I want to start by giving it up to my friend Dan Casazza who is on quite the (well deserved) heater all of a sudden.
Dan recently earned a spot on noted food vlogger @rohoeszn’s Top Ten Pizzas in Chicago List.
Then he got an official endorsement from Chicago’s preeminent mystery spot pizza maker, the one and only John Carruthers.
And just a few days back Dan dropped a shiny, new, professionally shot reel that offers up a small sample of his pizza stylings to the world.
Dan started out with nothing more than a recipe he got online and a willingness to keep trying new things while allowing himself to be inspired. He’s making some of the best pizza in Chicago out of his apartment, and now he’s beginning to get recognized for that, and I’m so incredibly happy for him. We talked about it in his interview (I also talked about it in my interviews with Tim and with Billy), and it’s a theme I’ll revisit here often — if there’s something that you’ve always wanted to do, you don’t need anyone’s permission to do it. One of the most positive aspects about the evolution of the internet is that it’s become a great equalizer, and the barrier for entry into just about every industry these days is zero. Starting any kind of venture on your own takes a lot of hard work and faith, so when you get these types of milestone moments they should be recognized and celebrated.
And on that subject…
Last weekend was the official opening of Professor Pizza’s new shop in Old Town.
It’s been a 15-year journey for Tony (!!!) to get his own restaurant, and I can’t wait to check it out.
Reservations are listed on Open Table right here, and you can also order carryout or delivery (within a one-mile radius) online through Toast.
It was also just announced that Professor Pizza will be a part of EEEEEATSCON Chicago this summer, which will happen at The Salt Shed on July 13 & 14 and is billed as a food experience built in the spirit of a music festival, but with restaurants as the headliners.
HUGE announcement from Billy about stop No. 17 on his Tripping Billy Chicago Tour!
Billy is teaming up with Pequod’s for their first ever collaboration in the history of the fabled Lincoln Park pizzeria.
The Tripping Billy will be available for carryout from Pequod’s every Thursday through the end of May, and a portion of the proceeds will be donated directly to Billy’s MDA fundraising campaign.
I can only imagine how well Billy’s recipe will pair with Pequod’s legendary caramelized crust, so I urge you all to check it out while you can!
And since Billy is an inside man now, I had to hit him with my most burning-est of Pequod’s related questions that I’ve been curious about for forever:
While researching an entirely different idea, I came across a ton of information about a restaurant called Granato’s.
In 1912 a young man named Tom Granato immigrated to Chicago from a small town called Marigliano in the Campania region of Italy, and settled in the Taylor Street neighborhood. Tom got married, started a family, and in 1924 he opened Granato’s Restaurant (which I’ve also seen referred to as Tom Granato’s Pizzeria Napolitana) at 907 W. Taylor St — and it was the first restaurant in Chicago to sell pizza.
Before Granato’s, this was typically the only way you could find it:
Pizza migrated to America with the Italians in the latter half of the 19th century and was first introduced to Chicago by a peddler who walked up and down Taylor Street with a metal washtub of pizzas on his head, crying his wares at two cents a chew. This was the traditional way pizza used to be sold in Naples, in copper cylindrical drums with false bottoms that were packed with charcoal from the oven to keep the pizzas hot, and the name of the pizzeria was embossed on the drum.
Granato's exploded in popularity during the 1930s due to its round, thin crust (ie, tavern-style) pizzas that were baked in wood-burning ovens, setting it apart from Italian bakeries in the neighborhood that sold sheet-pan pizza, bread, and pastries.
Uno’s deep-dish didn’t come along until 1943. And even though Vito & Nick’s opened in 1932, they didn’t start serving pizza until 1946.
Granato’s was still popular when it was demolished by Mayor Richard J. Daley in the late 1950s to make way for the University of Illinois Chicago, and for an incredibly interesting deep dive on the saga of Mayor Daley vs. Little Italy that ultimately resulted in the destruction of most of the neighborhood, check out this piece by the fantastic Monica Eng.
I’m posting this video with Paul “Paulie Gee” Giannone for a few reasons — partly because I could watch pizzeria prep videos on an endless loop for the rest of eternity, but primarily because Giannone starts off by referencing something I’ve never heard of before that he calls the Pizza Cognition Theory.
“Pizza Cognition Theory states that the pizza you have first is the pizza that tastes best to you for the rest of your life, and that was that New York slice that I had back in 1958.”
Former New York Times food critic Sam Sifton is primarily credited with formulating the Pizza Cognition Theory, and it’s an interesting thought exercise.
I start a lot of my interviews by asking the subject about their first favorite pizza, and more often than not that pizza seems to have informed whatever their favorite style/restaurant is now.
The way I grew up eating pizza was that my family typically rotated through a few very different pizzerias that made distinctly different styles; Salerno’s in Berwyn for pan, Pizza Palazzo in Oak Park for tavern-style, and Buck’s Pizza in Forest Park for Panzarottis (all three of which are now long since closed. Thanks for nothing, capitalism).
These days I am truly a man without a country in that I have no specific favorite style or restaurant, which is probably at least part of the impetus behind why I’m so interested in sussing out new pizza whenever and wherever I can (which will also continue for the rest of eternity).
I think we can take a giant step back and just call it the Food Cognition Theory in general, though. As a child of Chicago I’ve had a million conversations about Italian beef, and people’s favorite always seems to trace back to the first beef they remember eating. My best friend grew up in Deerfield where all they had was Portillo’s, so that’s what he ate as a kid, and that’s why he doesn’t like a heavy spice blend now — whereas I grew up on Johnnie’s and (the original) Buona, so I don’t especially care for Portillo’s beef now because IT TASTES LIKE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.
The versatility of pizza and its myriad of flavors, styles, shapes, and forms, is not only one of the most beautiful things about it, but also a big part of what makes it so endlessly interesting. The Pizza Cognition Theory sheds a little more light on why we love the pizza that we love, and I have to thank both Mr. Sifton and Mr. Giannone for bringing it to my attention.
The Daily Herald has a great profile on Chris Marston and his new shop, Legends Pizza in Carol Stream (158 N. Gary Ave).
Chris was a long time service rep for Chicago Brick Oven, and he typically had five or six different models of pizza ovens set up in his own backyard at any given time. He’d often pull the ovens out to his driveway to make pizzas for his neighborhood on all kinds of occasions, but this might be one of the most beautiful sentences I’ve encountered since I first gained the ability to read:
In addition to firing up those ovens, boxing pizzas and delivering them to their neighbors in Hanover Park, Chris and his wife, Michelle, would cook pizzas on Halloween for trick-or-treaters and their parents.
Achievement unlocked.
Legends offers 12-, 14- and 16-inch thin-crust pizzas, as well as ribs, pasta, sandwiches, salads, appetizers, and some unique selections like an Italian sausage burger, a breaded steak Parmesan sandwich, a 12-inch S’mores dessert pizza and their “Pizzalata” salad pizzas.
Famed Roman pizzeria Bonci is set to open its third Chicago location today (April 19) with a brand-new shop in Lakeview at 3151 N. Broadway.
Bonci first debuted in the U.S./Chicago in 2017 with its Roman-style pizza al taglio (rectangular slices sold by weight), that boasts a light and airy crust topped with unique, artisan ingredients. Founder Gabriele Bonci originally envisioned the pizza as more of a snack item, but the concept proved unfamiliar to Americans more accustomed to full-meal pizzas, so the menu adapted to offering pepperoni and whole pies alongside signature items like lemon ricotta and vegan mushroom rosa.
There’s a new Billy Bricks on the way as well as the local brick oven pizzeria is set to open its seventh shop, and first near Chicago’s North Shore, at 428 Green Bay Road in Highwood, IL, on next Wednesday, April 24th.
Billy Bricks cranks out New Haven and Neapolitan-inspired pizzas as well as pasta, sandwiches, salads and appetizers. This location will also offer premium ice cream in their first, full service parlor.
I’ve seen some disgusting pizzas in my day, but this is definitely one of the worst.
It looks like it was topped with White Walker skin, and it’s growing a fungus that was discovered in deep space.
And while we’re talking gross toppings, what’s your weapon of choice on a pizza made for your worst enemy?
Some popular answers included vegan cheese, toothpaste, oranges, raisins, and micro shards of glass. This response, however, is truly unhinged:
8 layers of Kraft singles, anchovies in between every layer, no sauce, no cut, whole pineapples, whole wheat crust, overcooked and slightly dehydrated, all the cheese sat there raw for 3 hours before it was put in the oven so it got crispy on the edges
I could eat it:
I would get it:
While today marks the final day of the fundraising collaboration between Piece and PAWS Chicago, there’s still one more way to help out.
For TODAY ONLY (April 19) and in celebration of Volunteer Week, you can buy a large pizza for $35 that will not only feed four awesome PAWS volunteers (PAWS will choose the date and time), but also triggers an automatic $50 donation for PAWS from Piece and their four partners.
Help some dogs. Feed some volunteers. You can order the $35 specialty donation from Piece right here. And congratulations to Bill, everyone at Piece, and all the contributing chefs for another year of their fantastic fundraising initiative.
Tomorrow is one of the coolest days of the year (not that one) in that it’s Record Store Day. The Chicago Reader put together an awesome (and extensive) interactive map to help you find all the in-store concerts and special events happening for RSD all over the city.
The world is a far better place when it’s filled with record stores, so go out and support them if you can. I’ve also got to give a special shout out to my local store, and one of the best record stores you’ll find anywhere, in Val’s halla — which has been helping people find their next favorite album since all the way back in 1972.
And lastly, today (April 19) is also one of the coolest days of the year in that it’s my dad’s birthday. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the original (as far as I’m concerned) Paulie G! I love you and thank you for taking us to Salerno’s and Pizza Palazzo and Buck’s.