Actually SC, when we were in Chicago, and you were getting your hand repaired over at the ER room at County General Hospital, Don Sicilia took us to a local pizza place by his house.

It was pretty damn good. but don't let him know that I admitted that to you.

Actually, Lori stopped off and treated me to some deepdish pizza when she went to get my meds (at a drugstore about 20 minutes away). It was pretty good!

I ate it, took my meds and passed out. You all went on to have the BIG night with dirty telephone calls.

You know something? I remember her telling me that she ate Pizza with you and brought it back to the room because when Mikey and I saw her in the lobby ( yeah, you had us waitin in da lobby) I asked her if she wanted to join us for dinner and remember her saying that she had bought Pizza. Weird, but I remember that now that you mention it.

From what I heard, its a wonder you remember ANYTHING from that night.

That was BEFORE the nightclub and the zucchinis!

I missed all the fun

I LOVE Chicago deep dish pizza, we have Pizza Uno here... its very different, they put the toppings down first and then the cheese then the sauce... but its great stuff... its like choosing between OJ or Coke, you really can't because both are so different, and are great...

Tonite I decided to give Italianissimo in West Caldwell NJ a try, it is brick oven, and its probably the best in town, but that is not saying much because while its good, it still cant compare to some of these places out in the boroughs. As for their restaurant, its quite good, not just worthy of a Sopranos season-opener, but its some of the better italian food in the area.

I cancelled my trip into Brooklyn for pizza.... its absolutely POURING here (with lightning and thunder).

Nobody likes a soggy pizza.

I'm craving pizza so badly, but it's raining too hard to go out and get one, and the best place here doesn't deliver. I am doomed to be pizza-less.

I'd go out in the rain and get one. But since it is snowing and icing out right now the pizza will have to wait DAMN!!!

Anyone ever hear of, or eat at a place called Hungry Howie’s Pizza?

Last night the showed called Unwrapped which is on the Food Network, did a show called Pizzarama and they showed this place, Hungry Howie's, which specializes in making 8 differnet kinds of flavored pizza Crusts ; Sesame, Butter, Butter Cheese, Ranch, Cajun, Garlic Herb, Onion and Original.

There is a PBS show called "America's Test Kitchens" where they do blind tastings. I in NO WAY support frozen pizza, but lets face it, you need to keep one in the freezer for whatever reason, snowstorm, unexpected guest who needs to talk about his breakup, you get home from work at 1am and have nothing to eat, etc etc... so, given that scenario... T's and Celeste were at the bottom of the list, but California Pizza Kitchen was the best. California Pizza Kitchen is a chain, but even when I was working in NYC they had some pretty good stuff... its still there in University Square in Manhattan, I have to visit the one in the Short Hills Mall in Jersey, but just thought I would mention they were voted the best... for me, the very best used to be Celentano, then they sold it, and then they stopped making it... DiGiorno is garbage, Red Baron is marginal, and tombstone is what it is...

We keep frozen pizzas on hand because the kids can make them easily, and they're handy when their friends are around. Actually, the grocery store brand (Giant) makes a decent fresh unbaked pizza that we freeze. I don't particularly care for red Baron or Tombstone, and the self-rising crust pizzas seem too doughy to me. DiGiorno's Thin Crust pizza is pretty good.

We also buy the pizza dough at Sam's and make our own. My wife makes the sauce and we use a blend of mozzarella, cheddar and jack.

I absolutely agree JR. Celentano used to make a really decent Sicilian frozen pizza.




Klyd, try a blend of Mozzarella, Provolone, Parmasean and Fontina cheeses.

I love making homade pizza and calzones. As I've posted before, I usually make white ricotta pies as well as cheese pies, sometimes with various toppings. I buy fresh dough from Wegman's pizza department and make my own sauce. I even bought a wooden pizza peel



as well as some 16" pizza pans.

No pizza stone yet, DC?

Have that too. Usually use that for when I make a thin crust pizza.

I have to tell you, I was completely skeptical about the pizza stone and if it really could make a difference. I was amazed at how much better pizza made at home tasted when it was baked on a stone. I prefer thin crust, though, so that may have something to do with it.

Yes, a lot of people swear by the stone, but a lot of people also use a rolling pin, my mother used neither and i can't seem to replicate how she made it though i've tried many times, even using the same pans... i guess it takes time & skill.

Here's a trick for using a stone when you're just starting out with it:

Set the stone on the bottom of the oven and a rack in the top third of the oven. Make your pie as you would normally in a pizza pan and set it in the rack up top. As as soon as the pizza starts to "set," remove it from the pan with a pizza peel and slide it directly on to the stone in the bottom of the oven. Then leave it until it's done.

It's a great way to get used to sliding the pie into the oven, minimizing the risk of making a complete mess if you're a novice.

That tip comes direct from Lombardis on Spring Street (seriously). Hey, I am Pizzaboy.

I'll try it. Thanks, DC.

I know of a couple around here but I've never had their pizza.


I hate living this sheltered life. I've never heard of a pizza peel.

I don't own a peel, but I have the stone. I'll follow pizzaboy's advice when I'm making DC's pizza.

Yes, there are several Hungry Howie's in my general vicinity. It is quite good. The flavored crusts are outstanding. Their calzone style subs are why I originally started going there, but their entire menu is really good. Reasonably priced as well.

Here is the menu.

Has anybody here ever had breakfast pizza? It sounds disgusting, but it's actually quite good. There's a local place that makes it (name escapes me now, of course) that makes it: pizza dough, sauce, scrambled eggs on the pizza, and usually with sausage and peppers. Definitely not the healthiest meal, but quite tasty.

Exactly PB!

I just tried Little Caesar for the first time. Not too bad (for a chain takeout).

The bad part of this is they just opened a store a few blocks from my apartment.

Somebody said, "diet"??

Yeah, that'll get those triglycerides down.

Did anyone grow up eating rectangular pizzas? My mother made them in rectangular pizza pans. I never had a round one unless it was store bought.

That's a Sicilian style Pizza. Commonly called Sqaure Pizza. Made as a whole pie in a rectangular shaped pan and then cut into squares.

Then the chains are making inroads into the NY area? But do the neighborhood places still dominate?