Back in the ’80s there was a pizza chain called Showbiz Pizza Place. If you’re not familiar with it, you might have heard of a similar place called Chuck E Cheese’s. The basic idea of both restaurants was that they served pizza, had a bunch of arcade games, and provided entertainment for kids via large anthropomorphic animals.

Showbiz, which is now defunct, featured a live music act (if you can call it that) called the Rock-afire Explosion, manned by animatronic animals.

Since the Showbiz chain has gone down, there has been a group of obsessive Rock-afire Explosion fanatics that collect and maintain the musical robots. As is the case with so many quirky hobbies nowadays, there is a documentary about the phenomenon coming out (scheduled to be released in Fall 2008, according to the documentary’s MySpace page).

Here’s the trailer:

Keep your eye out for the film’s full site here.

The article doesn’t mention any detailed stipulations about what kind of pizza; I would imagine that’d be a major factor though. I mean, it actually would be torture if you could get pizza, but for the rest of your life it could only be some frozen school lunch garbage.

…She romanced her pizza: carefully cutting a slice, raising it on her fork, admiring it before she wrapped her lips around it. Chewing slowly, she savored the pizza in her mouth, then closed her eyes to swallow before she smiled.

My friend Mary just gave me a heads up on this one…

Retired Air Force master sergeant Mark Evans and his son, who live in Illinois, have started a campaign to send a whole bunch of Chicago pizzas to American military troops overseas.

Lou Malnati's Pizzeria has agreed to give Evans pizzas at a discounted rate to help the cause. The initial goal was 300 pies, but Evans has received so much support for the effort that the number has grown far beyond that — as many as 3,000.

The pizzas will obviously have to be shipped frozen, a task which DHL has offered to do for free. Even though the pizza is frozen, it's still pizza.

Personally, I'm 100% opposed to the war we're in right now, but I won't get too into that here; I'm just glad to see someone actually supporting the people who have to be over there instead of buying a phony magnet for their bumper and leaving it at that.

If you're interested in contibuting to the "Pizza 4 Patriots" effort, you can write Mark Evans at sgtevans@sbcglobal.net.

More coverage via USA Today and Chicago's Daily Herald.

Domino's just held a competition for "World's Fastest Pizza Maker" in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The winner, Dennis Tran, who has now won the annual contest 3 times, put together 3 pies in 46.4 seconds.

There's something that just seems wrong about this whole contest to me. I mean, sure, timeliness is generally a good thing; but I would much rather have my pie made well than made fast. I suppose it makes perfect sense though, because this is Domino's we're talking about here.

The Ann Arbor News has the full scoop on the competition, plus this video:

Pam Aghababian reviews Bostone Pizza's sicilian slice for Bostonist's Cheap Eats series:

While many pizzas serve as vehicles for cheese delivery, the dough is the real star of the show in this case. The edges are buttery and crispy, not at all dry. The bottom of the crust is also very crispy, and yet the top is soft and pillowy, a perfect bed for the toppings. And with 4 or 5 different topping options available at any one time, including a Slice of the Day, there's always something delicious to go with that beautiful dough.

Bostone Pizza
225 Newbury St, Boston, MA 02116
617-536-9451
www.bostonepizza.com

After getting lost buying sheets in the giant Bed Bath & Beyond on 6th Ave in Manhattan the other day, I stopped at Brick Oven Pizza 33, right outside the 6th Ave L train stop on the corner of 14th St.

This is another place that has a ton of slice pies on display to choose from. It's quite appetizing actually.

I actually like this kind of set-up a lot because you don't even have to know what the pizza is; you can just point and say "one of those".

All of the outer walls open up to create this kinda patio-esque seating. I'm sure there's a technical term for that, but I don't know it. When I was there it got a little crowded, so I ended up sharing my table with some random thug dudes who were talking about their rap careers. It was pretty entertaining... I considered trying to get a photo of them, but decided against it (the photo below was before they joined me).

One of the things I thought was interesting was that they have both margherita slices (with fresh mozz' and basil) AND lower quality "plain cheese" slices. Most places will have one or the other and, more often than not for a slice joint like this, it will just be the plain cheese. So that was impressive. I went for one of each.

The pizza itself was great. Not surprisingly, the margherita was preferable. It seemed a little salty for some reason, and still had a bit of the heaviness I usually associate with "plain cheese" slices more than margheritas; but tasty nonetheless.

The other slices they had all looked great too. The thugs I was sitting with were all eating some kind of fried chicken slices, which they said were super spicy but delicious. I'd put the plain cheese slice I got in a pretty typical category of quality (not amazingly memorable or anything), but generally speaking, this place goes a step beyond the expected quality of a quick slice shop. Be prepared to pay for it though; a plain cheese slice will set you back $2.75, and a margherita $3.75. Some of the other slices go up as high as $4.25.

Apparently there are a few other shops under this name, the original of which is on 33rd St (hence the 33 in the name).

Brick Oven Pizza 33
527 6th Ave (corner of 14th St), New York, NY
(212) 255-6333
www.pizza33.net

I attended the previously mentioned NYC Food Film Fest's Pizza Night in the parking lot next to Grimaldi's in Brooklyn the other night. It was great to be around a bunch of other pizza fanatics directly under the Brooklyn Bridge.

While I was waiting around for the show to start, I had the pleasure of finally meeting the mastermind behind the amazing Slice pizza blog, Adam Kuban, in person. He told me some interesting stuff about his life as a full-time pizza blogger, but that's a whole other story...

After a couple short speeches from the Food Film Fest crew and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, they screened 3 short films: Pure & Simple, which is a view in to the daily life of hardcore pizzeria Una Pizza Napoletana (I've never been, but I definitely intend to check it out soon); Brooklyn Pizza which showed what Adam Kuban described as "pizza porn" -- the pizza-making process at 3 different Brooklyn pizzerias (Di Fara, Totonno's, and Grimaldi's); and finally In Pignata: Calabrian Fireside Cooking, which wasn't really about pizza at all, but followed around an aging traditional Italian farmer as she prepped food from her own harvests.

Grimaldi's sent out a couple rounds of sampling pies for the salivating crowd throughout the night. Much appreciated, but after the event I decided to wait in line to get a proper dose. Nothing has changed about Grimaldi's pie since I first had it: it's still one of the best pizzas I've ever eaten. So good.

It being the first day of my summer in Brooklyn, I decided to check out the closest pizza shop to where I’m staying, as it’s quality has a major impact on my time here. That shop is Driggs Pizza & Italian Restaurant in Williamsburg.

I’m pleasant to report that it’s a good slice.

They have a pretty good selection of Italian-esque food on the menu but, despite the almost-fancy seating area and the “& Italian Restaurant” part of the name, this is definitely a slice shop. They have a ton of different slice pies waiting for you right when you walk in, including some sicilian slices. There’s also something on the menu called an “upside down pizza”; I have no idea what that is, but I’m sure I’ll check it out in due time.

The pie itself has a good balance between cheese, sauce, and crust, resulting in an ALMOST chewy chomp factor (though some of the chewiness from my slice might be related to the fact that it was reheated before they gave it to me). It’s not exactly a slice that will make you jump for, but it’s solid; I’m pretty happy to have it be the closest pie to me for the summer.

Not that I’ll ever need it, but they offer free delivery too. Only obvious downside is a lack of Coke (Pepsi products only).

Driggs Pizza & Italian Restaurant
558 Driggs Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211
718-782-4826
www.driggspizza.com (printed on their menu and in their window, but the site seems to be down)

It seems that I timed my move perfectly: the 2nd annual NYC Food Film Festival is under way, and tomorrow there will be a screening of 3 short pizza-related films in the parking lot next to one of my all-time favorite pizzerias, Grimaldi’s, in Brooklyn.

The event is free, with food starting at 7:30pm and the screenings at 8:30. Tomorrow, 17 June. Rain or shine.

Grimaldi’s is at 19 Old Fulton St in Brooklyn, literally underneath the Brooklyn Bridge.

For more info, check the Film Festival schedule.

Comics2Film reports that Domino’s is running some “viral” promos for the new Batman film. There’s a website for a Gotham City Pizzeria, which mentions a mysterious “Special Promotion: June 16”.

The idea of marketing that attempts to hook people by not giving them any information always seemed cheesy to me for the most part. I guess it works though, because I’m posting this here, aren’t I?

It also looks like they’ve made some special all-black pizza boxes:

It was nice out in Boston the other day so I went for a walk around Beacon Hill in Boston. I almost never walk around Beacon Hill because — other than checking out new pizza — I never have any reason to go there.

Beacon Hill is funny because it’s like this picturesque area of Boston that has the kind of look and feel to it that I imagine is conjured in the mind of non-Bostonians when they think of “Boston”: quaint old historic brick houses on small streets with brick sidewalks and olde time-y faux-gas lamp posts, etc.

Ironically enough, Beacon Hill is way too expensive for most Bostonians, so unless they work for rich people, they hardly ever go there. At least that’s my relationship with Beacon Hill. But enough about that.

My main reason for going to Beacon Hill this time was to check out the pizza at this place called FIgs. The first impression I got of Figs when walking in was that it looked a little fancy. This wasn’t really a surprise, with it being on Beacon Hill and all. It’s kind of a small spot, which I actually like; it didn’t seem crowded or anything (at least not at lunch time on a Wednesday). As for music though, they were playing some kind of weird techno fusion, which isn’t exactly my taste.

Before I start talking about the actual pizza… a warning: when I took a sip of the Coke I ordered, it seemed obvious that the waitress had mistakenly given me Diet Coke. I had my friend Meryn confirm this fact just to make sure I wasn’t imagining it. I don’t usually care much about getting wrong stuff from restaurants, but I really just can’t hang with Diet Coke. So I got a replacement. It turns out that the problem wasn’t an error on the part of the waitress though… their fountain Coke mixture was just really bad. Either that or, contrary to their menu, they were serving Pepsi.

But enough about that.

The pizza itself was interesting. It was really long and cut in to squares, and they served it on an upside-down cookie sheet. It was much bigger than I expected, which made the $14 price tag more acceptable. Despite the semi-fancy setting and presentation though, the pizza wasn’t what I could describe as fancy.

Actually, other than the fact that it was cooked in a brick oven, the pizza was something you might expect to get from a regular slice joint. There wasn’t much basil to speak of, and the cheese was a pretty standard non-fresh mozzarella. It was even on the greasy side (not oil, but that kind of dark reddish grease that comes from shredded mozzarella). It wasn’t bad pizza by any means, but I was more impressed with their location and atmosphere.

Apparently, the restaurant is associated with a chef named Todd English. Unsurprisingly, I’ve never heard of him though, so that doesn’t really change my feelings about the pizza one way or the other.

I didn’t spend too much time looking over the rest of the menu, but they seemed to have some good stuff on there. This is probably a good place to go on a date if you want something a little fancy, but not ridiculous.

Figs
42 Charles St, Boston, MA
617-742-3447
http://www.toddenglish.com/

Tomorrow, 11 June, we celebrate the 119th birthday of modern pizza by honoring an historic event in 1889.

The following is from a recent newsletter I got from Scott’s Pizza Tours.

In 1889, King Umberto and his wife Queen Margherita of Savoy embarked upon a goodwill tour of a newly unified Italy. The queen requested a special pizza tasting as part of the royal couple’s visit to Naples in order to join in the growing popularity of what was generally a street food for the poor. She hired a pizzaiolo (pizza maker, pie man) by the name of Rafaele Esposito to prepare a variety of pizzas. Legend has it that Esposito’s wife Brandi placed a handful of basil leaves atop a pie that already boasted fresh mozzarella and tomato, giving it all three colors of the Italian flag. Margherita enjoyed this pie so much that she had a letter sent to Esposito declaring the pizza “buonissime.” The wise businessman he was, Rafaele named the pizza in Margherita’s honor.

The royal thank you note is dated June 11, 1889 and still hangs in Pizzeria Brandi to this day. Therefore, it is on this day that we celebrate the birth of the modern pizza.

So tomorrow, grab a delicious slice of the good stuff and chow in celebration.

…

PS: My apologies for the cliché graphic above; I couldn’t help myself. See the original idea by Experimental Jetset here.

With this in mind, I’m glad to be seeing some smart moves being made in the pizza industry lately. Some are clearly just weak attempts to jump on what seems to be a “green” bandwagon, but others do seem to actually be more than just weak marketing gimmicks.

Most notably is probably a francise called Pizza Fusion, whose motto is “saving the earth, one pizza at a time”. Among other things, they aim to clean up the act of pizza making by using organic ingredients, delivering with hybrid cars, using biodegradable containers, etc. There’s a PBS video about the company on YouTube which gives a good idea of what they do.

Next on the list, Pizza Hut recently announced that they will be offering an all-natural pizza. I’m a little more skeptical about this move, as I don’t exactly think of YUM! Brands as a company that cares too much about the environment. My guess is they’re just flailing around for any kind of business boost during the recent pizza-depression, and they figured the “green” bandwagon might pay off.

In a similar vein, Papa John’s is testing the tree-hugger business waters by offering a whole wheat pizza crust.

This whole idea of earth- and health-conscious pizza as a business move isn’t limited to only big corporate pizza either though. Not too long ago in Boston, TJ’s House of Pizza probably noticed how well their next-door neighbor, Grasshopper, was doing by serving all-vegan Asian fare (their “No-Name” special rules my dreams). For a while TJ’s offered vegan options as an alternative to their otherwise-standard pizza and subs menu. Apparently that went well, and the store eventually had a total transformation, changing their name to TJ Scallywaggle’s, painting their walls green, and switching the menu to all vegan-safe pizza, subs, etc.

Similarly, I was at Vinnie’s Pizzeria in Brooklyn not too long ago when I overheard the following conversation between the guy serving slices (who was presumably also the owner) and a drunken jock…
Jock: Where are all your meat-covered slices? What’s up with all this vegan shit? I want some meat!
Slice guy: Hey man, believe me, I love meat pizza. But the vegan stuff sells. This is a business, so if something sells, we’re gonna take advantage of it.
Jock: Fuck those vegan pussies. They need to man up and eat some meat!
Slice guy: laughs

…

Regardless of whether or not the person offering the greener or healthier pizza really cares about such stuff beyond how much money it can make them, I’m pretty glad to be seeing more of these kinds of things being offered. While I am vegetarian and do care about environmental friendliness I don’t quite have the time to maintain my own pizza garden, so it’s nice to have these kinds of options.