Entries tagged with 'Chicago'
Posted by Daniel Zemans, September 4, 2008 at 2:45 PM
Daniel Zemans, our man in Chicago, checks in with another piece of intel on the Windy City pizza scene. Daniel also blogs about Chicagoland pizza with his friends on the Chicago Pizza Club blog. —The Mgmt.
Bacino's has been selling stuffed pizzas since 1978, making it one of the oldest purveyors of the Chicago delicacy. The founder, Dan Bacin, had a background in business, not cooking. No marketing dummy, Bacin used a variation of an old Chicago political trick in naming his restaurant. There is no truth to the rumor that Barack Obama's last name used to be Bama before he ran for office in Chicago, but many political candidates have changed their names to appeal to the significantly Irish electorate. While it would make no sense to name a pizzeria O'Bacin's, adding an o to the end of his name gave Bacin's pizzeria some faux Italian authenticity.
I don't know the full story behind the founding of Bacino's, but it involves Giordano's (reviewed for Slice here), Chicago's most popular stuffed pizza chain. Not long after Giordano's was formed in the mid '70s, the company was looking to grow. Dan Bacin got involved with them but ended up going out on his own and starting Bacino's. I'm unclear as to the time frame and whether Bacin ever actually opened a Giordano's, but a search of the relevant page on the State of Illinois website shows that on September 11, 1980, The Bacin Group was registered as Giordano's of Lincoln Park, Inc.
For this review, I went to the Bacino's location in the heart of Lincoln Park. There are three other locations, two downtown and one in the suburb of LaGrange. The building itself, both on the outside and the inside, is pretty nondescript. There is a bar on a different side of the restaurant that has a little more to look at. There is also a downstairs dining area that I've never seen used.
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, August 29, 2008 at 8:00 AM
Oh, snap. Michael Gebert, Chicago food writer and cofounder of LTHForum.com, is bitin' back at our man Ed Levine on his blog, Sky Full of Bacon:
Ed Levine is a smart guy who loves New York pizza and food generally, and has a blog called Serious Eats which (MenuPages informs us) now intends to provide a guide to essential eating experiences in major cities. (You can see New York’s here.)
The problem is, Ed Levine hates Chicago pizza. No, perhaps it would be fairer to say Ed Levine has a blind spot for Chicago pizza. As in, Ed Levine, looking at a map of the United States, would not see anything between Brooklyn and Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix, basically.
This was in response to our inaugural Serious Eats City Guide, which tackled New York.
Continue reading »
Posted by Daniel Zemans, August 27, 2008 at 10:30 AM
Daniel Zemans, our man in Chicago, checks in with another piece of intel on the Windy City pizza scene. Daniel also blogs about Chicagoland pizza with his friends on the Chicago Pizza Club blog. —The Mgmt.
Burt's Place
8541 North Ferris Avenue, Morton Grove IL 60053 (map); 847-965-7997
Pizza Style: Deep-dish
The Skinny: Run by the iconic Burt Katz, a legend in Chicago pizzadom, Burt's Place features a deep-dish pie with a caramelized crust similar to Pequod's (no surprise, as Katz founded that pizzeria as well). There's a little too much caramelization going on and less cheese than is normal in most deep-dish pies, but Burt's is still worth checking out.
Burt Katz, creator of the caramelized crust, is probably the best known pizza chef in Chicago. In his career, he has owned four different pizzerias here. Inferno was already established in Evanston when Katz bought into it in 1963. Two years later, Katz sold Inferno (which no longer exists), and opened Gulliver's in Rogers Park on the city's far north side. In 1971, he was done with Gulliver's (which is still open) and opened Pequod's (reviewed here on Slice), which he kept for 15 years before burning out and selling it. In 1989, he had the pizza itch again and opened Burt's Place in Morton Grove, where he and his wife, Sharon, have been making and serving pizzas (usually with no help) for nearly 20 years.
Unlike most legendary pizza chefs, Katz did not travel throughout Italy, work his way up under a master pizza-maker, grow up in a family pizza business, or even go to culinary school. All he did was develop a very good crust; use high-quality, fresh ingredients; and proceed to turn out pizza after outstanding pizza for the next 45 years and counting. How iconic has Katz become? When Saveur magazine devoted an issue to Chicago, it put a slice of Burt's pie on the cover. The folks at LTH Forum, which in my opinion is the best website out there related to food in Chicago, have anointed Burt's Place as one of their Great Neighborhood Restaurants.
Continue reading »
Posted by Daniel Zemans, August 20, 2008 at 2:00 PM
Jonathan Fox was the CFO at Maggiano's Little Italy when decided to go back into the kitchen. Trained at the Culinary Institute of America, he had previously spent time working in a variety of cuisines, including French, Greek, and New American. He did not have a professional background in pizza before opening La Madia last October, but you wouldn't know that after trying his pizzas.
Fox did extensive research and travel, particularly in Italy, before opening La Madia, but he was surprisingly slow in answering when I asked what his favorite pizzerias were. He eventually settled on Da Michele in Naples, Italy; Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix; and 2 Amys in D.C. When I asked whether he liked deep-dish, he dismissed the notion in a way that would make many readers of this site proud. While I question his taste, I cannot doubt his abilities: Fox has built a nice pizzeria that offers one of the better thin crust pies in Chicago.
As La Madia is located on a busy commercial street in the northern part of downtown Chicago (about a block and a half southeast of the Rock N Roll McDonald's ), I was surprised to discover there was outdoor seating and large open windows at the front of the restaurant. I'm not a stickler for ambience, but the sounds and smells of three lanes of traffic might get in the way of pizza enjoyment. Once inside, I was happy to discover that the design of the space is such that the traffic did not affect the space at all (I still have doubts about the outside seats).
Continue reading »
Posted by Daniel Zemans, August 13, 2008 at 3:45 PM
Caffe Florian
1450 East 57th Street, Chicago IL 60637 (Hyde Park; map); 773-752-4100
Each year, nearly two million people visit the Museum of Science and Industry. And though I don’t have the numbers to back it up, I think it’s safe to say a significant number of those visitors decide to enjoy a Chicago-style pizza during their stay in my hometown. But I would guess that virtually none of the out-of-town visitors to the museum know that there is an outstanding pizzeria just a few blocks directly west of the museum.
I grew up in Hyde Park, and Caffe Florian opened before I left for good, but I had not set foot in the place until recently. That was a mistake. I really do have a good excuse: Caffe Florian opened in a space that had previously been occupied by Medici on 57th and I was not a fan of their pizza. I assumed the location was tainted with bad pizza juju, so I never tried Florian. Turns out, that was an error in judgment and I am now committed to making up for lost time (and pizza).
Continue reading »
Posted by Ed Levine, August 12, 2008 at 10:00 AM
Spacca Napoli
1769 West Sunnyside, Chicago IL 60640 (map); 773-878-2420;
spaccanapolipizzeria.com
Pizza Style: Neapolitan, as verified by the VPN
Oven Fuel Source: Wood, of course
I wanted to love Spacca Napoli. I really did. Having taken massive amounts of grief for allegedly dissing deep dish Chicago pizza by characterizing it as "at best, a good casserole" in my book Pizza: Slice of Heaven, I was hoping to swoon over Jon Goldsmith's VPN-certified pizzeria in the Windy City and put Spacca Napoli in my pizza pantheon. The friend I met there, Andrew Huff, founder of Gaper's Block, compared Spacca Napoli to Pizzeria Bianco. High praise, indeed, coming from a fellow as smart as Andrew.
I met Andrew there at 2:30 p.m. The day before, serious eater Michael Nagrant had taken me on a phenomenal tour of Chicago (more about that in a future post) that featured the cemita and the huarache of my dreams and the best Sicilian sweets I have ever tasted, so I thought I could continue my Chicago eats hot streak at Spacca Napoli.
Continue reading »
Posted by Daniel Zemans, July 30, 2008 at 2:00 PM
Daniel Zemans, our man in Chicago, checks in with another piece of intel on the Windy City pizza scene. Daniel also blogs about Chicagoland pizza with his friends on the Chicago Pizza Club blog. —The Mgmt.
Pequod's Pizza
2207 North Clybourn Avenue, Chicago IL 60614 (map); 773-327-1512. Additional location: 8520 Fernald Avenue, Morton Grove IL 60053 (map); 847-470-9161 pequodspizza.com
Pizza Style: Deep dish and stuffed crust
The Skinny: One of the better deep dish pizzas in Chicago. The thickness of the crust may upset the balance between the crust and toppings, but that the crust is caramelized by a thin layer of cheese results in a great, unique chewy texture. The sweet, chunky sauce goes perfectly with the sausage.
Pequod's was founded by Chicago pizza legend Burt Katz a little over 30 years ago. He sold the place in 1986, but Pequod’s has remained one of the most beloved deep dish spots in Chicago. There are two locations: the original in the Northwest suburb of Morton Grove, and another in the Lincoln Park neighborhood (where I went for this review).
Before heading to the restaurant, I took advantage of a trick that many deep dish and stuffed pizzerias allow—I preordered, which is like calling ahead for takeout, except when you get to the restaurant, you sit down and eat. Since these pies take 40 minutes to cook, it makes sense to call ahead so you don't have to wait long before starting your meal. I phoned in an order of half sausage, half pepperoni pizza before eagerly making my way over to Pequod’s.
Continue reading »
Posted by Daniel Zemans, July 23, 2008 at 6:30 PM
Daniel Zemans, our man in Chicago, checks in with another piece of intel on the Windy City pizza scene. Daniel also blogs about Chicagoland pizza, along with his friends, on the Chicago Pizza Club blog. —The Mgmt.
Very few places in Chicago sell deep-dish pizza by the slice. On a recent trip to Art of Pizza, I learned why. Until this visit to Art of Pizza, I had never eaten in the restaurant. I had only ordered whole pies and had them delivered or I had picked them up. I had never gone there for slices; and after this experience, I never will again.
The restaurant is located in what was once a small strip mall but has since become Art of Pizza Plaza—the restaurant has expanded over the years to take over the entire development.
Art of Pizza
3033 N Ashland, Chicago IL 60657 (map); 773-327-5600
Pizza Style: Deep dish and stuffed crust
The Skinny: It's not much to look at, but the Art of Pizza lands atop many Chicagoans' best deep-dish list. And they do have a great pizza there—just don't order it by the slice. The herbed crust sets AoP apart from the other players in town, and the crust on the stuffed pizzas are noticeably less flaky than at other joints
The inside of Art of Pizza is nothing special. In fact, for a place that many people rank as among their favorite pizzerias, it is noticeably unattractive. From the old formica tables, to the lack of wall décor to the 20-year-old television set to the view of a parking lot, there is nothing physically appealing about the restaurant. But just like it would be wrong to judge New York by the overflowing piles of hot garbage that line the city's streets, it is wrong to judge the food at Art of Pizza by the restaurant's physical limitations.
The crust at Art of Pizza is what noticeably distinguishes it from other pizzerias. Both the pan and stuffed pizzas feature an herbed crust that goes very well with the impressive amounts of mozzarella both pies use. Also, the stuffed crust, which is two inches tall around the outside of the pie, is not nearly as flaky as other stuffed pies in Chicago. I suspect they use either less shortening than other pizzerias or none at all, but I'm not enough of a breadsmith to be able to tell, and the kid working the counter on this trip had no idea about the dough recipe.
Continue reading »
Posted by Daniel Zemans, July 11, 2008 at 1:45 PM
Daniel Zemans, our man in Chicago, checks in with another piece of intel on the Windy City pizza scene. Daniel also blogs about Chicagoland pizza, along with his friends, on the Chicago Pizza Club blog. —The Mgmt.
The Chicago Reader, the Windy City's preeminent free weekly, recently named Coalfire the best pizza in Chicago. I disagree, but Coalfire does make a very good pie.
Neapolitan-style pizza has been making headway in Chicago for a few years, but Coalfire, which opened 14 months ago, is the only coal-oven pizzeria in Chicago. The creative force behind Coalfire is J. Spillane, who brought his pizza love to the Midwest from Worcester, Massachusetts. After ten years as a bartender, he perfected his pizza-making craft at home and opened Coalfire.
Continue reading »
Posted by Daniel Zemans, July 5, 2008 at 5:00 PM
Daniel Zemans, our man in Chicago, checks in with another piece of intel on the Windy City pizza scene. Daniel also blogs about Chicagoland pizza with his friends on the Chicago Pizza Club blog. —The Mgmt.
Do you remember when the Chicago Bulls had a 1.7 percent chance of getting the first pick in the NBA Lottery and won? Sure you do—it was only a little over a month ago. And surely you remember when the Bulls drafted Derrick Rose last week while the Knicks took some dude from Italy. I don't know what Danilo Gallinari knows about pizza or whether he is the next Frederic Weis, but I do know that Derrick Rose is going to be a star and that he is a pizza connoisseur. The point guard of the future's favorite pizza is Home Run Inn, an institution on the southwest side of Chicago.
Home Run Inn opened as a bar in 1923. According to restaurant lore, the place got its name after a ball from a neighborhood baseball game flew through the front window (which was not open). For the next 24 years, the family-owned bar established itself as a neighborhood fixture, with Vincent Grittani serving the drinks and his wife Mary cooking up midday meals. In 1942, Nick Perrino married Loretta, the Grittani's daughter. In 1945, he returned from World War II and Vincent Grittani died. Two years later, Perrino and his mother-in-law decided to start giving away Mary's pizza for free in an effort to boost business. Needless to say, the idea worked. Today, the business, which is still family owned and run by Nick's son Joe, has eight locations and a booming frozen pizza business, all of which serve up pizzas made according to the family recipe introduced to the world in 1947.
Continue reading »
Posted by Daniel Zemans, June 25, 2008 at 2:45 PM
Daniel Zemans, our man in Chicago, checks in with another piece of intel on the Windy City pizza scene. Daniel also blogs about Chicagoland pizza on the Chicago Pizza Club blog. —The Mgmt.
"I have tried more pizzas than I can possibly remember, and Lou Malnati's remains my favorite."
Lou Malnati's
Location visited: 958 West Wrightwood Avenue, Chicago IL 60614 (map; but there are multiple locations); 773-832-4030; loumalnatis.com
Pizza Style: Known for deep-dish but also serves thin-crust and gluten-free
The Skinny: The best deep dish in the Chicago area can be found at this local chain of pizzerias located mostly in the suburbs. The signature pizza, The Lou, comes with a butter crust, but it's worth the 75¢ upcharge to get the butter crust on any other pizza you get. Malnati's also serves a unique "gluten-free" pizza that does right by the celeiac set by replacing the crust with sausage
Price: The Lou, large, $22.50; medium, $17.85; small, $12.85; individual, $6.65
When I was a young sparky attending Cubs games, I noticed advertisements for a pizzeria called Lou Malnati's on the back of the tickets. I have a vague recollection (perhaps completely fabricated) that I asked my father about going there and he explained that they were in the suburbs and did not have stuffed pizza. That meant they were far away and that I would have seen no point in eating there (in my young mind, if a pizza wasn't stuffed, it wasn't good).
By the time I tried Malnati's for the first time in 1999, I already knew that deep-dish pizza was worth eating. But the buttery crust, sweet chunky tomato sauce, and fresh homemade sausage on a Lou Malnati's pie changed my pizza worldview forever. Since that time, I have tried more pizzas than I can possibly remember, and Lou Malnati's remains my favorite.
Lou Malnati and his wife, Jean, opened the first Malnati's in 1971 in Lincolnwood, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago. Before that, he had worked at Uno's with his father, Rudy Malnati. In fact, there is some debate as to who actually created the deep-dish pizza that Uno's introduced to Chicago. Uno's says Ike Sewell did, but a Malnati's spokesperson says that Rudy Malnati was the creator. According to Wikipedia, there was a 1955 newspaper article that backs up the Malnati version of events.
Continue reading »
Posted by Daniel Zemans, June 19, 2008 at 11:15 AM
Daniel Zemans, our man in Chicago, checks in with another piece of intel on the Windy City pizza scene. Daniel also blogs about Chicagoland pizza on the Chicago Pizza Club blog. —The Mgmt.
Vito & Nick's Pizzeria
8433 South Pulaski Road, Chicago IL 60652 (map); 773-735-2050; vitoandnick.com
The Skinny: Very thin, crackerlike crust "bar pizza" cut into squares. Sparse sauce but plenty of toppings
It is a common misconception that Chicago-style pizza is limited to deep dish and stuffed pies. There are even many residents of Chicago who don't realize that their city has its own distinctive style of thin crust pies—a very thin pie with a crisp, almost crackerlike crust that is cut into small squares. At the same time, there are plenty of Chicagoans who think of that thin-crust style to be the true Chicago-style pizza. Personally, I don't care which one people think of as "the" Chicago style, I'm just glad I live in a city that has all three.
For your introduction to Chicago's distinctive thin-crust pizza, I went to a place few tourists ever venture other than to see the Museum of Science and Industry or the University of Chicago: the South Side. Specifically, I went to the Ashburn neighborhood, located on the Southwest side. About three miles south of Midway Airport and one mile east, Vito & Nick's stands on the corner of 84th and Pulaski.
Vito and Mary Barraco opened their first tavern in 1923. Another location opened a few years later, and in 1939, they started selling some Italian food. In 1945, their son Nick joined the family business, and four years later Mary began making pizzas with a dough recipe that remains a secret to this day. In fact, even the guys who make the pizza do not know how to make the dough. Nick's daughter comes in and makes the dough a few times a week, and the cooks do everything else. Also keeping the family tradition strong is Nick's sister Lee, who is a couple years shy of 90 and works as a waitress every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night.
Continue reading »
Posted by Daniel Zemans, June 11, 2008 at 3:00 PM
Daniel Zemans, our man in Chicago, checks in with another piece of intel on the Windy City pizza scene. Daniel also blogs about Chicagoland pizza on the Chicago Pizza Club blog. —The Mgmt.
In my last post I discussed the best-known example of deep dish pizza, the style that put Chicago on the international pizza map more than 60 years ago. There is a second style of Chicago pizza that people inside and outside the city often conflate with deep dish, and that is stuffed pizza. Of the many places that offer it, Giordano’s, which has proclaimed itself as "Chicago's World Famous Stuffed Pizza," is the best known and most popular.
Stuffed pizza entered the American culinary scene in the early '70s when Nancy’s and Giordano’s both opened in Chicago. The Boglio brothers, who founded Giordano’s in 1974, are from a small town near Turin, Italy, and say their stuffed pizza is based on their mother’s Easter pizza, which featured a double crust and was stuffed with ricotta cheese.
This makes sense except for the fact that Nancy’s claims its pizza is based on an Italian pastry. Given that they developed incredibly similar pizzas in Chicago around the same time and were from near each other in Italy, I suspect that there may be more to the story.
Continue reading »
Posted by Daniel Zemans, June 5, 2008 at 9:45 AM
Editor's note: I'm pleased to introduce you all to Daniel Zemans, our man in Chicago. Daniel and his friends have been blogging about pizza in the Windy City on the Chicago Pizza Club blog. He'll be dropping by here on Slice with the deets on the eats in this pie-mad city. —The Mgmt.
Greetings from the Pizza Capital of the World!
Stuff Chicago's Known For: The 1893 World's Fair, Al Capone, Michael Jordan, Barack Obama, deep-dish pizza.
This is the first in what will be a weekly series on pizza in Chicago. For those unfamiliar with Chicago—and having spent three years in New York myself, I know many of you are—allow me to give a brief introduction full of references to your fine town.
Chicago is in Illinois, one of the many states in this country that does not sit next to an ocean (and is therefore a great mystery to many in New York, where I'd imagine most of Slice's readership lives). Over time, Chicago has been famous for a few different reasons. In 1893, the city made its first splash on the international scene when it was chosen over New York and a few other cities to host what would be the wildly successful World's Columbian Exposition.
To most of the world, the Chicago World's Fair, as the event is commonly known, symbolized Chicago—until Brooklyn-born Alphonse Capone attained a level of power that no gangster ever had. Capone remained Chicago's enduring image until Brooklyn-born Michael Jeffrey Jordan mastered basketball and sports-marketing in a way that nobody ever had. While Jordan remains Chicago's most widely known icon, he is soon to be displaced by New York–educated Barack Obama (Columbia '83).
Just as Capone did with gangland violence, Jordan did with basketball, and Obama is doing with politics, Chicagoans have taken pizza and elevated it to a level previously unimaginable. Scale the pinnacle of pizzadom, after the jump.
Continue reading »
Pizza Fest: Features a variety of thin, deep-dish, and stuffed pies, plus live music and a "best pizza" contest with celebrity judges. June 21 to 22. 2400 North Racine Avenue, Chicago IL 60614 (map); 773-868-3010. Cost: $5
Posted by Adam Kuban, March 20, 2008 at 5:15 PM
Do you live in Chicago? Interested in blogging for Slice? We're looking for a pizza-mad Chicago correspondent to document the Windy City pizza scene.
You should love pizza and know all the Chicago haunts—from the old standbys to the up-and-comers. From the tourist traps to hard-to-find hole-in-the-walls. And, oh, yeah: You should also be able to write and edit well. This is an ongoing assignment that would pay per post. Details after the jump.
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, January 24, 2008 at 6:00 PM
Last week on Serious Eats, community member HeartofGlass asked: "How many different kinds of regional varations of pizza exist?"
I figured I'd compile a list of all the styles I've eaten or heard or read about. Sorry it took so long, HeartofGlass. It's a long list, and it appears after the jump.
Continue reading »
Posted by Ed Levine, January 3, 2008 at 6:30 AM
According to Chicago Tribune restaurant critic Phil Vettel, the Windy City's deep dish pizza mania may finally be on the wane.
In other words, the tasty casserole that is deep dish is being shoved aside for more serious Neapolitan and Roman-inspired creations. Vettel cites the popularity of new thin-crusted pizzerias La Madia, Frankie's Fifth Floor Pizzeria, A Mano, and Pizzeria Via Stato.
What do Slice readers, in Chicago or not, think of this heretical notion? As someone who practically needed police protection for suggesting in Slice of Heaven that at best Chicago pizza is a good casserole, I wholeheartedly welcome this development. But maybe I'm in the minority on this issue.
I've been workin' in the coal mine, digging up some more coal-oven pizzerias to bring you. Although New York City and New Haven, Connecticut, are two of the most famous coal-oven towns, did you know there are coal joints in Florida; Philly; Chicago; Des Moines, Iowa; Dallas; and Scottsdale, Arizona? They're all on the Slice National Coal-Oven Pizza Map.
Posted by Adam Kuban, November 8, 2007 at 1:04 PM
An interesting discussion on Chicago's LTHForum about the most popular form of pizza in the Windy City.
A somewhat rough consensus there seems to be that thin crust is the default and that deep dish or stuffed is occasional, even though those pies might be what tourists and nonlocals think of as the city's signature pizza.
Note to LTH folks on that thread: Mike G is correct.
Posted by Ed Levine, September 20, 2007 at 5:05 AM
My friend and former editor, the brilliant Sam Sifton, developed the Pizza Cognition Theory, which postulates that the first pizza a person eats becomes the standard by which that person judges all pizza he or she subsequently eats.
According to Sam, "The first slice of pizza a child sees and tastes (and somehow appreciates on something more than a childlike, mmmgoood, thanks-mom level), becomes, for him, pizza. He relegates all subsequent slices, if they are different in some manner from that first triangle of dough and cheese and tomato and oil and herbs and spices, to a status that we can characterize as not pizza."
So by Sam's theory, if Pizza Hut was the pizza you first ate, every other pizza you subsequently ate would pale by comparison, because it wouldn't be Pizza Hut pizza. Sam is a smart fellow, but I believe that people ultimately understand that circumstances beyond their control dictated their initial pizza-eating experiences and preferences, namely where they lived and where their parents took them for pie. Furthermore, I believe that pizza discernment can be learned once we move away from home.
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, September 12, 2007 at 1:00 PM
- New York Times on Accademia di Vino:
Anyone familiar with the grilled pizzas of Al Forno, the Italian restaurant in Providence, R.I., will be glad that Kevin Garcia, who once worked the dough there, is serving very satisfying clones of those crackling crusted gems at Accademia di Vino, where he is now the chef.
X-ray-thin crusts have judicious coatings of cheese — robiola, goat cheese, ricotta, sheep cheese — and sparing but flavorful toppings like broccoli rabe, black truffle pâté and soppressata. The tomato and mozzarella pie is dotted with cherry tomato halves and fresh basil. One pizza caveat: skip the watermelon.
1081 Third Avenue at 64th Street, New York NY 10021 (Upper East Side); 212-888-6333
- The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Williamsburg hipsters lose free-pizza-with-beer dive Capone's:
The crowd—attractive local hipsters, artists, club kids, and even a few yuppies—was torn. "The skinny Williamsburg hipster fags need the carbs," griped Earl Dax, a promoter and performance-art curator. Some wished for a happy medium. "In a perfect world . . . " sighed a man in a harlequin get-up with sad, wistful eyes. Justin Bond (of Kiki & Herb) found the solution: "I've done performance where I strapped a pizza to me and then served it to the audience."
- L.A. Times on Nonna:
You also have the option of starting with a thin-crusted pizza, and they're very decent for a place that doesn't have a wood-burning oven. Classic too. The handful of choices includes a Margherita and a burrata pizza made with fresh tomatoes.
9255 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles CA 90069; 310-270-4455
- Mormon missionary discovers pizza in Italy, opens own pizzeria Stateside: "I don't think I was a great missionary, and Italy is mainly Catholic. I got over the fact that I wasn't going to convert people and just started helping people.... I loved the pizza there and it was a business that I didn't think had been tapped into very well in America."
- According to the Chicago Sun-Times, HomeMade Pizza Co., a Chicago-based take-and-bake pizzeria chain, is rapidly expanding thanks to the use of locally sourced ingredients—oh, and Brooke Shields and Oprah.
If the Sun-Times piece isn't enough for you, here's a profile on HomeMade from the Daily Southtown.
HomeMade store locations
- Subway, Dunkin' Donuts get into pizza:
"The demographic of pizza eaters is about the same as oxygen breathers," says Steve Green, publisher of PMQ's Pizza Magazine, a trade publication.
Recent pizza growth has been in artisan, take-n'-bake and rising-crust pizzas, Green says. Now, Subway and Dunkin' think faster, smaller pizzas may find a niche.
I tried the Subway mini pizza back in April. It's a niche that you, as a pizza consumer, don't wanna go near.
Posted by Adam Kuban, August 2, 2007 at 4:42 PM
In which Slice wades waist-deep into the plaintive muck of Craigslist's Missed Connections in search of pizza-related longing. So come with me, my love, to the swamp of love that spawns this That's Amore. —The Mgmt.
New York City
- Dean & Vanderbilt 10pm-ish: Woman in red t-shirt with pizza - m4w - 28: When you entered my field of vision I stopped in my tracks.
The way you came around the corner with that pizza balanced so perfectly on your right hand while you didn't simply walk, but traveled with speed, grace, and style was a breathtaking sight. Simultaneously, a sway and strut pushed and pulled on eachother to create liquid strides of ease and determination.
I had spent all day in Manhattan, witness to more beauty, style, and sensuality than can be expected from any average day on the island, and yet 100 yards from my front door was the most beautifully stylized display of sensuality I had felt all day.
I would feel guilty about my blatant glare, but your facial features did not contort to the often ugly shapes that convey fear, disgust, or complaceny. Instead, your eyes glowed. Your lips curled slighty up. Your nostrils flared the slightest bit.
For me, that may be the only moment you play a part in. Without doubt that pizza was shared with the person that had made you feel so light on your feet that you could glide so effortlessly along the Brooklyn sidewalk. That quick moment still had power and dripped with humanity and will stick with me.
- I had a pink rose and was writing a song on a note pad you=curly hair - m4m - 23: me: i had a pink rose. i was writing on my note pad... i bumped into you. you said sorry...
I looked up and said it was fine and looked down. It took me a while to realize how beautiful you were. you went into driggs pizza i was going to follow you but i was kinda high. i can't believe i am posting this. this is fun. hope life is swell.
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, May 9, 2007 at 8:00 PM
Woo! Coal-oven pizza comes to Chicago! From Chicagoland's LTH Forum:
They opened yesterday. Located on Grand Avenue, about three storefronts west of Ogden. This is a cute place, wood floors, warm colors with a huge coal-fired oven in the back. I'm told that it gets about 800 degrees hot, sometimes more.
Due to time constraints, I had to order my pizzas takeout, and as such, all pizzas suffer when cooled down a bit. But still, these pies (I ordered two) had a bready, thin crust with all the integrity of an East Coast pizza. (The guys who own this are from Western Mass.) The crust was a little tough but I'm willing to give them a pass because mine had cooled down significantly before I had the chance to bite into it. Also, the pies coming right out of the oven looked amazing - big blistery crust. One noticeable difference from Neapolitan types is the black, dusty char on the top of the crust from the coal oven.
I ordered two pies - one margherita with fresh mozz and big whole pieces of basil on top and one with pepperoni, black olives and mushrooms. The sauce was tomatoey, with a tomatoey acidity, and lacking the cloying tomato paste taste of typical Chicago pizza. Both were quite tasty, and quite foldable. It is a welcome addition to a neighborhood that is without any East Coast/true Italian style pizza options.
But for the first day, there appeared to be no kinks and they had quite a crowd for opening day. Definitely worth getting down here for a try.
Coalfire Pizza
Address: 1321 West Grand Avenue, Chicago IL 60622 (at Ogden Ave.; map)
Phone: 312-226-2625
Posted by Adam Kuban, April 25, 2007 at 9:13 AM
Remember when Rachael Ray was asking for votes for the best pizza in Chicago and New York City?
The results are in, and, according to Friend of Slice Tien Mao, they're being aired as we speak (if you're on Eastern Daylight Time). If you're in later time zones, you might still have a chance to watch; check your local listings. I, for one, will look for a rerun and try to DVR. In the meantime, Tien gave me some play-by-play. He's working from home, multitasking with some TV in the background, I assume.
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, April 11, 2007 at 3:12 PM
When it rains, it pours, eh? On the heels of Subway's crazy venture into the pizza-making world, we get news out of Chicago that Dunkin' Donuts is making pizza. At least with Subway, you can imagine a connection—they deal with bread and cheese every day. But Dunkin'? Here's what Chicagoist's Louis Frascogna:
The deep dish-looking pizza has the exact same flavor as the frozen bagel bites we ate as kids, which isn't a bad thing. The crust isn't really crusty, but more like hot bread, and the sauce has that standard fake pizza sauce flavor with assorted bits of basil. The cheese was just as nondescript, but acceptable. We ordered pepperoni but didn't really see a lot of pepperoni.
It isn't that it is terrible, but it was a little overpriced for the size, at $3.99, and it was so hot it did burn our thumb a little bit. Also, now that we ordered that pizza we are still hungry and feel bad about ordering donuts too.
The pizza here looks and sounds like the kind I tried at Subway. I wouldn't be surprised if the "speed oven" used and distributor were the same.
Posted by Adam Kuban, February 21, 2007 at 11:35 PM
SPACCA NAPOLI PIZZERIA
Address: 1769 West Sunnyside Avenue, Chicago IL 60640 [map]
Phone number: 773-878-2420
Website: spaccanapolipizzeria.com
Hours: Lunch, W-Sat., 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dinner, W-Th., 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., F-Sat., 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., Sun., noon to 9 p.m.
An interesting story in the "Good Eating" section of the Chicago Tribune today about the Windy City's Spacca Napoli, complete with recipe. The piece touches on the Neapolitan pizza trend that's sweeping Chicago (as it has in New York, Phoenix, and San Francisco), namechecking a handful of thin-crust Italian-style pizzerias that have opened there in the last few years.
Spacca Napoli opened on Valentine's Day in 2006. That [pizzaiolo-owner Jonathan] Goldsmith could sell thin-crust deep inside deep-dish turf was a good omen to Chris Bardol, who was poised to open Stop 50 Wood Fired Pizzeria in Indiana. Bardol's first bite of thin crust was at Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix and he was converted. But he wondered if his prospective clientele, which included large numbers of Chicagoans, would go for it.
Enter Goldsmith's venture. "I really felt we would do well if someone could see the opportunity in a deep-dish city," Bardol said.
Phil Vettel, the Tribune's restaurant critic, traces the city's fondness for thin crust to 1985 and the opening of Franco Zalloni's Trattoria Pizzeria Roma. "It brought to Chicago's mainstream the concept of appetizer pizzas, small pizzas with crisp, blistered crusts topped with all manner of creative (but appropriately Italian) ingredients.
Jeff Ruby, coauthor of Everybody Loves Pizza, senior editor at Chicago magazine, and an old friend and college newspaper colleague of mine, gets a quote in, too: "It seems [what has] happened here is pizza is going in two separate directions... There's California Pizza Kitchen where anything goes. Then there's the backlash. People are going back to the basics and following strict Neapolitan rules... Pizza has evolved so much in America it's come full circle."
A rather insightful observation, even if it weren't coming from a friend of Slice.
Newly launched Chicago foodblog Drive-Thru, which we've been enjoying around the Slice–Serious Eats office, responds to the Trib's piece and gives a less complicated recipe for pizza.
Sources
Pizza perfect [Chicago Tribune; via Lia]
Talkin' about a different kind of pie [Gapers Block; also via Lia]
Posted by Adam Kuban, October 30, 2006 at 3:05 PM
The previous post about Ed Levine's top pizza picks drew some emailed and IMed responses that the choices were mostly all coastal and that there were no Chicago joints on it whatsoever. Well, here's a list that ran earlier this month in USA Today. In it, Jeff Ruby, coauthor of Everybody Loves Pizza (along with Penny Pollack), gives the paper his and Ms. Pollack's top spots:
Metro Pizza [four locations, Las Vegas NV; metropizza.com]
"The pizza menu at this gourmet oasis in the desert reads like a map of regional flavors. With grilled shrimp on the New Orleans, barbecued chicken atop the Memphis and pineapple on the Honolulu, there's something for everybody...."
The Cheese Board Pizza Collective [1512 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley CA 94709; map]
" 'The Cheese Board is a collective, owned by its members, that brings sustainable agriculture to the pizza table,' Ruby says. Each day the menu, featuring a single sourdough vegetarian pizza, is decided collectively by the group...."
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, August 23, 2006 at 10:37 AM
If you're only a "foodie" when it comes to pizza, then you might not know that Chicago, as a city, decided to ban
foie gras a short bit ago. The ban, enacted by the Windy City's city council, went into effect yesterday. As befits residents of the "City of Big Shoulders," some chefs yesterday were still serving the dish—which is the fattened liver of a duck or goose that has been overfed. (The city banned it over concerns about animal cruelty.)
Other chefs actually
added it to their menus, including a pizzeria or two, per the
New York Times:
But Jerry Stout, a lunchtime diner at Connie’s Pizza, said city leaders should have more pressing matters to worry about than fattened duck liver. Hardly a foie gras connoisseur — he could not remember whether he had ever tasted it before — Mr. Stout, 54, tried it on his pizza and said he would recommend it because of its mild flavor. “I guess we were rebels today,” he said.
Defying Law, a Foie Gras Feast in Chicago [New York Times]
Posted by Adam Kuban, May 10, 2006 at 9:00 AM
"Taylor Street, the late 1890s. The neighborhood of Italian immigrants, largely from Naples, is packed with handcarts and makeshift stands selling fruit, vegetables, olive oil and bread. Speaking mostly in Italian, they buy, sell, argue and barter, when suddenly a man walks onto the street pushing a cart holding two copper washtubs. Their bottoms are packed with charcoal, keeping round pies of bread, tomato, spices and cheese hot. Walking near Taylor and Racine, he sells these pies for two cents each, and the people seem to like them. Little does he know that he is America's first pizza vendor, and in a hundred years those few cents would turn into a multi-billion dollar industry." A Pizza History: Charting the rise of Chicago's pie [NewCity Chicago]
"Michael Altenberg, chef and owner of Lincoln Square's Bistro Campagne, will open Chicago's first all-organic flatbread pizza restaurant, called Flat Earth, in Wicker Park in mid-September. The menu is '100-percent organic' and includes 'flatbread pizzas, salads and sandwiches,' according to managing partner Greg Christian." The Local Pizza Place [NewCity Chicago]
New Zealand pie chain Hell Pizza has box that turns into coffin for your slices' "remains" (pictured). [Boing Boing]
Totino's makes lean Pizza Rolls. Because people who eat Pizza Rolls are really big on dieting. [Fort Worth Star-Telegram]
Satire: "Domino’s Pizza (DPZ) announced that it is teaming up with Federal Express (FDX) to provide nationwide pizza delivery. In a move expected to revolutionize the food distribution business, the pies will be assembled on-site in FedEx’s Memphis distribution facility, and loaded directly on airplanes for next day delivery." [TheSpoof.com]
Posted by Adam Kuban, April 28, 2006 at 1:42 PM
And they are:
- Zachary's Chicago Pizza: Berkeley, California
- PIzzeria Regina: Boston
- Patsy Grimaldi's Pizzeria: Scottsdale, Arizona
- Vic's Bar & Restaurant: Bradley Beach, New Jersey
- Tacconelli's: Philadelphia
- John's: New York City
- Star Pizza: Houston
- Imo's Pizza: Saint Louis
- Home Run Inn: Chicago
- Mellow Mushroom: Atlanta
- Windy City PIzza: Tampa, Florida
- Anthony's Pizza and Pasta: Denver
- Papreza's Pizza: Henderson, Nevada
Well, they say 13 is an unlucky number, right? I mean, only one New York City pizzeria on this list? And it's John's? John's is good, sure, but not the best in NYC. And maybe we should hold our tongue until we've had pizza from the Grimaldi's branch in Arizona, but how can it be any better than the homegrown original Grimaldi's? I guess AOL had to tailor its list to please people across the country. And it's further evidence that these lists are always flawed. Heck, even if Slice put out a list, I'm sure someone—lots of someones—would find fault with it. But they're always good for debate, so have at it. Comments welcome.
13 Perfect Pizzas Across America [AOL Cityguide]
Posted by Ed Levine, February 16, 2006 at 8:43 AM
Here's the American Pizzeria Timeline, which includes only two non–Pizza Belt entries, Tommaso's and Uno's:
1905: Lombardi's, on Spring Street in New York City, is granted the nation's first license to sell pizza.
1910: Joe's Tomato Pies opens in the Trenton, New Jersey, Chambersburg neighborhood.
1912: Papa's Tomato Pies in Trenton opened by Papa, who learned his trade at Joe's.
1924: Anthony (Totonno) Pero leaves Lombardi's and opens Totonno's in Coney Island, New York.
1925: Frank Pepe opens on Wooster Street in New Haven, Connecticut.
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, October 27, 2005 at 3:00 PM
With a cover reminiscent of a retro pizza box and contents almost as tasty as the real thing, Everybody Loves Pizza, by Penny Pollack and Jeff Ruby, has earned a place on the Slice Bookshelf.
Full disclosure: I know one of the authors. Mr. Ruby and I were in the same journalism program at university. Still, that didn't stop me from turning a critical eye on this book. In fact, my initial reaction when hearing about it was, "Oy! Another pizza book!? What more can be said?"
Fortunately, Penny and Jeff find plenty new to say, particularly with some interesting history and facts that, surprisingly, I haven't read elsewhere. Concerning one of Slice's favorite pizzaioli, Dom DeMarco, for example, the authors tell us that he ends each pizza-filled day by drinking a "$100 bottle of Amarone Valpolicella—he buys 1 bottle a day and 2 on Saturday because the liquor store is closed on Sunday." Who knew!? (More important, how does Dom get himself into work by 7 a.m. after drinking a bottle of fine wine post midnight?)
Continue reading »
