Pizza Walk With Me

Pizza Postcard: Flagstaff Pizza from Fratelli’s

Chris was nice enough to include me in his journey through Arizona. He visited Frateli’s in Flagstaff, Arizona and boy howdy does this look like a great slice of pizza. There’s even a little lasso of cheese as if Pecos Bill himself made this slice.

Chris, who heads up things at PSNStores, the preeminent site for everything on the PlayStation Network, has been on pizza adventures with me in the past. He’s even from the Pittsburgh area! How outstanding.

Here’s another shot of the pizza, sans Instagram convo. There’s sausage on there if you can’t tell.

Mother’s Day? More like Pizza Day

I had no intention to eat pizza on Mother’s Day. As a son, it’s my duty to ensure my mom is surrounded by flowers and other moms at Phipps Conservatory. After we trounced through the tulips and “ooo-ed” at the scentless orchards, we worked up quite an appetite. So my mom did what any sane mom would do and suggested we get some pizza. 

Mother’s Day? More like Pizza Day. Oh dang, that should be the title of this post. 

We headed to the Porch at Schenley, a fancy Eat N’Park establishment. We each had our own Margherita pizza which was the perfect end to Mother’s Day. The crust was fluffy, the cheese evenly distributed, and the presentation novel and full of utility. Be able to add on basil, pepper flakes, or a bit of parmesan at our leisure was delightful. 

It’s a bit thicker than most “wood fired pizza” (I put that in quotes because as they have an oven that looks like a wood-fired oven, there’s actually no wood involved!), and provides a healthy crunch. You’ll eat the slice with the speed of a cheetah just to get to the crust as fast and efficiently as possible.

As a parting gift, my mother gave me half of her pizza to take home. Something to remember her by. A delicious treat to cherish. I ate it all as soon as we parted way. 

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there. May your offspring fill you to gills with pizza.

Pizza Dog Comic - Pizza Journalism

I don’t pay attention to comics because they have nothing to do with pizza. That’s not true. At times they have everything to do with pizza. With a slice in one hand and a comic in the other there’s no longer any need for napkins or self-esteem. You have everything you need right there.

Lately, there have been some barks coming from the comic community that Pizza Dog, Hawkeye’s puptacular and pizza consuming assistant, is getting a comic all to himself. As a pizza journalist I went right to the source: Pizza Dog.

  @pizza_dog I heard there was a comic from your point of view coming out. Any comments on that?

— Dan Tallarico (@woozle)

May 8, 201

@woozle BARK BARK BARK, GRRR, RUFF BARK RUFF…… FWURF

— Pizza Dog (@Pizza_Dog)

May 8, 2013

@pizza_dog of all times to actually exhibit dog qualities. Damn you.

— Dan Tallarico (@woozle)

May 8, 2013

While I didn’t get anything important from Pizza Dog, I think we’re sniffing down the pizza trail. Otherwise Pizza Dog wouldn’t have acted suspiciously like a dog. 

My primary source wasn’t cooperating so I took to Google. Inputting “Pizza Dog Comic” returned this result. A sneak preview of the Pizza Dog Comic!

26.2 Miles and A Hundred Slices of Pizza

.@pghmarathon hey how much pizza is it customary to eat before a marathon? I’m doing an article on this and your input would be great.

— Dan Tallarico (@woozle) May 1, 2013

One thing that fuels my pizza cravings is my constant running. This whole time I’ve been training for the Pittsburgh Marathon. It was the perfect relationship; I could run dozens of miles a week and in return I’d reward my body with pizza. After especially long runs on nice days I would grab a large pie and my pizza pal Christa for a pizza-in-the-park adventure. It’s the only way to celebrate fitness.

But the question remains - how much pizza is an athlete supposed to be eating before a run? I posed this to the Pittsburgh Marathon and their silence is as terrifying as a gas pizza oven ripe to explode.

.@pghmarathon I’ll be filing my story on “How Much Pizza to Eat Before a Marathon” today. If you want to speak about, this now is the time

— Dan Tallarico (@woozle) May 3, 2013

They refused to respond - luckily I’m not only a pizza journalist, but an inside source on this matter. While I won’t have any concrete data until I finish the Pittsburgh Marathon tomorrow I have a very strong hypothesis on how much pizza you should eat before a marathon.

In the week leading up to the marathon I had pizza on the following days: 

• Sunday - 1 slice
• Monday - 1 slice
• Tuesday - 2 slices
• Wednesday - 5 slices
• Thursday - 0 slices
• Friday - 5 slices
• Saturday - 6 slices

You can see the pattern. Start off the week slow, ramp up, plateau  add in a day of break, and lay down the hammer the crucial day before the marathon. If all goes well tomorrow it stands that an average marathoner should eat 20 slices of pizza the week leading up to the marathon.

And that’s a little bit of pizza science for you.  Have your own pizza regiment? Let me know!

Pizza Review: BZ’s Bar & Grill

Across from PNC Park, past the statues of legends, and the special parking spot for the Pirates Bandwagon are a suite of bars. Bars engineered for the sole purpose of fueling fans of baseball both before and after the game. With ludicrous specials on Miller Lite, you can spend the same amount of money you spent on a Pirates ticket and wake up in a hospital if you so choose.

Unfortunately, baseball season isn’t eternal so they have to exist in some capacity They need a thing, a hook to keep people coming back. Something that goes beyond baseball, fried food, and cheap Miller Lite. Many spaces resort to dealing with the downtown lunch crowd, of which I was part of yesterday.

I wandered over to BZ’s Bar & Grill to meet some folks for lunch. I was worried about the large Martini glass in their logo; would we be drinking our lunch? Perhaps partake in a refreshing pizza smoothie? Not today.

We dined al fresco, along Federal Street with the Hustle and Bustle as a backdrop. It was a fine day, so we were quacked at by a number of passing Just Ducky Tours. The menu was classic bar food - sandwiches, fries, macaroni and cheese. I of course ordered the pizza.

As seen above, it’s a very plain looking pie. It’s passive and worried about offending your digestive track. “Don’t worry about me,” the pizza squeaks. “I’m just going to be over here, you know, being a lil’ pizza.” Okay, pizza.

I don’t know if BZ’s puts in a lot of effort into their pizza. I guess I could ask, but eating this pizza reveals so much more. A squishy crust that would be fine to eat for those who can’t find their dentures. The bottom is slightly charred, which would be great if the pizza was only 2-dimensions. But the third dimension, mainly the interior of the pizza, was forgotten It was fluff. The pizza was stuffed with nothingness. A pairing perfect for Miller Lite and a baseball ticket.

The pizza is innocuous. It’s taking absolutely zero chances and I think it’s okay. Like the Pirates who play it safe, the pizza is okay with a losing record. It’s fine pizza in a pinch, much better than the pizza served at PNC Park, and something I would even serve to the Just Ducky Tour ducks.

Three out of five pizza.