I am sad to report the death ofAloysius C. "Al" Pawlowicz, the co-owner of, and pizzamaker at, Pizzaland, the pizzeria immortalized in the opening credits of the Sopranos. Pawlowicz made me some of the most memorable, unique and downright delicious pizza that I have had. He suffered a heart attack and died on October 28, 2010, which must seem somewhat ironic to those that knew him, as he clearly had a huge heart. But considering that he worked upward of 12-hour days, often seven says a week, the result is perhaps not so surprising. Pawlowicz put his heart and soul in his pizza, and it showed, but more important, he was dedicated to his family, which he talked about proudly and lovingly while he served his "old fashioned"–style pies.
"I remember seeing José shoveling coal in the oven, firing it up during hot summer months with only a fan to cool him." [Photographs: Jared Goldstein] Some sad news just arrived in the Slice inbox, courtesy of NYC tour guide Jared Goldstein: I am sorry to share the passing of one of America's great chefs—and a great guy—José Jiminez, on December 7, 2009.Jiminez, who immigrated from Ecuador, was the East Harlem Patsy's pizza chef and cook since 1977. He learned how to make their special pies from the previous pizza master, back when Carmella, "Mrs. Patsy" was alive....
Experimental Domino's delivery vehicle. [Photograph: Hugo90 on Flickr] From the obituary of geriatric psychiatrist Gene D. Cohen in the New York Times today: In the opening chapter of his latest book, "The Mature Mind," Dr. Cohen related an anecdote that in many ways encapsulated his theories. His in-laws had arrived for a visit in Washington in the midst of a snowstorm and emerged from the subway lost. Unable to hail a cab or reach the Cohen family by phone, Dr. Cohen's father-in-law had an idea. He and his wife walked across the street to a pizza parlor, ordered a...
"His slices were so good that they didn't have to deliver." The other night I started thinking about Sal and Carmine's. Adam reported on Sal's untimely death, but somehow I feel the only true way to pay one's respects to a pieman (and Sal was one of the all-time great piemen) is to have one of his pies. So last Friday I left the Slice–Serious Eats office around 7 p.m. and took the 2 Train to 96th Street and Broadway. I know I could have taken the local one more stop and ended up a couple of blocks closer, but...
bronxbanterblog.com Sad news. Sal of the Upper West Side's Sal and Carmine's has died. We received a report over the weekend from Josh G. that the neighborhood favorite was shuttered due to "an emergency." And now today comes word from Alex Belth of Bronx Banter as to the state of that emergency: Sal died late last week. I’ve been eating their pizza since I was a kid. Sal and Carmine. Two short, taciturn men in their seventies, though they look older. I never knew who was Sal and who was Carmine, just that one was slightly less cranky than...
The New York Times ran an obit yesterday for Alan Scott, who died on January 26 in Tasmania, Australia. Scott was the driving force behind California-based Ovencrafters, a small company that revolutionized the way backyard brick-oven bakers—and not a small amount of commercial ones—baked their breads and pizza. The Times says: Several thousand amateur bread bakers and thin-crust pizza makers now have backyard brick ovens, many with cathedral-like arches, that were built either by Mr. Scott, with Mr. Scott or according to specifications he laid out with his protégé Daniel Wing in their 1999 book, The Bread Builders. More than...
"Bob built his life around the Hot Truck, striving to put out a very, very high-quality product." From left: The Hot Truck, Bob Petrillose. This morning, some sobering news to report. Bob Petrillose has died after fighting Parkison's Disease. Petrillose is the man credited with having invented French bread pizza (later licensed to Stouffer's) and is the founder of the legendary Hot Truck on the campus of Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York....
Hate to have to find this out via an obituary (and our condolences go out to the family and friends of the deceased), but in the Bay Area there is a family with the surname of Pizza....
This is one of those entries we wish we'd never have to post. From the New York Daily News: Arturo Giunta, whose Greenwich Village coal oven has been cooking up pizzas at Arturo's for nearly five decades, has died. He was 79. The Manhattan native died Wednesday night at Beth Israel Hospital, a month after breaking his arm and developing an infection that led to kidney failure, said his daughter-in-law, Carol Giunta. A World War II Army sergeant wounded twice battling the Nazis, Giunta founded Arturo's pizzeria in 1957. Our condolences to Mr. Giunta's family and friends. Iconic pizza chef...
