I Dream Of Pizza A Pizza Blog, Established In 2008
Last week at Motorino’s Williamsburg location, I ran into legendary food critic Alan Richman – such a nice guy! I guess you know you’re into food when you start recognizing food critics. The last time I linked up to a Richman piece was last year when he wrote about the top 25 pizza places in America [GQ Lists Top 25 Pizzas In America]. The piece stirred up a lot of talk about how someone could actually narrow down all the pizza place in America to so few places, but I think Richman did a fair job, noting the following:
In essence, a beloved pizzeria is almost always about memories. From friends I heard such claims as “Taking the first bite is to know perfection”…“Every bite is a party in your mouth”…“It has Italian authenticity”…“It is blissful in its crunchiness and perfect chew”… And so it went. There is no way of dealing with such devotion, so I decided to answer all demands that I visit an adored pizzeria with the same irrefutable (if unjust) reply: “No, I am not going to your pizzeria. Your pizzeria is no good.” In fact, on the few occasions when I was so badgered by a friend that I went to one of them, it was no good. Not one prepared a commendable crust.
In essence, he is saying that everyone has their favorite pizza places… and they’re entitled to their own opinons… which is why any list that doesn’t include their favorite places is going to be controversial. Oh well!
Last week, Richman, who lives in Westchester, headed to Santillo’s Brick Oven Pizza in Elizabeth, New Jersey. You can read about his experience here.
Santillo’s is a fabulous pizzeria. I’ve never been to another quite like it. It’s attached to the house where Al grew up, and he makes every shape, size, and style of pie you can imagine, with names never before seen, and he does it without varying from the norm.
