Fest Planning a Blow-Out Pizza Party Event for 2010?

From Serious Eats Talk: 'When Should I Apply Lemon Juice to My Pizza Bianca?'

Doctors Propose 18% 'Pizza Tax' to Fight Obesity, Offset Health-Care Costs

If such a plan were enacted, a $2.75 slice in NYC, for instance, would jump 50¢ to $3.25.

Photo of Pulino's Pizza on 'ZagatBuzz'

Pulino's Bar and Pizzeria

Video: Sushi Pizza at Edo Sushi in New York

Sushi Pizza at Edo Sushi in New York

Related

Three Floyd's Brewpub: Top Notch Beer, Good Enough Pizza

Three Floyd's Brewpub

Related

Kesté Now Serving Gluten-Free Pizza on Monday and Tuesday Nights

Kesté Pizza & Vino

@slice on Twitter