[For those of you new to Slice, let me introduce E-Rock. E-Rock is our roving reporter. While the rest of the Slice staff remains safe and warm in New York City, with easy access to some of the world's best pizza, we send E-Rock out to do our dirty deeds: eating at and reporting on pizzerias in other parts of the country—and the world—that might not have the greatest pies. Most of his missions end in disappointment, but he seems to cope by viewing these crazy assignments as being more about the journey than the destination. Hunter S. Thompson has... More

Even the beautiful people can't resist knoshing on a slice or two. An item on Nicky Hilton and pizza, from today's Page Six: Dating an heiress comes with a perk or two, including free pizza. After partying at Miami's Mynt with Paris Hilton and Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, Kevin ("Entourage") Connolly and girlfriend Nicky Hilton [right] snuck away to grab a few slices at a local shop. After ordering, Hilton paused before pulling out cash to pay, a PAGE SIX spy reports. It seemed she was waiting for Connolly to pick up the tab. Connolly's rep said neither she... More

From David Byrne's tour journal, dated December 02: Went to Arturo's on Houston st to hang with band members Tracy, and Paul, former bandmember Lara, Tracy's friend Jason and the guy in the string quartet Ethel, whose birthday it was. Everyone was eating pizza and drinking carafes of red wine. Arturo's is a weird combination of 2 throwbacks in one - it's a jazz bar, where regulars sing standards and musicians often stop by after a session or gig and sit in. It's also a neighborhood pizza restaurant (the pizza's aren't bad) that is friendly, noisy and slightly chaotic. The... More

Words By Seltzerboy .::. Ever wonder how a shy Jewish kid from Minnesota’s Iron Range ends up becoming one of America’s most profound cultural figures? Slice offers no novel answers regarding Bob Dylan’s ascension to a pinnacle attained by few others. Still, now is a fine time to offer an interesting clue—well, interesting for pizza-blog-reading Dylanphiles. Before hitchhiking his way from Minneapolis to Greenwich Village, Mr. Dylan toiled at any number of below-the-radar joints around the Twin Cities, including a St. Paul pizza shop known as the Purple Onion. In fact, after a gig there on a snowy winter’s... More

--> The Slice Academy may have been too hasty in giving Ted Leo/Pharmacists the award for Best Supporting Location in a Music Video last week. But to avoid a Paul Hamm–style debacle, we'll create a new category: Best Use of a Pizzeria in a Music Video. How these awards categories differ, we don't know. Don't care, either. They're not real awards anyway. Without further ado, the winner is LL Cool J for "Hush/Shake It Baby" (above).... More

"The [New York] Post caught up with [David Lee] Roth last week as the 1980s icon grabbed a slice of pepperoni pizza after sitting for hours in an ambulance waiting for a call." And why, as the Post reports, was Mr. Roth eating pizza after waiting in an ambulance for a call? It seems he's in training to become a paramedic here in the city: Legendary Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth has stopped "runnin' with the devil" to do God's work — riding ambulances in gritty neighborhoods throughout the city to become a paramedic. The famed rocker has cut... More

From a UK website called FemaleFirst, this story about actor Christian Bale packing on the pounds to star as Batman: American Psycho star Christian Bale was so determined to beef up to play Batman just six weeks after playing an emaciated machine operator in The Machinist he made himself sick by gorging on pizza and ice-cream. The actor lost a third of his body weight for The Machinist and only had a few weeks to bulk up to impress producers as a potential Caped Crusader in Batman Begins.... "In doing so I overdid it because I was enjoying gorging. I... More

The New York Times Boldface Names column is absolutely obsessed with pizza. Exhibit: This is the THIRD time this year that the delicious dish has made a cursory appearance therein. (Here are Numbers One and Two.) We're pressed for time at Slice at the moment, so I'll let the column's lede speak for itself: PASCAL ROSTAIN and BRUNO MOURON are in town for the opening of their exhibition, "Star Trash,'' at the Star Trash Store in SoHo. For $6,000 you can buy one of their pieces, which include the celebrity refuse of MARLON BRANDO, CLINT EASTWOOD, JACK NICHOLSON, LIZ TAYLOR... More

Speaking of pizza in movies, Page Six reports that actor Robert Downey Jr. was at Dino's Pizzeria in Astoria filming a movie:... More

A pregnant Debra Messing, from NBC's Will & Grace fesses up to her bun-in-the-oven-induced cravings. An interview with Access Hollywood host Nancy O'Dell: "Are you craving anything?" asked Nancy."I'm just burping all the time," laughed Debra."Are you having any special cravings?" asked Nancy."They keep changing. I went through a big, health cereal with blueberries phase, where I was eating it three times a day. Then, I went through a fast food burger phase. Now I'm settling into pizza pretty well. I'm liking that," revealed Debra. "I'm also liking grapes these days." Uh oh. Better make that a grape-topped pizza.... More