Slice

Gialina: San Francisco Food Critic Michael Bauer's Favorite Pizzeria

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:00:00 -0500

This is from last week, but if you're not plugged in to the SF pizza scene, you may have missed it. San Francisco Chronicle food critic Michael Bauer officially anoints Pizzeria Gialina his favorite pizza place in the City by the Bay:

What sets Gialina pizza apart is the handmade crust, with puffy edges that are darkened but not blistered and a delicately chewy texture - it's nearly cracker-crisp on the outside, giving way to that elusive tender breadiness. The secret, according to Ardiana, is a low yeast-to-flour ratio and a dough that is wetter than most. She also makes the dough the night before so it has time to proof.
Toppings are restrained; Ardiana creates 13 and I've never had a bad one, whether she's taking the night off or toiling in the back with stacks of pizza boxes balanced above her head. The most popular is the Atomica ($15), where the crust is slathered with a thin wash of sweet tomato sauce topped with mozzarella, mushrooms, red onions and rings of chiles. It's an explosion of sweet, salty, mild, spicy, crisp and tender - just about every yin-yang description that makes food great.

Gialina Pizzeria

2842 Diamond Street, San Francisco CA 94131 (map)
415-239-8500; gialina.com

That's Amore: You and Every Guy in the Place

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:50:14 -0500

My Roberta's Lady. - m4w - 24 (Roberta's Pizza, Brooklyn): "You live in Colorado. You were in town visiting friends (who seemed warm and nice--they both live here, and you guys were 'addicted' to photos with a disposable camera). I was the guy trying too hard to look impressive by the fire, wearing a hat and a plaid-y shirt and with a beard and thick glasses and REALLY REALLY REALLY WANTING TO TALK TO YOU . I made a brief start of conversation, about something, and was then dragged out by my friends. But! BUT BUT BUT! I wished that we had stuck around, because I was set on you all night AND then when waking up sober. Ohkay. This won't work,. and I am writing into the ether. BUT! HERE GOES NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!"

'$5 Is Too Much for Burnt Pizza at Di Fara!'

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:05:51 -0500

[Photograph: Always Hungry]

Always Hungry's Arthur Bovino has a bone to pick with Di Fara and its burnt slices:

Two 'slice' pies were made, and overcooked. The oil separated (before Dom's signature drizzle), the cheese turned orange, and two-thirds of the crust's rim was charred. The final scattering of grated cheese resembled a masking, not the pleasant accent it can be. Worse, when three patrons lifted slices plate to mouth, the upskirt was black as the coal used in Frank Pepe's ovens. But you can't just go on sight. Right? This was once. Right? What about when pies are made? Is the end of service a valid excuse?

That's too bad. The last few times I've been, Mr. DeMarco seemed to had gotten the burning problem under control. Sad to see it happening again.

'New York Post' Profiles Sal Bartolomeo of Rosario's Pizza on Manhattan's Lower East Side

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:25:27 -0500

Sal Bartolomeo. [Photograph: nypost.com]

From a nice profile in the New York Post of Sal Bartolomeo of Rosario's Pizza on the Lower East Side:

"This pizza parlor is my home, and I share it with everybody," he says. "People come from all over the world just to see me, because they know I'm going to put a show on for them.
"Customers I've been serving since 1963 will bring their grandkids here, even if they've moved to another city. They want the kids to meet Sal."

Rosario's Pizza

173 Orchard Street, New York NY 10002 (LES, at Stanton; map)
212-777-9813

From Serious Eats Talk: 'Where Can I Find Good Local Pizza in Minnesota?'

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 07:00:00 -0500

On Slice parent site Serious Eats, smile asks:

We've just recently moved to Minnesota and can't seem to fulfill our pizza craving. There are tons of pizza places but we don't know which ones to try anymore because every pie we've ordered here has a set of characteristics that don't seem right to us:
1. A round pizza cut into 30-40 tiny, unequal pieces
2. Paper thin crust that feels like wet cardboard
3. Toppings under the cheese
4. Cheese in a seemingly disproportional amount (maybe because of the crust) that slides down your throat while you're still chewing on it like taffy
We've asked our waiters if this is a Minnesota thing and no one can seem to give us an answer. From what we've experienced, it seems like the norm here, but we don't really like it.
My question is, are there any pizzerias that serve traditional crust round pizzas similar to Domino's or Pizza Hut style?( In the Twin Cities)
We want to find a good pie somewhere without resorting to the chains.

Dish your intel here »

Video: Encroachment

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:00:00 -0500

Has the NYC Department of Health Delcared War on Reheated Pizza Slices?

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:45:00 -0500

[Photograph: Turbulentflow on Flickr]

An alarming piece of reader mail today from an undisclosed Manhattan pizzeria should send shivers down the spines of any slice-loving New Yorker. If this is not just a single instance of overzealous enforcement by the NYC Department of Health, the following could have serious ramifications for the majority of pizzerias in the Big Apple:

I am having a huge problem. I run a pizzeria, and we have gotten a warning from the Board of Health saying that pizza is not allowed to be used off of the slice display.
This, of course, has to do with the fact that the cheese cannot be left between 40°F and 140°F and then reheated. No matter how hot the oven is, it is still a violation according to the Board of Health.
My question is, how do i comply with their regulations and still produce a quality product?
How do I comply and still serve people in a reasonable amount of time?
Could you please post this or start a forum to discuss it?
I am extremely frustrated and I don't know how to handle this logistically.
Thank you very much,
[Name and location redacted]

------------------------------------------------------------

Holy. Crap.

At first I thought this was from someone outside of NYC—say, Kansas City—since the writer uses the term Board of Health rather than Dept. of Health or DOH. In that case, this would have been alarming enough but somewhat expected, since other cities do not have quite the slice culture NYC does.

But the writer did indeed confirm he's in Manhattan. "I don't care what they're called," he said about the DOH. "I hate them."

If this is part of a new systematic crackdown on slice pies, we hate them, too.

South Slope's Lucali Spin-off to Be Called Giuseppina's

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:45:12 -0500

[Photograph: eater.com]

The blog Eater brings word via photographic evidence (above) that "Lucali II," the spin-off pizzeria from Mark Iacono's brother, Chris, will be called Giuseppina's. Wow. Doesn't quite roll off the tongue the way Lucali does, does it?

Giuseppina's (aka Lucali II)

691 6th Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11215 (South Slope, at 20th Street; map)

Pizza Madness 2009: Los Angeles — Pizzeria Mozza and Antica Pizzeria

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:00:00 -0500

From the Slice inbox: "Waiting for your review of Mozza and Antica. Please get to it soon. Thanks. —Pizzafreak" OK. Here you go, Pizzafreak. My blathering about "Pizza Madness 2009" continues ... —The Mgmt.

[Photographs: Adam Kuban]

Until I touched down at LAX on Thursday, October 29, most of my knowledge of Los Angeles came from CHiPs, The Rockford Files, the Terminator franchise, and The Closer. I had a feeling I'd be in for a shock.

It came pretty early. On the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and North Crescent (straight-up 90210 territory), I saw both a Bentley Continental ragtop and a Lamborghini Murcielago filling up at a gas station. I was waiting for a bus. Instant loser.

Well, at the bus I boarded was up-to-date, clean, and cheap ($1.25 was the lowest fare I'd seen this whole trip). And it dropped me at the corner of Santa Monica and North Highland 20 minutes later. From there, it was only a short walk to Pizzeria Mozza.

This was lunch, though it came at 3 p.m., which was about the best reservation for three I could get a single day in advance. I was meeting Slice West Coast contributor L.A. Pizza Maven and AHT L.A. burger dude Damon Gambuto. Some quick impressions of Mozza and Antica Pizzeria, after the jump.

This is the only picture of the pizza I have at Mozza. L.A. Pizza Maven and Damon told me that they don't approve of photography at Pizzeria Mozza. Given the reports of celeb diners there, that's not surprising. But, really, even if Erik Estrada, James Garner, Ahnold, and Kyra Sedgwick were dining together, my focus would still be on the pizza. This is the sausage pie, by the way.

I knew Mozza was popular, but the place was still packed at 3 p.m. Though, as LAPM pointed out, you can usually walk in solo around lunchtime and get a seat at the bar. The empty seats there bore out this bit of wisdom.

We ordered three pies: a Margherita ($13); the Burricotta with Peperonata, Olive Taggiasche, and Oregano ($15); and the Fennel Sausage, Panna, Red Onion, and Scallion ($15; pictured above).

I had read plenty about Mozza—both rapturous praise and crazy dismissals—and figured I was prepared for it. Especially given the fact that I had now eaten at some of the best and reputedly best pizzerias in the West. Plus, after trying so many supposedly great pizzerias that people have gushed about, you start to weigh the raves differently and view them with more skepticism. I figured the quality of the pies at Mozza would be somewhere in the middle, pushing toward very good.

They were GREAT. The burricotta pie (burrata and ricotta cheeses mixed) was incredibly creamy. The sausage pie was fantastic, the meat was unlike any I'd had on this trip or before it—the typical fennel seed flavor was absent, in its place a slightly sagey, almost funky flavor. The Margherita was good but probably the least of my favorites of what I had. Still, it and the other two pies benefited enormously from the insane crust.

It was easier to get a Mozza upskirt, since I could shoot, literally, from the hip, hiding the camera at waist level.

As others have said, it's more like sauce and toppings strewn across really good bread. I mean, even with the crappy photo above, you can see how INSANE that end crust (aka, the cornicione) is. It's crazy puffy, with various size bubbles and stretching in the hole structure, or crumb. With all the tangy, yeasty flavor you'd expect from a good bread.

My only complaint would be that the balance of the pies are weighted heavily in favor of the crust element. When there is a sauce on the pie, it's difficult to discern.

Pizzeria Mozza

641 North Highland Avenue, Los Angeles CA 90036 (at Melrose; map)
323-297-0101; mozza-la.com/pizzeria

Antica Pizzeria

[Photograph: anticapizzeria.net]

Antica Pizzeria in Marina del Rey is a bit deceiving. I mean, it's on the second floor of a shopping mall (who finds good pizza in a shopping mall‽), but once inside, it's like a little piece of Italy (or what I'd imagine Italy to be, since I've yet to travel there).

So, yeah, who does find good pizza in a shopping mall? You, for one, if you find yourself there.

Very good pizza, but not amazingly mind-blowing. Before Pizzeria Mozza opened, seems like a lot of L.A.–based food blogs pegged Antica as the only pizza game in town. It's a VPN-certified pizzeria. In fact, Peppe Miele is the president of the American chapter of the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana. Aspiring VPN pizzerias must submit an application to Miele for certification, and Antica offers training sessions for Neapolitan-leaning pizza-makers.

I visited Antica with L.A. Pizza Maven, who I'm grateful to for driving me around after my abortive attempt at using public transit in the City of Angels. (Thank you, thank you, thank you!)

I'm also grateful to LAPM for this tip at Antica: Order your pies well-done there. The pizzas we got—a half Margherita–half sausage ($13.50) and a Pizza Siciliana (eggplant, smoked mozzarella, basil, and chopped tomato; $13.50).

The Margherita crust here was as good as you'd want. Chewy, crisp enough to stand up to the sauce and cheese — likely from the extra time in the oven — and yeasty. And if I hadn't come from Pizzeria Mozza earlier in the day, I'd likely be more impressed with it than I was.

The eggplant with smoked mozzarella was interesting and would probably have been more pleasing had I not been full on Mozza and the Antica Margherita. It's a rich pie and is probably best for sharing.

And of, course, there's the upskirt. Not too bad lookin', is it?

Remember how I mentioned all those TV shows earlier? Well, the one thing they didn't prepare me for is HOW VAST L.A. IS. Sure, I knew that everyone drove there and that they spent vast amounts of time in their cars, but I just sort of assumed that that was because of gridlock. But, hell, even without traffic and driving at pretty fast clip down Santa Monica and I-405, it still took for-freaking-ever to get from Beverly Hills to Marina del Rey.

So I began to appreciate L.A. Pizza Maven's love of Antica. He lives nearby and frequents often. Plus, he said, for many years, it was the best thing going in L.A. pizzawise and sated his cravings on many a night and helped him fend off homesickness.

It's hard not to like a place when you've seen it through the eyes of a friend. So, even though the pies weren't in the same league as Mozza's, I did enjoy Antica.

Antica Pizzeria

13455 Maxella Avenue, #201, Marina del Rey CA 90292 (at Del Rey Ave.; map)
310-577-8182; anticapizzeria.net

Customized Pizza-Themed Keds

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:24:03 -0500

[Photograph: Pizzalicious]

Lauren of the blog Pizzalicious points out that you can make customized pizza-themed Keds.

Sure enough. Go to the Keds Collective customizer and you can upload your own images onto the upper, tongue, heel, outside quarter, and inside quarter. The shoes start at $60 for women and $50 for kids. Sadly, men's options are "coming soon."

I think Lauren's design is just about perfect, but I wanted to get into the shoe-design business myself, so I whipped up a pair of my own (after the jump).

Whaddaya think?

Yes, that's who you think it is. Along with an upskirt shot of a Serious Pie slice and a top-down shot of a Motorino hot soppressata pie.

How to Teach Your Kids About Good Pizza

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:30:00 -0500

In a recent New Yorker book review of Raising the Perfect Child Through Guilt and Manipulation, Macy Halford boils down the book's central tenet:

So how do you put the philosophy into practice? First, become fluent in the language of groupthink, and use it to invite your child to examine things critically as a member of a team: "'Can you believe they have the nerve to call this pizza? This doesn't even come close to __________' (fill in the blank with the name of your favorite pizzeria)."

I think the Slice family, of which you are all part (awwww, warm fuzzy feeling), is far too large, diverse, and opinionated to succumb to groupthink, no? [Hat tip to Girl Slice]

Cheeseburger Pizza at Nite 'N Gale: Too Much Pickle

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:30:00 -0500

Serious Eats Chicago contributor Daniel Zemans checks in with another piece of intel on the Windy City pizza scene. --The Mgmt.

[Photograph: Mark Blitstein; remaining photographs: Daniel Zemans]

Nite 'N Gale

346 Waukegan Avenue, Highwood, IL 60040 (map); (847) 432-5244; nitengale.com
Getting There: Metra Union Pacific North train to Highwood; restaurant is visible from train platform
Pizza Style: Cracker crust
Oven Type: Gas
The Skinny: Highwood institution puts out a good cracker crust, but misses badly with its cheeseburger pizza
Price: 10" cheeseburger pizza is $12.50

Nestled between Highland Park and Lake Forest, leafy suburbs that have been home to great wealth for over a century, sits the town of Highwood, the socioeconomic stepchild of the North Shore. Highwood has been home to a variety of waves of immigrants since the 1870s, including a sizeable group of Italians that came around the turn of the 20th century and built a community that remains there today.

Nite 'N Gale has been in the Fiocchi family since it was founded in 1947 and has been passed down from Geno to Marvin to Kyle, who owns it today. From it's dim lighting to oversized worn down leather booths to the large bar that dominates the main dining room, Nite 'N Gale oozes 1950s Italian restaurant and lounge. The menu includes a variety of traditional Italian-American favorites, including Chicago specialty Shrimp DeJonghe, as well as a number of decidedly non-Italian dishes (Cajun chicken?). Obviously, I was there for the pizza. Specifically, I wanted the cheeseburger pizza, a pie the restaurant is so proud of that it one of only two preset toppings combinations listed on the menu.

The cheeseburger pizza is basically a ground beef pie that, after being fully cooked, is topped with slices of tomatoes and pickles, as well as ketchup and mustard.

I'll start with the good: The cracker crust on the pizza was good. It was crisp and light, but had enough heft to stand up to the array of toppings. Unfortunately, that's the limit of the benefits of the pizza. I think the picture speaks for itself, but this was a horribly unbalanced pie that still has me wondering how it earned and has held a place on the menu. I am a huge fan of pickles and these ones were good enough, but I'm not sure I could ever embrace them as a pizza topping. I do know that in this particular case, where the pickle to meat ratio was about three to one and the ketchup and mustard and pickle juice thoroughly dominated the sauce, it did not work. Basically, this was a pickle pizza. It was certainly edible - I even ate the leftovers for breakfast the next day - but that's about the limit of what it has going for it.

I'm sure there are people out there who think that a cheeseburger pizza is never a good idea, but I wholeheartedly disagree with that sentiment. While I haven't had a good one in Chicago, I can put a plug in for the bacon cheeseburger slice at Maffei on 6th Avenue in New York. That slice is loaded with well-seasoned ground beef and also has some bacon and American cheese in addition to the mozzarella. There are no pickles or burger condiments, and there is ample sauce. Side note: Maffei is also home to one of Ed Levine's favorite grandma slices.

Obviously, I cannot recommend the cheeseburger pizza at Nite 'N Gale. That said, the crust was a good representation of the cracker crust style, so if you find yourself in Highwood and are craving a pizza, I suspect a more traditional pie at Nite 'N Gale would be fine, though not worth going far out of the way to try. Unless, of course, the idea of a pickle pizza appeals to you, in which case you should head to Nite 'N Gale immediately.

From Serious Eats Talk: 'Favorite Pizza Condiment?'
Pat's Pizza: House-made Sausage and a Perfect Crust Make One Great Pizza
Thin-Crust Pizza in Chicago? Yes, and It's Outstanding at Vito & Nick's

Pizza Bike Ride This Sunday to Di Fara, L&B Spumoni Gardens

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:00:00 -0500

[Photograph: Adam Kuban]

Making its way around Twitter today attached to the hashtag #bikenyc is word that there's going to be a pizza bike ride in Brooklyn this Sunday, November 22, weather permitting.

Meet at Brooklyn's Grand Army Plaza at 11 a.m. From there, the ride will hit Di Fara and then L&B Spumoni Garden.

I'm thinking of joining this ride, but if a lot of people join in (and, hey, the more, the merrier), I'm just wondering how things will work at Di Fara. A large group of cyclists descending on Di Fara would be a recipe for waiting forever for pizza. Still, seems like fun.

Dear Slice: 'Barring Di Fara, Where Should I Go for Pizza on My NYC Visit?'

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:00:00 -0500

Clicking in to the Slice inbox today, another question regarding an upcoming NYC pizza itinerary. I love these questions! --The Mgmt.

Adam and the Slice Crew,
I will be making my first visit to New York City in a few weeks, and I don't think it would be a proper visit if I left without trying some New York pizza. With that said, I have looked over your reviews and suggestions in the past, and with my limited time and rather packed schedule I just don't think I will be able to make Di Fara work with its seemingly rather high level of time commitment.
I have narrowed it down to Motorino, Co., and Lomardi's for the Naples-style pie that I traditionally like. But I can't really seem to make a decision. Any suggestions out of those three that would best sum up New York pizza?

Thanks and keep up the great work,

Josh S.

------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Josh,

Wow. That's a tough one. First off, those are three very different pies. Motorino is really the only "Naples-style" pie among them. Co. Company offers something closer to a Neapolitan pie than does Lombardi's, but even that pizza is a world apart from the more traditional Naples-style pies you'll find at Motorino. Co. Company's crust is more dense, chewy, and breadlike, whereas Motorino's is puffy, airy, and soft — and is at times a "wetter" pie than Co. Company's.

Lombardi's sausage pie.

Lombardi's (above) is what I'd call a New York–Neapolitan or a Neapolitan-American pizza. It has the Neapolitan-Italian DNA (fresh mozzarella, San Marzano tomato sauce, a focus on simplicity and balance), but like many of the old-time coal-oven pizzerias of NYC, the pie has been upsized to suit American tastes, and the crust is crisper than Motorino's. (Co. Company's crust can often be as crisp as Lombardi's, but it's a crapshoot because the pizza there can be inconsistent.

Motorino's hot soppressata pie.

Personally, I love Motorino's pizza (I'm currently in love with the brussels sprouts–pancetta pie and the hot soppressata pie), but, depending on where you're from, you can find examples of the more traditional Neapolitan style in many larger U.S. cities. So it's not like you can't get a similar product elsewhere. (That said, it's far better than many of the Neapolitan-style pizzas I've had elsewhere.)

Co. Company's Margherita pizza.

Co. Company and Lombardi's are pizza styles that would be difficult to get elsewhere. Co.'s is more of an "artisanal" pizza, whereas Lombardi's, if I were pressed to say it, probably represents a more traditional type of New York pizza. (Granted, one that is far removed from a typical greasy corner slice joint.)

As you can see, I've probably introduced more gray area here than you wanted, but I am obsessed with the pizza, and it's very difficult for me to make a black-and-white decision.

What do you all think out there? Where would you send Josh? (Again, not Di Fara.)

From Serious Eats Talk: 'Favorite Pizza Condiment?'

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:54:22 -0500

"Pizza with Ketchup and Mustard," 2006. [Photograph: La Mariposa on Flickr]

On Slice parent site Serious Eats, KWBrown asks, "I know some people would look down on putting condiments on pizza, but I'm just curious to see what people like to add to their slice. Sometimes I cover mine in hot sauce." Find that appealing or appalling? Talk, blab, and/or share your 2¢ here »

Naples: A Trio of Pizzas at Pizzeria Starita

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:00:00 -0500

Thought you all might want a little break from my recent ramblings. Here's a field report from Gianluca Rottura (who you might know round these parts as nextgospel). Enjoy! --The Mgmt.

[Photographs: Gianluca Rottura]

Unfortunately, I must make this article for Slice as short as possible. If there were no limits, I could write a book on my lunch at Pizzeria Starita. For those of you familiar with Kesté Pizza & Vino in New York City, the co-owner and pizzaiolo there, Roberto Caporuscio, perfected his skills at this Neapolitan landmark, which was featured in the Sophia Loren flick L'Oro di Napoli.

Caporuscio is president of the U.S. chapter of the Associazione Pizzaiuoli Napoletani. While he teaches and certifies students across the U.S., Antonio Starita does the same in Naplesa and is the man who taught Caporuscio.

A gentleman in his 70s, Antonio Starita has the energy to somehow personally welcome customers and make a large amount of superb pizzas six days a week. What kinds of pizzas? Well...

The Montanara at Pizzeria Starita is essentially a Margherita pie with one crucial difference — is first lightly fried and then baked.

First we (my beautiful cousins Eliana and Gerarda, among the many other beautiful ones) started with the Montanara. I guarantee that you would dump your spouse for this pizza or, at the very least, cheat on him or her just to have a few moments with this ... drug? The Montanara is a pizza that is first lightly fried and then baked. The toppings are the same as a Margherita: tomato, mozzarella, and basil. I can only tell you that this was true love. It was unconditional.

And there was no offensive fried taste. Frying is an art, and nobody fries like Italians. The double-cooking added a depth to it and made the experience more profound. I'm sure this technique will be cool to copy now.

There is no need to explain the oven, stretching techniques, ingredients, etc., because they are all classically Neapolitan (if you want more, I explain them fully on my site, pizzaandcoffee.com).

Of course, I had to try the Margherita. I ordered mine with mozzarella di bufala because I am pious.

The Pizza del Papa, created for Pope John Paul II during the Jubilee of 2000, during which the Pope blessed pizza-makers.

And I had to try the Pizza del Papa. Starita invented this pizza and prepared it for Pope John Paul II for the Jubilee in 2000; it can also be found at Kesté. Having eaten it many times at Kesté, while explaining to Caporuscio that Inter sucks and Roma is better, I was curious how his teacher made it.

Well, I had to cheat on the Montanara to do that. I warmly kissed the toppings of butternut squash cream, roasted peppers, smoked mozzarella, and, the love of my life, zucchini flowers.

The third pizza was a beautiful Walnut Cream with Zucchini Flower pie (above). I quickly surrendered as I drank La Grotte del Sole, a popular Gragnano.

I was falling in love over and over. And that's when Starita passed by with Il Corno di Maradona. I stopped him and took a picture as he explained (but I forgot) what was in it. Anyway, it's a U-shape fried-pizza dough with stuffing. I was too full to pursue.

But Starita wouldn't let me digest. He forced me to eat angioletti for dessert. How could I resist? It's fried pizza dough sprinkled with sugar and covered with Nutella.

And who is Antonio Starita? What does his oven look like? Here you go:

Antonio Starita with me and my cousins.

The oven at Pizzeria Starita.

Chicago Openings: Nella Pizzeria Napoletana, Nov. 20, 2009

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:41:16 -0500

[Photograph: Franco Grassano]

FYI: Do you remember how Daniel Zemans wrote about Nella Grassano's impending return to the Chicago Neapolitan-pizza scene? Daniel just let it drop in the comments of that post that the official opening date of Nella Pizzeria Napoletana is this Friday, November 20, 2009.

Nella Pizzeria Napoletana

2423 N. Clark Street, Chicago, IL 60614 (map)
773-327-3400; pizzerianella.com
Getting There: #22 Clark Street bus to Clark and Fullerton, walk a half block north

The Most Awesome Recycling Bundle EVER

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:30:00 -0500

[Photograph: Adam Kuban]

OK, the above pile of discarded, greasy pizza boxes would be nothing special in New Haven, but I have to admit I had a strange pizza daydream as I was downloading slices from them into freezer bags for storage in my Brooklyn home.

As I said to Girl Slice: "Do you know that if a pizza connoisseur walked by this pile on recycling day, he or she WOULD FREAK? This is like if you put out empty boxes for Xbox, Wii, and PlayStation on the same day. Like the day after Christmas. But greasier."

Girl Slice's response: a rollin' of the eyes.

Openings: Williamsburg's Vinnie's to Drop Second Location in Greenpoint

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:46:48 -0500

[Photograph: Adam Kuban]

Vinnie's Pizzeria, on Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg. Known for its vegan and vegetarian options as well as for its more outré slices (mac-and-cheese slice; breakfast slice, described on sandwich board above). And for its T.hanks trash can. Word is they're opening a second location just a bit north in Greenpoint. At Nassau and Kingsland. No date yet. [via Pizza Rules!]

Pizza Madness 2009: I Left My Heartburn in San Francisco

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:30:00 -0500

And my documentation of Pizza Madness 2009 continues. Here, I'm just going to roll up my San Francisco leg into one post, since A) I had trouble getting photos in some of these darkened joints and B) this is where the Neapolitan pies really started to blur together. —The Mgmt.

View Pizza Madness 2009, San Francisco Leg in a larger map

As I said in an earlier post documenting "Pizza Madness 2009," I knew Seattle and San Francisco were going to kick my pizza-eating ass. I was well-prepared for San Francisco going in, since I've now visited the city a handful of times and am familiar with transit options. But I had only two days (Tuesday and Wednesday) to visit a number of geographically diverse pizzerias. And, as is the custom of many of the Neapartisanal places I'd be going to, most were only open for dinner service.

Pizzeria Delfina

The Margherita pie from Pizzeria Delfina, from a January 2009 visit. [Photographs: Adam Kuban]

I hit the ground running after arriving at SFO around noon, taking the BART to 24th and Mission and ducking into Pizzeria Delfina. I'd visited once before (my first time documented here) and wanted to go yet again, since I hadn't been in some time and because a commenter on that post (Pizzaologist) mentioned that consistency was an issue at Delfina.

At least from what I've had, I found no consistency issues. My pizza on this visit was very good—which was in keeping with what I remembered from January of this year. Having had a number of Neapolitan-style pies in the last few days, I was prepared for a certain level of ennui to affect my judgment, but I found Delfina's product superior to the Neapolitan-style places I tried in Portland (Nostrana) and Seattle (Tutta Bella and Via Tribunali): a flavorful, crisp-chewy crust (even from the gas-fueled oven there); a tangy sauce; and high-quality, creamy cheese.

"Would definitely eat here again," I noted. A sentiment not entirely unaffected by the fact that the awesome, awesome Bi-Rite Creamery is just across the street. (OMG, the balsamic-strawberry ice cream there is the bomb; as is about everything else.)

Pizzaiolo

After Delfina, I made my way to Girl Slice's parents' house, where I was staying for this leg (thanks, Girl Slice's parents!). I visited and chatted for a bit, recombobulated, and recharged my electronics before taking BART out to Oakland for visit to Pizzaiolo, Charlie Hallowell's celebrated wood-oven, Neapolitan-style pizzeria. Had a very good and much-needed salad and the Margherita. Good crust, simple if fairly standard sauce, but OMG, EXCELLENT CHEESE. So creamy, buttery, and almost nutty. This was by far the best fresh mozzarella I'd taste on the entire trip. But when it came down to it, the rest of the pie was not as memorable.

Emilia's Pizzeria

I first visited Emilia's Pizzeria during a friends-and-family night in early September before the place was officially open to the public. But I wanted to see how it held up under normal operating conditions so I dropped in, surprising owner-pizzaiolo Keith Froelich, who had only one ball of dough left as I arrived none too soon (whew).

Had a half plain–half sausage pie. Was pretty much as I experienced in September, which is to say awesome.

Some belated news for you, as of late October, Emilia's is whole-pie only. Only a handful of people ever ordered by the slice, Froelich said, and it was easier to take orders for pies than have a long line for slices, anyway.

Flour + Water

It was getting on in the night when I left Emilia's, and I was tired, but I knew Flour + Water was open late — a rarity among Bay Area pizzerias. So I took the BART back to 24th and Mission for a quick visit before I hit the hay for the night. Flour + Water has been making waves in San Francisco since its debut in May of this year. With opening pizza-maker Jon Darsky coming from Pizzeria Delfina and, before that, Pizzaiolo, the type of praise this place is garnering should come as no surprise. (FYI: SF Weekly has a great Q&A with Darsky.) But my half sausage–half-Margherita pie left me wanting more. The crust and sauce were nearly indistinguishable from Pizzaiolo's product—very good but not mindblowingly great—and it didn't have that amazing cheese that Pizzaiolo did. (Of course, now some smart aleck is probably going to come along in the comments here and tell me they both source the cheese from the same place.)

Anyway, like Nostrana in Portland, Oregon, it seemed like Flour + Water, despite the name, was more about the food than the pizza. All around me, people were ordering inventive and delicious-sounding appetizers (warm potato and lamb's tongue salad, lavender smoked duck breast with persimmon, beets, cress, and walnut) and entrées (roasted pork leg and smoked belly, seared pheasant breast with roasted pumpkin purée) and going all ooh-and-ahh and making the faces you'd expect to go with those noises. The two couples down the bar from me were engaged in a thoughtful though absurd discussion of wine and wine stores and marveling at the wine list. In all, it seemed more like a great restaurant (in a heretofore underserved area) that served good pizza rather than a destination pizzeria. Given that the walk from their respective BART stations are almost equidistant, if I were in the game for pizza, I'd head to Pizzeria Delfina before I trekked to Flour + Water.

A16

I was up early Wednesday morning to get a jump on my day. I uploaded some photos to Flickr, checked my various Twitter accounts, and headed out. I had only two places on my list—Pizzeria Picco, over the Golden Gate Bridge in Larkspur; and Tomasso's in North Beach in San Francisco. My plan was to Zipcar out to Pizzeria Picco for its 5 p.m. opening time and be back on the road into San Francisco at 6 p.m. Figured I'd hit Tomasso's around 7 p.m. at the latest. After all, the googs told me it was a 28-minute drive. I figured 45 minutes, to be safe.

I was all set to eat a much-coveted nonpizza lunch at La Corneta. Oh, how I was looking forward to a burrito and some agua fresca. And then I remembered A16. Seeing as how I had yet to try it, I figured I had to do my due diligence as a pizza dude and get there for lunch, even though the last thing I was looking forward to eating at this point was another Neapolitan-style Margherita pizza. So I set out on on the 43-Masonic bus to the Marina District. Fun times.

The Margherita at A16 was one of the better ones I had in the Bay Area. My list so far ranked, in order, Pizzeria Delfina > Pizzaiolo > A16 > Flour + Water. A16 was almost on a par with Pizzaiolo. Would have been right there if it could touch that amazing cheese at Pizzaiolo. This was easily the best VPN-certified place I'd had yet (and would turn out to be the best VPN-certified pizzeria on my trip). Here's the upskirt, which I had to take outside the pizzeria, since they were already looking at me funny for shooting the photo above:

I had a favorable impression of A16's pie — and then I added some chile oil to it. That shit puts it over the top. With a Mexican Coke accompanying this pie, I was no longer mourning the loss of my Corneta burrito.

Pizzeria Picco

So, yeah. Made the trek back to Glen Park to pick up a Zipcar and figured I'd be in Larkspur by 4:50 p.m. That was before I remembered that the Bay Bridge broke. "No biggie," I thought, "that just means a bunch of unlucky saps can't get to the East Bay. I'll just encounter some heavier traffic in the city itself, but things will clear once I head over the Golden Gate."

Yeah, right. Unfamiliar with Bay Area traffic patterns, I had no idea that shit would be tragic up 101 to Larkspur. What should have been "28 minutes," according to Google Maps, TOOK THREE HOURS.

But you know what? The pies I had at Pizzeria Picco WERE WORTH EVERY MINUTE crawling the 13 miles from Marina and Fillmore (where the gridlock started) through Marin County.

This was Neapolitan-style pizza taken to the next level. And I'm not just saying that 'cause I was hungry (I wasn't—I actually ended up stopping at Corneta anyway). The Margherita was refreshingly good. Salty, savory, tangy, and flavorful. And the Cannondale (house-made sausage, roasted red peppers, spring onions, mozzarella, grana Padano, and basil leaves) was just something else entirely. (Yes, it's named after the bicycle brand, as are most of the pies; chef-pizzaiolo Bruce Hill is a big bike nerd.) I'm not sure I have much more to say in addition to L.A. Pizza Maven's rave review of Picco.

Even after a two-hour return trip, I still thought this pizza was worth it. I only hope the homeless dude I gave the leftovers to appreciated it as much! (See also: the homeless man I gave my Serious Pie leftovers to.)

Unfortunately, the crashing Bay Bridge catastrophe and nightmare traffic put the kibosh on my visiting Tomasso's. So it was back to Girl Slice's parents' place for some much-needed decompression and mental preparation for my first-time visit to La La Land aka Los Angeles. (Which I will blog about tomorrow, folks.)

Adios to Seattle

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:00:00 -0500

[Photograph: Adam Kuban]

And so with Serious Pie, Tutta Bella, and Via Tribunali under my now-straining belt, I bid adieu to Jet City, but not before noticing that one of the magazines the hotel provided in the room was Seattle Metropolitan, from the same publisher as Portland Monthly. Both doing their annual food roundup issues. Both with pizza on the cover. Seattle's shows Serious Pie's Guanciale, Soft Egg, and Arugula pizza. Portland's, as I pointed out in my Nostrana report, highlights a pie coming from that pizzeria's oven but makes no mention of the pizza in the actual blurb about the place.

What's that, you ask? No Delancey? Well, due to a snafu in scheduling, I ended up in Seattle on Monday, and Delancey is only open Wednesday through Sunday. Bummer. But, if you read the list of places I hit up on this trip, you know I made my way back to the Pacific Northwest for a visit there before all was said and done.

Dear Slice: 'Heading to NYC, and Pepe's in New Haven'

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:25:23 -0500

Clicking in to the Slice inbox today, we've got a message from longtime reader TJ, who wrote to Slice in early September asking, "If I could only eat at one NYC pizzeria besides Di Fara, what should it be?" I opened that one up to discussion here, and it looks like TJ's taken all our advice into consideration and has his pick—Patsy's East Harlem. But he mentioned New Haven pizza, and I've got some thoughts on that. Feel free to chime in once again, folks. --The Mgmt.

Our pizza order at Sally's (from left): tomato slice and mozzarella pie, plain pie, sausage pie. [Photographs: Adam Kuban]

I'm heading up [to New York CIty] this coming weekend.
I am taking your recommendation—Patsy's in Harlem—as the second pizza visit aside from Di Fara (worried about Dom retiring before I get a slice, so this was the only absolute MUST STOP for me).
Other stops—Katz's, Yonah Schimmel, Peter Luger, White Manna Hackensack, Rutt's Hut, Ess-a-Bagel, Papaya King. (Would have included a stop at Shake Shack if they were not closed for the season.) And some random street noshing, whatever looks good, maybe a random slice here and there.
One of the days we head out to New Haven for Pepe's.
Really, looking forward to this, and thanks for your piece on SliceNY.
—TJ

------------------------------------------------------------
Dear TJ,

Two minor corrections ...

Shake Shack is actually open year-round now! And if it's too cold or crappy out for you at Madison Square Park, you can do the Upper West Side location. (http://www.shakeshacknyc.com/)

If you're bothering to go all the way to New Haven, GO TO SALLY'S. Ed Levine and I just did a small fact-finding mission in NH this weekend. Went to Modern Apizza (plain pie and sausage/mozzarella/mushroom pie), Frank Pepe's (sausage/mozzarella pie and clam pie), and Sally's Apizza (plain pie, tomato slice/mozzarella pie, and sausage/mozzarella pie).

Sally's had BY FAR the superior pizzas of the three. And I'd probably do Modern before Pepe's, though Modern and Pepe's have strikingly different pies. Modern's has less rise and is admittedly limp, but it has more flavor and its crust is not WAY TOO TOUGH. (Also, the clam pie at Pepe's was bested—shockingly—by a recent clam pie Ed and I tried at Lombardi's in Manhattan.)

If you can only hit one, do Sally's. Get there at 4:30 p.m. (it opens at 5 p.m.) so you'll be sure to get in the first seating. If you do that, and even if you're first in line, you will likely see lucky bastards skip the line who have the private reservation phone number. It sucks, but don't despair. Bring a book, magazine, or crossword puzzle—something to keep you occupied. Once you get a seat at Sally's, you still have a long wait. They've got horrible service but great pizza. So much more character and better pizza than Pepe's.

I have to admit, I was one of the lucky stiffs who got in on a reservation on Saturday night. Ed has the private line number. The difference in service was NIGHT AND DAY from when I visited in 2004 and had THE WORST SERVICE OF ANY RESTAURANT I'D EVER BEEN TO IN MY LIFE (first seating, but waited 25 to 30 minutes before they even took our DRINK ORDERS and then waited 40 more minutes for pizza order—but even then, I had to admit that Sally's had the better pizza).

This time around, we showed up at 6:25 p.m. for our 6:30 reservation, had to wait a little bit (at least it was inside, out of the rain, watching them work) for a table to clear—no biggie, since the management can't really control how long people are taking to leave. We got our table by 6:45 p.m. and had our pizzas by 7:25 p.m.

That said, we did notice that by the time we left Sally's at 8:35 p.m., there was only one couple in line waiting outside. So if you want to go late, you'd probably have a better experience with the lines, etc. (It's open till 10:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, Sunday till 10 p.m.)

The whole experience reminded me of Ruth Reichl's (in)famous 1993 review of Le Cirque for the New York Times, in which she went first in disguise as a civilian and got craptastic treatment and then, later, allowed herself to be recognized and got the royal treatment (even skipping ahead of Spain's King Juan Carlos I, who had to wait at the bar).

Under the aegis of Ed Levine, our party of four had a fantastic night at Sally's. We got to talk to Flo Consiglio, the establishment's matron and bookkeeper and the wife of the late founder, Salvatore "Sally" Consiglio. She personally took our order while we waited for a table and gave us some good-natured ribbing:

Ms. Consiglio: "Do you know what you want to drink?"

"Birch beer," I said, having had it at Modern earlier and assuming it was a staple on New Haven menus.

"You may want to drink birch beer," Ms. Consiglio responded, "but you can have Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, root beer, orange, ginger ale, club soda, or beer."

As "Girl Slice," who was along for the trip, pointed out, "That was like when your English teacher said, 'I don't know, can you go to the bathroom? You may go to the bathroom, if you can.'"

Sitting there in the homey dining room, which looks like it hasn't been changed since the late '70s (probably not since the last time the oven was refurbished, which, according to Ms. Consiglio, was "about 30 years ago"), I think I began to understand the whole New England gruffness. You hear about the old-timers in Maine being infamously hostile to newcomers—where "newcomer" might be construed as someone whose family has only lived there three generations. My parents have always said that when we lived near Boston, the people there were highly insular (I was too young to remember). And I've read plenty of incidental remarks in literature, newspapers, and magazines about reserved New Englanders who are slow to accept n00bs into their lives but are generous and kindhearted when they finally do (even if it does takes generations).

If that's the case, I can see why Sally's Apizza—apart from the pizza, which is excellent—is so beloved by native New Havenites. If you're a visitor, though, like I said, be prepared. The next table up from us had brought along playing cards (they knew the drill; it was 20 minutes before the waiter acknowledged them, "You haven't ordered yet, have you?").

Anyway, one big thing to know about New Haven pizza ... "plain" means tomato sauce and grated aged cheese. NO MOZZARELLA. If you want mozz on a pie, you have to order it.

If you take my advice, TJ, and visit Sally's instead of Pepe's, I don't know if I'm sending you into a night of pizza bliss or a roundabout of pizza frustration. Do let me know what happens, though.

Hasta la pizza,
Adam

Closings: The Pizza Shop on Avenue A

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:29:42 -0500

EV Grieve has the lowdown:

We closed the Pizza Shop because the rent was too high. We struggled every month to make it... someone gave me an offer on the space and i decided it was best to take it....

Former owner Kevin Cole tells EV Grieve he's looking for a new location and urges fans of the place to get in touch via email for notification if and when he reopens.

The Pizza Shop is the place that did fun, limited-edition boxes of punk rock icons like The Clash and The Ramones.

Video: 'Pizza Funk,' by Heatbox

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 10:00:00 -0500

"Pizza Funk," by Minneapolis-based Heatbox. [via Pizza Therapy]

Video: Paulie Gee's Backyard Pizza

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 10:00:00 -0500

Sean Taylor, the comedian who each year eats pizza every day in October (National Pizza Month), talks about his trip to Paulie Gee's backyard pizza oven. (Paulie is, of course, opening his own place in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.)

Seattle: Via Tribunali, Neapolitan-Style Pizza

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:45:42 -0500

[Photograph: Adam Kuban]

There are five Via Tribunali locations in Seattle, each of them VPN-certified. I don't know what the other four look like (though I get a bit of an idea looking at the VT website), but the one in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood, attached to the Crocodile, is dark, moody, and menacing, if only in a sort of pretend-menacing kind of way. In perhaps a nod to Mt. Vesuvius and the fire of the wood oven, there are ink-black and fiery-orange paintings of erupting volcanoes on the wall. The chandeliers hold glowing-red candelabra bulbs, their imitation flames flickering. Tall-back booths look more like Catholic confessionals than places to eat pizza. And rather than Italianate, the room almost has the feel of a Spanish mission. In a nutshell, if the Hotel California had a pizzeria attached for guests to eat at, this is what it would look like.

Do you see what I mean? Or am I talking out my ass yet again?

The Via Tribunali Margherita was a notch above Tutta Bella's, with a cornicione (end crust) that's nice and puffy, soft and crisp and chewy. Good char and "leopard spotting" on the crust, which had some salt and tang to it. The cheese was standard fresh mozz, not much to write home about in terms of flavor, so I don't know if the fact that it was applied sparingly was good or bad. (It also was largely unmelted.) The standard San Marzano tomato sauce was also a bit bland.

Via Tribunali at the Crocodile

2200 2nd Avenue, Seattle WA 98121 (at Blanchard Street; map)
206-441-4618; viatribunali.net

Seattle: Tutta Bella, a Quick Photo Gallery

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:15:24 -0500

Click to view gallery »

My second pizza stop in Seattle, after Serious Pie and some digestion time spent at the Space Needle, was the Tutta Bella on Westlake Avenue in the area known as South Lake Union. For fellow tourists, that's basically just a little north of—and a relatively easy walk from—Downtown, Belltown, and Pike Place Market. This Tutta Bella is part of a four-location VPN-certified mini empire; the original is in Seattle's Columbia City neighborhood. [Photographs: Adam Kuban]

Tutta Bella Westlake: 2200 Westlake Avenue, Seattle WA 98121 (at 9th Avenue; map); 206-223-2309; tuttabella.com

Seattle: Serious Pie's Cherry-Bomb Pepper and Sausage Pizza Is the ...

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:30:00 -0500

[Photograph: Adam Kuban]

Serious Pie

316 Virginia Street, Seattle WA 98101 (map); 206-838-7388‎; website
Pizza Style: Artisanal
Oven Type: Wood-fired
The Skinny: The crust is soft and incredibly airy but takes most of its crispness from a dusting of cornmeal. The Margherita is good, but the real thing to get here is the sausage-and-cherry-bomb-pepper pie. It's amazing.
Price: $14 to $16. Happy hour half-pies are $5 M–F, 3–5 p.m.

After 48 hours of reminiscing, hanging out with old friends, and eating a boatload of pizza in Portland, my next stop was Seattle, aka Jet City, aka the Emerald City, aka the place that, as I saw it, would begin to kick my pizza-eating ass on what I had taken to calling "Pizza Madness 2009."

I viewed Portland as the calm before the storm. The place to ease into what would soon become a whirlwind of pizza-sampling on the West Coast. The City of Roses is pretty damn easy to get around via public transit. Plus, I had friends there who I'd assumed I could hitch rides with as long as I Tom Sawyered them into the pizza madness themselves. So I had a fairly relaxing visit and did some memory-lane sightseeing in the morning hours before my destination pizzerias opened for the day.

But I only had one day in Seattle.

One day for four pizzerias, some of them seemingly far-flung, and I was using a public-transportation system I was unfamiliar with. Luckily, the first lunchtime option, Serious Pie, was half a block from my hotel.

[Photograph: Daniel Zemans]

I arrived shortly after the place opened and was surprised to find a fairly quiet restaurant, especially given what Daniel Zemans said about the place--that it was packed with a 20-person wait at 4:30 p.m. when he visited.

Still, the communal tables started to fill up shortly after I was seated (lucky enough, at my own two-top table right next to a window providing beautiful shooting light).

I ordered what would become my MO for the trip, a Margherita pie and then some sort of house specialty or sausage pie. Here, the house specialty and sausage pie seemed to be one and the same: Cherry Bomb Peppers and Sweet Fennel Sausage.

Serious Pie's Margherita pizza, with buffalo mozzarella and San Marzano tomatoes. [Photograph: Adam Kuban]

The pizzas at Serious Pie are ovals about 12 inches long and seven inches at their widest. They've got an insanely puffy end crust, charred in places and dotted with pizza bubbles and pizza-bubble blowouts. The dough is extremely soft, which means that where the crust is topped, the additional ingredients seem to weigh it down enough that there's not much rise in the center. But that same soft elasticity gives those outer edges an airiness the likes of which I would not see again on this journey until Pizzeria Mozza in L.A. Here's the hole-structure shot:

[Photograph: Adam Kuban]

Pies here are baked in a wood-burning oven with a massive post-and-lintel rock façade that looks like something out of Fraggle Rock:

It's an oven to make Gimli feel right at home. And here is the type of upskirt it helps produce:

[Photograph: Adam Kuban]

As for flavor in the Margherita, there's not a whole lot. It's very subtle, especially with the use of buffalo mozzarella. Most of the flavor in this round seemed to come from the cornmeal dusting on the crust and from the sauce, which was well-seasoned when I had it (although it left my friend Adam Lindsley unenthused when he visited almost a week later). The addition of olive oil also enhanced the overall taste of the pie.

I know I said that Marherita pizzas are boring, and this one hasn't really haunted my dreams the way its sister pizza (below) still does, but it did have a bit more savoriness and bready flavor than many of the more traditional Neapolitan Margherita pies I sampled on this journey.

[Photograph: Adam Kuban]

My server told me that his favorite was the Margherita but that the most popular pizza was the Cherry Bomb and Sweet Fennel Sausage pie. As the joint filled up, I heard diner after diner order it. And it really is the thing to get here. The hot peppers and house-made sausage are a perfect combination, all distributed in a perfect Goldilocks ratio — not too much, not too little. The same could be said of the balance overall.

[Photograph: Adam Kuban]

I carried the leftovers around with me for a while, sneaking another piece of the pepper-sausage pizza long after it had grown cold. And the crust held up remarkably well, probably due to the airiness and lift. It was still soft and pliant. I'm guessing this would make a great morning-after pizza.

Although I wouldn't know, since I ended up giving my leftovers to a street person, who then in turn offered to sell me crack for $2. And who then opened the box and yelled to me as I crossed the street, "WHAT'S THIS? I'M NOT GONNA EAT THIS. THIS IS GROSS!"

I tweeted about the incident:

Just finished Tom Douglas's Serious Pie. Excellent. Gave leftovers to a crazy homeless man who tried to sell me crack for two bucks

Which prompted @cks56 to respond:

@Slice Thanks for giving your leftovers to the homeless guy but please don't use the word Crazy The guy may have a serious Mental Illness

But, heck, you'd have to be crazy not to love that Cherry Bomb pizza. So I think I'm in the clear here.

How to Get a Ride Home for the Cost of a Pizza Delivery

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:50:07 -0500

Experimental Domino's delivery vehicle. [Photograph: Hugo90 on Flickr]

From the obituary of geriatric psychiatrist Gene D. Cohen in the New York Times today:

In the opening chapter of his latest book, "The Mature Mind," Dr. Cohen related an anecdote that in many ways encapsulated his theories. His in-laws had arrived for a visit in Washington in the midst of a snowstorm and emerged from the subway lost. Unable to hail a cab or reach the Cohen family by phone, Dr. Cohen's father-in-law had an idea. He and his wife walked across the street to a pizza parlor, ordered a pizza for a delivery to the Cohen house, and then insisted that the delivery man take them, too.
"This favorite family story illustrates the sort of agile creativity that the aging mind can produce," Dr. Cohen wrote, adding: "Age allows our brains to accumulate a repertoire of strategies developed from a lifetime of experience -- part of what has been referred to by other researchers as crystallized intelligence. Howard hadn't done the pizza parlor routine before, but the accumulated experience of other successful strategies helped stimulate the thinking that produced a creative solution."

Video: Worstpizza.com's Pizza Cook-off

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 06:00:00 -0500

At Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza in Aventura, Florida. More info here.

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