Pizzacentric
66 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 7 years ago -Podcast interviews with various people - all on the topic of pizza.
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Episodes
Trenton Contention
August 20, 2011 14:18Shocking news: In an attempt to steal the throne of OLDEST PIZZERIA IN US from Lombardi's in New York, Papa's Tomato Pies in Trenton has claimed this title for themselves. Fifty-four years ago, when the New York Times Magazine covered Lombardi's, the author wrote that nobody disputed [Gennaro Lombardi's] claim to having the oldest pizzeria in the United States. (Mitgang, Herbert. "Pizza a la Mode: In many variations, Italy's famous pie now rivals the hot dog in popularity." New York Times ...
Catania 2: Pescheria
July 27, 2011 14:19I used to throw a crab feast every other year in New York. Each time, I went to Fulton Market around 4 am the night before to pick up the 1-3 bushels of Maryland crabs I’d ordered in advance from a guy named Pepe. The market ― rare for its sales volume in the US ― was an adventure all its own, made wilder to a layman like myself since the vendors did not cater to individuals. Instead, customers were all volume buyers like distributors and retailers: it was was only open at night, felt a ...
Never Mind the Trophies, Here's the Pizza
June 24, 2011 14:20Okay, New York. Alright, Naples. Stop right there, San Francisco. You're all in for a pizza showdown. And the contender is... Rome. Roman pizza ― and by this I don't mean the single-server round jammies sold in fork-and-knife spots just about all over Europe ― is referred to by Italians as pizza al taglio (ie. pizza by the slice). It's a long tray pie with thinnish crust and ― if done right ― numerous pockets of air. "Plain" (to me, at least) means topped with melty ― but not melte...
Catania 1: Chiosco
May 27, 2011 14:22Acclimation to Sicily began at the airport in Rome, where for every inch we moved forward in line (it seemed a good chance we might miss our plane), a certain pushy man in weekday attire encroached as if somehow his pushiness might cause us to let him cut in line. When an agent from the airline opened the rope and invited anyone going to Catania to bypass the line, Mr. Pushy shoved past us to get to the counter first. Along the way to Nick's parents' house in Catania (where we would stay ...
Japan Report: Pizza Up a Tree
May 21, 2011 14:23[The following report — Pizzacentric's first guest-written piece — was submitted by Monty DiPietro, a Canadian-born writer/editor who has been living in Japan for several years. His initial contact described a Japanese man who studied pizza-making in a city, moved to an arts community in the country, built a pizza oven on a mountain, put his dining room up a tree (transporting his pies upward by dumbwaiter!), and grows his own organic veggies. What a perfect story for Pizzacentric!] -- ...
Getting to the Bottom of Rice Balls
May 09, 2011 14:24In November 2010 I posted a story about the rice balls at Joe's Superette in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. In the piece I interviewed Pizzacentric's Sicilian Critic, Nick Nicolosi, to see how he thought they measured up against those served in Sicily — the birthplace of rice balls. Nick found Joe's balls "interesting" and overall pretty good, but commented that the rice was overcooked, the meat was not in the center, and that they were too small. While rice balls are not part of my regula...
Sfincione
March 21, 2011 14:27I asked Nick Nicolosi, Pizzacentric's Sicilian food critic, to define sfincione. In New York, it's pizza with a spongy soft crust topped with sautéed minced onions, fried breadcrumbs, grated cheese (Pecorino Romano, not mozzarella), tomato sauce, and (usually) anchovy. Aware that American pizza can differ from its Italian counterparts, I wanted to know if our sfincione is actually Sicilian. (His answer — "Sicilian? No! I mean not from Catania. Maybe from Palermo." — touches upon the e...
20th Avenue Crowd Pleaser
March 21, 2011 14:26It was a rainy Sunday and I couldn't stop thinking about sfincione. Internet search results listed a ravioli store and a pizza shop in Bensonhurst. I first called A&L — the pizza shop. "Whole pies only, we make them from scratch, it'll take about 40 minutes." said the guy on the phone. So I tried the ravioli store. Melanie C.'s Yelp review of Papa Pasquale Ravioli Pasta Company's sfincione called it "wonderful" — but added that it's available on Saturdays only. I called and found o...
Al Santillo's 5★ Sausage Bread
January 26, 2011 15:31Stuck near Turnpike Exit 13 by the Goethals? Looking to eat pizza on the hood of your car? Craving sausage bread? Al Santillo can address these desires. On a spring day in 2006 my wife and I were cruising the streets of Elizabeth as our daughter napped in the backseat. And there it was: Santillo's, established in 1918. Not too shabby, considering that Lombardi's — which opened in New York City in 1905 — claims to be the nations's oldest pizzeria. But I blew it: I went in, saw no tables, ...
The Sicilian Critic: Rice Balls
November 24, 2010 15:33In a neighborhood full of food shops with pedigreed ingredients and high prices ($25 plain pizza or $18 cheeseburger anyone?), one place—Joe's Superette—stands out as the weirdest. It's a grocery with, like, nothing for sale. Don't expect "vegetables" and "fruits," just because the sign says so. Inside, there's a letter board menu with a list of deli meat sandwiches (they do, in fact, have these), but entirely absent from all signage is its most popular item: rice balls. You have to know. ...
Spaghetti & Meatballs, Eataly & Iowa
October 01, 2010 14:42A few years ago I started a different blog, called the Berman Food Mall. But my energy for regular writing fizzed out after a few entries. The concept was: imagine all of your very favorite foods and restaurants -- no matter where in the world they actually are -- together under one roof. Impossible? Probably. But what an alluring piece of real estate it would be! The Berman Food Mall. Now Eataly, a sprawling Italian mega-store chain has opened its first US location in New York (in Septem...
NY's Best vs. Bravest vs. Finest
August 13, 2010 12:23Earlier this week I checked out the Patsy's Party, where the Harlem original celebrated 77 years of existence by rolling back prices to 1933. Nothing on the menu, steak included, was more than 80¢, and as a result, the line was hours long just to get inside. The highlight however, was the FDNY vs. the NYPD vs. EMS pizza eating contest. Who could eat the most pizza in 8 minutes? (Scroll from above picture to see who won!) But one doesn't need to wait until next year to eat affordably at...
Bronx Tour #1
July 29, 2010 12:25The waiter: "So where you guys from?" ('Cause you're not from around here.) Welcome to the Bronx. A couple of weeks ago I headed up there with some old friends, the brothers C. and J., in search of some good pizza. J., who was in town from CA for only a few days, deserves special accolades for his willingness to come along. What a sport! Surely New York City possesses more tempting things to do than to trek nearly an hour to its northernmost borough for pizza. In order to get the most...
The Faicco's & John's Sausage Alliance
July 10, 2010 12:26The other day, when I visited John's Pizza on Bleecker Street, it was easy to decide what to have. Co-owner Peter, Jr. had told me that besides plain, his two favorite toppings are sausage and anchovies. My friend M. and I split a small pie with half of each of those. The anchovies were a treat, both quality-wise and because I rarely order them. (M., in fact, preferred them over the sausage!) And while sausage is also not an everyday food for me, I do especially like it when it one or ...
Grandma Alive at Adrienne's
April 13, 2010 12:32What an awesome sight: beautiful rectangular pizzas resting atop table after table at Adrienne's Pizza Bar in Lower Manhattan! There's a lot to love about Adrienne's - not the least of which are the rectangular Grandma-style pizzas that they feature. These pies, which are constructed on a thin crust and cooked in sheet pans, may bring back fond memories of Sunday suppers past for many Italian-Americans. With sweet and chunky tomatoes, a sufficient but not oozy amount of cheese, and a crus...
Pier 76 - Staten Island Made Easy
March 27, 2010 12:33Gerry Pappalardo is passionate about his tomatoes. But rather than going with premium San Marzano Italian tomatoes (or cheaper domestic need-sugar varieties), Gerry discovered tomatoes, canned from California, that he believes are perfectly sweet and ideal for his sauce-forward pies. His other place, Joe and Pat's, is a highly esteemed and well-known Staten Island pizza restaurant that has been open since 1960. It offers pies that boast an super-super thin Staten Island-style crust, a hea...