A regular human being eats nothing but pizza for 25 years →

Dan Janssen has eaten pizza for almost every meal for a quarter of a century.

People put pizza on a greasy pedestal. Is the shocking thing about this story supposed to be the volume of pizza that he eats? Or that he eats all the pizza and is healthy?

There’s a stigma around pizza that it’s a sloppy mess. That anyone that eats it more than once a week is doomed to become a spawn of Pizza-the-hut. We need more stories like this to show that you can be pizza and be a normal human being at the same time.

Good on Dan Jansen. Making Dans around the world proud and keeping plenty of pizza shops in business. 

Next time someone tells you to not eat so much pizza, send them this article. You can still be you and eat an absurd amount of pizza.

How to Find and Order Great Pizza in New York | Slice Pizza Blog →

A plain slice from Best Pizza [Photograph: Jessica Leibowitz] As a New Yorker, I’m unfit to make the call on whether or not we have the best pizza in the world. It’s against my basic upbringing to even entertain the…

This is a guide that helps you quickly assess a pizza place in New York City. This is excellent because if you’re visiting New York City you may become overwhelmed with the amount of everything. 

There’s a pizza place on every corner, and next to that pizza place is another pizza place. If they can afford rent in Manhattan they must be good, right? Well now you can make that call by playing pizza detective. 

An aside: I’m glad DiFara pizza makes a cameo in the list of go-to places. I highly recommend making the pilgrimage, even though it’s kind of in the middle of nowhere and there’s an absurd line to battle.

I’m interested to see what a guide of this caliber would look like in other cities. Pittsburgh has some quirky places, and Oakland is full of pizza-traps. If a place is selling you a whole pie for $5 you’re in trouble. Imagine the corners they have to cut to make that profitable…

Anyways, it’s a solid read and worth carrying in your back pocket if you ever end up heading towards New York City. 

Espresso E Pizza From Espresso A Mano

Pittsburgh has caught pizza fever and every one is getting in on the action. Last week we explored the world of Pizza Cones from Pizza Cono in Squirrel Hill. This week’s new challenger in the pizza arena is Espresso A Mano in Lawrenceville.

Normally they’re busy serving the best coffee money can buy while peddling devilish croissants. But they’ve realized they’ve been ignoring a large demographic in Pittsburgh - Pizza Enthusiasts. 

For $3 you can grab a slice of pizza that isn’t made on site. It’s made in a pizza place in Mt. Washington. It was busy and loud and I didn’t quite catch the name and I’m sorry.

On the weekends, they get a few pies delivered to the coffee shop. They cut them up, waiting for an over-caffeinated patron to order a slice. The perfect compliment to a stomach slopping around with coffee.

Through the glass I saw a sample and it looks like something you’d eat at Il Pizzaiolo or Mercurio’s. The crust looked soft and fluffy, the ingredients fresh, and a dazzling piece of pizza that would feel at home in Naples.

I’ll have to go back for a taste next weekend.

I’m pumped more places are carrying pizza. In this dire winter I’m comforted knowing I never have to travel too far to stumble into a pizza oasis. 

Diving Into Pizza Cono, A Pizza Cone Place Pittsburgh

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A while ago this whole “pizza cone” madness blew up. Pittsburghers were foaming at the mouths to get their jaws around this strange contraption. Was it more than pizza? Or closer to an ice cream cone? Can you fill this with chocolate? Can you use a straw to slurp out the cheese, sauce, and meats?

I was lucky enough to get in touch with the owner of Pizza Cono, Mike. Mike has spent a large majority of his life in Pittsburgh. He worked his way through Pitt University by, you guessed it, working at pizza places. He’s no stranger to the concept of pizza, but he is responsible for bringing this strange concept to Pittsburgh.

Mike was inspired during a trip in Europe. He was always on the lookout for “zany things” when he saw some folks strolling through the streets of Italy holding a pizza cone in one hand, happier than ever. He thought he should bring that cone-shaped happiness to the United States.

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Look how happy I am.

To his knowledge, you won’t find a pizza cone shop anywhere in the United States. I’ve yet to do my research, but this is the first i’ve heard of a building where you can walk in, hand someone $3.75 and leave with a pizza cone.

“Pizza cone is meant to be an on-the-go experience,” Mike told me. He wants people to stop into his shop, get a shot of espresso from his espresso machine, grab a pizza cone, and continue on their way. This isn’t a pizzeria, but a quick place to stop for lunch on the go. Or the perfect cafe to visit en route to work. Ideal for the student on the way home from class, or the young lover who wants to surprise their significant other with a bouquet of pizza.

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Mike invited me into his pizza cono shop to show me how a pizza cone is made. The process is mostly the same–they make dough, they let the dough rise, and they even keep it in the same white, plastic dough trays I’ve used in my pizza making days. But then that’s where your traditional pizza making experience ends.

The pizza cone process is more mechanical. A side-effect of machinery rising up? Probably. The only part of pizza cone creation that involves a human is the stuffing of the dough into a hole (which is filled with a cone to achieve that cone shape), and filling the pizza cone with toppings. The cooking of the cone is done with a carousel that rotates in-and-out of heated sections until the cheese is melted and the cone is a tad crispy.

Seven minutes later you’re presented with a pizza cone.

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He’s still working on perfecting the pizza cone. The ingredients aren’t the warmest at the bottom, so he’s warming up the sauce before layering the ingredients. 

The top of the cone is crispy, but further down, the dough has a lot more give. Which results in a mushy cone. In this way, it mimics a slice of pizza almost perfectly. The cone was much less messier than I thought it would be. 

And for those of you that dab the grease off your pizza, you’ll sleep easy knowing there’s almost no grease to be found here. It’s a tidy cone that somehow stays contained within the funnel. No flakiness and a thin layer of aluminum foil keeps your hands clean.

Pizza Cono has limited day-time hours at the time I clicked publish. You can find it on the corner of Forbes and Murray in Squirrel Hill. By all those other pizza places.

I’ll have more info about pizza cone in the coming days. Stay tuned for videos of a pizza cone being created, interviews, photos, and a more detailed review!

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Pizza Cone Update

I just received a phone call from the owner of the Pizza Cono place opening up in Squirrel Hill. 

I’ll be stopping by their place Thursday afternoon to sample some of their cones, interview the owners, and figure out what exactly is going on here. It sounds like the grand opening is coming this Saturday, but that could always change.

The owner, Mike, seemed very excited and said that “people love the cone,” but I suppose I’ll be the judge of that.

Interview With the CEO of the Pizza Perfume Company

Yesterday, news hit that pizza perfume was released into the wild. I was wondering what would drive Demeter to finally create the scent we’ve been waiting for. The one scent that’s worth wafting into my nostrils. 

I emailed the CEO of Demeter, Mark Crames. He got back to me that same day and apologized for not responding earlier. Since he’s a CEO I’ll let it pass. 

So what inspired the pizza perfume? According to Crames, they’re not the first. If you remember your pizza history you’ll recall that Pizza Hut was the trail blazer in the pizza perfume field. This was back in 2012 and it all started with a joke Facebook post about pizza hut cologne. 

What was once a joke transformed into 100 limited editions bottles of pizza perfume.

Crames explained the inspiration, saying, “Pizza Hut in Canada did a very short run limited edition, and the positive reception is what sparked our decision to give it a try.  The positive reception of the Pizza Hut project made me think people might be ready to wear a well done savory scent.”

But they weren’t aiming to mimic a Brooklyn pizzeria or bottle the scent of Naples. When asked if the scent was reminiscent of a specific slice Crames said, “I did not have a specific target in mind, but more a generic fresh, hot pizza smell.”

I’m hoping for an evolution of pizza scents. “Brooklyn Bombshell” scent would be nice. Not to mention smelling like a “Pizzaiolo,” or a “Deep Dish Diva”

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Introducing Pizza Perfume to Spray Onto Your loved Ones

Are you happy? Are you finally satisfied? The stink of pizza has been bottled and is ready to spray onto you or your significant other. Luckily, the NY Daily News is on it.

It looks like a bottle was sent to their office where they spent the better part of the day spraying and smelling each other. Reviews range from “great if you want to smell like garlic” to smells of “cold, leftover pizza.”

You can buy the pizza perfume on Demeter’s website. But why? I supposed you’d want to smell like pizza when:

  • You’re on a first date at your favorite pizza parlor and you want to mask the scent of your nervousness. 
  • You’re inside a pizza sleeping bag, but want it to smell like an old pizza cave.
  • You’re going to a Pizza Underground concert.
  • You’re reading your favorite pizza blog.

I’ve reached out to the CEO for more of a comment on this. Let’s hope he gets back to me.