America’s First Pizzeria, as seen in NYC by my Pizza Pal, Adam.
Pizza Review: 2Amys Pizzeria in Washington, DC
There’s pizza then there’s pizza. Then there’s, like, pizza. Then there’s Pizza. 2Amys is the latter, capital “P” izza. Which kind of makes sense because it resides in the capital of the United States of America. 2Amys is home to neopolitan pizza and serves a delicious D.O.C. certified pie - that means there’s a standard of quality and expertise with your pizza. There aren’t too many D.O.C. spots around, so if you can find one do yourself a favor and take a bite out of the D.O.C. certified pie. I guess what I’m saying is that D.O.C. is D.A.N. certified.
But 2Amys! My oh my. This pizza is the kind of pizza you dream of the night before Pizza Christmas. It’s the pizza that the Pizza King and Queen eat during the Annual Pizza Ceremony of Mozzarella and Majestic-ism. As seen in the photo above, every portion of the pizza is cooked to perfection. The crust is slightly charred in some spots and fluffy in the others, sign of the unpredictable and unruly flames striking out against the rising dough. The cheese remains white and pure; untouched by the elements waiting for you to consume it. The cheese doesn’t hog the pizza, but shares it with the wonderfully simple tomato sauce. Basil is strewn about as if a gentle breeze blew them onto the pizza as it was coming out of the oven and nobody minded its appearance.
It’s an extraordinary pizza that may be the best I’ve ever eaten. It’s authentic and harkens back to the classic type of pizza, which happens to be my favorite. In fact, it’s so classic that you have to ask for your pizza to be cut. Otherwise you have an entire oval to deal with and chances are you’ll end up looking like a fool. A fool with a pizza.
2Amys is more than just pizza. I was there with my pal Pat and my pizza lady, Christa, and we ate quite a variety of food.
Despite my warning, Pat got some sort of calzone thing. He seemed to enjoy it.
They also served doughnuts. I don’t really understand why, but 2Amys must get that question a lot because they have an entire section of their website is dedicated to this delicious treat.
But the donut wasn’t the end of the meal! What you see above is a “Foggy Senior.” I don’t even know if they’re on the menu, but Christa worked her magic and shazam - we were all enjoying a small cup of espresso with a dollop of ice cream. Just a dollop! But the combination is unreal. The espresso and ice cream complement one another perfectly, like two long lost friends who come back together and pick up like nothing ever happened.
And that’s what everything feels like at 2Amys. It’s all so natural, authentic, and legit. Every item makes sense to be on the menu. It’s an establishment built on common sense and tradition and 2Amys does not disappoint. I give each Amy a five out of five.
Do they serve pizza in jail? Genuinely curious. If so, do you get to choose a topping? Is it the square stuff you cook in the microwave? Or once a month do they get delivery? Maybe a man comes in with a portable brick oven and churns out hundreds of pizzas for the inmates?
I need to do some research.
New York may be a bit bruised and sore from Sandy’s beating, but has anyone stopped to think about the pizza? Whenever I begin to hear the rumblings of inclement weather I run to my nearest pizza store for a six-pack and a large pie. Even seeing a cow laying down in the field is enough to trigger this urge. The thought of pizza being washed away in the storm is terrifying.
Luckily, some of the pizza shops are persevering to supply pizza in a time of crisis. This sign was spotted via Twitter and is the sunrise after a dark lonely night.
Via Benjamin Harrison by way of Michael Hoffman
Found this box of pizza while I was out on a delicious Fall walk. There it was, abandoned in some alleyway like a victim on SVU. Would the police be summoned? Who would fight for justice?
The weird thing about this box is that I’ve never heard of Bellarico’s pizza. Never mind that my last name is eerily similar and there doesn’t seem to be a Bellarico’s in Pittsburgh. Maybe this pizza box was sent back in time to guide me along my pizza journey?
Mercurio’s margherita pizza. Finally, back to the basics. After a garbage truck of a mess at my last Mercurio’s outing I returned to the OG. Simple and clean. Yet, there was something missing. The crunch was missing from each bite. The cheese all pooled into the middle, like it was swirling a drain. The wait staff was lackadaisical. Could Mercurio’s be going downhill already? I’ve been there five times and each time coming back is harder. Their quality is eroding faster than a dune in the wind.
Let this mess of a pizza serve as a warning to pizza enthusiasts around the globe. The pizza globe.
Mercurio’s, which I’ve previously praised, served me this mess that disintegrated faster than the nazi that chose poorly in The Last Crusade. The fragile and flaky crust couldn’t hold the weight of the toppings. Who can blame it? Even Atlas himself would think twice about supporting artichokes, peppers, mushrooms and cheese.
I usually frown on toppings. I ordered this hoping to spice up my life and restore my faith in the segment of the pizza population that piles their pizza higher than the Tower of Babel. Do they think they’ll make it to pizza heaven? My heaven is a flat pizza. Safe from tremors and far from the cosmos. This pizza was vile. A Frankenstein of a mess. I now understand the rage of those villagers. Something as abysmal as this just shouldn’t exist.
Pizza: The essence of sharing and caring.
Angelo’s Pizza and the first slice from Bloomfield’s Little Italy Day’s! 10/10
Pizza, The Song
I’ve been thinking of opening up a pizza-themed nightclub called ‘Za for some time, but I wasn’t sure what kind of music I’d play. There’s stuff from the Pizza Kids, but that’ll only get you so far. Luckily, there’s a new pizza song that’s going to take my club from soft dough to a crispy hopping crust.
As seen above, the Pizza Robot Song is simple and hypnotic. Exactly what you’d want in a club song. The lyrics are as follows:
Pizza (repeat x 1530)
Simple, right?
I’ll be starting a campaign to make High-Life pounders the official beer of Mineo’s sicilian pizza. Why do beer and pizza go so well together? Is it something to do with hops? The fizz? There’s really no way to know.
Pizza for the third time today? Uh, okay.
This pizza just leapt out of my oven!
Turn That Dumpy Electric Oven into a Brick Oven
Please pay no attention to that laval field in the middle of that pizza. That’s not what we’re here to discuss (I think that splotchiness is due to an excess amount of sauce, I’ll investigate more today). What is important is dat crust. Look at it! Charred yet flaky. Crunchy yet solid. It’s the outline, the pizza border signifying where this pizza’s domain begins an ends. It’s the type of barrier you see in your dreams or in a restaurant that’s home to a brick oven. But hey, I made this pizza in an electric oven thereby throwing the entire pizza-baking hierarchy out of whack.
The pizza you see above is from Mercurio’s. I’ve included a photo of “true brick oven pizza” for crust reference. Not too far off.
To achieve crispness, you gotta learn to embrace the broiler in your oven. Brick ovens cook pizzas between 900 and 1200 degrees Fahrenheit and most electric ovens won’t get hotter than 550 degrees. I’m sure that limit is the result of years of brick oven lobbyist in an effort to secure their domain, but those days are over.
The broiler is the key to excess heat. Once the oven is raised to its max, you’ll need to open the door to trick the oven into thinking it is cooling off. Meanwhile, there should be a pizza stone hiding in the oven absorbing all the heat. It’ll remain piping hot while the ambient heat leaks out. Once the oven releases some heat (usually only 30 seconds) you can shut the door and turn the broiler on. I’m not sure of the science, but what you get is a pizza stone that exceeds the temperature limit.
Keeping the stone four inches from the broiler is important so that the entire production cooks in harmony. Let the pizza stone and broiler sit alone in the oven for 10 minutes, then you can put your dough/sauce/cheese/whatever in.
It’s a novel approach to getting a different type of pizza out of your oven. You might have to mess around with the formula, but if your'e dying for that brick oven taste give this a shot. You probably won’t be disappointed. Who knows!
Enrolling in My Pizza University
I’ve been on the market for pizza literature for a long time. While I’m working on baking a delicious fiction novel about a pizza detective who needs to solve Mozzarellaburgh’s crust problem, I thought I’d whet my appetite with some non-fiction. Jim Lahey made a big splash in the bread industry with his no knead recipe. If you recall, I tried out his no knead pizza dough recipe some months back. It went okay.
His book, My Pizza, is full of sage advice and encourages readers to think outside the marinara sauce and apply some freaky toppings to the dough. It’s the perfect book for any pizza enthusiast looking for some inspiration. I can do without the recipes (it all boils down to putting whatever you like on the dough anyways), but Lehey has figured out a way to get neopolitan style pizza using an electric oven. That’s what pulled me in, and from reading his method it doesn’t sound unbelievable.
The key to that charred (yet delicious) crust is to broil the pizza. It shouldn’t be in the oven for longer than ten minutes, but as long as the dough sites four inches from a blazing broiler you’ll be in business. I made up some dough tonight and I’m looking forward to checking it out. I’ll be sure to post some photos.
I haven’t made it all the way through My Pizza, but it bodes well. Hopefully I’ll learn a thing or two to help me grow as a pizza journalist. I already learned that “pepperoni” in Italian is plural for pepper! Isn’t that fun.
Pizza Notebooks! They’re a bit spookier than regular notebooks, but when you infuse pizza into papyrus that’s one of the side effects. It’s times like these I wish I knew more about the dark arts of pizza.
What will I be using my Pizzagram Notebooks for? Duh:
- Writing down pizza recipes.
- Writing down pizza fan fiction.
- Writing letters to POTUS asking him to promote pizza civil rights.
- Using the paper as a crust for a Papyrus Pizza.
- Writing down cryptic pizza riddles to leave behind upon my death. The riddles will all be pieced together to reveal my hidden underground Pizza Palace that I’ve been constructing in secret for years.
That’s about it. I’m not sure there’s much more you can do with them, but maybe you have better ideas than I do?
If you’re interested in pizza paraphernalia check out Beth Dean’s store. She’s really revolutionizing pizza goodies.
I was sent this video by a local pizza expert today. It features a women who “just doesn’t care” and sometimes “just can’t care” about the wait for pizza that’s considered the best in the world. Pizzeria da Michele, in Naples, Italy was featured in Eat, Pray, Love (which was no coincidence), but if you can stick it out through the video you’ll see some of the freshest most amazing pizza to ever be made in a country shaped like a boot.
Brick Oven Pizza Sunday! Enjoy the photos chronicling a young pizza’s journey in a 1000 degree oven.
Pizza Delivery Guy Robbed at Gunpoint in Pittsburgh →
I’ve spent my formative years delivering pizzas to all walks of life. In the suburbs I worked the night shift, delivering piping hot pies to divorced dad’s trying to perk up their kids. I’d be the life of the party when bringing five large pizzas to a bouncing house (my first party experience, really). I’d turn down drink offers and drive back to the restaurant thinking I had the coolest job.
In the city, things were a bit different. Deliveries to the heart of Highland Park and Wilkinsburg were considered dangerous by the old guard. Clientele tipped poorly and gas seemed to evaporate faster during deliveries. I felt safe on my deliveries and never declined an order because it was in a shady area.
It’s a shame when things like this happen. Most delivery drivers carry less than $100 dollars and the money that is stolen is mostly tips that goes directly to the driver. Pretty messed up.