Pizza OnDemand

“The lazy portion of the population of Dubai is about to start living the dream:Red Tomato Pizza is releasing a VIP refrigerator magnet that allows you to order a pizza with the touch of a button. Basically, when you want pizza, you just push the button on the magnet, which then sends a preset order to the pizzeria via the Bluetooth connection on your smart phone. Then, magically, pizza arrives at your house.”

A buddy sent this over to me yesterday and it brought up some old ideas. Apparently people in Dubai will soon be able to press a button on their fridge and get pizza delivered to their house. While there is some speculation that it may not be real, the idea isn’t too far off. Smart phone ordering and speed dial have made the process of getting pizza delivered quick and easy. Still it’s no instant pie.

While my idea is a bit old school and repurposed, I think it has much more overall appeal. I propose the Batphone style pizza ordering system. Buy a no-dial phone unit online, program your favorite pizza place in – of course you must choose one that does long hours and delivery – and anytime you’re hungry, simply pick up the receiver and order. While this may not be as good as getting a preset instant order, it retains a few perks of traditional pizza ordering. For one, you won’t always want the same kind of pie, so this way you can change things up from time to time. Second and more importantly, if you feel like fucking with the pizza people, not that we do often, you can actually talk to a real person. A standard unit will run you under $100 bucks. Just find something cool to hide your phone under to give it an air of mystery.

Philly’s Best is Maryland’s Worst!

I took my third road trip to Elkridge, Maryland this past weekend and somehow ended up eating pizza at the same place all three times. Apparently the area is void of any real pizza options. They don’t even have a Pizza Hut which I’m not sure is a good or bad thing but says something about the pizza market.

The only real option in close delivery / pickup distance from my stay was Philly’s Best Pizza. A little far from Philly but since when did it become unreasonable to claim yourself the best pizza from a locale you’re nowhere near? I can assure you this is far from Philly’s best pizza. Maybe the owner’s name is Philly and this just happens to be the best pizza he could come up with.

This is your typical party pizza, lots of cheap cheese and sauce, not a lot of flavor, all sitting on top of a crust somewhere in the realm of a Papa John’s. If you have ranch, use it. It’s a good amount of food for the money and they have all kinds of other food on their menu, like buffalo wings and banana cheesecake rolls that sort of resemble jumbo taquitos.

While Philly’s best seems more like Philly’s Whatever, they are indeed good for something – A local police officer heading through the parking lot must have stepped in dog shit or bubblegum and conveniently stopped into Philly’s to grab one of their menus and commandeer it as a shoe cleaning device.

Austin, New Orleans, Savannah…pizza?

I believe my Austin pizza exposure started and ended with me at Hoek’s Death Metal Pizza.

Not because the pizza is good, because it ain’t.  It reminded me of a radical hybrid of frozen pizza and high school pie.  The kind of shit that falls apart as soon as you lift it up.

JUMP! Continue reading »

checking in from austin…

So far, really cool town and a lot bigger than I thought.  Everything is very 90′s if that makes any sense.  Think of the show “Austin Stories” on MTV back when they promoted quality independent programming.

Seeing Black Breath at a really cool indoor/outdoor bar/venue called Scoot Inn…definite highlight.  Good to run in to some old VA and NY friends.

Most novel idea?  That would be Hoek’s.

Free bands in the back and some mediocre pizza up front.  Nothing but death metal inside.  Cool shit.

Will have some proper pizza updates soon. Still haven’t had a proper slice.  Lets go!

Pizza Delivery solved

“Get real”  – Alli

Muuuuuuch better, BlowToad

A little while ago we got a sneak peak at BlowToad before they were officially open for business.  We weren’t thoroughly impressed.  Not with the pizza, the other grub nor the atmosphere.  It was all (technically and figuratively) a work in progress.  I wasn’t as vocally upset as my partner, it was free after all and the hosts were very gracious, but there were a lot of things we didn’t like.

After a nice date night at the Byrd Theater (is it really theatre?) I thought we might as well hop across the street and see what BlowToad has been fuckin’ around with in the last several weeks.  Also a good excuse to try this bull testes pizza that everyone has been spamming my inbox with.

I expected the bull testicles to be more or less a diversion from the mediocre pizza they served us last time, but the pie was very much excellente.  Light, crisp crust that holds stiff like it should and the perfect amount of charring.  Actually, there was an excessive amount of charring which I love.  All the flavors are there and a perfect distribution of the mozz turned this quick snack into a feverish, late night devouring of a crushing ‘za explosion.  Add a little parm and crushed red pepper and this shit actually blew me away.

The bull testes?  Just a chewy and dense piece of meat.  Reminded me of the way a chicken heart tastes.  Not much flavor, but an exciting idea for people to run through their minds as they chomp through their pies.

The whisky selection and beer menu is pretty damn good and I’ll definitely be coming back to try a real pizza.

Pizza Tonight! Finally!

The last time you heard us mention Pizza Tonight! was way back in 2011 (fucking forever ago) and Andy scored a take-home P.T. package.  The ingredients might have all been in place, but you really can’t get the taste for what these guys do so well when you’ve got it baking in your 450degree electric oven.

I finally get the chance to taste the wood fired brick oven pizza as Pizza Tonight! caters a shoot that I’m doing PA work on.  Verdict: Mind Blown.

To get this hulk of a structure to reach 900deg on a set several miles away, the PT crew had to light it the night before so the bricks can retain their heat well until lunch time.  You’re probably imagining a speeding, flaming brick oven, flying down I-95 while poor traffic is dodging its cinders.  I’m imagining that too.  It rules.  Someone draw up a T-shirt?  No, they don’t keep it lit while they drive dummy.

PT cooked up several pies for lunch.  There was a vegan potato which I cannot give a fair assessment of, partly because of my disdain for white pizza and you know, I’m not vegan.  But I’m sure you skinny assholes would love it.  The other white pie was a mushroom and onions (I hope i got this right) pizza.  Great stuff.

My favorite of the bunch was the fig & pig which consisted of a sweet, fig preserves on the crust topped with local prosciutto.  Classic blend of savory and sweet flavors both vying for dominance with no end to the battle in sight.  Fight on, flavors.  My mouth thanks you.

And of course you have to have a version of the classic pepperoni pizza.

Local ham, fresh mozz, a beautifully tangy tomato sauce and some of the best crust I’ve tasted in Virginia.  The thing that stands out most with Pizza Tonight! is their dough, and Victoria DeRoche tends to this stuff constantly.  Of the pizza joints that I’d consider the best, it usually boils down to consistency.  So many places are thwarted with a rotating cast of pizzaiolos and it must be extremely difficult to get several minds to focus on taking care of one living thing.  Of all the wood fired pizza that I’ve had in the south, Pizza Tonight! takes the trophy home and to me it all comes down to the crust.  It’s perfect.  You could park this cart outside of Di Fara’s in Brooklyn or Motorino or Lombardi or even my coveted Roberta’s in Bushwick.  I’d dare anyone to pick a winner.  Pizza Tonight! kills it with creativity and execution.

I found myself wondering, “Man they should totally have a restaurant,” and then I stopped myself.  Yeah, a rolling brick oven is cute and weird and can turn heads but, this shit works right now, would it work in a building?  That’s a huge task.  None of them are really working in this town…yet.

Either way, Pizza Tonight! has a kickstarter campaign going and I urge you to check it out and at the very least, get your asses to their pop-up spots.  They set up:

Byrd House Market. Tuesdays 3pm-7pm.

South of the James Market. Saturdays 8am-Noon

First Market Fridays.  Next to Quirk on Broad St. 7-10pm

I’ll have more/better pictures up soon.  Gotta bug my boss to send them to me…  .. . brrrlll

8 1/2 Sandwiches

I feel like it’s hard to find a beautifully drab, hole-in-the-wall type place that seriously serves up some of the best the city has to offer.  Often you’ll know of these places as relics, but they’re always looking for that extra bit of pizazz, the generic art deco collection to cover up the yellowed walls, or the standard Joe DiMaggio/Sorpanos ate here kind of memorabilia that you so often find in a successful Italian restaurant.  There’s money to be made there because there are always going to be a large chunk of the population that will pass over these dingy huts for lack of clean, comfortable style.  I’ve known many of them and I understand why these restaurants renovate to attract them.  $_$

I’ve known people that have lived in Richmond for 5 or more years and have never eaten at 8 1/2  Pizza.  ”It looks like shit” I’ve heard one guy say and I can’t really argue with him.  But that’s the charm that I can appreciate.  Go inside, punk rock music.  Skate videos on the TV.  The hood over the oven blasting air.  Employees are never too friendly, a little short.  Know what you want, how to order, pay and wait.  One table to sit at.  Newspapers sprawled across the bench.  Read an article about Jeremy Lin.  Order’s ready.  Go to Scuffletown park and eat in silence.

This was the kind of thing that I’d look forward to most when coming down from New York.  I’d always get the pies, never tried anything else.  Yesterday two friends and I opted to get some heros due to the hour long wait for pizza.  These fuckers are delicious as exepcted.

Lots of flavor, some excellent bread and you won’t pay more than eight bucks for most of the sandwiches.  Go get em!

Can this be our new mascot?