I love it when a plan comes together. For years, I've been wanting to get a clip of the opening scene of Saturday Night Fever, the bit where John Travolta's Tony Manero orders two slices of pizza from Lenny's, double-decks them and struts down 86th Street in Bensonhurst. After mentioning the film earlier tonight, I dug around on YouTube, found the opener, and trimmed the vid down to just the relevant pizza-related footage. Enjoy ...
The news: Some Cleveland Cavaliers fans are boycotting Papa John's because of a T-shirt circulated at the Cavs-Washington Wizards game on Friday night.
Behind the news: The shirt had the word "crybaby" emblazoned above James's number, 23, and was distributed by a local Papa John's as a way to help fans distract James during Friday's game. "Crybaby" was a reference to James's waterworks and whining over being fouled excessively hard in a previous game.
The shirt nonsense didn't get much play until John Eick from the blog So Good posted about it and had Cleveland fans rallying against the chain. Papa John's issued an apology, will donate $10k to the Cavaliers Youth Fund, and is offering Clevelanders large one-topping pizzas for 23¢ (one per order, pick-up only) on May 8. After the jump, a news report on the debacle.
Scott's New York Pizza Tours makes it onto Fox 5 News on Thursday night. I never realized how over the top Tony Senecal is. And Rosanna Scotto and Ernie Anastos are almost as hammy. Video of the segment, after the jump.
If you're a Flickr user, you probably already know the site, previously known for photo-sharing, has added video-sharing now. I decided to test-drive the feature with this video from yesterday afternoon:
It's really nothing you haven't seen in other Di Fara videos or in person if you've been there, but there you go.
"This is like the Ben & Jerry's of toppings—it's like, it's not just a little bit of garlic; it's a LOT of garlic" —Sunny Anderson, Food Network host
As part of his FN Dish online show for the Food Network, Adam "Amateur Gourmet" Roberts goes to Di Fara with Sunny Anderson, a new Food Network show host. If you want to skip the bunkum about Roberts getting his hair cut and the Food Network promo junk, go to 1:30 into the video for the Di Fara stuff, where Anderson calls garlic and pepperoni the "Ben & Jerry's of toppings" (which Slice thinks is an insult to Dom DeMarco; his quality is definitely more than a few notches above that feel-good hippie ice cream).
Michael Bauer, food critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, continues his Pizza Friday series on his blog Between Meals with a trip to Local Kitchen & Wine Merchant in San Francisco. Local Kitchen & Wine Merchant makes a Neapolitan-style pizza:
Michael Bauer, food critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, continues his Pizza Friday series on his blog Between Meals with a trip to Pizzeria Delfina in San Francisco. Delfina makes a thin-crust Neapolitan-style pie, "with a nod to New York," Bauer says.
When humorist David Sedaris needs to make some extra cash, he resorts to delivering pizza, "right to your door in 30 bleak anecdotes or less—or your irony is free!" While standing in your doorway, he'll regale you with anecdotes from his bleak childhood and even eat your pizza, for no extra charge!
After the jump, watch the best/most potentially awkward pizza delivery ever, acted out by sketch comedy group Weak Nights. [via Defamer]
Hey guys, love reading the site, wish I had more independent pizzerias here in the U.K. rather than the same old chains. Still, I’ll be building a wood oven in my garden this year so I’ll have authentic taste.
Anyhow, I think I have found the most disgusting "pizza" yet (if you can call it that)—with a video on how to make it. [Video follows after the jump; warning—it will play automatically. —The Mgmt.] Love to know your thoughts:
This is a couple months old, but I didn't see it until yesterday. And I'm sure you'll see how it's relevant today. A rapping pizza slice on the dynastic nature of the Bush-Clinton-Bush years. Previously: Slice's Primary Candidate Endorsements
Posted by Adam Kuban, February 22, 2008 at 12:45 PM
In the Serious Eats Talk section today, reader Hobsons96 asks for pizza dough help. Basically s/he can't get the dough to stretch properly. This problem reminded me of the Alton Brown episode on pizza, "Flat Is Beautiful," in which Brown explains gluten, "windowpaning," and yeast action—among other nerdriffic dough concepts.
And then I remembered that there are a number of Good Eats! segments on YouTube, including the two after the jump that might give Hobsons96 some more help.
Posted by Adam Kuban, January 18, 2008 at 11:15 AM
Michael Bauer, food critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, continues his Pizza Friday series on his blog Between Meals with a trip to Pizzeria Picco in Larkspur, California. Pizzeria Picco makes a Neapolitan-style pie in a wood-burning oven:
Bauer says:
Thin with crisp, blistered edges. The Margherita, drizzled with De Padova extra virgin olive oil sets the standards for this ubiquitous combination. The Marin features roasted garlic, young potatoes that crisp at the edges, mozzarella, Parmesan and a slight drizzle of rosemary oil. The Cannondale is my favorite: house-made sausage, roasted peppers, onions, basil, and mozzarella.
Pizzeria Picco
Address: 320 Magnolia Avenue, Larkspur CA 94939 (at King Street; map) Phone: 415-945-8900 Website:pizzeriapicco.com
Posted by Adam Kuban, January 11, 2008 at 12:00 PM
Michael Bauer, food critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, continues his Pizza Friday series on his blog Between Meals with a trip to Pauline's in San Francisco. Pauline's makes California-style pizza:
Bauer says:
The dough is made with whole milk, olive oil and sea salt, producing a crust that is miraculously both chewy and crisp.
The pesto pizza is the must-order topping; for many, it's better than tomato. Garlic lovers swear by the garlic pizza with fontina cheese, and I love the more traditional Italian combination with salami, Italian sausage, mushrooms and green onions.
Pauline's
Address: 260 Valencia Street, San Francisco CA 94103 (at 14th Street; map) Phone: 415-552-2050 Website:paulinespizza.com Hours: Tues. to Sat., 5 to 10 p.m.
Michael Bauer, food critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, continues his Pizza Friday series on his blog Between Meals with a trip to Frankie, Johnny, and Luigi Too in Mountain View, California. The joint makes New York–style pizza:
Bauer says:
No crust outside of cardboard could hold the weight of the toppings applied; it's got a little crispness at the edges, but the hand-tossed dough bakes to a breadlike texture.
With our waiters' help, we chose the Tina's Too Too Much, with too much salami, pepperoni, sausage, linguica, mushrooms, onions and bell peppers. We also tried the New York Style: oregano-laced tomato sauce, Italian sausage and mushrooms.
Frankie, Johnny, and Luigi Too
Address: 939 West El Camino Real, Mountain View CA 94040 (at CrossstreetTK; map) Phone: 650-967-5384 Website:fjlsanjose.com
Posted by Adam Kuban, December 22, 2007 at 7:00 PM
Seattle chef Tom Douglas talks to the Savory Cities folks about his pizzeria, Serious Pie. This video appears to be part of a sneak peek at the upcoming Savory Seattle site.
A reader emailed with this link: "I challenge you to make this pizza and not say it's the spiciest pizza you've ever had." The video's a bit long, but if you've been looking to make a kimchi-topped pizza—and, seriously, who hasn't?—this is your how-to.
Posted by Adam Kuban, November 27, 2007 at 1:20 PM
The recent South Park episode that sent up the videogame Guitar Hero—and all the recent Guitar Hero III hype—has reminded me that I never blogged this crazy-ass YouTube clip when it first surfaced:
You know, I've never quite understood Guitar Hero. As many wiser folk have observed before me, why spend your time axing a fake guitar when you could learn to play the real thing?
Posted by Adam Kuban, November 26, 2007 at 5:30 PM
Michael Bauer, food critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, continues his Pizza Friday series on his blog Between Meals with a trip to Zachary's in Oakland. Zachary's is wildly popular in the Bay Area for its Chicago-style stuffed pies.
Bauer says:
Crust: The stuffed pizza had a thick crust, almost like dried toasted bread with raw floury underpinning, at least on my visit. The stuffed also has a second crust that's laid on top of the cheese, then covered with a thick layer of chunky tomato sauce. As it bakes, the crust melts into the cheese. The thin crust was crisp, about the size of a double cracker, dusted with semolina flour.
Pizza tried: I chose thin crust with cheese tomato, which was heavy on the oregano and had that generic taste of bottled "pizza sauce" and loads of stringy, gooey mozzarella cheese. In deep dish, the waiter suggested the Zachary's Special with chunky tomatoes glazing generous handfuls of green pepper, sausage and onions. One or two pieces (of the six pieces) definitely is a meal; it's like eating a casserole with your hands.
Zachary's
Address: 5801 College Avenue, Oakland CA (near Rockridge BART Station; map) Phone: 510-655-6385 Website:zacharys.com Hours: Vary depending on location; more info here Other Locations: 1853 Solano Avenue, Berkeley CA 94707; 510-525-5950. 3110 Crow Canyon Place, Suite D, San Ramon CA 94583; 925-244-1222
Posted by Adam Kuban, November 16, 2007 at 1:15 PM
Michael Bauer, food critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, continues his Pizza Friday series on his blog Between Meals with a trip to Piccino.Piccino makes an ultra-thin-crust Roman-style pizza:
Bauer says:
Pizza tried: The Margherita is slathered with a sauce as thick as tomato paste, puddles of mozzarella and a few shards of basil. The waiter recommended the house-made sausage pizza, with restrained dollops of mozzarella on a background of thin slices of roasted gypsy peppers and delicate whisps of chives that added fresh depth to the other ingredients.
Hmm. I can't tell if he liked it or not ...
Piccino
Address: 801 22nd Street, San Francisco CA 94107 (at Tennessee; map) Phone: 415-824-4224 Website:piccinocafe.com Hours: Breakfast and lunch daily; dinner Wed.–Sat.
Mr. Gorbachev has been on this journey before. Ten years ago, he did a TV spot for Pizza Hut that drew considerable scorn. In the ad, he feeds a slice to his 10-year-old granddaughter while Russians debate whether he sold them out or brought them freedom. He argued at the time that he needed money for his foundation.
Posted by Adam Kuban, November 14, 2007 at 11:00 AM
Holy slice! I don't even know where to begin with this one.
Sean Taylor, actor, improv comedian, and "master of his own domain," is a true pizza freak. Each year in October, which is National Pizza Month, Taylor eats at a different pizzeria each day. This year he made videos at each place, and he recently finished the edits on the last one and put it online, completing the 2007 collection.
This year's list is truly impressive and varied: Famiglia, Fornino, Arturo's, Naples 45, Sally's Apizza, Santarpio's, Frank Pepe, Lombardi's, Di Fara, John's, Lil' Frankie's, Luzzo's, Bella Via, L'Allegria, No. 28, Waldy's Wood-Fired Pizza, Otto, Pizza Gruppo, Angelo's, Una Pizza Napoletana, Lucali, Patsy's, Amorina, Nick's, Two Boots, La Pizza Fresca, Kinchley's, Totonno's, Nunzio's, Lazzara's, Grimaldi's
Michael Bauer, food critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, continues his Pizza Friday series on his blog Between Meals with a trip to Pizzaiolo in Oakland, California. Pizzaiolo makes a Neapolitan-style pizza and is owned and helmed by Charlie Hallowell, a longtime pizza-maker at Alice Waters's famed Chez Panisse:
Bauer says:
Crust: The thin crust has well-formed blisters that shatter into a dozen pieces on contact, and a chewiness that gives the jaw a good workout.
Pizza tried: The classic Margherita has a restrained swipe of savory tomato sauce, pools of buttery mozzarella and shards of intensely flavored basil. We also tried a pizza with chunks of ground sausage, basil, and orange and yellow gypsy peppers, enhanced with a last minute drizzle of fragrant olive oil.
Crust: The thin crust has blisters that crumble like crackers; the light color often belies the crispness. What we had: The Margherita had a great sauce made in-house from fresh tomatoes, a slick of Polly-O mozzarella cheese and basil, which was missing from the blend on my visit. Still, it was a satisfying combination. The flavor of the mushroom and sausage, with a thick blanket of tomato sauce and cheese, was bold, but the crust sagged and couldn't support the weight of the additions, especially in the center where the majority were scattered.
Pazzia Caffee & Trattoria
Address: 337 Third Street, San Francisco CA 94107 (near Folsom; map) Website:pazzia.ypguides.net Phone: 415-512-1693 Hours: Lunch, Mon.–Fri.; dinner, Mon.–Sat.
Michael Bauer, food critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, continues his Pizza Friday series on his blog Between Meals with a trip to Pizza Azzurro in Napa, California. Azzurro makes thin-crust Roman-style pizza:
Bauer says:
Crust: One of the thinnest crusts I've encountered, with a chewiness at the center and a blackened edge whose rim shatters into a half dozen bites. It takes about five minutes to achieve this texture.
Pizza tried: The Margherita has a judicious slather of acidic tomato sauce, with seeds, stringy mozzarella and thick shards of fresh basil. It was a perfect complement that didn't overpower the crust. I also tried what the waiter said is the most popular, the Salsiccia, with the same tomato and mozzarella and the addition of chunks of sausage and thin threads of red onions.
Pizza Azzurro
Address: 1400 2nd Street, Napa CA 94559 (map) Phone: 707-255-5552 Hours: Lunch and dinner Mon.–Fri.; dinner, Sat., from 5 p.m.
Heroes: They each have some crazy-ass power. If I had this chick's ability, I'd head on out to Midwood and watch the master at work. (For all you folks not hip to Heroes, she's got the ability to learn something just by watching it.)
Or I'd just watch this collection of videos, all shot at Di Fara. After the jump.
Crust: The deep dish offers a crisp crust (about 3/8 inch at its widest point) made with butter and oil with the taste of cornmeal. It takes about 20 minutes to bake. The thin crust, which takes about 10 minutes, stays vertical when picked up, even with the generous toppings.
Pizza tried: The Little Star thick-crust pizza offers spinach, cheese and a topping of slightly chunky tomato sauce, a pizza that hits the palate with garlic, garlic and more garlic. The popular thin-crust Classic features big chunks of ground sausage, a dominant hit of onions, and green bell peppers. A friend commented that it was one step above the typical "college" pizza.
Little Star Pizza
Address: 846 Divisadero Street, San Francisco CA 94117 (map) Phone: 415-441-1118 Also located at: 400 Valencia Street, San Francisco CA 94103 (map); 415-551-7827 Website:littlestarpizza.com/ Hours: Dinner, Tues.–Sun. Notes: Cash only
Michael Bauer, food critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, continues his Pizza Friday series on his blog Between Meals with a trip to Dopo in Oakland, which makes an thin-crust Neapolitan-style pizza:
Bauer says:
The well seasoned dough is hand formed on a marble surface to create a rustic crisp chewy base, with a rim that has a ciabatta-like taste and texture. Most are meatless, so we tried the version with gypsy peppers and red onions, which nicely balances the tomato sauce that makes Dopo's efforts stand out. It has a clean, bright flavor with a pleasant acidity. We also tried the one with pancetta, slightly spicy Calabrian chiles and a light dusting of fennel pollen.
Posted by Adam Kuban, September 20, 2007 at 1:45 PM
You may remember homeslice Philip G. from such memorable hits as A Visit to Pizzeria Bianco. He's the dude who (wearing his I Slice NY shirt) made a quick video review of the joint. Now he's back, with a video that shows you how to make pizza at home. Enjoy!
[Warning: Video linked below is set to autoplay. Will make noise if you're at work.]
Posted by Adam Kuban, September 11, 2007 at 4:03 PM
We just had the Domino's Oreo Dessert Pizza delivered here at the office. It's about as good as you think it would be. (How's that for damning something with faint praise?)
The base layer is a thin crust that would be reminiscent of graham cracker if it weren't so bland, topped by a vanilla icing, with some Oreo crumbles applied atop in a swirled pattern.
This 10-inch dessert pizza is $3.99 with any purchase, but it would be an unthinkable order addition even at $0.00.
Japan, I used to love you for your inventiveness—the way you took things from other cultures, tweaked them, and improved them.
But you're slippin', babe. That Double Roll pizza you came up with? So kinō.
Say annyong to two amazingly ostentatious pizzas that Pizza Hut South Korea has come up with (I don't know their names, so I'm just making them up here as I go along).
Today is the 30th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley, an event marked by a Hajj of Elvis impersonators heading to Memphis.
To mark the occasion, I did a little digging to see what type of connection Mr. Presley might have had with pizza.
There's talk that, during his decline, a good portion of his weight came from pepperoni pizzas—in addition to the fried peanut-butter-and-banana sandwiches he's was famously fond of. But from what I could tell, that's all hearsay. There's no way to know if Elvis truly was fond of spicy pepperoni pies.
I did find Elvis Pizza in Rushcutters Bay, Australia, which features Friday and Saturday Elvis impersonator shows each week. Book in advance, kids.
After the jump, Elvis retrofitted into a Pizza Hut commercial.
Their new Hell’s Kitchen shop is located right next to Burgers and Cupcakes and serves a selection of ten hot and bubbly wood-burning oven pies. The Provençal gets topped with fresh mozzarella, gruyere cheese, tomato sauce, black olives and herbs de provence ($7.95/$13.95), while the Romana will score you hot sausage and roasted peppers on a gooey fresh mozzarella and tomato base ($9.95/$16.95).
London has been making pizza at the Fairway Cafe for a while now, so we'd imagine that his pies at Mitchel London Pizza won't be much different from those.
And, if you want to get an idea of what kinda pizza the Provençal pie will be like, here's a video from Serious Eats in which London and wine-shop owner Joshua Wesson pair wine with pizza—at Fairway Cafe:
Slice reader Philip G. visited Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix last week and came away with a bellyful of what sounds like great pizza, and, I assume, memories to last a lifetime. He sent along his pix and this great video—the first instance of a motion-picture pizza upskirt. Thanks, Philip!
You should have noticed in that video that Philip is wearing the "I Slice NY" shirt. W00t! And if you didn't, here's a pic of him and the man himself, Chris Bianco:
According to Boing Boing, "There is a movement of Chuck E. Cheese and Showbiz fans that are buying the old robots and setting them up in their homes or garages."
The modified bots here have been programmed to rap Bubba Sparxxx's "Ms. New Booty."
Maybe I wouldn't knock Pizza Hut so much on this site if it imported stuff like this from its supersecret Japanese labs. Pigs in a blanket on a pizza? I don't know if this "PaPa-Challe" pie is genius or sheer folly. Perhaps both. (The video of the Japanese commercial appears after the jump.)
Unique couple owns Lucas, Ohio, pizzeria: "The man at the bar was telling the tale. When he asked how long it should take the Mohawk Pizza and Tavern driver to make the delivery, he was told Stretch should be there in about half an hour. But the guy didn't quite buy it when he was told Stretch was a woman, a dwarf, who would be delivering his pizza."
Free pizza today. Don't get too excited: It's at Pizza Hut. You can grab a free slice at participating Pizza Huts from 3 to 5 p.m. as part of the Hut's efforts to market its new and improved hand-tossed pizza. The company's new Vice President of Pizza is in charge of giving out the slices. I'd be in line if it were the PaPa-Challe (above).
More free pizza. This time for the royal family. Papa John's is offering the Queen of England and the rest of the royal clan free pies for life from any U.S. or U.K. location, in honor of her visit to Louisville, Kentucky, where the chain's corporate HQ is based. QEII (Her Majesty, not the ship) will be in town for the Kentucky Derby.
Remember that dog food with janky Chinese additives that killed all those canines? So sad, you say, but it was limited to dog food, right?Think again: "The FDA is also examining imported vegetable proteins earmarked for human products like pizza, protein bars and baby formula. That investigation, still in its early stages, hasn't uncovered any contaminated ingredients, but the agency, an FDA doctor said, wanted to 'get ahead of the curve.' "
“I’ve never caught a foul ball in my life. It’s been my dream to catch one. That’s the closest I’ve ever come. The pizza just thwarted it,” so says Red Sox fan Jason Sole, who's seen getting hit with a flying pizza in the video that follows:
Perhaps the most disgusting commercial featuring pizza that I've ever seen. It's for Axe brand deodorant. Blech. Looks like it's either in Italian or Spanish.
Says Texas the Dog: "The hoomans are really clumsy pizza eaters so I get whatever falls on the floor. Bits of bacon here, some beef there... a mushroom... But tonight was really special because I got a very special treat - my very own slice of pizza!!!!" (Video, after the jump.)
I just wrote a "feature" piece for Serious Eats on Apizza Scholls in Portland, Oregon. It'll live on Serious Eats for a couple of weeks before landing here, so if you'd like to read it right away, head on over and check it out. I can, however, offer you this (poor-quality self-produced) video:
Posted by Adam Kuban, February 22, 2007 at 6:00 PM
One of the (many) nice things about working at Serious Eats as its managing editor is that Slice now has access to some great video. We've been slaving away at Serious Eats world headquarters, making some good movin' pictures for you to watch, and this, IMHO, is one of the best. In it, we've worked with Michael Stern, who, along with his wife, Jane Stern, are the mad geniuses behind the Roadfood franchise—books, magazine columns, and the website. Here, Mr. Stern visits Frank Pepe's in New Haven. Tune in, turn on, and pig out!
Posted by Adam Kuban, February 15, 2007 at 9:47 PM
It's been a while since we've heard from Slice roving reporter E-Rock, so I was surprised and then jealous to get a voicemail from the dude. He's apparently out in Phoenix, and he phoned from the line at the legendary Pizzeria Bianco. [Warning: As is the case in most things associated with E-Rock, questionable language is involved.]
Slice overlord Ed Levine went to Pizzeria Mozza last week, and all I got was this lousy video. ;) Ed didn't even bring me back a measly bit of crust. Hmmph. ... Enjoy!
Not to beat a dead horse here, but Ed wanted to talk about the wait at Di Fara with me for a segment of his video-blog series "Edibles." Whoomp, here 'tis.
So, yeah. It appears to be, since we're getting a whole new crop of emails from "9" people after having appeared there for our Deep-Fried Pizza video. And that's on top of the emails
Holy slice! I don't even know where to begin with this one.
Maybe I wouldn't knock Pizza Hut so much on this site if it imported stuff like this from its 
