Best pizza on the planet

Posted by: Dan M on 22 October 2003

Following the burger discussion in the supper thread, I'd like to hear suggestions for best pizza. For me it has to be deep dish Chicago style. And it's a two-way tie:

Gino's East - Chicago
Zachary's Pizza - Berkeley

Other's to consider?

cheers

Dan

p.s. sweet corn does not belong on a pizza, ever.

Posted on: 23 October 2003 by Dan M

quote:
This is probably the most important thread ever on this forum.

Too right!

Dave J -- what Gino's East moved? When? I used to drive 4 hours each way for that pizza. Say it ain't so.

Frankly I'm a little concerned about what appears to be a widely held belief that US deep dish pizza is all dough. No, no. Take for example Zach's stuffed deep dish - a thin layer of dough then lots of cheese, mushrooms, spinach, then, another very thin layer of dough, followed by lots of diced tomatoes and herbs. baked to perfection, ummmmm....

Dominos, Pizza Hut, and the likes are not the same. Its like judging a good old chipie in Britain by the Long John Silver chain in the US.

cheers,

Dan

Posted on: 23 October 2003 by BigH47

Al Forno/Al Duoma in Brighton are both pretty good Pizza places.

Howard

Posted on: 23 October 2003 by Tim Jones

Best ever was from a tiny place in N York - somewhere around 54th and Fifth. I asked for a regular with everything and (after a certain amount of translation from Surrey English to New York English) was given something easily 24 inches across. It lasted two of us a week.

Otherwise PE on the Fulham Road - the original one with the seventies wall art. I've been going there since I was seven. I don't think the Pizzas have actually got smaller, but there's definitely less and less mozarella in the mozarella and tomato salad....

I realised the north/south divide was over when PE opened up in Leeds. Quite depressing in a way.

Tim

Posted on: 23 October 2003 by ErikL

Whoever said there are lots of great pizzas in the US with thin crust is correct. Only chains like Pizza Hut, Domino's, Papa John's, and people without a clue make pizza's that are thick, soggy messes. I still hate deep dish pizza however it's described, though, and it should be outlawed.

All the talk of NY pizzerias is 100% correct. All monumental spots mentioned. I've always wanted to compare them to places in Naples, which I'm sure are mindblowing.

Posted on: 23 October 2003 by Dan M

quote:
I still hate deep dish pizza however it's described, though, and it should be outlawed.

Ludwig, you'd seemed like such a nice fellow before -- where did you go wrong? Obviously you've come under the influence of the dark powers resident in the Northwest (MS, B&N and *bucks)

. Move now or forever be corrupted.

cheers,

Dan

Posted on: 23 October 2003 by ErikL

No, no, no- you have it all wrong! I spent 27 years in New York!

After 5 years, I still find the Pacific NW to be an odd place and I miss some of the food of NY, the aggressive driving, the brutal honesty of the people, and the nightspots where you can find a professor from NYU, a dedicated indie rocker/artist, a Wall St analyst, a middle class guy like me, and a Dominican immigrant all sharing a pitcher and a deep conversation.

Cheers.

[This message was edited by Ludwig on THURSDAY 23 October 2003 at 17:24.]

[This message was edited by Ludwig on THURSDAY 23 October 2003 at 17:25.]

Posted on: 23 October 2003 by Dave J

quote:
what Gino's East moved? When? I used to drive 4 hours each way for that pizza. Say it ain't so

Dan, don't worry they're still around. In fact they've spread like a rash throughout Illinois but the original, grafitti-scrawled, wood-clad pizzeria just off Michigan Ave and Superior was THE one.

They're now at N.Wells and there's one on N. Lincoln as well but they've franchised the formula and sadly it's just not as good.

Having said that I would kill for one right now!

Posted on: 23 October 2003 by Dan M

quote:
Originally posted by Dave J:
the original, grafitti-scrawled, wood-clad pizzeria just off Michigan Ave and Superior was THE one.

Yep, that's the one I frequented (and graphitied). It's 10 am and my stomach is grumbling just thinking about it. If only I could find one half as good nr. Denver.

Stefano - do you deliver?

Posted on: 23 October 2003 by Dave J

quote:
Al Forno/Al Duoma in Brighton are both pretty good Pizza places

Thanks Howard, I'd forgotten about Al Forno's and they're only an hour's drive away.

Dave

Posted on: 23 October 2003 by David Stewart

To move the discussion on a little and for the benefit of those of us who like to keep a couple of standby Pizzas in the fridge-freezer for emergency/snack use, which supermarket do you think offers the most palatable examples??

David

PS: None of them isn't an acceptable answer

Posted on: 23 October 2003 by Bhoyo

quote:
Originally posted by Rasher:
Davie – You see, our tastes in Pizza are obviously at different ends of the spectrum. I hate thick soggy doughy ones – Ugh. I have generally found USA pizzas to be warm slabs with paste spread on top.

I hate those too. And you should have no trouble avoiding them in the States. Like everything else here, top quality is available but it's easy to go horribly wrong. Just look at the choice of president.

Anyway Rasher, I trust you're not one of those "knife and fork" philistines.

Davie

Posted on: 23 October 2003 by Dan M

not the cheapest option but only $18.50 if you order 7 or more

Posted on: 23 October 2003 by BigH47

A flyer for one of our local pizza places just landed on the doormat.
Expect more it says. There latest thing creme fraiche in stead of cheese "unique and different taste". Excuse me while I chuck.

Howard

Posted on: 23 October 2003 by ErikL

Here's a minor theory I have on pizza:

More than two toppings (in addition to cheese) on a pizza takes away from the enjoyment of the crust and sauce. Also- thin crust is a must.

Who's with me? Alger?

Posted on: 23 October 2003 by ErikL

Algers,

This thing you describe as a fiorentina sounds great as a salad but not as pizza.

Ludwig, getting hungry

Posted on: 23 October 2003 by matthewr

Deep pan and thick crust pizzas are the work of the devil.

My local (embarrasingly called "Eataly") does a pizze con pancetta affumicata which has smoked bacon and pepperoni Lombardi (sort of pickled baby green peppers) whcih is lovely.

Matthew

Posted on: 23 October 2003 by Dan M

quote:
Deep pan and thick crust pizzas are the work of the devil.

This topic is going downhill fast. Look out before the mods shut it down.

Agree with the 1-2 toppings, but no way on the artsy thin crust stuff. Eggs, creme fraiche!? - the word exotic should be for pets, dancers and drinks, not pizza. Which brings up another artsy pizza annoyance - olives that aren't pitted.

Dan

Posted on: 23 October 2003 by ErikL

Dan, can our tastes in pizza peacefully coexist?

Posted on: 23 October 2003 by matthewr

"Which brings up another artsy pizza annoyance - olives that aren't pitted"

I can go one better as my local does unshelled King Prawn pizzas. So you end up eating the prawns and then the pizza which kind of spoils the point of having a prawn pizza in the first place.

Matthew

Posted on: 24 October 2003 by Kevin-W

Quote from David Stewart

which supermarket do you think offers the most palatable examples??

I've found that the Pizza Express ones you can get in Sainsbury's aren't bad. Marks & Sparks do a stonebake range which is edible also.

Kevin

Posted on: 24 October 2003 by Derek Wright

Stefan

quote:
by 'fiorentina' we mean a delicious, huge, 8 cm thick T-bone grilled steak, which is typical in Florence area (hence the name).
Unfortunately it has been officially banned due to BSE disease, but it's still easy to find.

I was in Florence last week - and one would never know that the fiorentina steak was banned - I saw people eating it in every restaurant I went in and on every menu I read

Not an objective survey but an indication of the approach to rules in the southern states of the EU compared to the dry boring obedient states of the north and west eg UK.

Also liked the comment re traffic lights in Naples seen the Times - they are christmas decorations

However I did enjoy my stay in Italy

Derek

<< >>

Posted on: 24 October 2003 by Derek Wright

Pizza - best of etc.
Not neccessarily the worlds best Pizzas but I remember two memorable ones - one, a take out from a very smoky bar in Show Low AZ and consumed back at the motel and the other a takeout pizza in Lordsburg NM again consumed in the motel watching "To Kill a Mocking Bird" on the free movie channel (TCM).

What was great about the pizzas - a combination of the location, the journey to get there and the availability of a tasty pizza - miles from any where else.

Derek

<< >>

Posted on: 24 October 2003 by Dave J

quote:
Yep, that's the one I frequented (and graphitied). It's 10 am and my stomach is grumbling just thinking about it. If only I could find one half as good nr. Denver.

Stefano - do you deliver?

Stefano might not but Gino's do. Inspired by the thread I found their website and they deilver but only to the continental US.

Posted on: 24 October 2003 by Dave J

quote:
What was great about the pizzas - a combination of the location, the journey to get there and the availability of a tasty pizza - miles from any where else

Yep, location can be important. I had a cracking pizza somewhere off Highway 61 in Mississippi. Near to the town where Jim Henson was born, can't remember the name.

We'd been driving for miles and had just stopped for petrol/gas/benzina (just slipped that in to cater for UK/US/Italian involvement in this thread

) when we got the unmistakable whiff of fresh baked pizza. On reflectio it probably wasn't that great but it was...well it was there, just when it was needed.

Oh yeah, and on the olive front, our local 'Simply Italian' puts the olives on after the pizza is cooked - what's that about?!

Posted on: 24 October 2003 by BigH47

Dave
Don't you think they may be a bit cold if they did delivery to the UK? Remember no Concord to fly them on any more.

Howard