The Pizza Witching Hour

The pizza witching hour is the hour before the pizza you plan to eat arrives. Here’s what typically happens during such a time:

  • Any sound that enters your ear drums turns into a doorbell ringing. 
  • You are constantly disappointed that everything in your field of vision is not pizza.
  • You calculate your actions and behavior with the delivery person in your head over and over.
  • You check the time you called to place your pizza order to see how much time has passed.
  • You feel like you’re dying from hunger, but putting anything in your stomach would be a pizza sin.
  • You spend 20 minutes organizing the money and tip for the pizza person.

Great News for Pizza and Mayonnaise Lovers

Pizza with Mayonnaise

Mayonnaise has become pretty popular lately and has been quite the hit on sandwiches. Jimmy John’s subs come with mayonnaise on default and Subway has a buffet of mayonnaise variants to choose from. You can’t swing a dead cat without it hitting a vat of mayonnaise. Despite this I’ve yet to dive head first into the world of mayonnaise. But now I finally have a reason.

Japan is a pioneer of trends and I look to them to show me the food of tomorrow. This week, that food is pizza with a grid of mayonnaise. According to an on-the-street report from Rocket News 24, mayonnaise is a staple on pizza. I guess Domino’s adopting the creamy gunk for its own pies just makes sense in that region. 

How does mayonnaise complement a buttery crust, soggy vegetables, and canned sauce? We may never know without visiting Japan.

If this story has taught me anything it’s how to properly spell mayonnaise. 

Pizza Review: Fiori's Pizzaria in Brookline

Fiori’s Pizzaria was founded in 1979 out in Brookline, Pennsylvania. It’s a few miles outside the city of Pittsburgh, but some would say it’s the top 99 of the top 100 reasons to drive through the a tunnel. Here’s a portion of the list right here:

  1. Fiori’s Pizzaria
  2. Fiori’s Pizzaria
  3. Leaving to greet the Pirates at the airport as they return from a World Series victory
  4. Fiori’s Pizzaria
  5. Fiori’s Pizzaria
  6. Fiori’s Pizzaria

It’s been hyped up to me since I started this blog. “Have you had Fiori’s? You’re not a pizza journalist if you haven’t.” Okay, maybe, but that’s not what my associates degree in Pizza Journalism says. The other day I recruited my pizza pal Adam to escort me into the greasy, bustling, cheesy den of Fiori’s Pizzaria.

There’s Adam with our prized pizza. Doesn’t it look like an angel? It emits a golden glow. The cheese is perfectly melted and the crust is perfectly browned as if spray painted by a top-tier food artist. Even at a slant the pizza grips to the pan with a sense of purpose. As if to say, “Only the chosen pizza eater can pull a slice from this ancient metal.” We must’ve been the chosen ones because when we were done there wasn’t a slice of pizza left behind to tell the tale of the Fiori’s Pizza Massacre.

So the pizza begins like you’d expect. You lift a slice into the air and gravity pulls down on the slice hungry for a piping hot meal. Not today gravity. Despite some cheese dripping off to the the side, the rest of the package is solid. There’s some give to the crust, but not enough that leads to a complete pizza breakdown. You could build a house on this crust except you’d have to worry about a sinking foundation in about three years. Which, all things considered, isn’t that bad. You know, for pizza. 

The cheese steals the show here. It’s goopy, delicious, and a bit sweet. The sauce is humble. It seems to exists only to keep the crust separated from cheese. Are they mortal enemies? Will the pizza implode if it weren’t for the sauce? Possibly (Sauceibly?). 

I spent a lot of time chewing through the cheese. If you’re familiar with Mineo’s then you have an idea of what Fiori’s taste like. I’d say that Fiori’s is more of a focused pizza; there isn’t a pool of grease and the cheese is easier to handle than a handful of ice cubes covered in olive oil. It’s a delightful experience.

But then you get to the crust and you begin to wonder what is it you’ve just put into your mouth. Your tastebuds feel betrayed. Was the rest of the slice just an illusion? How could 9/10ths of a pizza be near perfection but the handle taste like literally nothing. The crust has no flavor. At all. It’s just chewy matter. A simple handle so you don’t get cheese and grease on your hands. It’s better off being tossed to the side or recycled. It spoils a delicious pizza. Perhaps Fiori should work to build a pizza home out of the crust instead of having customers eat it?

The motto at Fiori’s is “We fix you up” and it’s certainly true. It’s some of the best pizza I’ve had (aside from the crust) and it’s the perfect pizza environment. There’s a pinball machine and a friendly staff. There’s a large window in the pizza-making area so you can watch the dough mature from flour and water into a pizza being. It’s a grand pizza experience and if you’re in the area you’d be a fool to not check it out. 

Pizza Interview: Bob, Founder of the Pittsburgh Pizza Parade

Somehow I ended up on meetup.com and the first thing I did was type in “pizza.” I do this on every new site I enter. Gotta test its mettle. In this case there was a legitimate result: The Pittsburgh Pizza Parade. Pittsburgh has a parade for all the major holidays, but if you don’t live in Bloomfield you’re missing out on a majority of them. This Pizza Parade is more accessible. The troup tromps through Pittsburgh to meet at pizza places and eat pizza. Then they roll their bloated pizza bodies back home. I guess the parade aspect takes place post eating; most attendees blow up to the size of floats.

I’m only kidding - you can’t actually turn into a parade float from eating pizza. Bob, the founder of the Pittsburgh Pizza Parade, was kind enough to answer some questions for me. He’s been around the block and knows way more about pizza than I do!

Pizza Walk With Me (PWWM): What is your history with pizza? I always find it interesting how people seem to always have a pizza story.

Bob: I have always enjoyed pizza growing up in the Italian family. On Friday nights my grandmother used to make homemade dough and we would have pizza as the men watched the fights on TV. This is when the Gillette sponsored music came on and that was the signal to serve the pizza. The dough was handmade and we would help kneed it  by punching, which was fun for young kids.  The pizza had a small amount of sauce and cheese, but we would always have anchovies or mushrooms or a lot of toppings. The men would drink Iron city or Rolling Rock beer with the pizza.  We never ate pizza out when I was young.

PWWM: Do you think there’s such a thing as a perfect slice of pizza? Or even the best pizza? There are almost too many variables to consider!

Bob: When I was in 8th grade my friends started going to Mineo’s pizza on Murray Avenue in Squirrel hill. This is still my favorite. Others swore by Vincent’s in Forest Hills. They are totally different styles with Mineo’s being thinner with substantial amount of cheese. Vincent’s is thicker and greasier with a wonderful way of chopping up the pepperoni on it.  It closed after he died recently, but I understand they are remodeling it to reopen.

PWWM: What is it about pizza that brings a group of people together?

Bob: I have had pizza every place in the world where I have gone.  I love it and it is my favorite food.   During my many trips to Italy I found the pizza there is very thin and served to individuals.  I much more prefer the sharing among the group of people.  This is why like the pizza groups.  It is an excellent source of community to share pizza and conversation.  

PWWM: What inspired you to start this pizza parade? Do you think it’s something that you could do with any food? Maybe hoagies? Or falafel? 

Bob: A few years ago I went to a pizza group called From A-Z.  They would schedule an evening at pizza shops starting an A then B and we would go through the alphabet.  I enjoyed the variety and had some excellent pizzas and met new people.  I decided in September to start it again on a weekly basis every Monday or Tuesday night.  These are slow times restaurants and a single people living alone enjoy the opportunity to get out and share some food and conversation.

Yes it would be easy to do that same type of meet up with fish sandwiches or any other type of food.  People are communal it like to gather to eat and talk. People want to meet new people.

PWWM: Do you think there’s such a thing as Pittsburgh Style Pizza?

Bob: I do not think that there is a specific pizza that is Pittsburgh style pizza.

You could argue that the pizza from around the Naples area which is not as thick as Sicilian and thicker than Roma but is in between and is more common in Pittsburgh. 

PWWM: How have you seen pizza evolve through the years? Or do you think it has stagnated?

Bob: I have witnessed the change generations of the Minneo’s

From the passage of Mr. Mineo’s to his sons in the enlargement and remodeling of the location. When we first went there there is no seating there’s a tiny counter at the window you could rest your pizza on.  We would go around the corner and sit on somebody’s steps and enjoy our pizza.

We were always careful to clean up after ourselves and place the empty wrapper some box in the trash.

PWWM: Why do you think pizza has weaved its way into American culture? 

Bob: I think pizza is so popular because it is inexpensive and easy to make it taste wonderful.

You can order by the slice or the pie.

Pizza shops are everywhere. Pizza is on most menus.

Pizza is forever.

Pizza Highlights of 2012: A Retrospective

pizza party

I don’t think that 2012 was ever deemed the official year of the pizza, but it certainly did its best to dominate the news cycle. I’m bias, but I don’t think there was another food (except Twinkies maybe) that made as many headlines. I covered a majority of those standout stories right here on Pizza Walk With Me so I thought it would be a great time to look back and remember the unofficial year of the pizza. 

What a peculiar list. From the largest pizza ever created to a museum dedicated to pizza paraphernalia, pizza hit the big time. I have no doubt that in 2013 we’ll see a number of pizza innovations. Whether that’s new technology, techniques, or records. The pizza community is bubbling with excitement and is poised to grow faster than dough injected with yeast and set to ferment at room temperature for 24 hours. To 2013: The Year of the Pizza!

World Record Alert: World's Largest Pizza Record Returns to Italy

On December 14, 2012, the Italians did what they do best: make pizza. Actually, made a very large pizza. The largest pizza to ever exist in the universe (as far as scientist can tell). The Italian people came together to create a 130 foot wide margherita pizza made from 19,800 pounds of flour, 8,800 pounds of tomato sauce, and 19,800 pounds of mozzarella. A delicious and amazing feat!

What is the most stunning about this is that the Italian people had to reclaim this record. For the last 22 years a grocery store in South Africa owned the title with a 122 foot wide pizza they built. For what reason? Probably to keep lions at bay. 

Five chefs came together to build the newest pizza and put to shame every other country on the map. They decided to name the pizza “Ottavia” to “symbolise the hope of a great economic and cultural revival,” Dovilio Nardi, one of the chefs, said. 

Nardi is on the right path. A pizza can symbolize many things, but its most potent and important meaning is that of coming together as one and destroying hardships (and pizza). When the going gets tough, the tough order a pizza. What spinach is to Popeye, pizza is to every human. A single slice can rejuvenate your faith in reality and give you the power to innovate and create. Every ounce of mozzarella and flour your body digest is a distilled chemical reaction that fuels your future. 

There’s some more photos and quotes at the Daily Mail if you can’t get enough of this saga. Congrats to all involved and here’s hoping to a 2013 full of pizza. 

Pizza Calculator from Ledo's Pizza →

I don’t like Ledo’s pizza. It happens. For there to be great pizza, there has to be terrible pizza. It’s just the way the pizza world works. I think Ledo’s understands that pizza isn’t quite their strength so they’ve augmented their offerings with a “pizza calculator.”

You enter the number of pizza partiers and it’ll tell you an estimate of how many pizzas to order. Then multiply that by two or three for a true pizza party. 

Pizza Review: Lucci's Pizza in Squirrel Hill

Those lines. This pizza was sliced and diced with authority. Notice how the pizza doesn’t even try to bond back together like a symbiote or the Iron Giant. That’s a sign of a crispy, flaky crust that is waiting for you to ravage. It’s bold enough to stand on its own. “We don’t need those dirty other slices, we’re independent.” This Lucci’s pizza is thin, but capable. Like a lean cross country runner or a pole vaulter. Deceptive, yet satisfying. Wait, what do you mean you’ve never had Lucci’s Pizza? Oh, that’s right. It’s within a pizza’s throw of two very famous pizza shops that shine brighter than a hundred blessed pizzas.

Lucci’s stands very close to Mineo’s and Aiello’s which some may consider the finest in Pittsburgh. Which is fine, because Lucci’s offers a very different pie. Instead of an unhealthy  amount of cheese and grease, Lucci’s delivers a humble pie that believes in moderation. If this was an Indiana Jone’s situation, Doctor Jones would choose this pizza, the pizza of a carpenter. 

That might be the best way to describe Lucci’s Pizza. It’s comfortable. It’s nothing extravagant. It’s exactly how you would imagine a pizza would be. In a TV Script, when there’s a need for a pizza, the prop team would get a pizza from Lucci’s. It’s the pizza that would show up in clipart and that’s okay. It’s standard. 

The one thing that kind of sticks out is how crispy and crunchy the crust is. When you bite into the handle of the pizza it splinters into a thousand tiny bits of crust. It’s a surprise considering how calm and collected the rest of the pizza is. 

But the taste, flavor, and texture are exactly how you would imagine it to be. The cheese can land a bit on the heavy side, but the total package is nothing to flinch at. And when you put this pizza next to the somewhat absurd Mineo’s and Aiello’s, it works. It seems different when everything nearby is so over the top. 

Three out of five pizzas.