A Great Pie is Hard to Find!

I haven’t done the research, but my guess is that pizza is America’s most popular food.  I’ve been fortunate to have eaten more than my fair share of slices, and thought I’d take a short at letting you know where to find some great pies!

First, it seems to me that there are really 3 primary types of pizza:

1.      Traditional Thin Crust.

2.      Deep Dish Pizza.

3.      Stuffed Pizza’s.

Traditional think crust pizza is most ubiquitous, with the best pie’s typically best found in the east coast.  Thin crust taste can be impacted by thickness, e.g. a cracker type crust, oven type e.g. coal brick and wood fired ovens, and type of flour, e.g. white or wheat.  Ingredients also vary widely, typically including all meats and vegetables, with most having a tomato based sauce.  White pie’s however, are popular in the Connecticut / New England area, and include clams, garlic and bacon. 

For great Thin Crust Pizza, I’d offer up the following places:

o       Da Fara Pizza in Brooklyn NY: made by 70+ year old Dom DeMarco. This is not the easiest place to get to, even for NY’ers, but the pizza is out of this world.  Pie’s are lovingly prepared by Mr. DeMarco with hand sliced fresh vegetables, individually grated fresh mozzarella generously sprinkled over each pie, and beautiful basil springs scissored over each pie.  These pizza’s are genuine works of art that are likely to require your patience (waits can be long), and a bit of tolerance (don’t look to close at your surroundings).  That said, if you love great thin crust pizza, this is the mecca!

o       Grimaldi’s Pizza, also in Brooklyn, http://www.grimaldis.com/index.htm.  Fired in coal brick ovens, thin crust, with a bit of crunch and blackened coal flavor.  Delicious sauce.  A great pizza, and for those out of town visitors, makes a great day trip combined with a fantastic walk over the Brooklyn Bridge (see one of my earlier blogs).

o       “New Haven” Pizzeria’s: These places offer up a chance to sample the fantastic white pizza’s (no tomato sauce), also with the great thin crust.  Recommended New Haven places include Pepe’s, http://www.pepespizzeria.com/, and Modern Apizza, http://www.nearhome.com/ct/newhaven/modern/, with Harry’s, http://www.nearhome.com/ct/newhaven/modern/, and Luna Pizza 2 doors down from each other on Farmington Avenue in West Hartford offering up equally terrific pies.  Of the four here, I’d rank order then as follows: Pepe’s, Harry’s, Luna, and Modern—but of course you cannot go wrong.  Keep in mind that if you’re not adventurous enough to check out a white clam pie, the traditional red ones are equally great!

I have to confess, I’m not a real aficionado of Deep Dish Pizza.  That’s not to say it isn’t good, it’s just that it’s never been “that good”, that I’d make a special trip to try some.  This pizza was born in Chicago through Pizzeria Uno, and has been franchised across the country.  Having lived in Chicago for 5 years, and still a frequent traveler to the city, I’m happy to eat a good deep dish pie, but I’ve never been overwhelmed.  I had high hopes for Burt’s Place in Morton Grove after seeing Tony Bourdain proclaim it amazing (e.g. great chewy focaccia like crust, fresh ingredients, …) on a recent No Reservations show, but after eating their last week, my views remains the same. Lou Malnati’s, http://www.loumalnatis.com/, also makes a nice pie—just set your expectations appropriately.

I have a very soft spot in my heart for Stuffed Pizza’s.  These 3-4 inch thick, double crust (exterior and interior crusts with a thick layer of cheese and your selected ingredients in-between) pizza’s are mostly unique to Chicago (there are a few franchisees outside of the Windy City).  I began eating them at the original Edwardo’s restaurant on Howard Street (no longer there—and I still remember the fresh basil and oregano growing in the window), and also prefer Giordano’s Pizza, http://www.giordanos.com/main.php.  I recently ate pizza at these two, as well as Burt’s, and there was no question in my mind that these were greatly superior. My favorite pie’s are stuffed with spinach and mushroom, but my kids love the pepperoni and/ or sausage which are generously layered, and sandwiched between the two crusts.  We’ve had friends who have characterized these as “not pizza-- quiche’s”, but pay no attention, these are outstanding.  A great option that I recently took advantage of here is getting a half baked, frozen pie from a Giordano’s within 2 miles of O’hare, that I brought home on the plane,  Defrost, put in the oven for about 40 minutes and you’re in for some deliciousness…