Slice
Consolation Pies: Pizza Makes Defeat Go Down Easier ...
And great pizza even more so.
I spent most of yesterday sitting in a dimly lit bar, waiting, with my team, to take the bocce court. We advanced through the early brackets easily—seems the mighty reputation of our crew, If You Want My Bocce, scared our first- and second-round opponents into forfeiture through no-shows. While this ensured our rolling arms didn't tire early in the day, it also meant we had no warm-up play for the later portions of the Floyd Summer Bocce Leage 2006 Playoffs.
After seven-plus hours of drinking and waiting, we took the dirt against our friends and archrivals, the Coffee Flats Terrors. We handed them defeat and marched into the finals to play Boccelism, the champs from last year's fall season.
Boccelism proved to be too much. Between them placing their balls perfectly and us missing all our shots, If You Want My Bocce went down 7-0 in the first set and 7-1 in the second. It was a quick championship game. What can we say? They played well; we didn't.
But all was not lost. We regrouped, joined up with some of the Terrors, and decided to head to nearby Grimaldi's for some consolation pies.
If you've read this blog for a while, you'll know I think Grimaldi's makes what could be a great pie, if only the place was consistent. When it's on, it's phenomenal, but oftentimes, it suffers from center sag. If we needed Grimaldi's to be on its game on any given night, this was it. They delivered. (Unlike IYWMB.) Last night's pies were the volo shot of pizza. Perfectly crisp-chewy, no tip sag, and impeccably topped with some fine pepperoni, sausage, garlic, and mushrooms.
To the victor goes the spoils, they say. Boccelism got the championship trophy, but I think our booby prize to ourselves was much more satisfying. At least after ten hours in a dimly lit bar. Plus, there's always next season.
No line at Grimaldi's last night at 10 p.m.
Slice leaves its mark, if only temporarily, on the facade of the legendary pizzeria.
Related: Last Night's Dinner: Grimaldi's [The Park Slope Gastronome & the China-Latina Chowhound]