More to come soon, but Time Out NYC has a nice slideshow up--I'm in a few (most clearly in photo 26).
It took me about a half an hour. I was towards the end of the middle of the pack, if that makes any sense.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
i'm screwed!
So, the pizza run in NYC is in 1.5 weeks, and I'm way out of shape. I came down with a really bad cold two weeks ago, and went for a run for the first time since then today. I ate a Tony's party pizza beforehand, and could barely make it a mile. Oh noes!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Thursday, I ate a lot of pizza; Or College Park is awful
On Thursday, I ate a lot of pizza. 4 slices--2 for lunch, 2 for dinner--to be precise.
I forgot my lunch and had to run out at noon for something to eat. I weighed my options...chipotle? Jimmy Johns? Taco Bell? I was pretty burned out on the College Park options...but then I remembered that there was Vito's Pizza at the end of the "revolving door" strip mall (I call it this because nothing in that strip lasts more than a few months...). A few months before, it had been Tony's pizza. Before that...something, I can't remember. The location has housed at least 4 different places since I moved to the area. Anyhow, I'd not tried Vito's pizza, and I figured I should. It's one of the few pizza (or pizzaesque) joints I'd not yet tried in College Park.
Their student special was 2 slices of plain cheese and a can of pop for 5 dollars. I suppose that's decent.
The pizza wasn't though. I was pretty hungry, but couldn't finish both slices. Not because they were too generous--they were average sized slices, and quite thin--but because they had just an overwhelming amount of crappy cheese on them.
I know, I know, I tend to say that the cheese is the least important part, because how can cheese be bad? But...I guess Vito wanted to prove me wrong. It was just a really cheap white cheese blend, and laid on really thick, and not fully melted, and gummy and gross.
The sauce was fine--a bright sauce, which is nice (and needed to combat that cheese), and the crust was thin and floppy. It was, overall, very greasy and heavy and I needed large amounts of red pepper to choke down a slice and a half. I'm pretty sure by the end I was wishing I'd just spent my 5 bucks at Jimmy John's again.
Later that evening I went to the Barrelhouse present's Big Lucks reading at Wonderland, and because I'd been running around all day, I didn't get a chance to eat dinner beforehand. This seems to happen to me every time I go to Wonderland for a reading, and I'm really sick of their menu, to be honest. It's fine every now and again, but you don't want to go there when you're actually hungry. So...I decided to forgo eating, while hoping that my tummy wouldn't growl too loudly during the reading.
The one thing I didn't take into account though when making this decision was that they had Two Hearted on tap, and it was happy hour. Uh...so I drank 2 of those, and was drunk (I'm pathetic.) And so...a bit later, once the reading was done, I needed food for real if I was going to make it home. I went to Pete's and managed to get 2 far superior slices of pizza for the same price I'd paid at lunch. Ugh. Go Pete's, and fuck College Park.
Back to the reading real quick--you know, Wonderland host's the Mock Turtle, and I always figured that the reason Wonderland was so crappy during our readings is because it was a Friday night and they really didn't want us there/felt like they were doing us some huge favor. But what's typical of Mock Turtle's? Oh, the bar isn't ready. Oh, the sound system isn't working. Oh, the chair's aren't set up. Oh, our bartender called in. They're just never prepared or happy to have us there.
I thought it was just us. But clearly, it's not. Barrelhouse was doing a Thursday reading (and I would imagine they'd be more hospitable to a Thursday event than a Friday one...) and they were told, upon arrival, that they had the date wrong, that the bar wouldn't be open for the event (seems like a great way to lose money, Wonderland...) , there was no sound system at all (cos everyone loves listening poetry and fiction when it's shouted from a stage), and no AC.
They pulled off a decent reading in spite of this. Good job guys.
I forgot my lunch and had to run out at noon for something to eat. I weighed my options...chipotle? Jimmy Johns? Taco Bell? I was pretty burned out on the College Park options...but then I remembered that there was Vito's Pizza at the end of the "revolving door" strip mall (I call it this because nothing in that strip lasts more than a few months...). A few months before, it had been Tony's pizza. Before that...something, I can't remember. The location has housed at least 4 different places since I moved to the area. Anyhow, I'd not tried Vito's pizza, and I figured I should. It's one of the few pizza (or pizzaesque) joints I'd not yet tried in College Park.
Their student special was 2 slices of plain cheese and a can of pop for 5 dollars. I suppose that's decent.
The pizza wasn't though. I was pretty hungry, but couldn't finish both slices. Not because they were too generous--they were average sized slices, and quite thin--but because they had just an overwhelming amount of crappy cheese on them.
I know, I know, I tend to say that the cheese is the least important part, because how can cheese be bad? But...I guess Vito wanted to prove me wrong. It was just a really cheap white cheese blend, and laid on really thick, and not fully melted, and gummy and gross.
The sauce was fine--a bright sauce, which is nice (and needed to combat that cheese), and the crust was thin and floppy. It was, overall, very greasy and heavy and I needed large amounts of red pepper to choke down a slice and a half. I'm pretty sure by the end I was wishing I'd just spent my 5 bucks at Jimmy John's again.
Later that evening I went to the Barrelhouse present's Big Lucks reading at Wonderland, and because I'd been running around all day, I didn't get a chance to eat dinner beforehand. This seems to happen to me every time I go to Wonderland for a reading, and I'm really sick of their menu, to be honest. It's fine every now and again, but you don't want to go there when you're actually hungry. So...I decided to forgo eating, while hoping that my tummy wouldn't growl too loudly during the reading.
The one thing I didn't take into account though when making this decision was that they had Two Hearted on tap, and it was happy hour. Uh...so I drank 2 of those, and was drunk (I'm pathetic.) And so...a bit later, once the reading was done, I needed food for real if I was going to make it home. I went to Pete's and managed to get 2 far superior slices of pizza for the same price I'd paid at lunch. Ugh. Go Pete's, and fuck College Park.
Back to the reading real quick--you know, Wonderland host's the Mock Turtle, and I always figured that the reason Wonderland was so crappy during our readings is because it was a Friday night and they really didn't want us there/felt like they were doing us some huge favor. But what's typical of Mock Turtle's? Oh, the bar isn't ready. Oh, the sound system isn't working. Oh, the chair's aren't set up. Oh, our bartender called in. They're just never prepared or happy to have us there.
I thought it was just us. But clearly, it's not. Barrelhouse was doing a Thursday reading (and I would imagine they'd be more hospitable to a Thursday event than a Friday one...) and they were told, upon arrival, that they had the date wrong, that the bar wouldn't be open for the event (seems like a great way to lose money, Wonderland...) , there was no sound system at all (cos everyone loves listening poetry and fiction when it's shouted from a stage), and no AC.
They pulled off a decent reading in spite of this. Good job guys.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
pizzaesque
Last night, I went out to Mosaic Cafe in College Park to share a Mezze with a very nice gentleman named Ross. I tried Manakish with Za'atar for the first time, which was tasty and somewhat pizzaesque, at least in shape. It was a bit greasy, but I think that had more to do with the restaurant than the dish...it's certainly a dish I would eat again. It had a strong thyme flavor, and I adore thyme. But let's be honest---I'm SO spoiled on middle eastern cuisine. Both times I've eaten at Mosaic, I just wasn't impressed. Their falafel was over seasoned and a bit mushy, and while many things we tried on our Mezze were pleasantly spicy, none of it was all that great. The real problem was the bread though--just a plain somewhat dry pita. Too thick. Everything would have tasted much better with a fresh, thin, chewy and warm blanket of lavash. I can at least look forward to going to Shawarma King in a few weeks when I'm back in Michigan.
Anyhow. It was worth noting though that I was in good company, and I ate something tasty and somewhat pizza-like.
Anyhow. It was worth noting though that I was in good company, and I ate something tasty and somewhat pizza-like.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Dreams do come true!
By way of slice, an admittedly far superior pizza blog ...
There is an upcoming pizza event that combines two of my favorite things into a single afternoon of delights: the nyc pizza run!
Participants must run 2.25 miles, while stopping at three checkpoints along the way to consume slices of pizza.
It takes place Sept. 19th. Who's with me? I say we start training now with daily pizza jogs.
There is an upcoming pizza event that combines two of my favorite things into a single afternoon of delights: the nyc pizza run!
Participants must run 2.25 miles, while stopping at three checkpoints along the way to consume slices of pizza.
It takes place Sept. 19th. Who's with me? I say we start training now with daily pizza jogs.
best concept(s) ever
So, two things worth noting here.
First, I heard of this magical sounding place in Petworth that serves both really good wood-oven pizza AND authentic Salvadorean food, which means I could have pizza and pupusas together.
Second, I recently had my photo taken for my office door sign, and Mike, the AV dude, took it in front of a green screen. It's pretty much my fave pic taken of me in years. He then sent me the version that I can put in front of any background I want. I'm trying to figure this out, and then put together something funny and pizza related for this blog. It's hard to tell whether I want to try to make this thing look more "professional" or not--clearly, it was hastily laid out, and it is generally lazily produced. I could do more with it, for sure. But...we'll see. Maybe some stylized pizza banner including this smiling mug here:
What do you think? Maybe I can snagit in a little speech bubble that says "I judge people who say 'za'." Hah.
First, I heard of this magical sounding place in Petworth that serves both really good wood-oven pizza AND authentic Salvadorean food, which means I could have pizza and pupusas together.
Second, I recently had my photo taken for my office door sign, and Mike, the AV dude, took it in front of a green screen. It's pretty much my fave pic taken of me in years. He then sent me the version that I can put in front of any background I want. I'm trying to figure this out, and then put together something funny and pizza related for this blog. It's hard to tell whether I want to try to make this thing look more "professional" or not--clearly, it was hastily laid out, and it is generally lazily produced. I could do more with it, for sure. But...we'll see. Maybe some stylized pizza banner including this smiling mug here:
What do you think? Maybe I can snagit in a little speech bubble that says "I judge people who say 'za'." Hah.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
midyear roundup
So, I'm now more than halfway into this year of pizza eating adventures. It's time to reflect on the good, the bad, and the uh, maybe I should try that again...
The Good
Best DC pizza:
Red Rocks in Columbia Heights. I want to return for their brunch pizza, cos egg on a pizza is one of my favorite things.
runners up:
Comet Ping Pong I would go to Comet all the time if it wasn't so out of the way--good pizza, good beer, and ping pong. What more can a girl ask for? Plus, they offer fresh jalepeno peppers as a topping.
Pete's Apizza in Columbia Heights. Good beer list, Boylan's fountain, and pizza meant for sharing. I like it. I just wish the crust was a touch crisper.
While the Fire and Smoke pizza at Matchbox was very good, Matchbox doesn't make the good list for DC in general cos it's just too soggy to be worth the wait and prices.
Best Baltimore pizza:
Iggies, easily. Pear pizza. Oh sweet Jesus. Look at how happy we all are after eating there for Noah's birthday! Well...happy and or so stuffed we're in agony (see Adam P at the back of the table...)
Best Jumbo Slice:
Who cares? I'm drunk and I need my pizza flavored bedsheet.
Best Chain/Takeout/Delivery:
Mamma Lucia's Actually, this pizza could be better than Pete's Apizza, but Pete's wins in the atmosphere department.
Best NY Slice in the Village: Joe's Pizza. Especially at 11am, just after they've opened, or at 2am, just before catching the PATH to Jersey.
Runner Up:
Pizza Box. But only if I eat it with my brother.
Best Frozen Pizza: Trader Joe's Quattro Formagi
Best "I'm drunk and want frozen pizza but I spent all my money at the bar" pizza: Tony's crispy crust.
Best "Pizzaesque" food: Totino's pizza rolls. I had these for the first time in years the other day. They were surprisingly great. I'm shocked.
BEST PIZZA EVER: Totonno's, Coney Island. They've reopened after the fire, finally. I hope it's still as good as I remember...going back soon.
The Bad
Truly bad pizza is few and far between. But it exists, and I've found it.
Ella's--I was so pissed off by this pizza visit. Was it the worst pizza I've ever had? No. But the experience overall was just awful.
Franklin's--dudes, get yo shizz together.
Domino's--even if the campaign is true and your pizza technically tastes better than it used to, it couldn't have been to difficult to improve on the old stuff, the pizza you delivered looked like it had fallen out of the box onto the floor and put back into the box, and it took like, an hour to get to me, despite your online pizza tracker's claims that my pizza had been successfully delivered.
Runner Up:
What does it mean to be a runner up in the bad pizza category? It means your Ledo pizza. I only ever eat this at workplace quarterly staff meetings. And I eat like, 30 little square pieces of it in a single sitting. But it's not good. Not good at all.
Deserving of a Second Chance?
People keep telling me that my bad pizza experience at Pizzeria Paradiso wasn't typical. Maybe I'll try again and go to the Georgetown location this time. But if that sauce is all nasty and tinny again, you all are officially crazy for loving this place.
Still Need to Visit
In DC, there are several places I've not been to yet.
1: 2Amy's. Guys, I really do want to go, I swear. It's just so far away though. Let's go, k? Just someone else drive.
2: I'm fairly strongly predisposed towards hating We, the Pizza for many reasons, not least of them being their grammatically mind boggling "manifesto" (We is making your head hurts).
3: Radius. I actually may have eaten this pizza already--see the early post about watching "Jennifer's Body" and eating mystery pizza. I'm not sure though. Memories of that evening are very...uh...hazy.
4: That Italian market place out somewhere (maybe suburban?) that supposedly has awesome pizza. Considering I know SOOO much about the place, accomplishing this one might be tricky. (Thanks to Google, I'm thinking it's Vace or the Italian Store)
5: Places you tell me to eat. Isn't there some new joint over on U street?
The Good
Best DC pizza:
Red Rocks in Columbia Heights. I want to return for their brunch pizza, cos egg on a pizza is one of my favorite things.
runners up:
Comet Ping Pong I would go to Comet all the time if it wasn't so out of the way--good pizza, good beer, and ping pong. What more can a girl ask for? Plus, they offer fresh jalepeno peppers as a topping.
Pete's Apizza in Columbia Heights. Good beer list, Boylan's fountain, and pizza meant for sharing. I like it. I just wish the crust was a touch crisper.
While the Fire and Smoke pizza at Matchbox was very good, Matchbox doesn't make the good list for DC in general cos it's just too soggy to be worth the wait and prices.
Best Baltimore pizza:
Iggies, easily. Pear pizza. Oh sweet Jesus. Look at how happy we all are after eating there for Noah's birthday! Well...happy and or so stuffed we're in agony (see Adam P at the back of the table...)
Best Jumbo Slice:
Who cares? I'm drunk and I need my pizza flavored bedsheet.
Best Chain/Takeout/Delivery:
Mamma Lucia's Actually, this pizza could be better than Pete's Apizza, but Pete's wins in the atmosphere department.
Best NY Slice in the Village: Joe's Pizza. Especially at 11am, just after they've opened, or at 2am, just before catching the PATH to Jersey.
Runner Up:
Pizza Box. But only if I eat it with my brother.
Best Frozen Pizza: Trader Joe's Quattro Formagi
Best "I'm drunk and want frozen pizza but I spent all my money at the bar" pizza: Tony's crispy crust.
Best "Pizzaesque" food: Totino's pizza rolls. I had these for the first time in years the other day. They were surprisingly great. I'm shocked.
BEST PIZZA EVER: Totonno's, Coney Island. They've reopened after the fire, finally. I hope it's still as good as I remember...going back soon.
The Bad
Truly bad pizza is few and far between. But it exists, and I've found it.
Ella's--I was so pissed off by this pizza visit. Was it the worst pizza I've ever had? No. But the experience overall was just awful.
Franklin's--dudes, get yo shizz together.
Domino's--even if the campaign is true and your pizza technically tastes better than it used to, it couldn't have been to difficult to improve on the old stuff, the pizza you delivered looked like it had fallen out of the box onto the floor and put back into the box, and it took like, an hour to get to me, despite your online pizza tracker's claims that my pizza had been successfully delivered.
Runner Up:
What does it mean to be a runner up in the bad pizza category? It means your Ledo pizza. I only ever eat this at workplace quarterly staff meetings. And I eat like, 30 little square pieces of it in a single sitting. But it's not good. Not good at all.
Deserving of a Second Chance?
People keep telling me that my bad pizza experience at Pizzeria Paradiso wasn't typical. Maybe I'll try again and go to the Georgetown location this time. But if that sauce is all nasty and tinny again, you all are officially crazy for loving this place.
Still Need to Visit
In DC, there are several places I've not been to yet.
1: 2Amy's. Guys, I really do want to go, I swear. It's just so far away though. Let's go, k? Just someone else drive.
2: I'm fairly strongly predisposed towards hating We, the Pizza for many reasons, not least of them being their grammatically mind boggling "manifesto" (We is making your head hurts).
3: Radius. I actually may have eaten this pizza already--see the early post about watching "Jennifer's Body" and eating mystery pizza. I'm not sure though. Memories of that evening are very...uh...hazy.
4: That Italian market place out somewhere (maybe suburban?) that supposedly has awesome pizza. Considering I know SOOO much about the place, accomplishing this one might be tricky. (Thanks to Google, I'm thinking it's Vace or the Italian Store)
5: Places you tell me to eat. Isn't there some new joint over on U street?
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Homegrown
I ate a sample of something pizzaesque yesterday at Trader Joe's that was so good, I went home and made it for myself.
Trader Joe's sells frozen naan bread in both plain and garlic variates. They're really good and I almost always have it in my freezer--typical dinner for me is a piece of naan, greek yogurt with olive oil, and veggies. Anyhow, the sample was garlic naan topped with lemon pepper zucchini. I took this idea and ran with it when I got home.
First, I thinly sliced some zucchini that I bought last Thursday at the Riverdale farmer's market. Then, I tossed it with some olive oil, salt, pepper, basil, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Then, I halved a few heirloom cherry tomatoes that I also purchased at the farmers market. I took the zucchini and tomatoes and sauteed them for a few minutes on the stove top, till they juuust started to soften, while also preheating the oven to 425. Then, I arranged the veggies on a piece of frozen garlic naan and sprinkled some parmesan on top, and put it in the oven for 2 minutes. Viola, really, really tasty light persona-size pizzaesque thingbobbit.
It was way better than tonight's dinner. Tonight's dinner was a big romaine salad...and I guess I just didn't wash the romaine well enough, cos halfway through debo-ing it, I noticed a large quantity of neon green aphids chillin on the romaine, wondering what they were doing doused in vinegarette. Ick.
Trader Joe's sells frozen naan bread in both plain and garlic variates. They're really good and I almost always have it in my freezer--typical dinner for me is a piece of naan, greek yogurt with olive oil, and veggies. Anyhow, the sample was garlic naan topped with lemon pepper zucchini. I took this idea and ran with it when I got home.
First, I thinly sliced some zucchini that I bought last Thursday at the Riverdale farmer's market. Then, I tossed it with some olive oil, salt, pepper, basil, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Then, I halved a few heirloom cherry tomatoes that I also purchased at the farmers market. I took the zucchini and tomatoes and sauteed them for a few minutes on the stove top, till they juuust started to soften, while also preheating the oven to 425. Then, I arranged the veggies on a piece of frozen garlic naan and sprinkled some parmesan on top, and put it in the oven for 2 minutes. Viola, really, really tasty light persona-size pizzaesque thingbobbit.
It was way better than tonight's dinner. Tonight's dinner was a big romaine salad...and I guess I just didn't wash the romaine well enough, cos halfway through debo-ing it, I noticed a large quantity of neon green aphids chillin on the romaine, wondering what they were doing doused in vinegarette. Ick.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Put on some lipstick...maybe some eyeliner...i think you'll find that things are fine and they're gonna get much finer.
When I feel at my worst, I tend to take care of myself in the best ways. I'm in bed fast asleep by 10:30 (and I nap after work, too). I stay very hydrated. I cook only very healthy meals...and don't have much of an appetite. I run and I run and I run. Think of that seminar paper in May of last year: I ran so much that I gave myself a stress fracture in both the literal and figurative sense.
It's when I'm happy that I eat and I don't care. Pizza. French fries (man, what is it with my level of happiness and my love of french fries? I think I was hitting up five guys once a week for the month of june), ice cream...when i'm in it, i'm a pig in dirt. when i'm in it, i'm a wagonload of devils.
It's like...when I started this blog, I was trying to force myself into some happier mood via filling the happiness void with pizza. You'll remember it didn't work, even with a steady pizza intake. I wasn't ever really enjoying it. I was kinda faking it. I was just throwing myself into something (not unlike a long run) to keep my mind off the problems at hand. And...what didn't really make it in here was the fact that those 3 or 4 pizza meals per week were like, compensation for the 20 salads with flax crackers that I'd been eating (and lettuce wraps stuffed with cheese, alfalfa sprouts, tomato, and horseradish. actually...that sounds like a good lunch...hmmm).
And then, boom. Stuff got better. I graduated. I met a guy. I had a job. I had a house that came equipped with a large garden, concrete countertops, washer, dryer, and a laboradoodle. I was eating pizza all the time (and why not? it was for the blog! it was in the name of...literary science! And the best new years resolution ever, to boot!) and thinking I'd blog about it...later. When stuff stopped feeling so good. When I had time. When I wasn't out doing something awesome.
Gosh, what's my point? My point is...look at what I do when I'm unhappy. When I need to stay preoccupied. I get the bills paid early. I follow a healthy diet and exercise plan without trying. I read books and yet still manage to get 8 hours of sleep. I submit to publications. I study for the GRE. I finally catch up on Daria. I write poems. I write journals. I write papers. I write blogs. I'm...a better version of me? I'm proving some point? I socialize on weekends. I go to house parties and basement shows and dancing. I dress really nice. I wear more eyeliner. Is it the general haze of glumness that settles upon me when I stop moving for too long that motivates me? Is it something deep in my subconsious breathing down my neck about some version of the American dream? "Do this and you'll find streets paved with gold. You'll be happy. You'll be happy!"
Is this what we all do? Or am I crazy?
It's when I'm happy that I eat and I don't care. Pizza. French fries (man, what is it with my level of happiness and my love of french fries? I think I was hitting up five guys once a week for the month of june), ice cream...when i'm in it, i'm a pig in dirt. when i'm in it, i'm a wagonload of devils.
It's like...when I started this blog, I was trying to force myself into some happier mood via filling the happiness void with pizza. You'll remember it didn't work, even with a steady pizza intake. I wasn't ever really enjoying it. I was kinda faking it. I was just throwing myself into something (not unlike a long run) to keep my mind off the problems at hand. And...what didn't really make it in here was the fact that those 3 or 4 pizza meals per week were like, compensation for the 20 salads with flax crackers that I'd been eating (and lettuce wraps stuffed with cheese, alfalfa sprouts, tomato, and horseradish. actually...that sounds like a good lunch...hmmm).
And then, boom. Stuff got better. I graduated. I met a guy. I had a job. I had a house that came equipped with a large garden, concrete countertops, washer, dryer, and a laboradoodle. I was eating pizza all the time (and why not? it was for the blog! it was in the name of...literary science! And the best new years resolution ever, to boot!) and thinking I'd blog about it...later. When stuff stopped feeling so good. When I had time. When I wasn't out doing something awesome.
Gosh, what's my point? My point is...look at what I do when I'm unhappy. When I need to stay preoccupied. I get the bills paid early. I follow a healthy diet and exercise plan without trying. I read books and yet still manage to get 8 hours of sleep. I submit to publications. I study for the GRE. I finally catch up on Daria. I write poems. I write journals. I write papers. I write blogs. I'm...a better version of me? I'm proving some point? I socialize on weekends. I go to house parties and basement shows and dancing. I dress really nice. I wear more eyeliner. Is it the general haze of glumness that settles upon me when I stop moving for too long that motivates me? Is it something deep in my subconsious breathing down my neck about some version of the American dream? "Do this and you'll find streets paved with gold. You'll be happy. You'll be happy!"
Is this what we all do? Or am I crazy?
Monday, June 28, 2010
Jersey Shore Style
This past weekend, I trekked to the Jersey Shore and had a wonderful weekend with my family and friends. Now, I'm struggling to figure out how I can re-appropriate the acronym GTL for my pizza blog...um...Greasy Tasty um...Lunch? Are there any words starting with L that are associated with pizza? Or starting with G or T for that matter? I'm thinking of slice, pie, um...yeah, even Za (shudder...) Other slang we know of? Please share!
Anyhow, while down the shore, I tried to maximize my pizza exposure by eating pizza flavored Combos during my drive up, and by going to 'A Slice of Heaven' Saturday night.
The combos...where to begin? Do they even count as pizza-esque? It's hard to say--certain pizza flavored things do manage to be pleasantly reminiscent of pizza. Case in point? Keebler's Pizzarias in the 80s and 90s. Best pizza chips EVER. Good enough that petitions for their return exist. But the Combos? Um...well. Not so great. They were the pretzel type, and...they mostly tasted like pretzels with cheese dust, not pizza-esque. It needed...more modified tomato product and artificial oregano essences, I think. They did fulfill my need to chomp on things whilst driving in traffic, so in that sense, they were satisfying. However, in regards to flavor and satiation, they failed quite miserably as a foodstuff.
Once I arrived at the shore, I got to spend some wonderful time with Anne and Karen, two of my best friends from Kalamazoo. Anne has been mentioned here several times already, and even been credited as my inspiration and muse for the pizza blog. Karen, however, was unaware of the pizza blog prior to this weekend. She's been inducted, now, and was a willing pizza accomplice Saturday night when we went out on the town.
We started our evening at Fantasy Island Amusement Park. Were my fantasies fulfilled? You know it. How, you ask? Well...they had skee ball. And no shore vacation could be complete in my mind without some serious skee ball.
All of that skee ball, however, works up an appetite, so of course we had to grab a post skee ball slice next door at Slice of Heaven. Yes folks, you read it right. I got to experience the fulfillment of my fantasies and heaven both in one night. Such joys can only be had at the Jersey shore, clearly.
Was my slice heavenly? Texture-wise...yes! It was a very nicely crisp but pliable thin crusted slice. Toppings wise? It had fallen from grace a bit. The sauce was weak and a bit too canned tasting, and the cheese was a bit oily and cheap tasting...that is, by the end of my slice, it had congealed into something more like solid grease and salt, and less like a dairy product. But, nonetheless, a slice at that moment did make me quite happy.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
people been talking
So, yeah. I've not reviewed any pizza lately. People are noticing. They're talking. They're suggesting I fell off the pizza wagon, maybe.
Maybe.
Or, maybe I've just found myself preoccupied with other things. Graduating. Preparing to move. New job.
Or...maybe I've lost my pizza mojo.
I need my pizza mojo back. I want you all to help me. Hence, I'm planning a pizza mojo party, soon.
But what goes into a pizza mojo party? Do we have pizza baking competitions? Do we see what toppings work best on pizzas (to recall Australia Day 2007, gummy bear pizza anyone?) or do we go out to a restaurant for a ridiculous pizza feast?
You tell me. How do I get my pizza mojo back?
Maybe.
Or, maybe I've just found myself preoccupied with other things. Graduating. Preparing to move. New job.
Or...maybe I've lost my pizza mojo.
I need my pizza mojo back. I want you all to help me. Hence, I'm planning a pizza mojo party, soon.
But what goes into a pizza mojo party? Do we have pizza baking competitions? Do we see what toppings work best on pizzas (to recall Australia Day 2007, gummy bear pizza anyone?) or do we go out to a restaurant for a ridiculous pizza feast?
You tell me. How do I get my pizza mojo back?
Thursday, May 6, 2010
hot pockets
So, when I was out of work and uncertain of my future, I bought a bunch of hot pockets--well, lean pockets--cos they were on sale. Is it a good idea, nutritionally, to go on a hot pocket diet? Absolutely not. And this is especially true when there are only two vegetarian varieties of lean pocket: cheddar and broccoli, and pizza. But whatever. For a week I was having a hot pocket for either lunch or dinner, and, with the sale price, they broke down to less than 75 cents per meal.
Now, a pizza hot pocket counts as pizza-esque, so I'm going to review it. The box proclaimed some nonsense about a newly improved seasoned pocket. I don't have much to compare for, so I'll take their word for it, but the seasoning seemed to be mostly salt. Newly improved salted crust? Ok.
So, for those unfamiliar with hot pocket preparation, let me fill you in. Hot pockets do not come with origamiable boxes. No no. They come with crisping sleeves that, in theory, transform into carrying cases post-microwaving, for ease of carrying, and mess and burn free eating. But, look. I ate like, half a dozen hot pockets in two weeks, and let me tell you. The crisping sleeve fulfills neither of it's purposes well. My hot pockets were neither crispy, nor easier to handle thanks to this sleeve. In fact, in all cases, whilst following the microwave instructions to a t (and then later modifying them due to failures), every single time the hot pocket ruptured inside it's crisping sleeve, oozing saucy cheesy goo out of the sides of the sleeve. The subsequent mess made folding the sleeve into it's carrying pouch shape near impossible, and also defeated any neatness potential from the sleeve. The thin cardboard also did little to protect my fingers from the hot grease and cheese oozing from the hot pocket's core. I found that the best preparation method was to place the hot pocket in the sleeve out of simple faith or a childlike yearning to believe (one believes in the crisping potential of the sleeve much in the way one believes in leprechauns or the easter bunny), then place the hot pocket and sleeve on a few paper towels. Then, post microwaving, wrap the heated hot pocket in the paper towels to consume, slowly pushing it up through the cardboard crisping tube from the bottom, much like a push pop.
Uh, so. Yeah. How do they taste? They taste ok. Like cheese, sauce, and dough. The pizza ones are significantly tastier than the broccoli and cheddar ones. The dough is a bit gummy. They taste like junk food. They taste like salt. A lot of salt. They taste like they're not gonna fill you up. They taste like when you're done eating them, you're gonna feel like you didn't eat anything at all. And actually, often, they don't taste like much at all because I always burn my tongue on the first bite, when the innards explode onto my tongue like an erupting volcano. Also, I just re-read that last sentence and I'm thinking of breaking into a new literary genre of food porn writing.
Anyhow. The point is, I'm glad that I have a job again and I can stop eating hot pockets. The other point is, I won't be entertaining Jim Gaffigan jokes, so zip it.
On an entirely different note, my grandfather's kidney is failing. I'm not handling this news well.
Now, a pizza hot pocket counts as pizza-esque, so I'm going to review it. The box proclaimed some nonsense about a newly improved seasoned pocket. I don't have much to compare for, so I'll take their word for it, but the seasoning seemed to be mostly salt. Newly improved salted crust? Ok.
So, for those unfamiliar with hot pocket preparation, let me fill you in. Hot pockets do not come with origamiable boxes. No no. They come with crisping sleeves that, in theory, transform into carrying cases post-microwaving, for ease of carrying, and mess and burn free eating. But, look. I ate like, half a dozen hot pockets in two weeks, and let me tell you. The crisping sleeve fulfills neither of it's purposes well. My hot pockets were neither crispy, nor easier to handle thanks to this sleeve. In fact, in all cases, whilst following the microwave instructions to a t (and then later modifying them due to failures), every single time the hot pocket ruptured inside it's crisping sleeve, oozing saucy cheesy goo out of the sides of the sleeve. The subsequent mess made folding the sleeve into it's carrying pouch shape near impossible, and also defeated any neatness potential from the sleeve. The thin cardboard also did little to protect my fingers from the hot grease and cheese oozing from the hot pocket's core. I found that the best preparation method was to place the hot pocket in the sleeve out of simple faith or a childlike yearning to believe (one believes in the crisping potential of the sleeve much in the way one believes in leprechauns or the easter bunny), then place the hot pocket and sleeve on a few paper towels. Then, post microwaving, wrap the heated hot pocket in the paper towels to consume, slowly pushing it up through the cardboard crisping tube from the bottom, much like a push pop.
Uh, so. Yeah. How do they taste? They taste ok. Like cheese, sauce, and dough. The pizza ones are significantly tastier than the broccoli and cheddar ones. The dough is a bit gummy. They taste like junk food. They taste like salt. A lot of salt. They taste like they're not gonna fill you up. They taste like when you're done eating them, you're gonna feel like you didn't eat anything at all. And actually, often, they don't taste like much at all because I always burn my tongue on the first bite, when the innards explode onto my tongue like an erupting volcano. Also, I just re-read that last sentence and I'm thinking of breaking into a new literary genre of food porn writing.
Anyhow. The point is, I'm glad that I have a job again and I can stop eating hot pockets. The other point is, I won't be entertaining Jim Gaffigan jokes, so zip it.
On an entirely different note, my grandfather's kidney is failing. I'm not handling this news well.
Friday, April 30, 2010
back in the saddle. the pizza eating saddle.
I'm back. I have gainful employment again starting Monday, I passed my thesis defense and earned my master's degree, and though he's not really well, my grandfather is out of the hospital. I feel I can write again without it feeling frivolous.
Oh geez, but there is so much to catch up on!
I have 4 things to tell you all about: the Food Wars DC episode, Denver pizza, hot pockets (yes, hot pockets), and Comet pizza (and ping pong!).
Hold me to it, I'm gonna start here with the Food Wars.
So, back in February during Snowtorious B.I.G., the Travel Channel came to DC to pit Jumbo Slice against Pizza Mart in Adams Morgan, to see who had the better ginormous slice of pizza (they double as bedsheets for those too drunk to make it home). You can see my original review of a DC jumbo slice from Pizza Mart in my very first pizza blog endeavor here (it's pizza number 3). I'm sad that I missed this moment in DC pizza television history due to the snow. Pizza Mart, my choice between the two, did come out on top, and Carla of Top Chef fame (my all time fave Top Chef, too) chose the winner. It was a good slice of tv, and I recommend checkin it out.
Now. Look forward to the other posts over the next few days. I promise.
Oh geez, but there is so much to catch up on!
I have 4 things to tell you all about: the Food Wars DC episode, Denver pizza, hot pockets (yes, hot pockets), and Comet pizza (and ping pong!).
Hold me to it, I'm gonna start here with the Food Wars.
So, back in February during Snowtorious B.I.G., the Travel Channel came to DC to pit Jumbo Slice against Pizza Mart in Adams Morgan, to see who had the better ginormous slice of pizza (they double as bedsheets for those too drunk to make it home). You can see my original review of a DC jumbo slice from Pizza Mart in my very first pizza blog endeavor here (it's pizza number 3). I'm sad that I missed this moment in DC pizza television history due to the snow. Pizza Mart, my choice between the two, did come out on top, and Carla of Top Chef fame (my all time fave Top Chef, too) chose the winner. It was a good slice of tv, and I recommend checkin it out.
Now. Look forward to the other posts over the next few days. I promise.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
need to update
I have stuff to write about Denver and the pizza I ate there, and I have photos to post, but I've not really been feeling up to it lately. I got laid off unexpectedly on Tuesday, and it's been a really ugly mess. The situation is kinda complex, and I'm really bummed out. I'm also frantically searching for a new job. Also, my grandfather is in the hospital, which I can't even think about right now without getting very upset. So, due to all around blah-ness, I'm taking a short pizza blogging break.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Pizza fun fact of the day
In Scotland chip shops, they serve a dish known as deep-fried pizza. It is what it sounds like, and more! Not only is the pizza deep-fried (both battered and non-battered varieties are available, with the battered type going by 'pizza crunch'), but then it's served with french fries--and the fries are often stuffed inside the pizza like a pizza and french fry sandwich--and smothered in brown sauce.
I...want it?
Check the wiki article for it here
On a different note, I'm headed to Denver this afternoon for the AWP conference. Hopefully while I'm there I'll get to eat some local pizza. How will Denver pizza compare to DC? We'll have to see...
I...want it?
Check the wiki article for it here
On a different note, I'm headed to Denver this afternoon for the AWP conference. Hopefully while I'm there I'll get to eat some local pizza. How will Denver pizza compare to DC? We'll have to see...
Monday, April 5, 2010
ZOMG!
It's National Deep Dish Pizza Day! According to Answers.com, National Deep Dish Pizza Day was established "to celebrate Chicago deep dish pizza—originated by Uno’s—and the efforts by Uno Chicago Grill to bring deep dish pizza to the entire United States. The original restaurant, which opened in 1943, began serving deep dish as a way to make sure hungry families could get a “real meal” when it came to pizza. Up to that point, pizza was hardly more than a snack. Annually celebrated on the anniversary of the day (Apr 5, 1979) that the first restaurant outside Chicago opened (in Boston, MA)."
Uh, so clearly some PR preson from Uno's had their hand in this (and in the writing of that "answer") but hey! It's a pizza holiday! Go eat some deep dish (and yes, I'll recommend Armand's--or you could go all the way to Georgetown to eat at an Uno outlet, but why would you want to?) .
Big thanks to Ernie (see previous post) for bringing this to my attention.
Uh, so clearly some PR preson from Uno's had their hand in this (and in the writing of that "answer") but hey! It's a pizza holiday! Go eat some deep dish (and yes, I'll recommend Armand's--or you could go all the way to Georgetown to eat at an Uno outlet, but why would you want to?) .
Big thanks to Ernie (see previous post) for bringing this to my attention.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Chicago-esque...
Happy Easter!
I desperately need to take my mind off the gobs of candy I've eaten today, and w
riting about pizza seems like a good way to do that.
So. I went on a date Friday night. A pizza date. And what was extra exciting about this pizza date was the fact that my date, Ernie, suggested a pizzeria that I'd never even heard of--a totally off my pizza radar restaurant! It was called Armand's, and was in Silver Spring (though, it's a mostly local chain). I was quite impressed with my smooth-voiced (really, he had a very nice voice) and stylish date's ability to find a place that I didn't even know existed. That's what's so magical about pizza--there is always new pizza out there to discover. I was also impressed with my date's thoughtfulness in bringing a camera along as a surprise, since he felt photos were missing from my blog. However, you'll notice that there are no photos here yet. He's not emailed me them... yet. He says he
's forgetful. Maybe he'll read this and remember. Right?
Anyhow, so, the atmosphere was a nice blend of "dive" and "mom and pop" restaurant, and my seat looked like a throne/church pew. Awesome. The place specialized in "Chicago Style" deep dish.
So. Chicago pizza. I've had it. In Chicago. Many times. I know...how it really should be. Relatively thin crust (all things considered) made with a bit of cornmeal (mmmcornmeal crust), and then just tons and tons of sauce, toppings, and cheese. Then, when served, the waiter serves up the first slice with flair, managing all of the cheese in a graceful swoop. Armand's...doesn't quite have it down. The crust was too thick (common error with chicago-style wannabes) and the server DID serve the first slice, but maybe not with the flair of a Chicago slice server. He did do a good job though, and truth be told, sometimes you don't want the glitz and showmanship, right?
The pizza, overall, was very, very good. The crust, though not exactly right, was very tasty. It surprised me, since normally I don't like really doughy crusts (hi, pizzeria paradiso...). The sauce was good--a darker sauce, without being too sweet--and the toppings (mushroom and onion) were generous and fresh (no canned mushrooms here). The cheese was glorious (they could have made a commercial about it in 1987, it was so glorious indeed. ). Overall, it was a great meal. I was impressed. And, on the rare chance that the urge for deep dish pizza were to strike me, I'd return. But, I mean, I do have a bias towards thinner crusted pizza. I like it when I can eat ungodly amounts of pizza. Deep dish is too filling for my inner glutton to be satisfied. I only ate 2.5 slices. I need to eat like, a whole pizza to feel like I've done a good job...
The rest of the evening was special. It involved awkward times with singing pirates. You may think I'm making this up, but I'm not. Singing pirate awkwardness aside, it was a good night though. I hope I have pictures to add to this post soon.
I desperately need to take my mind off the gobs of candy I've eaten today, and w
riting about pizza seems like a good way to do that.So. I went on a date Friday night. A pizza date. And what was extra exciting about this pizza date was the fact that my date, Ernie, suggested a pizzeria that I'd never even heard of--a totally off my pizza radar restaurant! It was called Armand's, and was in Silver Spring (though, it's a mostly local chain). I was quite impressed with my smooth-voiced (really, he had a very nice voice) and stylish date's ability to find a place that I didn't even know existed. That's what's so magical about pizza--there is always new pizza out there to discover. I was also impressed with my date's thoughtfulness in bringing a camera along as a surprise, since he felt photos were missing from my blog. However, you'll notice that there are no photos here yet. He's not emailed me them... yet. He says he
's forgetful. Maybe he'll read this and remember. Right?Anyhow, so, the atmosphere was a nice blend of "dive" and "mom and pop" restaurant, and my seat looked like a throne/church pew. Awesome. The place specialized in "Chicago Style" deep dish.
So. Chicago pizza. I've had it. In Chicago. Many times. I know...how it really should be. Relatively thin crust (all things considered) made with a bit of cornmeal (mmmcornmeal crust), and then just tons and tons of sauce, toppings, and cheese. Then, when served, the waiter serves up the first slice with flair, managing all of the cheese in a graceful swoop. Armand's...doesn't quite have it down. The crust was too thick (common error with chicago-style wannabes) and the server DID serve the first slice, but maybe not with the flair of a Chicago slice server. He did do a good job though, and truth be told, sometimes you don't want the glitz and showmanship, right?
The pizza, overall, was very, very good. The crust, though not exactly right, was very tasty. It surprised me, since normally I don't like really doughy crusts (hi, pizzeria paradiso...). The sauce was good--a darker sauce, without being too sweet--and the toppings (mushroom and onion) were generous and fresh (no canned mushrooms here). The cheese was glorious (they could have made a commercial about it in 1987, it was so glorious indeed. ). Overall, it was a great meal. I was impressed. And, on the rare chance that the urge for deep dish pizza were to strike me, I'd return. But, I mean, I do have a bias towards thinner crusted pizza. I like it when I can eat ungodly amounts of pizza. Deep dish is too filling for my inner glutton to be satisfied. I only ate 2.5 slices. I need to eat like, a whole pizza to feel like I've done a good job...
The rest of the evening was special. It involved awkward times with singing pirates. You may think I'm making this up, but I'm not. Singing pirate awkwardness aside, it was a good night though. I hope I have pictures to add to this post soon.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Pizzeria Paradiso is a Pizza Paradis-NO!
Over spring break, I coordinated with Adam P. (who is guilty of saying "za"...sigh) to have a "pizza happy hour" at Pizzeria Paradiso.
Pizzeria Paradiso has a reputation in DC as being "upscale" and "high quality" "artisan" pizza. They also have a great beer selection, and are somewhat beer-snobbish. I'm down with beer and pizza snobbery, to be honest. I like both of these things in both their highbrow and lowbrow forms. Anyhow, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Pizzeria Paradiso has a happy hour special where beers are half price, all appetizers are 5 dollars, and all pizzas are 9 dollars. Seemed worth checking out.
Upon actually arriving at Paradiso, however, I quickly realized something: while the beer special was indeed worthy, the pizza and appetizer specials were incredibly lame...for most of the pizzas, the special saved you between 35 cents and 1 dollar. Wooohooo! Thank God for the beer specials, otherwise I might have rolled my eyes and come back another day.
So, yes. As I said, Paradiso has this reputation for being snobby and excellent. But, I hate to say this...I wasn't impressed. There are several reasons for this, but I am going to outline the two major issues that I had.
1) The crust. I can appreciate regional variations on pizza. A New York style will be thin and floppy; a Chicago-style deep dish, yet still thin crusted, much like a pie; and Detroit will be a thicker deep dish and square in shape (caramelized edges, y'all.) But Paradiso didn't claim to have a regional style--they just claimed to have good pizza. In fact, according to their website, they claim that their main concern is the crust, "We opened Pizzeria Paradiso so we could make the kind of pizza we longed for but couldn't find in the DC area, the kind of pizza where the crust was the most important part."
Look, I agree. The crust IS the most important part. But Paradiso, if I may say so, your crust wasn't what I want in a pizza. Your crust was tasty, it's true. But it didn't seem like a pizza crust. The dish you served me tasted more like a foccacia--pillowy and thick and doughy. Very, very bread-like. Very, very heavy. Tasty, but not pizza. Very pizza-esque.
2.) The sauce. Paradiso also brags about their quality sauce which uses only imported tomatoes from Italy. When they say this on their website, however, I take it to mean that they only use that one type of canned tomatoes, not that the ONLY thing in their sauce is canned tomatoes. But, alack! That's what it tasted like: diced canned tomatoes spread on thick foccacia like dough. You're killing me Paradiso! I shouldn't be able to taste the metallic taste of tin can lingering in the sauce in every bite!
So, yeah. In my pizza quest, I won't be returning to Paradiso for their pizza alone any time soon. Maybe I'll return for the beer though. Maybe.
Pizzeria Paradiso has a reputation in DC as being "upscale" and "high quality" "artisan" pizza. They also have a great beer selection, and are somewhat beer-snobbish. I'm down with beer and pizza snobbery, to be honest. I like both of these things in both their highbrow and lowbrow forms. Anyhow, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Pizzeria Paradiso has a happy hour special where beers are half price, all appetizers are 5 dollars, and all pizzas are 9 dollars. Seemed worth checking out.
Upon actually arriving at Paradiso, however, I quickly realized something: while the beer special was indeed worthy, the pizza and appetizer specials were incredibly lame...for most of the pizzas, the special saved you between 35 cents and 1 dollar. Wooohooo! Thank God for the beer specials, otherwise I might have rolled my eyes and come back another day.
So, yes. As I said, Paradiso has this reputation for being snobby and excellent. But, I hate to say this...I wasn't impressed. There are several reasons for this, but I am going to outline the two major issues that I had.
1) The crust. I can appreciate regional variations on pizza. A New York style will be thin and floppy; a Chicago-style deep dish, yet still thin crusted, much like a pie; and Detroit will be a thicker deep dish and square in shape (caramelized edges, y'all.) But Paradiso didn't claim to have a regional style--they just claimed to have good pizza. In fact, according to their website, they claim that their main concern is the crust, "We opened Pizzeria Paradiso so we could make the kind of pizza we longed for but couldn't find in the DC area, the kind of pizza where the crust was the most important part."
Look, I agree. The crust IS the most important part. But Paradiso, if I may say so, your crust wasn't what I want in a pizza. Your crust was tasty, it's true. But it didn't seem like a pizza crust. The dish you served me tasted more like a foccacia--pillowy and thick and doughy. Very, very bread-like. Very, very heavy. Tasty, but not pizza. Very pizza-esque.
2.) The sauce. Paradiso also brags about their quality sauce which uses only imported tomatoes from Italy. When they say this on their website, however, I take it to mean that they only use that one type of canned tomatoes, not that the ONLY thing in their sauce is canned tomatoes. But, alack! That's what it tasted like: diced canned tomatoes spread on thick foccacia like dough. You're killing me Paradiso! I shouldn't be able to taste the metallic taste of tin can lingering in the sauce in every bite!
So, yeah. In my pizza quest, I won't be returning to Paradiso for their pizza alone any time soon. Maybe I'll return for the beer though. Maybe.
Monday, March 15, 2010
pizza weekend in nyc
I kind of wanted to title this "let's eat some pizza in Neeeew YOOOORRK!" in honor of the girl at the gelato place last night who was getting DOWN to the Alicia Keys song...which, for the record, isn't that good. Jay-Z helped her out with that one.
I am currently sitting in my brother's living room in Saddle Brook, NJ. I've pretty much eaten pizza exclusively since getting here yesterday afternoon. There was a scoop of gelato, a cup of coffee, and a cheese sandwich at Murray's (http://www.murrayscheese.com), but everything else has been pizza. Really. It's sickening. I love it.
I arrived at my brother's yesterday afternoon (much later than I'd hoped to arrive, due to being foiled by daylight savings time...grrr.). We headed straight into the city for some shopping in SoHo, and made plans to meet up with Anne for dinner. Before finding a neat segue into the pizza, let me talk for a minute about shopping in SoHo.
So...look, it's typical, it's not particularly hip, etc, but every single time I'm in New York, I end up in SoHo cos I love Uniqlo and Muji way too much. 19.50 for the best fitting jeans ever? Yes please. Seriously, between those 2 stores, I got new sneakers, jeans, 2 cardigans, socks, a notebook, my favorite candles, travel accessories, and more...for under 100 dollars. And all of it just fits so right. Sort of obsessed. Go Japan. Nick, fortunately, shares my passion for these two stores. I love that my brother is a man who shops.
Anyhow, after we Uniqlo'd and Muji'd it up, we walked down Bleeker Street singing the requisite Simon and Garfunkel song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5UY1t47TNY) to meet up with Anne and Steve at John's. Classic Village brick oven place. It's good. It's really good. In fact, it's not worth comparing it to other pizzas I've eaten up to this point this year (yes, there have been better pizzas in the past. But not yet in 2010). We were seated in a very cozy window booth, and it was one of those "historic" booths--everyone's name all scratched into it, etc. Anne, much like me, is a bit of a pizza purist--she prefers a good cheese pizza. I'd forgotten that Nick gave up meat for Lent, and so, much to my benefit, it turned into an all vegetarian pizza night. We got a large cheese and a large mushroom between the four of us, and none was wasted, that's for sure. We devoured those pizzas.
The crust was a dream: blistery with that nice charry taste, thin, chewy, crisp...mmm. The sauce was also well done--brightly flavored and very authentically tomato-y, not sugary or bitter, and perfectly distributed (I hate heavy handed sauce). The cheese was just a plain cheese, not fresh mozz slices, and it was also distributed in perfect balance. The mushrooms...were good. I don't know. I think that they maybe could have been more generous, but they were fresh mushrooms, so that's a plus. The cheese was, for me, the winner between the two, but both were very, very good. However, John's pizza reminded me of one of the greatest plights I face every time I eat truly good pizza. And in fact, this plight could indeed be the hallmark of a great slice for me. You see, when the pizza is just right and when the crust is really just that perfect balance of thin, crispy, chewy goodness, I get into the following trouble. You see, when it comes to food, I'm very impatient. I need a bite of that pizza as soon as it's set down, and I almost always burn the roof of my mouth on that first bite. And then, with the roof of my mouth all tender...it gets scraped by those sharp edges on that perfect, perfect end crusts...a truly good pizza, therefore, brings me both deep pleasure and a little pain. It's earned. I like that. Anyhow, after eating 5 slices (yes, 5), I was in serious need of some gelato to sooth my scraped up mouth. Really people, gelato is the only solution.
Before moving on to my next pizza, I need to pause to give Anne some credit here. You see, Anne really was the one who inspired me to make this pizza resolution and start this pizza blog, because Anne has told me in the past that, since moving to NYC for law school, she's been on a pizza quest, seeking out the best in New York. Every time I've stayed with her, we've gone out to try the most hyped up pizza joints, and visited some of the big classics. Together, in January of 2008, we went to Lombardi's (New York's original pizzeria), and found that, though it was good, it was perhaps not the best. She encouraged me to walk several extra blocks out of the way late one night when I needed a slicem in order to go to Famous Joe's on Carmine at Bleeker, even though I passed countless places en route from her dorm on Mercer (worth it. best slice, easily).Two summers ago, we trekked all the way out to Coney Island to go to Totonno's...which still stands as the best pizza I've ever had, made even better by the fact that we rode the Cyclone and walked around the boardwalk after the pizza. I really hope that Totonno's won't be changed too much by the fire that happened there last spring. That'd be heartbreaking. But anyhow. What I'm saying here is that Anne really deserves major props for being my inspiration in this blog, and the queen of the NYC pizza quest, and my sister in pizza eating adventures.
Anyhow. Today, in order to celebrate spring break, I did one of my favorite things...one of those things I rarely get the opportunity to do. I went into the city this morning and spent the entire day just walking around exploring by myself, window shopping and eating. Due to a slight train mishap, I didn't get to the city until 11am (note to self: when in Secacus, asking "Does this train go to Penn Station?" is a real gamble. The man was correct when he said "yes" but...he meant Newark Penn Station, not New York Penn Station...durrrr). But that was okay, because that meant I arrived at Famous Joe's at the perfect time--right after the opening rush was done, and they'd juuuust pulled out a fresh cheese pizza. 2.50 can buy you happiness. It really can. It's just such a perfect slice! Not too greasy (but...greasy enough to be just a liiitle sinful), floppy enough to fold, but still perfectly crisp. Great sauce, great balance. Just damn. good. pizza. Plus, I love that the parm, red pepper, salt, and pepper available all came from the CVS next door. Nice. Go there people. It's worth it. I could have eaten 2 slices, easily, but I decided to pace myself in order to allow me other treats throughout the day.
I walked all over the village, NoHo, SoHo, and into Chinatown today. I just walked and walked and walked. I turned down every interesting looking side street. I tried to go down streets I'd never been down. I went into little stores and galleries I'd never been into. I avoided all chains. I went into many eyeglasses shops--all of which were out of my price range--and tried on many awesome frames (I need new ones). I stopped in coffeeshops for cups to go. It was windy, grey, and rainy, but...man. Best day ever. I did a big loop, more or less, so that I could end my day at Murrays for the aforementioned cheese sandwich (with jalepeno coleslaw, chips, and a drink), before catching the train at West 4th Street station. Next trip to NYC, I'll aim to do a different chunk of the city. I need a day like this in Brooklyn too (I've been wanting to get to CB I Hate Perfume for FOREVER!).
Once home, Nick called and said he wanted to pick up a pizza for dinner cos it was easy. No complaints here. Yes, I can have pizza for the third time in 24 hours! Sounds fantastic! We got a margherita pie from Donnagios, which is this place up the street from his apartment. Um. Not a winner of a pie. I guess cos it was a margherita rather than a regular cheese pizza, they were trying to be fancy, but the sauce wasn't right. It tasted like spaghetti sauce--it was dark, sweet, and really thickly applied. Too much. The crust was decent, but the over all experience was low on my list for the weekend. Too bad. It really didn't stand a chance though, when you think of it...I'd just eaten some of the known contenders for best pizza in New York, and...well, this is just some joint up the street in Saddle Brook, New Jersey. I mean, Jersey! Poor New Jersey. It always loses.
I am currently sitting in my brother's living room in Saddle Brook, NJ. I've pretty much eaten pizza exclusively since getting here yesterday afternoon. There was a scoop of gelato, a cup of coffee, and a cheese sandwich at Murray's (http://www.murrayscheese.com), but everything else has been pizza. Really. It's sickening. I love it.
I arrived at my brother's yesterday afternoon (much later than I'd hoped to arrive, due to being foiled by daylight savings time...grrr.). We headed straight into the city for some shopping in SoHo, and made plans to meet up with Anne for dinner. Before finding a neat segue into the pizza, let me talk for a minute about shopping in SoHo.
So...look, it's typical, it's not particularly hip, etc, but every single time I'm in New York, I end up in SoHo cos I love Uniqlo and Muji way too much. 19.50 for the best fitting jeans ever? Yes please. Seriously, between those 2 stores, I got new sneakers, jeans, 2 cardigans, socks, a notebook, my favorite candles, travel accessories, and more...for under 100 dollars. And all of it just fits so right. Sort of obsessed. Go Japan. Nick, fortunately, shares my passion for these two stores. I love that my brother is a man who shops.
Anyhow, after we Uniqlo'd and Muji'd it up, we walked down Bleeker Street singing the requisite Simon and Garfunkel song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5UY1t47TNY) to meet up with Anne and Steve at John's. Classic Village brick oven place. It's good. It's really good. In fact, it's not worth comparing it to other pizzas I've eaten up to this point this year (yes, there have been better pizzas in the past. But not yet in 2010). We were seated in a very cozy window booth, and it was one of those "historic" booths--everyone's name all scratched into it, etc. Anne, much like me, is a bit of a pizza purist--she prefers a good cheese pizza. I'd forgotten that Nick gave up meat for Lent, and so, much to my benefit, it turned into an all vegetarian pizza night. We got a large cheese and a large mushroom between the four of us, and none was wasted, that's for sure. We devoured those pizzas.
The crust was a dream: blistery with that nice charry taste, thin, chewy, crisp...mmm. The sauce was also well done--brightly flavored and very authentically tomato-y, not sugary or bitter, and perfectly distributed (I hate heavy handed sauce). The cheese was just a plain cheese, not fresh mozz slices, and it was also distributed in perfect balance. The mushrooms...were good. I don't know. I think that they maybe could have been more generous, but they were fresh mushrooms, so that's a plus. The cheese was, for me, the winner between the two, but both were very, very good. However, John's pizza reminded me of one of the greatest plights I face every time I eat truly good pizza. And in fact, this plight could indeed be the hallmark of a great slice for me. You see, when the pizza is just right and when the crust is really just that perfect balance of thin, crispy, chewy goodness, I get into the following trouble. You see, when it comes to food, I'm very impatient. I need a bite of that pizza as soon as it's set down, and I almost always burn the roof of my mouth on that first bite. And then, with the roof of my mouth all tender...it gets scraped by those sharp edges on that perfect, perfect end crusts...a truly good pizza, therefore, brings me both deep pleasure and a little pain. It's earned. I like that. Anyhow, after eating 5 slices (yes, 5), I was in serious need of some gelato to sooth my scraped up mouth. Really people, gelato is the only solution.
Before moving on to my next pizza, I need to pause to give Anne some credit here. You see, Anne really was the one who inspired me to make this pizza resolution and start this pizza blog, because Anne has told me in the past that, since moving to NYC for law school, she's been on a pizza quest, seeking out the best in New York. Every time I've stayed with her, we've gone out to try the most hyped up pizza joints, and visited some of the big classics. Together, in January of 2008, we went to Lombardi's (New York's original pizzeria), and found that, though it was good, it was perhaps not the best. She encouraged me to walk several extra blocks out of the way late one night when I needed a slicem in order to go to Famous Joe's on Carmine at Bleeker, even though I passed countless places en route from her dorm on Mercer (worth it. best slice, easily).Two summers ago, we trekked all the way out to Coney Island to go to Totonno's...which still stands as the best pizza I've ever had, made even better by the fact that we rode the Cyclone and walked around the boardwalk after the pizza. I really hope that Totonno's won't be changed too much by the fire that happened there last spring. That'd be heartbreaking. But anyhow. What I'm saying here is that Anne really deserves major props for being my inspiration in this blog, and the queen of the NYC pizza quest, and my sister in pizza eating adventures.
Anyhow. Today, in order to celebrate spring break, I did one of my favorite things...one of those things I rarely get the opportunity to do. I went into the city this morning and spent the entire day just walking around exploring by myself, window shopping and eating. Due to a slight train mishap, I didn't get to the city until 11am (note to self: when in Secacus, asking "Does this train go to Penn Station?" is a real gamble. The man was correct when he said "yes" but...he meant Newark Penn Station, not New York Penn Station...durrrr). But that was okay, because that meant I arrived at Famous Joe's at the perfect time--right after the opening rush was done, and they'd juuuust pulled out a fresh cheese pizza. 2.50 can buy you happiness. It really can. It's just such a perfect slice! Not too greasy (but...greasy enough to be just a liiitle sinful), floppy enough to fold, but still perfectly crisp. Great sauce, great balance. Just damn. good. pizza. Plus, I love that the parm, red pepper, salt, and pepper available all came from the CVS next door. Nice. Go there people. It's worth it. I could have eaten 2 slices, easily, but I decided to pace myself in order to allow me other treats throughout the day.
I walked all over the village, NoHo, SoHo, and into Chinatown today. I just walked and walked and walked. I turned down every interesting looking side street. I tried to go down streets I'd never been down. I went into little stores and galleries I'd never been into. I avoided all chains. I went into many eyeglasses shops--all of which were out of my price range--and tried on many awesome frames (I need new ones). I stopped in coffeeshops for cups to go. It was windy, grey, and rainy, but...man. Best day ever. I did a big loop, more or less, so that I could end my day at Murrays for the aforementioned cheese sandwich (with jalepeno coleslaw, chips, and a drink), before catching the train at West 4th Street station. Next trip to NYC, I'll aim to do a different chunk of the city. I need a day like this in Brooklyn too (I've been wanting to get to CB I Hate Perfume for FOREVER!).
Once home, Nick called and said he wanted to pick up a pizza for dinner cos it was easy. No complaints here. Yes, I can have pizza for the third time in 24 hours! Sounds fantastic! We got a margherita pie from Donnagios, which is this place up the street from his apartment. Um. Not a winner of a pie. I guess cos it was a margherita rather than a regular cheese pizza, they were trying to be fancy, but the sauce wasn't right. It tasted like spaghetti sauce--it was dark, sweet, and really thickly applied. Too much. The crust was decent, but the over all experience was low on my list for the weekend. Too bad. It really didn't stand a chance though, when you think of it...I'd just eaten some of the known contenders for best pizza in New York, and...well, this is just some joint up the street in Saddle Brook, New Jersey. I mean, Jersey! Poor New Jersey. It always loses.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Shoppers Value One Dollar Pizza
For the second Wednesday in a row, I've gone to lift weights in the Richie Collesium with Steven and Conor. For the second Wednesday in a row, I've been the only woman in that weightroom--it's next to frat row, so it's fairly frat-tastic. Steven and Conor are really awesome and patient and nice about showing me how to do all this stuff, and I feel pretty great afterwards, like I've accomplished something for womankind, or something. Anyhow, the only lame part about it is that, since I meet with them post-workshop, we don't get out of there until 7:30 or so, and that makes coming home and cooking dinner kinda a pain. So...today I remedied that by buying a frozen pizza.
A one dollar frozen pizza.
Hells. Yes.
The Shopper's Brand Value Pizza, in "cheese flavor" (isn't this what they have to say when they can't claim real cheese was used? hmm...) measures up at about 6.5 inches in diameter, and weighs in at 370 calories, total. While microwaving was an option, I went with the oven baking method, since, well...microwaved frozen pizza (sans origami pizza box magic crisping tray) is never a good idea (heck, even with the tray it's rarely a good idea). The crust...well, even when placed directly on the rack in an oven preheated to 450 degrees never quite crisped up. I believe this was due to the gratuitous amount of dark red, pasty and sweet sauce. The cheese flavor cheese (? cheese like substance?) was a bit sparse. Even before placing it into the oven, I suspected the situation was dire, and took manners into my own hands by adding a few fresh portabella mushroom slices on top, in an attempt to fix it up some.
Once baked, a strange thing happened. I lifted my first slice to my mouth and...all of the toppings slid off in a sloppy pile of red sauce. Also, the "cheese" didn't really melt. The crust...well, it wasn't that bad. I'm happy though that I thought to add the mushrooms. Those were really tasty.
I...well. I'm a bit creeped out by the fact that I ate this pizza for dinner tonight. It wasn't really tasty, and after eating it, I felt as though I'd eaten nothing at all. Bad news. The worst news of all though is that, because the thing only cost a DOLLAR and the nutritional value isn't that far off of the lean cuisine pizza I ate a while back, I'd be hard pressed to choose either the lean cuisine or this pizza again in the future. Yeah. This stupid pizza was so bad, yet so cheap, that it's ruined my relatively good lean cuisine pizza eating experience. How can I ever justify eating something only marginally tastier but 4 times more expensive, just for the fancy box? Ugh.
In other news, stuff's been kinda crazy lately. The draft of my thesis is due Friday. I've been really busy at work. Work's been...not super good lately. When deadlines loom, people get on edge and sometimes they really like to take it out on our department...which I guess makes sense. It's our job to point out mistakes, and that bursts the bubble that what's been done up to that point was perfect as it was.
Anyhow. In addition to pizza, lately all I want to do is sleep. Preferably with a snuggle partner. My new favorite word (learned at work) is hygge, or 'snug and cozy feeling'. It's this central part of the Danish mentality, and, considering we don't quite have an equivalent word in English, it's clearly not something we take seriously enough. I need more hygge in my life. More coziness, more snuggliness, more good-warm-homey-comfort-feelingness. Yeah.
A one dollar frozen pizza.
Hells. Yes.
The Shopper's Brand Value Pizza, in "cheese flavor" (isn't this what they have to say when they can't claim real cheese was used? hmm...) measures up at about 6.5 inches in diameter, and weighs in at 370 calories, total. While microwaving was an option, I went with the oven baking method, since, well...microwaved frozen pizza (sans origami pizza box magic crisping tray) is never a good idea (heck, even with the tray it's rarely a good idea). The crust...well, even when placed directly on the rack in an oven preheated to 450 degrees never quite crisped up. I believe this was due to the gratuitous amount of dark red, pasty and sweet sauce. The cheese flavor cheese (? cheese like substance?) was a bit sparse. Even before placing it into the oven, I suspected the situation was dire, and took manners into my own hands by adding a few fresh portabella mushroom slices on top, in an attempt to fix it up some.
Once baked, a strange thing happened. I lifted my first slice to my mouth and...all of the toppings slid off in a sloppy pile of red sauce. Also, the "cheese" didn't really melt. The crust...well, it wasn't that bad. I'm happy though that I thought to add the mushrooms. Those were really tasty.
I...well. I'm a bit creeped out by the fact that I ate this pizza for dinner tonight. It wasn't really tasty, and after eating it, I felt as though I'd eaten nothing at all. Bad news. The worst news of all though is that, because the thing only cost a DOLLAR and the nutritional value isn't that far off of the lean cuisine pizza I ate a while back, I'd be hard pressed to choose either the lean cuisine or this pizza again in the future. Yeah. This stupid pizza was so bad, yet so cheap, that it's ruined my relatively good lean cuisine pizza eating experience. How can I ever justify eating something only marginally tastier but 4 times more expensive, just for the fancy box? Ugh.
In other news, stuff's been kinda crazy lately. The draft of my thesis is due Friday. I've been really busy at work. Work's been...not super good lately. When deadlines loom, people get on edge and sometimes they really like to take it out on our department...which I guess makes sense. It's our job to point out mistakes, and that bursts the bubble that what's been done up to that point was perfect as it was.
Anyhow. In addition to pizza, lately all I want to do is sleep. Preferably with a snuggle partner. My new favorite word (learned at work) is hygge, or 'snug and cozy feeling'. It's this central part of the Danish mentality, and, considering we don't quite have an equivalent word in English, it's clearly not something we take seriously enough. I need more hygge in my life. More coziness, more snuggliness, more good-warm-homey-comfort-feelingness. Yeah.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Updated List
I need to update my list of pizza places to try...I also really need to get around to posting those reviews of the, uh...more boring pizzas I've eaten as of late.
But, crossed off my original list at this point are Ellas, Red Rocks, Pete's a pizza, and Mama Lucias. Just a fun fact...I ate at 3 of the 4 of those places with Kim. Talk about a good partner in pizza crime! Though, perhaps she doesn't want me pointing out just how much pizza we've eaten together in the past month (Kim. We've eaten like, 7 pizzas in under a month together.)
So. The list as it stands now:
1) Pizza Paradiso (preferably on a Tuesday or Wednesday night when they have happy hour)
2) Pi Pizza (Adams Morgan)
3) Comet Ping Pong (Tenleytown? Pizza and ping pong? Um, yes plz.)
4) The disco Jumbo Slice on U street (cos it's so awesome)
5) Two Amys (Woodley Park?)
Um, I'm going to stop here. I can list more, of course, but these are the 5 that I have my sights set on for now. Also, I'm fairly certain I'll be able to hit up number 4 post backdoor at 9:30 party on Saturday.
While I'm at it, let's talk about some of those pizzas I ate with Kim. Starting with...Ellas.
Dude, fuck Ella's pizza. Seriously! Like, it could be all nice and all. It's schmancy as hell, all up in Penn Quarter, and it really ain't all that. But look. Want to make me mad? Then don't differentiate on your menu between sauced pizzas and white pizzas. Make me guess whether that pizza actually comes with cheese on it or not. Be vague about your pizza basics and jack up the prices, to boot. Seriously. WOMP WOMP WOMP on Ella's Pizza. Yes, when I went there over the summer after a two hot day of being a tourist with my parents, it was nice. It was nice because I was sunburnt and about to pass out from heat and hunger (seriously? how does my mother go for like, 9 hours without eating?) . I guess my memories were tinged by the sheer joy food and water brought me in that moment. Plus, you know, the warm fuzziness I get when I'm with my parents (no. Wait. I mean the warm fuzziness I get when I think about being with my parents when they're not around. I was probably grumpy and snapping at them like a brat in that moment.) Anyhow. I'm getting away from the point here. The point is that I thought it was going to be a lot better than it was when I returned there with Kim on Friday, February 12th.
Kim ordered a straight margherita (duh. must be done!) and I ordered the mushroom pizza. The mushroom pizza that had an "olive oil" sauce (mmm, grease!) and NO CHEESE! Yeah. No sauce. No cheese. No mention of either of these things on the menu. I guess...I guess I'm just so used to most places making it clearer what's on their pizzas and what isn't. Either they'll note all pizzas come with x, y, and z, or they'll specifically note No sauce! or something. Not Ella's. Nope. But when my pizza came out and I was clearly not impressed with it (nay--really disappointed upon first sight), the waiter asked if something was wrong. And I said "well...I guess, I almost asked before I ordered, but I assumed this would have cheese on it!" And he says "Oh! Not a problem, let me go ask them to put some on." And...this made me happy. I was optimistic once again. It came back with some gooey half melted globs of mozzarella, and the oil crust was really soggy, but...I appreciated the effort. The pizza wasn't my thing. The mushrooms were over salty and it was just way too greasy. Overall, it didn't even seem like pizza to me. Kim's margherita was fine--pretty good, even. And...well. Look. Here's something you can argue with me on. That's fine. When we got the bill...I was charged an extra 2.50 for the cheese on my pizza. I mean. I guess I should have assumed this. I guess. But...I guess, too, when a waiter offers something like that because they notice you seem unhappy, they do it to make it better, not make an extra few bucks. Or...they tell you it's gonna cost extra. I mean. The cheese was not worth the 2.50. It wasn't a great addition, and I thought he was just trying to be nice. I got it though that that's how it all works, and I mean, no, I'm not going to complain about such a thing, nor really blame the waiter at all...but I will write a scathing review of the place on my little pizza blog, goddammit!
The other pizza I ate with Kim was takeout from Mama Lucias. Kim was coming over to watch Lady Gaga perform with Elton John (who, FYI, is helping Eminem overcome his drug problems and homophobia) on the Grammys, but we both missed the performance (doh!) Mama Lucia's is probably the best pizza you can get in College Park. And I like it cos it's right up the street. It's decent. It was good food. It was slightly cold though, because my phone wasn't working and I didn't know Kim was waiting outside with it calling me to come let her in. It's a good, basic, new york style floppy pizza. No complaints, but nothing special, either. Also, Grammys? WTF? I don't remember the last time I actually watched the Grammys (or...wait. I do. It was when Bjork was nominated for that one song with the video by Spike Jonze...that was...1998?). But yeah, that shit was effed up. Some band of country music playing Zack Galifinakises beat out all sorts of good stuff for best new artist. Weird.
Okay. I'm feeling a bit more caught up now. Phew.
But, crossed off my original list at this point are Ellas, Red Rocks, Pete's a pizza, and Mama Lucias. Just a fun fact...I ate at 3 of the 4 of those places with Kim. Talk about a good partner in pizza crime! Though, perhaps she doesn't want me pointing out just how much pizza we've eaten together in the past month (Kim. We've eaten like, 7 pizzas in under a month together.)
So. The list as it stands now:
1) Pizza Paradiso (preferably on a Tuesday or Wednesday night when they have happy hour)
2) Pi Pizza (Adams Morgan)
3) Comet Ping Pong (Tenleytown? Pizza and ping pong? Um, yes plz.)
4) The disco Jumbo Slice on U street (cos it's so awesome)
5) Two Amys (Woodley Park?)
Um, I'm going to stop here. I can list more, of course, but these are the 5 that I have my sights set on for now. Also, I'm fairly certain I'll be able to hit up number 4 post backdoor at 9:30 party on Saturday.
While I'm at it, let's talk about some of those pizzas I ate with Kim. Starting with...Ellas.
Dude, fuck Ella's pizza. Seriously! Like, it could be all nice and all. It's schmancy as hell, all up in Penn Quarter, and it really ain't all that. But look. Want to make me mad? Then don't differentiate on your menu between sauced pizzas and white pizzas. Make me guess whether that pizza actually comes with cheese on it or not. Be vague about your pizza basics and jack up the prices, to boot. Seriously. WOMP WOMP WOMP on Ella's Pizza. Yes, when I went there over the summer after a two hot day of being a tourist with my parents, it was nice. It was nice because I was sunburnt and about to pass out from heat and hunger (seriously? how does my mother go for like, 9 hours without eating?) . I guess my memories were tinged by the sheer joy food and water brought me in that moment. Plus, you know, the warm fuzziness I get when I'm with my parents (no. Wait. I mean the warm fuzziness I get when I think about being with my parents when they're not around. I was probably grumpy and snapping at them like a brat in that moment.) Anyhow. I'm getting away from the point here. The point is that I thought it was going to be a lot better than it was when I returned there with Kim on Friday, February 12th.
Kim ordered a straight margherita (duh. must be done!) and I ordered the mushroom pizza. The mushroom pizza that had an "olive oil" sauce (mmm, grease!) and NO CHEESE! Yeah. No sauce. No cheese. No mention of either of these things on the menu. I guess...I guess I'm just so used to most places making it clearer what's on their pizzas and what isn't. Either they'll note all pizzas come with x, y, and z, or they'll specifically note No sauce! or something. Not Ella's. Nope. But when my pizza came out and I was clearly not impressed with it (nay--really disappointed upon first sight), the waiter asked if something was wrong. And I said "well...I guess, I almost asked before I ordered, but I assumed this would have cheese on it!" And he says "Oh! Not a problem, let me go ask them to put some on." And...this made me happy. I was optimistic once again. It came back with some gooey half melted globs of mozzarella, and the oil crust was really soggy, but...I appreciated the effort. The pizza wasn't my thing. The mushrooms were over salty and it was just way too greasy. Overall, it didn't even seem like pizza to me. Kim's margherita was fine--pretty good, even. And...well. Look. Here's something you can argue with me on. That's fine. When we got the bill...I was charged an extra 2.50 for the cheese on my pizza. I mean. I guess I should have assumed this. I guess. But...I guess, too, when a waiter offers something like that because they notice you seem unhappy, they do it to make it better, not make an extra few bucks. Or...they tell you it's gonna cost extra. I mean. The cheese was not worth the 2.50. It wasn't a great addition, and I thought he was just trying to be nice. I got it though that that's how it all works, and I mean, no, I'm not going to complain about such a thing, nor really blame the waiter at all...but I will write a scathing review of the place on my little pizza blog, goddammit!
The other pizza I ate with Kim was takeout from Mama Lucias. Kim was coming over to watch Lady Gaga perform with Elton John (who, FYI, is helping Eminem overcome his drug problems and homophobia) on the Grammys, but we both missed the performance (doh!) Mama Lucia's is probably the best pizza you can get in College Park. And I like it cos it's right up the street. It's decent. It was good food. It was slightly cold though, because my phone wasn't working and I didn't know Kim was waiting outside with it calling me to come let her in. It's a good, basic, new york style floppy pizza. No complaints, but nothing special, either. Also, Grammys? WTF? I don't remember the last time I actually watched the Grammys (or...wait. I do. It was when Bjork was nominated for that one song with the video by Spike Jonze...that was...1998?). But yeah, that shit was effed up. Some band of country music playing Zack Galifinakises beat out all sorts of good stuff for best new artist. Weird.
Okay. I'm feeling a bit more caught up now. Phew.
insert pun about how red rocks rocks here.
So much pizza action here these days. I'm really making good on my resolution. I should say though that I gave up pop for Lent, and that keeps giving me trouble in funny ways--like, whenever I'm out to eat, especially at fast food places, and I order a fountain drink by habit, and then I drink lemonade. I don't like lemonade. This happened on Sunday, because I was tempted by the Boylans fountain. I need to stop ordering drinks, period.
So, last night was a pretty awesome pizza adventure. I went to Red Rocks with a fine gentleman from Baltimore named Kyle. I've been to Red Rocks before (not in 2010), but always sat upstairs. This time, we got a table downstairs, and the atmosphere was great. Very cozy, yet not schmancy-pants.
We ordered one "pizza rosse" and one "pizza bianche" The red pizza was your straight up margherita, and the white pizza was with arugula, cherry tomatoes, and cheese. Now, even though I don't love white pizza, this was a really decent white pizza. As Kyle said "Arugula makes everything good." We also split a bottle of wine--rare for me, but it was nice. Certainly the first wine and pizza post, though!
What can be said about both pizzas is this: the blistering on the crust was great, and the toppings were high quality and delicious. However, both pizzas were just...not crisp enough. Perhaps this was a result of the cheese used. If they'd had just a slightly crisper bottom, they'd been really near perfect. The margherita had a really excellent spicy and sweet--but not in a fake way--sauce. It was really good pizza, and it's probably, thus far, the best pizza I've had in DC. The great company helped, too :)
So, last night was a pretty awesome pizza adventure. I went to Red Rocks with a fine gentleman from Baltimore named Kyle. I've been to Red Rocks before (not in 2010), but always sat upstairs. This time, we got a table downstairs, and the atmosphere was great. Very cozy, yet not schmancy-pants.
We ordered one "pizza rosse" and one "pizza bianche" The red pizza was your straight up margherita, and the white pizza was with arugula, cherry tomatoes, and cheese. Now, even though I don't love white pizza, this was a really decent white pizza. As Kyle said "Arugula makes everything good." We also split a bottle of wine--rare for me, but it was nice. Certainly the first wine and pizza post, though!
What can be said about both pizzas is this: the blistering on the crust was great, and the toppings were high quality and delicious. However, both pizzas were just...not crisp enough. Perhaps this was a result of the cheese used. If they'd had just a slightly crisper bottom, they'd been really near perfect. The margherita had a really excellent spicy and sweet--but not in a fake way--sauce. It was really good pizza, and it's probably, thus far, the best pizza I've had in DC. The great company helped, too :)
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Pete's a Pizza
So, ever since he was elected, restaurants have been experiencing the "Obama effect." If he endorses a place, or manages to sneak in for a burger, BOOM, it's the most popular place on the planet.
Last fall, Obama announced that his favorite pizza in DC was Pete's a Pizza, New Haven style pizza. Madness ensued. At one point, we considered going in...ummm...maybe November? No dice. We would have had to wait forever (we hit up Pho 14 instead...mmm...) . Now that the hype has died down some, I figured it was time to try it out. I mean, it had to at least be decent, right?
I went with Kim and Martin. We ordered a margherita pie and a really nice salad. The atmosphere was kind of weird overall--like, really nice and hip stuff--fancy beers, coffees, gelatos, a boylans fountain soda, but in a five guys-esque setting. Like...it had all of the makings of a nice place without actually being nice. The tables were shared, but not in a way that made it more fun. Just more casual and crowded. But...fancy beers, coffees, gelatos, and a boylans fountain are all things that I like a lot, so I would go back for these things.
The salad was fantastic: spinach, pine nuts, goat cheese, roasted tomatoes, and olives. Yum! The pizza was also good...but not the best I've had in DC. Shocking, I know. It...it just didn't seem like a margherita. Like, there was regular cheese there too. It was kinda greasy. Now, the big bragging rights of the establishment is their crust...they claim it's crisp and chewy and thin. It was crisp. It was chewy. It was...not thin enough for me. I could have had it thinner. Don't get me wrong, it was a really tasty pizza, but not...not the best. Matchbox was better, so far.
The company was great though, and I think we all enjoyed our meal. It was fun to hang out with Kim and Martin and have a tasty meal.
Last fall, Obama announced that his favorite pizza in DC was Pete's a Pizza, New Haven style pizza. Madness ensued. At one point, we considered going in...ummm...maybe November? No dice. We would have had to wait forever (we hit up Pho 14 instead...mmm...) . Now that the hype has died down some, I figured it was time to try it out. I mean, it had to at least be decent, right?
I went with Kim and Martin. We ordered a margherita pie and a really nice salad. The atmosphere was kind of weird overall--like, really nice and hip stuff--fancy beers, coffees, gelatos, a boylans fountain soda, but in a five guys-esque setting. Like...it had all of the makings of a nice place without actually being nice. The tables were shared, but not in a way that made it more fun. Just more casual and crowded. But...fancy beers, coffees, gelatos, and a boylans fountain are all things that I like a lot, so I would go back for these things.
The salad was fantastic: spinach, pine nuts, goat cheese, roasted tomatoes, and olives. Yum! The pizza was also good...but not the best I've had in DC. Shocking, I know. It...it just didn't seem like a margherita. Like, there was regular cheese there too. It was kinda greasy. Now, the big bragging rights of the establishment is their crust...they claim it's crisp and chewy and thin. It was crisp. It was chewy. It was...not thin enough for me. I could have had it thinner. Don't get me wrong, it was a really tasty pizza, but not...not the best. Matchbox was better, so far.
The company was great though, and I think we all enjoyed our meal. It was fun to hang out with Kim and Martin and have a tasty meal.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
The best pizza so far...
Last Saturday, Kim and I headed out to Baltimore for adventures with Noah, Adam P. and his girlfriend Katie (Adam...how many times can you say Za in a night???) and Conor. We went to Iggies, which was right down the street from Noah's place, and you know, this is the first place challenging my rule of no returns. The pizza was fantastic! And the atmosphere was great as well.
We had to wait quite a long time, but it was a self-service, shared table atmosphere, which I love. It reminded me of Europe, in many ways. We ordered two large pizzas--one margherita, and one pesto-based pizza (Alice), and one small pear and gorgonzola. The "Alice" pizza had pesto sauce, spinach, garlic, goat cheese, fresh tomatoes, and mozzarella. It was good, but as I've perhaps mentioned before...I really do tend to like tomato sauces better. I guess I'm a pizza conservative or something. The margherita was fantastic. The sauce was excellent, the toppings perfect, the proportions just right...the only tiny thing that wasn't perfect was the crust--it was good, very crispy, but i tend to like my crust to have just a teensy bit more chewy-ness to it. It was very good though.
Now...the pear and gorganzola. It also had a balsamic reduction. No sauce. BEST THING EVER. As Noah exclaimed "This is better than apple pie. FUCK APPLE PIE. Don Mclean should have written in that song "bye bye miss pear pizza." Perhaps this is funny to you. Perhaps, though, you needed to be there.
The rest of the evening was as fantastic as the pizza. A downside was that Adam, Katie, and Conor went home, but Kim, Noah, and I went out to Hampden and got some drinks...Noah managed to start a USA! cheer at the bar because he thought Apolo Ohno had won a gold medal. Kim and I had to explain that he'd only won his qualifying heat...and that he won bronze in the end. Noah was so let down. By the end of the night, he was telling Kim and I that we put the "cans" in cantos, and we decided it was time to head home :)
We had to wait quite a long time, but it was a self-service, shared table atmosphere, which I love. It reminded me of Europe, in many ways. We ordered two large pizzas--one margherita, and one pesto-based pizza (Alice), and one small pear and gorgonzola. The "Alice" pizza had pesto sauce, spinach, garlic, goat cheese, fresh tomatoes, and mozzarella. It was good, but as I've perhaps mentioned before...I really do tend to like tomato sauces better. I guess I'm a pizza conservative or something. The margherita was fantastic. The sauce was excellent, the toppings perfect, the proportions just right...the only tiny thing that wasn't perfect was the crust--it was good, very crispy, but i tend to like my crust to have just a teensy bit more chewy-ness to it. It was very good though.
Now...the pear and gorganzola. It also had a balsamic reduction. No sauce. BEST THING EVER. As Noah exclaimed "This is better than apple pie. FUCK APPLE PIE. Don Mclean should have written in that song "bye bye miss pear pizza." Perhaps this is funny to you. Perhaps, though, you needed to be there.
The rest of the evening was as fantastic as the pizza. A downside was that Adam, Katie, and Conor went home, but Kim, Noah, and I went out to Hampden and got some drinks...Noah managed to start a USA! cheer at the bar because he thought Apolo Ohno had won a gold medal. Kim and I had to explain that he'd only won his qualifying heat...and that he won bronze in the end. Noah was so let down. By the end of the night, he was telling Kim and I that we put the "cans" in cantos, and we decided it was time to head home :)
January 23 and January 29
mystery pizza and ikea pizza. INDEED!
There have been two pizza encounters since I last met with you, my dears.
I've been holding off on reviewing one, however, because there was a small failing on my part.
You see...last Friday, I certainly ate pizza. In fact, I ate a LOT of pizza. And it was truly delicious pizza, with many interesting toppings...but...but...
I don't remember where the pizza came from or what was on it. I was hanging out with a bunch of friends and we were drunk as hell watching Jennifer's Body and hating and loving Diablo Cody at the same time and drinking lots of dark rum with ginger beer and so...aside from knowing that when Megan Fox's character dies, her last words are "My tit!" I don't remember many details from the night. But, the pizza was delicious. I think...
Anyhow. Today (also a Friday. Maybe I should strive to eat pizza EVERY SINGLE FRIDAY from here on out) , work was pretty dull, so Matt and I headed to IKEA, with vague purposes in mind. We kind of wanted Choklad, kinda wanted a lamp, kinda just wanted to kill time. And lo and behold, Ikea sells pizza. We all know that no pizza shall be denied, so I lunched on a cheese slice with a pop for only 2.50. I love you, Ikea.
How was it you ask? Uh...awful. Duh. It had been sitting for awhile, it was very greasy, the sauce was dark and sweet, the cheese congealed (but it had a nice blend of spices strewn on top, surprisingly...) and the crust thick, yet cardboard-like. But, it was cheap, and I ate it, and I'm happy about it. Plus, now I have a sack of singoalla cookies, choklads, and tunnbroet. So there.
I've been holding off on reviewing one, however, because there was a small failing on my part.
You see...last Friday, I certainly ate pizza. In fact, I ate a LOT of pizza. And it was truly delicious pizza, with many interesting toppings...but...but...
I don't remember where the pizza came from or what was on it. I was hanging out with a bunch of friends and we were drunk as hell watching Jennifer's Body and hating and loving Diablo Cody at the same time and drinking lots of dark rum with ginger beer and so...aside from knowing that when Megan Fox's character dies, her last words are "My tit!" I don't remember many details from the night. But, the pizza was delicious. I think...
Anyhow. Today (also a Friday. Maybe I should strive to eat pizza EVERY SINGLE FRIDAY from here on out) , work was pretty dull, so Matt and I headed to IKEA, with vague purposes in mind. We kind of wanted Choklad, kinda wanted a lamp, kinda just wanted to kill time. And lo and behold, Ikea sells pizza. We all know that no pizza shall be denied, so I lunched on a cheese slice with a pop for only 2.50. I love you, Ikea.
How was it you ask? Uh...awful. Duh. It had been sitting for awhile, it was very greasy, the sauce was dark and sweet, the cheese congealed (but it had a nice blend of spices strewn on top, surprisingly...) and the crust thick, yet cardboard-like. But, it was cheap, and I ate it, and I'm happy about it. Plus, now I have a sack of singoalla cookies, choklads, and tunnbroet. So there.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
pizza isn't a difficult word to say.
Perhaps this is a recent phenomenon, but since announcing my new years goal, several people have said "za" to me.People, this really shouldn't be a thing. I'm fairly tolerant (and often guilty) of bro-speak. But this is just a bit too much.
January 17th: The week ends, and I keep going.
It's been quite the weekend. I've done far more than normal this weekend, in this sort of mad effort to keep busy, to keep happy, to keep distracted. It's working, somewhat. I've had some great times with great people. I'm very fortunate to have such wonderful friends.
Since my marathon update on Friday morning, I've eaten pizza twice. Both times on Friday. The first pizza was the aforementioned Lean Cuisine, and then the second pizza experience was super-bonus surprise pizza awesomeness.
Let's start with the Lean Cuisine, since I've left you all waiting on this one.
So, let's first address the elephant in the room. It's a Lean Cuisine pizza. It's a small, diet-friendly, frozen pizza in a box that origamis itself into a "crisping tray." It's there for you in 3 minutes flat, and at only 300 calories.
Guess what?
It was pretty good! In fact, I'd even say it was better than the pizza I ate at Franklin's last weekend. Why? Well, for starters, even the Lean Cuisine managed to present itself as having a crust touched by human hands at some point in it's little, frozen life by not being perfectly round. An illusion, no doubt, but worth noting. It looked more homemade.
The cheese managed to taste like cheese, rather than gummy plastic, and it had some relatively "fresh" looking tomatoes on top. The crisping tray really didn't do much for the pizza's crispiness, however, and the crust, despite looking like a real, hand-tossed crust, had the flavor of a soggy saltine cracker. But, hey. I like saltines!
It was, by all measures, a satisfying lunch pizza, and though it was far from perfect, I would probably eat it again.
Now, onto the more fun pizza review.
So, this being a long weekend, my original plans involved Jack coming to visit and us having a good time together and perhaps trying a pizza place out. Of course, this didn't happen. It hit me at some point on Friday that I had to take urgent measures to avoid spending the evening at home feeling sorry and heartbroken.
I texted.
I updated my gchat message.
I posted on Facebook, twice.
I was striking out, running out of time and options, and preparing myself for a night in sweatpants watching crappy movies on cable when....
Jeremy, of Orange Iguanas fame, answered my prayers. He just happened to see my plea on Facebook, and texted me right away. It was like double-luck, too, considering that Jeremy is a person that I do not get to hang out with much, despite always having a great time in his company. It just never seems to pull through, even though we regularly make efforts. Extra bonus? Kevin, also of kickball fame (and a fellow Michigander!), was going to be there as well.
His text promised happy hour fun, to celebrate his girlfriend's new job. Little did I know, there was also Matchbox pizza planned for the evening.
Now, some pizza related backstory. When I first proposed my pizza eating plans, many pointed out to me that DC is not a city known for its pizza. In fact, there is a dearth of good pizza in the greater DC area. However, many cited Matchbox pizza as a shining exception to DC's bad pizza-ness, landing it near the top of my places to try first.
People, it did not disappoint.
There were three pies ordered. One pepperoni (which disappeared really quickly, and amongst comments such as "the pepperoni is so spicy and crisp!") one "Fire and Smoke," and one Margherita (ordered because I didn't realize that the Fire and Smoke was, indeed, a vegetarian pie.)
So, the basics. The crust? Great. Thin, chewy, with some nice blistering from the oven. The sauce? Fresh, chunky, and tomato-y, with great flavor, but a little heavy handed (it made the pizza just a bit more soggy than I would have liked). The cheese? We'll review this per pizza, but the fresh mozzerella on the margherita was great, and they wisely allowed it to stand on it's own (I hate places that try to mix the fresh mozz with the regular cheese. Lame, guys!). The thin strips of fresh basil were also great.
Now, as mentioned, the margherita wasn't the best pizza margherita I've ever had...it was a bit too saucy for my tastes--I don't want my pizza to be more saucy than me, ever. But the Fire and Smoke...let me describe pizza heaven to you.
This pizza comes topped with hot red peppers, garlic puree, onions, an extra spicy red sauce, and smoked gouda cheese. It is extraordinarily pungent, perfectly firey hot, and suuuuper flavorful. The smoked gouda really added an amazing flavor to the pizza, one that I'd not experienced before. The smokiness added a slightly meaty quality without it actually being meaty, and it balanced with the spice so nicely. The onions (which were, if memory serves me correctly, red onions?) were perfectly tender-crisp, and having that much garlic on a pizza shouldn't be allowed, but I'm happy it is. I would eat this pizza again and again and again. That said, I know it's not for everyone--Jeremy and Cassi, with their strong aversion to onions, were not fans. And anyone sensitive to spicy foods would have died after a bite. But for me, it was heavenly.
Anyhow, the meal was great, and it was good to be with such fun and funny friends (Kevin, please do open Shenanigans). In addition to the good food, we discussed good beer (oh Hopslam! How magical you are!) and many other things that are good. Go Orange Iguanas!
Saturday, I went salsa dancing with Steven and Irene, which was a great time. My feet really hurt by the end of the night, and despite the dancing being suuuper fun, it's a bit embarrassing on some level to be doing something that makes you feel so thoroughly uncoordinated, rhythmless, and awkward as you're learning. Sexiest dance in the world? Not when I'm doing it. But, I want to learn and get better at it, because it was really, really fun. It also puts me out of my comfort zone and shell a bit in a healthy way, I think, since I get really shy and self-conscious in crowded settings, and also get pretty uncomfortable with what I'll call "social touching." You know, the stuff that's normal, like handshakes and friendly hugs? They freak me out a little bit. Definitely can't have that though in a salsa club. I felt a bit loosened-up, socially, by the end of the night, and that's a good thing.
Now, it's off to a sushi-filled girls night with Sarah, Emily, and Alison. Look at how social I've been this weekend? It's like I'm starting over or something (please don't wince at that.)
Since my marathon update on Friday morning, I've eaten pizza twice. Both times on Friday. The first pizza was the aforementioned Lean Cuisine, and then the second pizza experience was super-bonus surprise pizza awesomeness.
Let's start with the Lean Cuisine, since I've left you all waiting on this one.
So, let's first address the elephant in the room. It's a Lean Cuisine pizza. It's a small, diet-friendly, frozen pizza in a box that origamis itself into a "crisping tray." It's there for you in 3 minutes flat, and at only 300 calories.
Guess what?
It was pretty good! In fact, I'd even say it was better than the pizza I ate at Franklin's last weekend. Why? Well, for starters, even the Lean Cuisine managed to present itself as having a crust touched by human hands at some point in it's little, frozen life by not being perfectly round. An illusion, no doubt, but worth noting. It looked more homemade.
The cheese managed to taste like cheese, rather than gummy plastic, and it had some relatively "fresh" looking tomatoes on top. The crisping tray really didn't do much for the pizza's crispiness, however, and the crust, despite looking like a real, hand-tossed crust, had the flavor of a soggy saltine cracker. But, hey. I like saltines!
It was, by all measures, a satisfying lunch pizza, and though it was far from perfect, I would probably eat it again.
Now, onto the more fun pizza review.
So, this being a long weekend, my original plans involved Jack coming to visit and us having a good time together and perhaps trying a pizza place out. Of course, this didn't happen. It hit me at some point on Friday that I had to take urgent measures to avoid spending the evening at home feeling sorry and heartbroken.
I texted.
I updated my gchat message.
I posted on Facebook, twice.
I was striking out, running out of time and options, and preparing myself for a night in sweatpants watching crappy movies on cable when....
Jeremy, of Orange Iguanas fame, answered my prayers. He just happened to see my plea on Facebook, and texted me right away. It was like double-luck, too, considering that Jeremy is a person that I do not get to hang out with much, despite always having a great time in his company. It just never seems to pull through, even though we regularly make efforts. Extra bonus? Kevin, also of kickball fame (and a fellow Michigander!), was going to be there as well.
His text promised happy hour fun, to celebrate his girlfriend's new job. Little did I know, there was also Matchbox pizza planned for the evening.
Now, some pizza related backstory. When I first proposed my pizza eating plans, many pointed out to me that DC is not a city known for its pizza. In fact, there is a dearth of good pizza in the greater DC area. However, many cited Matchbox pizza as a shining exception to DC's bad pizza-ness, landing it near the top of my places to try first.
People, it did not disappoint.
There were three pies ordered. One pepperoni (which disappeared really quickly, and amongst comments such as "the pepperoni is so spicy and crisp!") one "Fire and Smoke," and one Margherita (ordered because I didn't realize that the Fire and Smoke was, indeed, a vegetarian pie.)
So, the basics. The crust? Great. Thin, chewy, with some nice blistering from the oven. The sauce? Fresh, chunky, and tomato-y, with great flavor, but a little heavy handed (it made the pizza just a bit more soggy than I would have liked). The cheese? We'll review this per pizza, but the fresh mozzerella on the margherita was great, and they wisely allowed it to stand on it's own (I hate places that try to mix the fresh mozz with the regular cheese. Lame, guys!). The thin strips of fresh basil were also great.
Now, as mentioned, the margherita wasn't the best pizza margherita I've ever had...it was a bit too saucy for my tastes--I don't want my pizza to be more saucy than me, ever. But the Fire and Smoke...let me describe pizza heaven to you.
This pizza comes topped with hot red peppers, garlic puree, onions, an extra spicy red sauce, and smoked gouda cheese. It is extraordinarily pungent, perfectly firey hot, and suuuuper flavorful. The smoked gouda really added an amazing flavor to the pizza, one that I'd not experienced before. The smokiness added a slightly meaty quality without it actually being meaty, and it balanced with the spice so nicely. The onions (which were, if memory serves me correctly, red onions?) were perfectly tender-crisp, and having that much garlic on a pizza shouldn't be allowed, but I'm happy it is. I would eat this pizza again and again and again. That said, I know it's not for everyone--Jeremy and Cassi, with their strong aversion to onions, were not fans. And anyone sensitive to spicy foods would have died after a bite. But for me, it was heavenly.
Anyhow, the meal was great, and it was good to be with such fun and funny friends (Kevin, please do open Shenanigans). In addition to the good food, we discussed good beer (oh Hopslam! How magical you are!) and many other things that are good. Go Orange Iguanas!
Saturday, I went salsa dancing with Steven and Irene, which was a great time. My feet really hurt by the end of the night, and despite the dancing being suuuper fun, it's a bit embarrassing on some level to be doing something that makes you feel so thoroughly uncoordinated, rhythmless, and awkward as you're learning. Sexiest dance in the world? Not when I'm doing it. But, I want to learn and get better at it, because it was really, really fun. It also puts me out of my comfort zone and shell a bit in a healthy way, I think, since I get really shy and self-conscious in crowded settings, and also get pretty uncomfortable with what I'll call "social touching." You know, the stuff that's normal, like handshakes and friendly hugs? They freak me out a little bit. Definitely can't have that though in a salsa club. I felt a bit loosened-up, socially, by the end of the night, and that's a good thing.
Now, it's off to a sushi-filled girls night with Sarah, Emily, and Alison. Look at how social I've been this weekend? It's like I'm starting over or something (please don't wince at that.)
the first pizza blog from early January.
A few weeks ago, I made a resolution to eat more pizza, and to revive my pizza-blogging days. Because, you know what? While everyone else can be vowing to work out more and eat better, I just want to eat happier. And for me, that means eating more pizza. The idea behind a resolution like this one was that it would encourage a certain type of socialization and companionship--there could be pizzas with friends, late-night drunken slices, and even some romantic pizzas. It seemed, too, like a good choice because Jack and I can almost always agree on pizza, even when we agree on little else.
A year of eating pizzas with Jack seems to be out of the picture at this point, however. I'm struggling to accept it, but it appears as though eating pizzas is going to need to be my way meeting new people. On dating and pizzas. On pizzas and moving on.
There were grand plans and rules laid out at first, but I've not had the energy to solidify them, lately. However, I have had the energy to be eating pizza (and mashed potatoes, and pupusas, but not all together), in trying to fill some void in my heart. Unfortunately, it's only filled my stomach, meaning my heart and stomach aren't as closely linked as I may have previously thought.
So, first I'm going to review some pizzas. Then, I'm going to try to get down some of the "rules" I had in mind. Then finally, I'm going to talk about meat (just wait, k? It will make sense, eventually.)
I have eaten pizza 3 times in the past week (yikes!). It will be 4, after my lunch of a "lean cuisine" frozen "wood-fired style" pizza margherita (300 calories, the box turns into a "crisping" stand.)
Pizza number 1.
Last Thursday was, as we all should know, the BCS championship game for college football, with the Alabama Crimson Tide thoroughly "rolling" over the Texas Longhorns. To watch this game, I went over to my dear friend Steven's place, for a "party." I'm using the scare quotes here for a reason--while people did indeed come over, it wasn't much of a football-watching party, at all. There was a lot of talk about Jersey Shore, which was airing at the same time as the game. But, I digress. I'm here trying to talk about pizza, not slightly awkward social gatherings.
Anyhow, in anticipation of a party, Steven went to Trader Joe's to stock up on snacking staples. While we mainly focused on eating nachos that evening, there were also two frozen TJ's pesto vegetable pizzas to be had. Only one was had, in the end. I ate a slice...and, well. Some of my long-held pizza believes are going to be broadcast loud and clear in this review. Hold on tight.
I think a really good pizza needs a tomato-based sauce. You can argue with me all you'd like on this, and surely, there are some tasty "white" pizzas, pesto pizzas, or "BBQ" pizzas or WHATEVER out there, but generally, those aren't what I'm looking for when I turn to pizza. So, while I generally enjoy TJ's frozen pizzas (really, they're quite good!), this pizza was not, in my opinion, a winner. The pesto and other toppings were not moist enough to keep the pizza from tasting rather dry and cardboard-y, and the pesto didn't even have a strong basil flavor--it was more spinachy, or blandly "green," than anything else. The crust, too, was a bit too thick for my liking. So, Trader Joe's, kudos on trying to be creative with your frozen pizzas, but I'll pass on this one in the future. I think maybe most others at this party would agree, since the single, small frozen pizza remained unfinished, and who's ever heard of 12 partying people not finishing a 10 inch pizza before? But, perhaps we were too focused on the nachos in the end.
Pizza number 2.
The very next evening, I was invited to go to Franklin's Restaurant in Hyattsville, MD, with Sarah and Desh, who were in the area dog-sitting for Liz Arnold (my thesis adviser.) Before I get into the meal, I should mention that Liz has the worlds most adorable (though poorly behaved) poodle-mix, named Maggie. She's about 40 pounds, with black curly fur, floppy ears, and a beard. Likely a Schnoodle, which is probably the best mix ever, I feel. Anyhow, I kind of adore Maggie. But, on to Franklin's!
Franklin's is, in concept, a very cool place. They brew their own beers, they have a fairly creative menu, and they have a freakin' toy/general store! It's like Cracker Barrel, only not awful. But here's the thing about Franklin's. Despite them having a creative menu (which usually features seasonally inspired daily specials, and somewhat classy "gastropub" fare, like fancier burgers, salads, and pizzas) I've never actually had a meal that I loved there. It's sad, but true. They have a decent number of vegetarian options, including a vegetarian chili that they're quite proud of---but it's really not tasty stuff. It's unusually bland for chili, and it's made with chickpeas, which just doesn't do it for me. They also have a concoction that they call vegetarian shepard's pie that I've never had the guts to try, since it involves the aforementioned chili put into a pie shell and coated in mashed potatoes. Having had the chili, I can't imagine this being a desirable flavor profile. Anyhow, normally I go with a veggie burger there, but, since they're quite boastful of their pizzas, and I did resolve to eat pizza this year, on this last visit, I went for a pizza.
It was amazingly bad. I say this almost woefully. I'm in a place that's trying to be all classy-pub, that has a "chef," that boasts of all their homemade goodness, and then they serve me this pizza.
The first thing I noticed after the pizza was placed before me was it's disturbing round-ness. As in, the crust was perfectly flat and circular. As in, the crust was not made in house or from scratch. It was clearly made in some factory somewhere, frozen, and shipped out. People, even chains these days can muster a "hand-tossed" dough. If I'd wanted a frozen pizza, I could have gone to Shoppers and grabbed a diGiorno for far less than 10 bucks. It goes without saying that the sauce and the cheese were equally weak and previously frozen tasting. The only remotely fresh thing about this pizza were the few scraps of fresh basil strewn across the top. Would it have been an okay pizza if I'd bought it at the grocery store? Maybe. But I didn't. And therefore, it lands in the category of one of the worst pizzas I've ever had in a sit-down restaurant--especially considering they act PROUD of this pizza! The good news is that I washed it down with few pints of their Private Eye P.A. beer, which was satisfyingly tasty. (P.S. don't ask me to review their beers, either. While plenty are decent, they irk me in their inability to describe them well on their beer menu= case in point, they describe their "bombshell blonde" as being a "kolsch style" which, in some part of the process may be true, but what you get is not at all kolsch-like.) Anyhow, Franklin's. Such a bucket of potential.
Pizza number 3.
I live in the DC metro area. Therefore, it's necessary that I review the DC hallmark pizza. Yes, I'm talking about the Jumbo Slice. An entire pizza in the form of a single slice. It's wonderful, provided you're quite drunk. And quite drunk I was on Wednesday night!
I went to Adams Morgan after work with my co-workers Matt and Brian to participate in a trivia night at the Reef (run by my friend Josh, who is also in the M.F.A. program at Maryland.) The Reef has many delicious beers on tap, and I made the mistake of keeping pace with my two male co-workers. You see, they are hearty, healthy young men, who drink beer on a relatively normal "mid-twenties American male" basis. Three beers in the span of 2.5 hours won't really faze them. I, on the other hand, do love my beer, but it really only takes a single pint for me to be a little more effervescent than normal. Three beers, and I was QUITE toasty. Since I had to work the following morning, the situation necessitated ingestion of a suitable beer-sponge, and there is none more suitable than the jumbo slice.
There were two options for a Jumbo Slice in the immediate vicinity. One was just a Pizza Bolis (local chain), and I wasn't having any of that. No, no. We went directly next door, to the perhaps-unnamed pizza joint (well, at least, I didn't see a name) marked only by their neon sign proclaiming to have the "original" jumbo slice. For a mere 5 bucks, I was in possession of a cheese slice the size of Montana. Okay, I'm exaggerating. It was maybe only the size of Colorado. The point being, it was a big wide-open space of cheese, sauce, and grease. In my state, it was pleasantly challenging to eat--you know, when you have to fight to get the food into your mouth, it sobers you up a bit. After eating for what seemed like forever, I was left stuffed beyond believe with a ball of cheese and dough and crust equivalent to at least 2 more normal sized slices of pizza. But I could eat no more. And that was fine with me.
So, bottom line. Was it good pizza? No. Not at all. But was it the perfect pizza for the moment? Absolutely.
So, now that I've reviewed my pizza adventures for this week, on to my thoughts on the rules for this resolution. I've been thinking it will work like this: in general, no pizza shall be denied. Every slice I eat will get a write up (here's looking at you, lean cuisine!). Also, no pizza shall be ingested twice before the year's end. Once I've had that particular frozen pizza, or a pizza at a particular establishment, it's out (jumbo slices may need to be exempt from this rule, since they serve a higher purpose.) This will ultimately serve to limit my pizza eating. The ultimate goal is to develop some sort of score card for each pizza, which scores their crust, sauce, cheese, texture, other components, and overall flavor, but I haven't had the energy to do this yet. Also, in hopes of making this a more social endeavor, when actual pizzerias are visited, it will need to be with friends, and multiple pizzas will need to be ordered and sampled. Each time, at least once pizza must be a "plain" cheese or margherita pizza, so that I'm able to fairly judge the pizza in its purest form. Also, if I happen to see a vegetarian topping on a menu that I've never had on a pizza before, I'll have to try it. Just so I can know, you know?
Which leaves me at my final thought on meat. I don't have a good segue into this, since I have zero interest in putting meat on the pizzas that I eat. But, even though I do not at all have any interest in eating meat, I've been feeling a bit sad lately about the international cuisines I'm missing out on. Friends are going to dim sum. Dim sum sounds beyond awesome (I love dumplings, of course, perhaps more than pizza.) Yet real, traditional dim sum is not at all veg-friendly. How can I balance my desire to try new things like beef tendon and chicken feet and countless little pork filled dumplings with my strong aversion to meat? It's hard. It really is. So I'm starting to search out the best (and most authentic--authenticity factors into my definition of best) vegetarian foods from many different types of cuisines, and searching them out in this city and others. I'll probably write about them here, as I find them.
That's all for now.
A year of eating pizzas with Jack seems to be out of the picture at this point, however. I'm struggling to accept it, but it appears as though eating pizzas is going to need to be my way meeting new people. On dating and pizzas. On pizzas and moving on.
There were grand plans and rules laid out at first, but I've not had the energy to solidify them, lately. However, I have had the energy to be eating pizza (and mashed potatoes, and pupusas, but not all together), in trying to fill some void in my heart. Unfortunately, it's only filled my stomach, meaning my heart and stomach aren't as closely linked as I may have previously thought.
So, first I'm going to review some pizzas. Then, I'm going to try to get down some of the "rules" I had in mind. Then finally, I'm going to talk about meat (just wait, k? It will make sense, eventually.)
I have eaten pizza 3 times in the past week (yikes!). It will be 4, after my lunch of a "lean cuisine" frozen "wood-fired style" pizza margherita (300 calories, the box turns into a "crisping" stand.)
Pizza number 1.
Last Thursday was, as we all should know, the BCS championship game for college football, with the Alabama Crimson Tide thoroughly "rolling" over the Texas Longhorns. To watch this game, I went over to my dear friend Steven's place, for a "party." I'm using the scare quotes here for a reason--while people did indeed come over, it wasn't much of a football-watching party, at all. There was a lot of talk about Jersey Shore, which was airing at the same time as the game. But, I digress. I'm here trying to talk about pizza, not slightly awkward social gatherings.
Anyhow, in anticipation of a party, Steven went to Trader Joe's to stock up on snacking staples. While we mainly focused on eating nachos that evening, there were also two frozen TJ's pesto vegetable pizzas to be had. Only one was had, in the end. I ate a slice...and, well. Some of my long-held pizza believes are going to be broadcast loud and clear in this review. Hold on tight.
I think a really good pizza needs a tomato-based sauce. You can argue with me all you'd like on this, and surely, there are some tasty "white" pizzas, pesto pizzas, or "BBQ" pizzas or WHATEVER out there, but generally, those aren't what I'm looking for when I turn to pizza. So, while I generally enjoy TJ's frozen pizzas (really, they're quite good!), this pizza was not, in my opinion, a winner. The pesto and other toppings were not moist enough to keep the pizza from tasting rather dry and cardboard-y, and the pesto didn't even have a strong basil flavor--it was more spinachy, or blandly "green," than anything else. The crust, too, was a bit too thick for my liking. So, Trader Joe's, kudos on trying to be creative with your frozen pizzas, but I'll pass on this one in the future. I think maybe most others at this party would agree, since the single, small frozen pizza remained unfinished, and who's ever heard of 12 partying people not finishing a 10 inch pizza before? But, perhaps we were too focused on the nachos in the end.
Pizza number 2.
The very next evening, I was invited to go to Franklin's Restaurant in Hyattsville, MD, with Sarah and Desh, who were in the area dog-sitting for Liz Arnold (my thesis adviser.) Before I get into the meal, I should mention that Liz has the worlds most adorable (though poorly behaved) poodle-mix, named Maggie. She's about 40 pounds, with black curly fur, floppy ears, and a beard. Likely a Schnoodle, which is probably the best mix ever, I feel. Anyhow, I kind of adore Maggie. But, on to Franklin's!
Franklin's is, in concept, a very cool place. They brew their own beers, they have a fairly creative menu, and they have a freakin' toy/general store! It's like Cracker Barrel, only not awful. But here's the thing about Franklin's. Despite them having a creative menu (which usually features seasonally inspired daily specials, and somewhat classy "gastropub" fare, like fancier burgers, salads, and pizzas) I've never actually had a meal that I loved there. It's sad, but true. They have a decent number of vegetarian options, including a vegetarian chili that they're quite proud of---but it's really not tasty stuff. It's unusually bland for chili, and it's made with chickpeas, which just doesn't do it for me. They also have a concoction that they call vegetarian shepard's pie that I've never had the guts to try, since it involves the aforementioned chili put into a pie shell and coated in mashed potatoes. Having had the chili, I can't imagine this being a desirable flavor profile. Anyhow, normally I go with a veggie burger there, but, since they're quite boastful of their pizzas, and I did resolve to eat pizza this year, on this last visit, I went for a pizza.
It was amazingly bad. I say this almost woefully. I'm in a place that's trying to be all classy-pub, that has a "chef," that boasts of all their homemade goodness, and then they serve me this pizza.
The first thing I noticed after the pizza was placed before me was it's disturbing round-ness. As in, the crust was perfectly flat and circular. As in, the crust was not made in house or from scratch. It was clearly made in some factory somewhere, frozen, and shipped out. People, even chains these days can muster a "hand-tossed" dough. If I'd wanted a frozen pizza, I could have gone to Shoppers and grabbed a diGiorno for far less than 10 bucks. It goes without saying that the sauce and the cheese were equally weak and previously frozen tasting. The only remotely fresh thing about this pizza were the few scraps of fresh basil strewn across the top. Would it have been an okay pizza if I'd bought it at the grocery store? Maybe. But I didn't. And therefore, it lands in the category of one of the worst pizzas I've ever had in a sit-down restaurant--especially considering they act PROUD of this pizza! The good news is that I washed it down with few pints of their Private Eye P.A. beer, which was satisfyingly tasty. (P.S. don't ask me to review their beers, either. While plenty are decent, they irk me in their inability to describe them well on their beer menu= case in point, they describe their "bombshell blonde" as being a "kolsch style" which, in some part of the process may be true, but what you get is not at all kolsch-like.) Anyhow, Franklin's. Such a bucket of potential.
Pizza number 3.
I live in the DC metro area. Therefore, it's necessary that I review the DC hallmark pizza. Yes, I'm talking about the Jumbo Slice. An entire pizza in the form of a single slice. It's wonderful, provided you're quite drunk. And quite drunk I was on Wednesday night!
I went to Adams Morgan after work with my co-workers Matt and Brian to participate in a trivia night at the Reef (run by my friend Josh, who is also in the M.F.A. program at Maryland.) The Reef has many delicious beers on tap, and I made the mistake of keeping pace with my two male co-workers. You see, they are hearty, healthy young men, who drink beer on a relatively normal "mid-twenties American male" basis. Three beers in the span of 2.5 hours won't really faze them. I, on the other hand, do love my beer, but it really only takes a single pint for me to be a little more effervescent than normal. Three beers, and I was QUITE toasty. Since I had to work the following morning, the situation necessitated ingestion of a suitable beer-sponge, and there is none more suitable than the jumbo slice.
There were two options for a Jumbo Slice in the immediate vicinity. One was just a Pizza Bolis (local chain), and I wasn't having any of that. No, no. We went directly next door, to the perhaps-unnamed pizza joint (well, at least, I didn't see a name) marked only by their neon sign proclaiming to have the "original" jumbo slice. For a mere 5 bucks, I was in possession of a cheese slice the size of Montana. Okay, I'm exaggerating. It was maybe only the size of Colorado. The point being, it was a big wide-open space of cheese, sauce, and grease. In my state, it was pleasantly challenging to eat--you know, when you have to fight to get the food into your mouth, it sobers you up a bit. After eating for what seemed like forever, I was left stuffed beyond believe with a ball of cheese and dough and crust equivalent to at least 2 more normal sized slices of pizza. But I could eat no more. And that was fine with me.
So, bottom line. Was it good pizza? No. Not at all. But was it the perfect pizza for the moment? Absolutely.
So, now that I've reviewed my pizza adventures for this week, on to my thoughts on the rules for this resolution. I've been thinking it will work like this: in general, no pizza shall be denied. Every slice I eat will get a write up (here's looking at you, lean cuisine!). Also, no pizza shall be ingested twice before the year's end. Once I've had that particular frozen pizza, or a pizza at a particular establishment, it's out (jumbo slices may need to be exempt from this rule, since they serve a higher purpose.) This will ultimately serve to limit my pizza eating. The ultimate goal is to develop some sort of score card for each pizza, which scores their crust, sauce, cheese, texture, other components, and overall flavor, but I haven't had the energy to do this yet. Also, in hopes of making this a more social endeavor, when actual pizzerias are visited, it will need to be with friends, and multiple pizzas will need to be ordered and sampled. Each time, at least once pizza must be a "plain" cheese or margherita pizza, so that I'm able to fairly judge the pizza in its purest form. Also, if I happen to see a vegetarian topping on a menu that I've never had on a pizza before, I'll have to try it. Just so I can know, you know?
Which leaves me at my final thought on meat. I don't have a good segue into this, since I have zero interest in putting meat on the pizzas that I eat. But, even though I do not at all have any interest in eating meat, I've been feeling a bit sad lately about the international cuisines I'm missing out on. Friends are going to dim sum. Dim sum sounds beyond awesome (I love dumplings, of course, perhaps more than pizza.) Yet real, traditional dim sum is not at all veg-friendly. How can I balance my desire to try new things like beef tendon and chicken feet and countless little pork filled dumplings with my strong aversion to meat? It's hard. It really is. So I'm starting to search out the best (and most authentic--authenticity factors into my definition of best) vegetarian foods from many different types of cuisines, and searching them out in this city and others. I'll probably write about them here, as I find them.
That's all for now.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
the start of the catch up period
I was thrown off in my blogging endeavors by the snopacalypse. Now, I'm playing catch up. I need to review the following places: Ella's (womp womp), Steam in Dupont, Mama Lucias, and the following frozen pies: trader joe's margherita, and shopper's culinary circle brand thin crust margherita. I also still need to import my other reviews...so much to do!
You've been warned.
You've been warned.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
The List
Here is a preliminary list of places I plan to eat at in the coming months. Some of these places I've tried before (pre-resolution), others have come from personal recs or google. Please leave a comment with additions for the list.
Thanks!
1) Pizza Paradiso (Georgetown and Dupont)
2) Red Rocks (Columbia Heights)
3) Pete's Apizza (Columbia Heights)
4) Two Amy's (Tenleytown...ugh, that will be a trek)
5) Ella's Woodfired Pizza (Penn Quarter)
6) Mama Lucia's (local chain, closest one is right up the street in C.P.)
7) Ledo's pizza (chain)
8) Ratsie's (College Park)
9) Famous Luigi's (Dupont)
10) Radius Pizza (Mt. Pleasant)
Thanks!
1) Pizza Paradiso (Georgetown and Dupont)
2) Red Rocks (Columbia Heights)
3) Pete's Apizza (Columbia Heights)
4) Two Amy's (Tenleytown...ugh, that will be a trek)
5) Ella's Woodfired Pizza (Penn Quarter)
6) Mama Lucia's (local chain, closest one is right up the street in C.P.)
7) Ledo's pizza (chain)
8) Ratsie's (College Park)
9) Famous Luigi's (Dupont)
10) Radius Pizza (Mt. Pleasant)
Saturday, January 30, 2010
One of my favorite things is finding hilarious moments on wikipedia--argumentative edits, strange random facts, etc--looking up regional foods is often great for finding such moments.
You guys, the wikipedia article for pizza is hilarious. A precursor to pizza was the roman dish placenta? Perhaps a stretch, but we'll roll with it. Thank goodness the name's changed.
But here is my favorite part, taken from the section on pizza around the world:
You guys, the wikipedia article for pizza is hilarious. A precursor to pizza was the roman dish placenta? Perhaps a stretch, but we'll roll with it. Thank goodness the name's changed.
But here is my favorite part, taken from the section on pizza around the world:
Pizza in India
Pizza is a emerging fast food in Indian urban areas. With the arrival of branded pizza, it has reached to many cities.[citation needed]
Pizza outlets serve pizzas with several Indian based toppings like Tandoori Chicken and Paneer. Indian pizzas are generally made more spicy as compared to their western counterparts, to suit Indian taste. Along with Indian variations, more conventional pizzas are also eaten.
Pizza in Pakistan
Pizza was introduced in Pakistan in 1993. A Mr. Manzar Riaz from Lahore is credited with introducing it to Pakistan when he opened up the country's first pizza outlet.[citation needed] Pizza Hut opened its outlets in Pakistan in 1993 which was three years before India had its first Pizza Hut outlet in 1996. Unlike in India where the pizza has become widely popular, the pizza in Pakistan is only popular and well known only in the liberal provinces of Punjab, Sindh and Kashmir. The pizza is still virtually unknown in the conservative provinces of North-West Frontier Province and Baluchistan.[6]
Background Information: blog tags, and what counts as pizza?
First, to organize my reviews and thoughts, I'll be tagging my reviews with one of the following categories: frozen pizza, pizzeria, surprise pizza, bar or restaurant pizza, and pizza-esque. This satisfies that old goal of being more organized, too. You see what happens when you resolve to eat more pizza? All of your problems are solved.
Most of these tags are self-explanatory, but I'll explain them anyhow.
Frozen pizza will include any pizza I bring home from the supermarket. It will come with a sub tag to explain if the pizza was prepared in the oven or in the microwave.
The Pizzeria tag will indicate pizzas eaten at restaurants who's primary focus is preparing and serving pizzas. These places may have other options on the menu, but nobody ever goes there for these items.
Surprise Pizza refers to pizza found in places or situations where I didn't expect to eat pizza. For example, I ate pizza at Ikea recently. You just never know where it might turn up.
Bar or Restaurant Pizza refers to pizzas eaten in dining and drinking establishments who's primary focus is not preparing and serving pizzas, but they have pizza on their menu.
Finally, Pizza-esque refers to pizza-like foods that I may elect to eat and review as well. Pizza rolls, flammkuchen, pizza bagels, etc, fall into this category. If you point out something from another food culture that is reminiscent of pizza, I'll eat it (uh, the vegetarian clause, of course, applies. Sorry lahmacun) .
I will also try to categorize the pizzas based on their style (most of which appear to be named after regions...) : new york, sicilian, new haven, chicago, detroit, deep dish, thin crust, etc.
Most of these tags are self-explanatory, but I'll explain them anyhow.
Frozen pizza will include any pizza I bring home from the supermarket. It will come with a sub tag to explain if the pizza was prepared in the oven or in the microwave.
The Pizzeria tag will indicate pizzas eaten at restaurants who's primary focus is preparing and serving pizzas. These places may have other options on the menu, but nobody ever goes there for these items.
Surprise Pizza refers to pizza found in places or situations where I didn't expect to eat pizza. For example, I ate pizza at Ikea recently. You just never know where it might turn up.
Bar or Restaurant Pizza refers to pizzas eaten in dining and drinking establishments who's primary focus is not preparing and serving pizzas, but they have pizza on their menu.
Finally, Pizza-esque refers to pizza-like foods that I may elect to eat and review as well. Pizza rolls, flammkuchen, pizza bagels, etc, fall into this category. If you point out something from another food culture that is reminiscent of pizza, I'll eat it (uh, the vegetarian clause, of course, applies. Sorry lahmacun) .
I will also try to categorize the pizzas based on their style (most of which appear to be named after regions...) : new york, sicilian, new haven, chicago, detroit, deep dish, thin crust, etc.
Welcome to the *official* pizza blog
So, every year I make the same resolutions, based on vague concepts and difficult to actualize goals: be healthier, be happier, be neater, write more, etc.
This year, I decided to be more concrete in my focus. I officially have resolved to eat more pizza in 2010. I also resolve to write about it here.
I've already started this project, and I'd been posting my reviews to my other (more personal) blog, but I decided I wanted to filter out the pure pizza stuff from the every day personal sagas. I'll work on importing those reviews into this space soon.
Anyhow, this resolution has a few simple rules.
1) No pizza shall be denied. If I'm out and I'm hungry, and the menu has a (vegetarian) pizza on it, that's what I'm eating. And you'll hear about it here.
2) Once I've eaten a pizza, it's crossed off the list. No repeats. This is a rule I'm still working out the fine print on (for instance, jumbo slices may be exempt, because sometimes it's 2am and you're on U street and you just need a slice of pizza that could double as a bed sheet.) The idea behind this rule is to avoid falling into a pizza rut or comfort zone, and to push myself to continue to seek out new and exciting pizza options. It's also an effort to stop buying so many frozen pizzas at Trader Joe's.
3) When possible, pizza dining should be a social event. While I can eat an entire pizza on my own, it's more fun and probably better for me to share. So, if you want to eat pizza with me this year, you should let me know. I will always be down.
I'm also going to try to make a score sheet up for pizzas at some point. My co-worker, Matt, came up with the brilliant idea that I focus on just reviewing the pizzas now, and then by years end, develop an official score card and revisit the "best of the best" and use the score card to determine a winner. I like the way he thinks.
Anyhow. It's time for a year of pizza. Join me. You know you wanna.
This year, I decided to be more concrete in my focus. I officially have resolved to eat more pizza in 2010. I also resolve to write about it here.
I've already started this project, and I'd been posting my reviews to my other (more personal) blog, but I decided I wanted to filter out the pure pizza stuff from the every day personal sagas. I'll work on importing those reviews into this space soon.
Anyhow, this resolution has a few simple rules.
1) No pizza shall be denied. If I'm out and I'm hungry, and the menu has a (vegetarian) pizza on it, that's what I'm eating. And you'll hear about it here.
2) Once I've eaten a pizza, it's crossed off the list. No repeats. This is a rule I'm still working out the fine print on (for instance, jumbo slices may be exempt, because sometimes it's 2am and you're on U street and you just need a slice of pizza that could double as a bed sheet.) The idea behind this rule is to avoid falling into a pizza rut or comfort zone, and to push myself to continue to seek out new and exciting pizza options. It's also an effort to stop buying so many frozen pizzas at Trader Joe's.
3) When possible, pizza dining should be a social event. While I can eat an entire pizza on my own, it's more fun and probably better for me to share. So, if you want to eat pizza with me this year, you should let me know. I will always be down.
I'm also going to try to make a score sheet up for pizzas at some point. My co-worker, Matt, came up with the brilliant idea that I focus on just reviewing the pizzas now, and then by years end, develop an official score card and revisit the "best of the best" and use the score card to determine a winner. I like the way he thinks.
Anyhow. It's time for a year of pizza. Join me. You know you wanna.
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