A Little Light Dinner Music...

So, I was kind of thinking the other day about how many awesome songs there are out in the universe about Pizza.  I mean, pizza inspires us all in so many ways, right?  The format of music in relation to pizza is kind of classic, if not largely in part to the classic, That's Amore, most famously sung by Dean Martin.

Now, not everyone is quite so sentimental when it comes to the way pizza influences their lives on a day to day.  Honestly, sometimes pizza can result in serious pain as is shown by the often irreverent Horse the Band. (Warning: a little heavy and not so good for any little ones around)

So, from the heavy, we move on to the bizarre.  This video made some rounds a couple years back as potentially being the creepiest thing ever to be done at the hands of the any cast member of Full House.  Remember Full House?  Yeah, that was delightful!  We all learned great lessons, and then the cast kind of went crazy!  Bob Saget actually turned out to be a shock comedian with few reservations (The Aristocrats!), Dave Coulier's previous relationship with Alanis Morrisette became way too public in her music, Jodie Sweetin had a bout with meth, and John Stamos messed up his marriage to mega-babe Rebecca Romin Stamos.  Now, of all of these wild turns, I still think the Olsen straight to video films may trump them.  I say this backed by one simple song, slowed down to half speed to create a whole new beast...  Gimme Pizza...

That song seriously weirds me out to no end.

Now, to follow that monstrosity I decided to have a little fun.  A song that brings me back to my fondest days of the 90's.  I was a skinny kid with silly hair that liked to laugh and listen to punk rock songs and eat pizza.  This next song embodies what a 15 year old Gabe was like.

So, to kind of wrap up what has inadvertently become my top 5 songs about Pizza, I decided to make it a classic in it's own right.  A generational anthem that may not be directly about pizza, but certainly encourages the spirit of staying radical and enjoying that gooey, melty treat.  Cowabunga, dudes (and dudettes)!

Random bonus!

So I also wanted to post this great article that was written a while back in Chicago magazine about the top Twenty-Five pizzas in Chicago.  It was written by a guy named Jeff Ruby who may possibly be more into pizza than me.  Though I don't know if that's possible.  I'm 140 lbs of pizza loving machine!  Anyway, get into this article, because it is an amazing resource for getting to know the pizza landscape in Chicago.  Also, I happen to agree with him nearly across the board.  Find the article online here!

Panino's Pizza Party

So, I know it may be a little cliche to talk about the weather here in Chicago, but last night, Pizza Club was treated to a delightful evening of mid to high thirties with light wind and crisp, clear air as we rode to Lakeview.  Our Pizza Palace this week was a shop that has a few titles and goes by a few names, but is most easily known as Panino's.  This Wrigley/Boystown eatery is on Waveland, between Halsted and Broadway, though the address is technically 3702 North Broadway.  It's a cozy little spot with warm lighting and pleasant two and four-top tables in a fair sized dining area.  In fact, the environment was further complimented by the fact that we walked into a birthday party for a one year old; giant novelty balloons and all.  It seemed to be prior to any kind of dinner crowd as it was about 5:30 when we arrived.  We were promptly seated at a cozy four-top in the corner away from the happy family celebration.  The service was really nice overall; present, not overbearing, and knowledegable.  Upon hearing the discussion between Soup and myself about beer, he suggested an imported Italian beer that they carry by the name of Collessi.  They had three varieties in 750 mL bottles: a lager, an amber, and a stout.  True to our drinking nature, ordered the stout to split between us: the Imper Ale - Nera.  It was a tasty treat indeed, lighter mouthfeel than a lot of bigger bolder stouts, a very deep red color when held to the light, a sweet light malt taste, but enough body to still qualify as a stout.  The bread/oil/parm starter that was brought out first was also pretty killer.  The bread was almost like a sliced focaccia; very light and airy with a good crust and lots of flavor.  Great way to get our stomachs in shape for the main event...

So, this week we opted to go with two different pizzas.  In weeks past we had been a little ambitious with over ordering and bringing leftovers back home (always a bonus for roommates and girlfriends).  We thought maybe this week we should be a little more modest, especially after eating a good amount of the bread prior to the actual meal.  The first pizza we ordered was in a style based on the Neapolitan style; a thin and crispy yet chewy hand-stretched dough, lightly charred to perfection.  We decided as we had not had a pizza with red sauce in weeks to try and keep this week a little more traditional, so we went with the ever classic Margherita.  I have to say, I've had a lot of classic pizzas, but this pie was killer!  The tomatoes were subtle yet fantastic.  Lots of flavor and incredibly fresh.  The mozzarella was honestly some of the best I've ever had (in your face Bar Toma!).  This stuff put me in some sort of euphoric paradise that allowed my tastebuds to prance about free of the bonds of the rest of my body and roll in the playground of fresh ingredients that honestly make a classic pizza taste like something new.

The second pizza ordered was at the other end of the Italian spectrum: the mighty Sicilian Pan!  This pizza is usually noted by a thicker dough, often cooked in a pan, taking significantly longer than does the Neapolitan.  It timed very well to order one of each, the Margherita was just being polished off when the Sicilian came to join us.  We often like to lean on the idea of house specialty pizzas, but this week we opted to construct our own marinara monstrosity.  Jeremy wanted Italian Sausage while Jason was feeling Artichokes, so the easy answer was to throw both on there.  Hooray for compromise, and not the kind that ends up causing you tears, apology letters, and maybe therapy...  So, anyway, about this pizza...  The dough was thick, but impossibly light and chewy with a crispy crust around the pan.  The sauce was a little sweet with a touch of basil and oregano to give it a little zest without drowning out the tomato.  Definitely made fresh in house.  Now, as for the artichoke/sausage combo, it was freaking awesome!  The sausage was super savory and seasoned, with good sized chunks that honestly paired better with the artichoke than I could have imagined.  It was seriously superb and filled every last little bit of our respective stomachs.  A pleasant but not overfilled feeling with three extra slices.  Pizza Euphoria.

In summary, this little piece of a three part chain had a commitment to fresh ingredients and handmade treats that paid off for me in a big way.  It fills a great place in a part of this city with a lot of different food options.  A great spot for a casual date; intimate yet without pretense.  Also, for me, it was a great way to warm myself up for a night filled with Doom Metal from seasoned sludge vets from Eugene, Oregon: YOB, who played a great show last night at Chicago's own Empty Bottle.  A great way to spend a Wednesday night, satisfying my senses of taste, touch, smell, sight and sound!

Topper Returns!

So, I think I need to start making myself a schedule for these here pizza blogs.  The entries so far have a little too much time between them...

Anyway, that being said, today I will be reviewing the surprisingly tasty franchise pizza place, Toppers.  The location Pizza Club visited this past week was at 120 South Halsted, in lovely Greektown.  It was not a large building, just kind of an average store front with a small seating area.  Actually, it reminded me a little of the pizza version of a Jimmy Johns.  It seemed best equipped for a lunch crowd or people waiting to pick up.  In fact, when we ordered, the cashier seemed surprised that we would be dining in.  Now, this place for being a little on the slight side, had a remarkably large menu.  They offer breadsticks, grinders, wings, quesadillas and of course, pizza.  You can, of course build your own, but if you're not feeling quite so picky, they offer nearly 20 house specialty pizzas, which lean more toward the not-so-traditional side.  No prosciutto arugula here. It honestly reminds me a lot of Ian's Pizza in Wrigleyville given the options for funky, but great pizzas.  Now, as to what we ordered...

The first of our three pizzas was a classic in the making, the starch heavy Mac 'N Cheese.  The crust is chewy, but not too heavy then topped with a cheese sauce before adding tender macaroni noodles and another couple generous layers of cheese.  All in all, this was just a starchy, delightful treat.  I would say that it could have definitely used something on top to kind of compliment the flavor a little more.  We all agreed that the cheese was amazing, but maybe some hot sauce, preferrably sriracha, would have definitely kicked this pizza into a place usually reserved for cherubs and really sweet elderly folk.  We agreed that it was a heavy but fantastic slice of comfort food.

Next on our evening of counter-style conquest was the Smoky BBQ Chicken.  This pie features a well seasoned smoky barbeque sauce, barbecue chicken, hunks of bacon and mozzarella/jack cheeses.  They definitely were shooting for a roasty, smoky flavor and I would say it hit.  I must say though that this pizza was a mess;  very saucy, very drippy cheese.  Miss Manners would be appalled, but it doesn't bother those of us who lick sauce off of their fingers (waste not, want not).  Overall, we agreed that it was a tasty pizza, but far from the best.

Our third, and favorite pizza of the evening was the Philly Cheesesteak.  As the name implies, they loaded up this bad boy with all the treats you would find stuffed into a classic Philly: grilled thin cut steak, onions, green peppers, and mushrooms, then topped it with a cream sauce, mozzarella and provelone.  This was definitely the most flavor packed of the three.  The cheese seemed to have more flavor than did the Mac, and the steak was killer.  Even Jeremy who doesn't even want to look at mushrooms (he dutifully picked them off) enjoyed every last bite of this pizza.  All three of us agreed that this was the best of the lot and had us feeling stuffed and happy for our ride home to the north side.  If I lived closer to this burgeoning new chain, I would definitely make repeat orders for this pie.  

So, after one of the last nice days of our delayed winter, this was a good joint to put me into pizza coma to hibernate this past week away.  I would be lying if I said I didn't have a few doubts about this place before walking in.  I expected some pretty Marlon Bland-o pizza from a place like this, but was very pleased upon walking out.  As a random bonus, we also got an order of  free breadsticks through Foursquare for checking in.  Kind of a nice add on.  We had three mediums between three of us and left with overfull stomachs and a whole pizza left over (resulting in some very impressive one-handed riding from Jeremy) and payed less than 20 each with drinks.  The only real draw back to a place like this is that the veggies were far from the freshest in the biz.  The pizzas are also a little conveyor belt, even if unique and tasty.  Overall, a great counter-style pizza place and a nice convenient delivery or carry-out pizza for anyone in the Greektown/West Loop area.  Maybe more franchises will pop up soon to cover a bit more of Chicago?

Update on January 21, 2012 by Gabe

Oh, and here is an interesting article concerning the Giordano's Bankruptcy Fiasco of last year from the Trib last week.  Pizza Gossip!

A Glimpse into the Life of a Pizza-Holic...

Hello, everyone.  My name is Gabriel and I am... A Pizza-holic...

For the past three years I have pursued one of the most noble, distinguished, high-brow forms of food known to humankind.  The pizza.  In the Summer of 2008, my friend Jason (aka Soup) and myself decided that it was our duty as proud Chicago transplants, to go and explore the varied and remarkable world of the Chicago pizzeria.  We soon recruited a few good friends and on the inspiration of the Brendan Small series Home Movies, we decided to call our new pizza eating posse, the Pizza Club.

We soon discovered however that indeed, a group existed going by the name of Chicago Pizza Club (www.chicagopizzaclub.com), so we decided that as our group is comprised entirely of cyclists and that bicycles are our exclusive mode of transport that we would change our name to the Pedal Powered Pizza Club of Chicago.  My life has never been the same.  Weekly meetings, riding every Wednesday has provided some of the best views of the best city in the U.S. of A; Chicago, Illinois.  This city loves its pizza and will fight for it tooth and nail.  Thick to Thin, Neapolitan to New Haven, Archer Ave to Andersonville, the pizza landscape in this city is immense.  It is a slice of Chicago life that celebrates the complexity  of Chicago history, the domineering entrepreneurial spirit of our restaurant scene, and the individuality of our neighborhoods that provide this city with the life that other towns covet.

So this is my charge, my mission: to become a premier connoisseur of pizza in a city that knows and loves pizza.  It's a tough job, new places open and close on the regular (R.I.P. Jukin' Pizza, "Off the heezy for the cheesy"), but I believe I am up to the challenge.  Watch out Chicago.  I'm here, and I'm hungry.

Update on December 22, 2011 by Gabe

I have since edited pizza-haulic to pizza-holic.  Thanks for the heads up.  I apparently don't drink as much as I eat pizza.  Or maybe I am in denial...  Uh oh...