Mondo's brunch pizza in New Orleans [Photograph: Meredith Smith]

Remember the old saying: "Beer, it's not just for breakfast"? I always imagined a slice of leftover pizza in the morning beer drinker's free hand. But, honestly, that isn't a fair representation of the role pizza has played in my own morning eating routine. There is rarely beer involved. While I would like to pretend that I am refined enough to only eat the pizza someone bakes for the express purpose of breakfast eating, the truth more often than not, is that I wake up ravenous and am still thinking of last night's pie waiting in the fridge. It takes real restraint on my part for those leftover slices to make it to noon. Whether it gets eaten cold or hot, is another story. My question for you is: