Cogan's, Norfolk

My pizza addiction has put me on a weeklong pizza binge since last weekend and after pillaging a Digiornio at 3AM this morning, I have decided to put an end to it.  My blog posts this week will most likely not be pizza reviews, but I’ll do my best to bring something to the table and I’ll try not to do the typical re-broadcasting of pizza news linked from other pizza blogs.

This weekend brought me down to my home town, Virginia Beach, for a rock rager at Chicho’s Pizza on 29^th and Pacific.  Our other writer, Mr. Andy, plays guitar in Constrictor and I often find myself singing and air-drumming along to the melodies that get stuck in my head.  They’re rad.

While I didn’t eat pizza at Chicho’s, I think Andy can chime in and tell us how good their pizza is.  I would have definitely grabbed a slice but I had already pounded out a large pizza at Cogan’s an hour earlier with an old friend of mine.  We split the toppings; she opted for straight pineapple on her side and I kept it real.  Just cheese.

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How It's Made

Grant and I had some frozen mini pizzas last night and it got me thinking. How is it made?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gk0jhLfpRAw&hl=en&fs=1&]

Robin Inn, Robinson St.

After hearing from a couple people about the pizza at Robin Inn, I decided to take a stab at it.  Very surprisingly (and suspiciously), their 16-inch large cheese pizza is under $9.  What have we got to lose?

About $9.

This is some of the worst pizza I’ve ever had in the city.  Very much a thin crust, it is no better than a glorified Tombstone pizza, and by glorified I mean big.  The crust might actually be worse than a frozen Tombstone.  At $9 for 16-inches, exactly what are they using back there?  The crust crumbles and breaks as soon as you pick it up, and flakes apart like bad pizza crust.  The cheese resembles Ninja Turtle cartoon pizza, which isn’t really that bad at all.  Pretty normal mozzarella.  The sauce was nothing special and included very few spices to give itself any kind of redeeming identity in the budget pizza world.  The pepperoni again felt like it came off a frozen pizza.

The only reason I ate more than two slices was so that I wouldn’t look bad asking for a box to take this crap home to feed stray cats.

The service at Robin Inn is amazing and by no means should this place be avoided because of their bad pizza.  That isn’t what they specialize in , it’s just a nice, family owned restaurant and are renowned for their kind-hearted wait staff.

The picture sucks, but you don’t want to eat this stuff anyway.

-gRant

Ella's Wood-Fired Pizza, DC

Sometimes the best experiences come out of spontaneity, and in my case, things are rarely as exciting when you put too much effort into that pretty little picturesque evening you had planned.

Such is the case of the best Monday I’ve probably had all year.  Just a few days prior, I took a shot in the dark and asked my D.C. area brother is he’d be interested in seeing the New Jersey Devils @ Washington Capitals.

Now I, being a huge Devils fan since 5th grade, had a hard on for this trip all weekend and was stoked my bro would be interested in going (not to mention picking up the tab on both the tickets and the pizza we we’re about to have.

Enter, Ella Wood-Fired Pizza.

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Hmmmm

Piccola’s is way overrated, but my friend Katie just made this at school in Oregon.  Heirloom tomatoes, asparagus (what?) and kalamata olives.  Baked at 525F.

Save me a slice!

-gRant

Assante's

Assante’s Pizza is near and dear to the hearts of many Richmonders, offering some of the only really late night satisfaction in town.  I have some of the best pizza/friends memories of Richmond involving inhaling a large Assante’s pie with friends after a night of boozing and partying, only to experience an impromptu pizza high and blacking out.

And I actually had a craving for some of the chewy crusted pizza last night…

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Pie, a New Pizza Joint

Ok you might remember Si Tapas Restaurant on Lombardy, across from Balliceaux, the old Bogart’s place. Well its now flipping itself into a possibly super sikk pizza place called Pie.

I heard about this place last night among buzzy bar conversation and I rushed over after work to check things out. The only information I could get were the menu and retro pizza logo, pixelated like an old Atari game.

Whole milk mozzarella!

There was no answer when I called the number on the sign, but I’ll keep calling back until I find out when this place is opening and we’ll definitely be there when it does. Super stoked!

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update

It looks like Richmond.com and Style already have more info.

-gRant

Hollywood Slices

Some of my favorite pizza moments exist only on the silverscreen.  As much as I would like to re-enact some of these glorious pizza moments, most of them would end up pretty badly.  At least I can live vicariously through them. Here are some of my favorites.

Loverboy (1989) – Starring Patrick Dempsey – This movie is a classic. Patrick Dempsey plays Randy Bodek. The first five minutes of the movie features two pizza cameos, both random college bro’s bringing pie boxes into Randy’s impromptu party. Randy tanks his relationship, his college and ends up slinging dough at a little place called Senor Pizza. His first delivery sends him headfirst into a world of cougar madness where unhappily married women order extra anchovies in hopes of getting ‘special service.’ The whole flick is streaming on youtube.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZDbsV3B3BU;]

Home Alone (1990) – Starring Macaulay Culkin – As a kid this movie never failed to entertain. It wasn’t until I got a little older that I really started to see some of the pure genius at work here. Does anybody realize first time around that his family orders $122 worth of pizza at one point. What I fail to realize is how Kevin missed out on a slice of cheese when there was easily 10 pizzas waiting to be eaten. I mean seriously. This kind of carelessness is the reason he had to be bailed out by old weird people in both films. Nonetheless there are some good pizza sightings and a great delivery scene. Here is the mash-up of the ‘Angels with Filthy Souls’ delivery scene and the end of Se7en.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ryu1-wcv_4&hl=en&fs=1&]

Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) – Starring Sean Penn – This movie full of all sorts of debauchery. Jeff Spicoli is a goddamn maniac. Anybody who orders pie straight to a classroom should be put up for some kind of award. His teacher, however, should have been strung up for his poor pizza etiquette. How dare he give away Jeff’s hard earned pie. Even if the delivery was a class disturbance, pizza supersedes his rank. One might note that the delivery man for Spicoli’s pizza is Taylor Negron, cast as himself. Later in the 1996 film Bio-Dome, Negron is cast as Russell, a real jerf-off who happens to deliver 2 pizzas and some bladder busters to Bud and Doyle after they make their Bio-Dome escape.

@ 4:54

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFQz2DJSTQs&hl=en&fs=1&]

Why Fit Guys Can Still Eat Pizza

I caught an interesting article on Men’s Fitness today about the healthier ways to eat pizza.  As a guy who takes physical health pretty seriously, I was fairly excited to see such an article on a health and nutrition web site.  Here is an excerpt…

“What’s not to love about this Italian export? Other foods, you eat. Pizza, you experience. Devouring a slice is a process that involves all the senses: the aroma coming from the oven, the sight of the molten cheese, the feel of the cornmeal-dusted crust in your hands, the sound of the crunch as you bite into it. And, of course, the taste-that unparalleled combo of dough, sauce, herbs and cheese.”

-gRant

Tarrantino's…again.

And it’s back to their normal crust.  Just look at how well it’s cooked.  The cheese is like molten lava queso, piping hot and ready to burn the roof of your mouth.  I say, if you don’t have a piece of skin hanging from your palate after eating pizza, then you didn’t eat it fast enough.

-gRant