Midnight Sun Sam, always the gourmand, has posted a blog entry on Jumbo Slice, the pizza concept in Adams Morgan in DC. I had never heard of it, but then Sam stays up later and parties harder than I do.
I was hoping I would find a link to a particular Web site, but instead I'm going to link you here because these are some of the finest comments I've ever read on another food blog. Such as: ...
I keep hoping one of you is going to enter one of these contests and do us proud. I'll keep posting them until you do.
This one is from Bolla Wines of Italy, which calls itself "the Official Wine of Pizza." (Is that good?) The competition is its Taste of Your Town Pizza Battle. The recipes, according to the rules, must use locally produced products or represent something unique to Maryland.
The prizes are pretty good: The winner attends the 2009 World Pizza Championships in Europe and visits Bolla's winery in Verona, Italy. ...
Continue reading "Pizza and wine: a prize-winning pairing perhaps" »
Don't miss Midnight Sun Sam's story on pizza places beyond the usual suspects that appears in the Taste section today. It came about as a direct result of the 10,000 posts about pizzerias on this blog.
Where would The Sun be without us? First foie gras protests, and now this.
If you're a fan of any of these places (several of which I had never heard of), tell us if you agree -- or disagree -- with Sam's assessment before we venture out to try them.
Also, you diner fans, Sam reported yesterday that the Gold Depot bar at Fort Avenue and S. Light Street is going to become a 24-hour diner. Here's the link.
Judging from the number of comments I get any time I post anything about pizza (note that I haven't worked up the nerve to do a Top Ten Pizza yet), I'm guessing many of you have plenty more to say on the subject.
Here's your chance.
Send an e-mail to food@baltsun.com describing your favorite pizza at your favorite pizzeria (or pizzerias) -- heck, it can be your favorite bistro that has great pizza if you want. The best of the e-mails will be published the week before the Super Bowl at BaltimoreSun.com.
(AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, File)
I found the following e-mail in my inbox when I got to work this morning. Hope springs eternal in the breast of those who love pizza, and when Phat Pug pizzeria in Perry Hall first opened people seemed to really like the coal-fired version. Then things started to go awry: ...
Phat Pug Coal Fired Pizza in Perry Hall opened this fall with a great deal of promise and some good early reviews. The owner had ambitious plans to open two more pizzerias downtown in Federal Hill and Fells Point.
But day before yesterday I got this e-mail from LIVE reviewer Karen Nitkin: ...
Midnight Sun Sam passed along a great tip to me. One of the owners of Matthew's Pizza, Chris Maler, is going to open a pizza place -- completely separate from Matthew's -- with a new partner, Lando Orsino, where Truman's bar was at 1230 Fort Ave. in Locust Point.
The only picture I could find of Maler -- you'll thank me for this, Chris -- is 11 years old.
This will happen in December at the earliest. (And we all know what that means.) Both partners have sons named Luca, so it's understandable why their new place will be named Luca's Cafe.
Note that it's not Luca's Pizzeria. There will be sandwiches, salads, appetizers and entrees as well as pizzas. The pizzas will be...
(Sun archives)
Matt Teri posted this comment under an earlier pizza post. I'm repeating it here because I've been meaning to do an entry on Phat Pug. It's gotten a lot of attention on Chowhound.com.
I recently tried a pizza from Phat Pug, in Perry Hall -- their claim to fame (or their schtick, depending) is that they use an actual coal-fired oven. I was pretty darned impressed with the pizza -- thin and crispy, with some tasty burned spots and a really excellent (sweet-ish) sauce. Anyone else been up there yet?
Here's the info courtesy of the Chowhound board. (Phat Pug doesn't have its Web site up yet.):
The Phat Pug Coal Fired Pizzeria
8814A Bel Air Road
Perry Hall, MD 21236
410 256 5700
If you want to know more about the process, here's an article from Pizza Today.
I'm amazed that no one has leapt to the defense of Matthew's pizza after Curious4Food's comment under my previous entry Matthew's and Iggies. I thought Matthew's had achieved iconic status around here. It was my first visit, and I'm saving my thoughts about its pizza for the dining guide.
I just got back from having pizza at Matthew's, after a visit to Iggies last week. I can't think of a better contrast of old and new Baltimore, at least restaurant-wise. (If you can, feel free to post below.) They are such different experiences I refuse to decide which is better.
I fear for Matthew's, though. In the blink of an eye some developer could buy up that block and build Patterson Park Prospect, luxury townhomes from the mid-$400s.
One last thought about my meal at Iggies the other night. I noticed on the carryout menu they advised taking the "raw" pizza home and baking it. Doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of takeout pizza? (Which for me is not to turn on my oven or even one burner.)
Has anyone actually ever done this? Does it work? Isn't the fact that it's not quite hot when you get it home offset by the fact that it's been baked in a real pizza oven?
(Steve Ruark/ Special to the Sun)
OK, I admit I'm a pizza purist. (Please, God, why did you invent the barbecued chicken and pineapple pizza?) I used to turn up my nose at pizzas topped with too many non-pizza vegetables.
Vegetables, in case you're wondering, fall into two categories:
1) Pizza vegetables: Tomatoes, fresh basil, onions, mushrooms, peppers.
2) Non-pizza vegetables: Asparagus, arugula, spinach, artichoke hearts, eggplant, yellow squash, zucchini, squash blossoms, broccoli. If God had meant broccoli to be on pizza, he would have made it flat.
Over the years, of course, I gradually got used to a few of them on a pizza as long as they didn't dominate the other ingredients. But then one day I had a slice of vegetable pizza -- piled high with non-pizza vegetables -- from Bossa Nova, a West Coast chain, and I was sold.
The closest I've found around here is the verdura fresca I had last night at Iggies, with roasted vegetables and a balsamic reduction. (That's what got me thinking about this.)
The vegetable pizza is a version that can go terribly wrong, but when it's done right, it's one of my favorites. There must be other great ones in Baltimore; I just don't know about them.
(AP Photo/Larry Crowe)
