[Pizza News] Nella Pizzeria Napoletana sans Nella

Nella Pizzeria Napoletana (review) is still up and running and packed as ever. However, there might be a little bit more room now that they've lost the services of their namesake pizzaiolo.

Per this Chicago Reader article, Nella has been booted (or left, whatever). They are still open for business, but we have no word yet on how good the pizza is without the main talent there to steer it. Also, it appears the second location on Taylor street is a no-go. I have always suspected I didn't like Spacca Napoli as much because I never had her make my pizza. I suppose I will find out if I still like Nella Pizzeria Napoletana as much without her.

[Pizza News] Fare Thee Well Orvieto, We Hardly Knew Ye

And so, just like that, we bid adieu to Orvieto.

Due to a terrible location and not at all to the quality of the food served, Orvieto has closed. We recently reviewed it and thought it was a good pizza. Apparently, we don't have the sway we used to have.

The full story is here.

[Pizza News] Which Do You Prefer: Guns, Pizza, Or Nudity?

Internet sociologists floatingsheep.org have turned their map-making focus on pizza. Well, pizza and strip clubs and guns.

Happily, it appears that their analysis of user-generated GoogleMaps placemarks indicates that here in Chicago we have our priorities straight. Other findings include: the South still sucks, the nebulous area between California and the Midwest still sucks, and there are lots of strippers in Las Vegas.

I think that Missouri made the right move in moving to the South, judging by their green patchiness.

Click here to see the map.

[Pizza News] Pizza Tours

Georgie Tourgie has started a Chicago pizza tour called Second City Pizza Tours. They take their customers on a trip to 5 pizzerias located in the North end of downtown. They hit up 1 stuffed pizza, 2 deep dish, 1 brick oven, and 1 thin crust place. It's $36 and it takes about 2.5 hours. I have to say, it seems like a good deal and a nice way for tourists to knock out these busy restaurants without having to wait for the pizzas to cook. They're ordered prior to the group's arrival so they should be waiting for you when you arrive. So for anyone coming to visit for a short time, consider this a good way to sample some deep-dish and stuffed Chicago pizza. They don't just talk about pizza though, they mainly focus on architecture and history for the walking tour. Also, the owner assures me that it's so much pizza you might as well skip breakfast before starting it.

Here's the list:

• Castel Gandolfo (CPC member and Slice reviewer MCH review here)
  
• Pizzeria Uno (CPC review here)
  
• Giordano's (CPC review here)
  
• Quartino (CPC member and Slice Reviewer MCH review here)
  
• Gino's East (CPC review here)
  

[Pizza News] Domino's Has Improved Sales, Still Sucks

Looks like those commercials where the people at Domino's admitted they were ashamed to make such shitty pizza have paid off. Per the Associated Press, Domino's has seen increased sales and revenue after "re-launching" with their new and improved recipe. If anyone has actually tried this new recipe, please leave it in the comments below. Also, I miss the NOID.

Jason Reitman Goes the Extra Mile (4,000 of Them) to Get Giordano's

Jason Reitman, director of films including Juno, Thank You for Smoking, and the new Clooney vehicle, Up in the Air, loves Giordano's. He also loves to collect airline miles.

One time, to preserve his elite status in an unnamed frequent flyer program, the Los Angeles-based auteur needed to pick up 2,500 miles. He could have gone anywhere and the man chose to fly 2,000 miles to Chicago, pick up a Giordano's pizza, and then turn around and fly another 2,000 miles back home. That's an extra 1,500 miles of travel for some pizza.

The best part - the dude's not even from Chicago. The article doesn't say where the Canadian developed his love of stuffed pizza, but I'm going to go ahead and guess it came from his father Ivan Reitman, who surely got plenty of exposure to the pies through Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd.

[Chicago Pizza News] GQ's Alan Richman Says Great Lake Offers Country's Best Pizza

Submitted by Marla Collins' Husband.

When I reviewed Andersonville's Great Lake for Slice, I was blown away by the quality of the ingredients and the crust. A combination of the restaurant's size (small) and the Pizza Club's reviewing process (we are rotating review-writing much more than in the past), we haven't held a meeting at Great Lake yet, though I know at least a couple of other members have been.

Well, it's now going to be even more difficult to get a table at Great Lake, which already demanded notoriously long waits. GQ's food critic, Alan Richman, just came out with a very thorough review of his top 25 pizzas in the United States. In conducting his research, Richman went to 109 pizzerias and sampled 386 pizzas.

Chicagoans should be skeptical of Richman's opinions on food after he wrote this asinine drivel about Chicago hot dogs last September, but the pizza article differs from the hot dog one considerably in that he clearly put a lot of thought into his work this time. Of course, like so many critics from outside of Chicago, Richman entirely dismisses deep dish and stuffed pizza, but that's so common among East Coast critics that it's not even worth getting worked up over. Still, when I read Richman's rankings of his top ten pizza cities and see that Chicago is fourth behind New York, San Francisco and Detroit, I have to question the man's sanity.

[Chicago Pizza News] Gino's East is Expanding to South Bend

Indiana is going to get its second Gino's East when Holladay Properties opens its second franchise in the state. Holladay already has a Gino's in Highland.

[Pizza Club News] ZOMG! We're Famous!

I was contacted a while back by one of the guys that was doing the Outside The Loop radio show on Loyola's WLUW (88.7) about being a part of his show one day. We could never figure out a time and I think we both sort of forgot about it. Recently, I was contacted by Mike Stephens (now the solo host) and we finally got together and had a conversation over some pizza at Coalfire, which we also reviewed shortly after it opened. Briefly, I think I like it much more now than I did at the time of our original review. As for the interview, Jennifer and I ended up participating. I don't think we say anything too insightful (or embarassing), but for people that don't know we exist it should be a nice introduction. It was fun and I want to thank Mike for trying to make us not sound like fools.

I hadn't heard of their show until they contacted me last year, but I listened to it to see what they talk it. It's pretty much a Chicago-centric audio blog. There is a lot of interesting stuff they talk about (Chicago Baconfest 2009, for one) and it's one of my two podcasts I download onto my iPhone. The other one is about video games (I have to keep my street cred). The show airs live Fridays at 6pm and you can listen to it on the radio or online. If you miss it, they offer the option to either stream or download the shows after the fact from their website. Check it out - they are also featuring some tips from the Parking Meter Geek on this show and he is a personal hero of mine.

If you listen to it, let me know how nasal and retarded I sound.

[Chicago Pizza News] What Happens When You Hand-Toss Pizza Dough?

In case you've ever wondered, there's apparently a lot going on when your pizza dough is flying through the air under the control of a well-trained pizza chef. Some Australian physicists studied the matter and it seems our down-under friends what to apply what they've learned towards ultrasonic motors. Sound complicated? Read for yourself here.

[Chicago Pizza News] Chicago Pizza Club Joins The Bite Against ALS

The Les Turner ALS Foundation has joined with some local restaurants to raise money for the foundation via restaurant purchases. During the month of May, diners at these restaurants can order a "Culinary Crusade Special" and a portion of the cost of this dish goes to the foundation. The Les Turner ALS Foundation supports medical research, clinical and support services for ALS patients, and dessemination of ALS information. If you are unfamiliar with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), then here are a few links about the disease and the baseball player whose name is also attached to it.

Participating restaurants include:
- Adobo Grill ( Wicker Park in Chicago )
- Bluegrass ( Highland Park )
- Graziano’s Brick Oven Pizza ( Niles )
- Ina’s (West Loop in Chicago )
- Tuscany (Oak Brook)
- Tuscany (Wheeling)
- Unrefined Café ( Valparaiso , Ind. )
- Vinci (Chicago)
- Wishbone (West Loop in Chicago )
- Wishbone (Lakeview in Chicago )

CPC has not yet been to Graziano's Brick Oven Pizza, but it has been added to our long list of places to visit. They feature a wood-burning oven and have been given a score of over 20 by Zagat. They are known for having a variety of toppings and an extensive menu and have been in their current location for over a decade. I don't have information on which menu item is the special at Graziano's, but a little birdie tells me it will most likely be wine.

[Chicago Pizza News] Obama Officially Prefers St. Louis Pizzeria

Submitted by Marla Collins' Husband.

I previously wrote that the alleged Barack Obama love for Italian Fiesta Pizzeria was purely speculative and that only Obama known to actually like it is Michelle.

It turns out that the earlier story that Obama fell in love with a pizza he had in St. Louis during the campaign is definitely true. The White House has invited the owner and chef of Pi to come to Washington on Friday and cook some pizzas for President Obama and his staff.

[Chicago Pizza News] Who Invented the Deep-Dish?

Who invented Chicago's greatest contribution to humanity?

It's a mystery as old as time, and the Chicago Tribune tries to get to the bottom of it with an article published online today.

Take a look at what the Trib has to say by clicking here.

[Chicago Pizza News] Sgt. Evans Sending More Malnati's Pizza to the Troops

Last July 4, Air Force Sergeant Mark Evans and his son Kent sent 2,000 Lou Malnati's pizzas to the troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Last Friday, they did it again, this time for the Super Bowl, and this time accompanied with 6,000 bottles of Schlitz beer. Once again, DHL provided free shipping and Lou Malnati's provided free pizza. Pabst, which makes Schlitz, donated the beer. Chicago Bears Brad Maynard and Adrian Peterson helped load the trucks.

Evans' organization, Pizza 4 Patriots, has a website.

[Chicago Pizza News] Pizza Hut Admits They've Been Serving Unhealthy Pizza

Well, that's not exactly how they phrased it, but that's a clear message from Pizza Hut's recent announcement that the company has begun shifting to a menu of food made from all natural ingredients with no more artificial preservatives, colors and flavors. Among the list of changes: no more high-fructose corn syrup; no nitrites or nitrates in the pepperoni, no preservatives in the sausage, and 100% real beef with no fillers. This, of course, means that Pizza Hut had been serving sauce filled with corn syrup, artificially preserved pepperoni and sausage, and beef that has things other than cow in it.

Conspicuously absent from the announcement and from the page on the Pizza Hut website related to the all-natural theme is any mention of their cheese. Pizza Hut used to not use actual mozzarella, opting for a cheap imitation that has a chemical, Polymethylsiloxane, that was not approved by the FDA as a food ingredient. The omission of cheese from Pizza Hut's list of natural ingredients is glaring.

[Chicago Pizza News] Cellar Rat Offers Free Wine Tasting With Pizza Focus

Cellar Rat Wine Shop, a Bucktown/Wicker Park wine shop that focuses on small wine producers, is hosting a Pizzariffic wine tasting this Saturday afternoon, January 17th, from 3:00 to 6:00.

As part of their "Real Wine for Real Food" series, Cellar Rat will offer FREE tastings of 8 wines, 4 reds and 4 whites, along with FREE pizza in an effort to determine which wines work best with pizza. Making the event even better is the fact that all 8 wines cost between $10 and $15 per bottle, so if you find one you like, you can buy a couple bottles and still be able to afford some pizza.

Hat tip to newest CPC member Jen for bringing this to my attention.

[Chicago Pizza News] Vito & Nick's Featured On Food Network Tonight

In July, the CPC received an email from Vito & Nick's, one of our favorite pizzerias, inviting us to head to the restaurant while they were filmed for an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins, Dives, the Food Network show hosted by Guy Fieri.

A handful of us headed down there with dreams of national television exposure for the Chicago Pizza Club dancing in our heads. It turned out that we were one of many, many, many invitees. We were able to squeeze into the last available table, but we had to wait an extraordinarily long time for our delicious pizzas and we only caught a glimpse of the overly exuberant host.

Tonight everyone can see what we missed when the episode airs on the Food Network at 9:00 Central and again at midnight.

[Chicago Pizza News] Frasca Putting Pizza on Sale

In honor of the barely known and questionably real National Pizza Week (January 12-16), Frasca will offer their Neapolitan-style pies at the low price of 2 for $14. The deal includes all the toppings one is inclined to try. Pies typically start at $8 - $13 each, though with extra toppings they could be higher.

[Chicago Pizza News] Stupid Man Robs Suburban Pizzeria

Pizza Cucina is a 4-store pizza chain in the far western suburbs. The westernmost location is in Wasco, an unincorporated town just past St. Charles.

Late Saturday or early Sunday, Mark Jendrzejczyk broke into Wasco Pizza Cucina and stole the cash drawers and broke some computers. When the police came to investigate, management reported that there was a car key sitting in the restaurant and a car sitting in the parking lot that nobody recognized. The key was to a Dodge and the car in the parking lot was a Dodge.

Turned out they went together and belonged to Jendrzejczyk. He was arrested and charged on Sunday afternoon.

[Chicago Pizza News] 2 Inches of Snow Means No Parking and Free Pizza

Since the Blizzard of 1967, about 500 miles of Chicago's streets have been decorated with signs that ban parking if there are more than 2 inches of snow on the ground. For more than 40 years, those signs have left Chicagoans wondering how they are supposed to measure two inches while standing in the freezing cold with no ruler.

Thanks to Pizzeria Via Stato, there is now a reason to cheer for 2 inches of snow accumulation. Starting on January 6, if there is more than 2 inches of snow downtown, every carry-out order comes with a free pizza.

Incidentally, most of the fear of the 2-inch snow parking ban is unnecessary. The City generally doesn't start towing cars from those streets unless there is a good amount more than 2 inches. Also, chances are your car will just be moved, not put in the pound.