[Dracula]

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

In Las Vegas, there is Settebello. And then there's "everyone else." But Settebello is Naples pizza. You know, where they invented it. New York pizza is thin crust, wood or coal fired (preferably coal). Just google "coal-fired pizza" and try them all out.

PS -- New Haven pizza is five times better than New York. And 100 times better than Chicago. (But still only half as good as any VPN in Naples.)

I Bet you never even had one bite of Chicago style deep dish pizza...either that or your taste buds are located in your arm pits.

[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by Dracula

I Bet you never even had one bite of Chicago style deep dish pizza...either that or your taste buds are located in your arm pits.

Deep dish pizza isn't pizza. It's a cassarole masquerading as a pizza. I've had some that are pretty good. But still nothing at all like what you can get on any side street in Naples. That's a pizza. Four-foot thick crust with eleven pounds of sausage and cheese on top isn't pizza. Love it all you want. But once you call it "pizza," I call shenanigans.

[Cyborgt800]

...I'll bet none of you know how to make a true PB&J!

[logline]

Originally Posted by Cyborgt800

...I'll bet none of you know how to make a true PB&J!

You mean I'm not supposed to use vegemite and pickled herring?

[Dracula]

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

Deep dish pizza isn't pizza. It's a cassarole masquerading as a pizza. I've had some that are pretty good. But still nothing at all like what you can get on any side street in Naples. That's a pizza. Four-foot thick crust with eleven pounds of sausage and cheese on top isn't pizza. Love it all you want. But once you call it "pizza," I call shenanigans.

Of course it's pizza, there are burrito's the size of footballs now, are they not still burrito's? There are 3 lb omelete's, are they not still omelet's? Are 64 oz steaks still steaks? I'm sure that the pizza from Naples is very good, but a recipe can travel anywhere, just because it's from Naples doesn't make it automatically magically delicious. The crust on deep dish pizza is about 2 inches thick and the sausage and cheese is about 3 or 4 inches thick...looks like it's true, you've never even had a bite of one before. Never until now have I ever heard anyone call it anything but "pizza" so I really don't care what you call it, if you don't like it don't eat it, but don't come on here talking crap about things you have no clue of.

[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by Dracula

Of course it's pizza, there are burrito's the size of footballs now, are they not still burrito's? There are 3 lb omelete's, are they not still omelet's? Are 64 oz steaks still steaks? I'm sure that the pizza from Naples is very good, but a recipe can travel anywhere, just because it's from Naples doesn't make it automatically magically delicious. The crust on deep dish pizza is about 2 inches thick and the sausage and cheese is about 3 or 4 inches thick...looks like it's true, you've never even had a bite of one before. Never until now have I ever heard anyone call it anything but "pizza" so I really don't care what you call it, if you don't like it don't eat it, but don't come on here talking crap about things you have no clue of.

Let me spell it out for you: In Italy, a pizza is ALL ABOUT the crust. Thin, with just the right balance between crisp and chewy. With a pleasant snap to it. The toppings are basically an afterthought. They're baked in century's-old wood-fired brick ovens that lend flavor to that all-important crust. THAT is pizza.

That monstrosity you eat in Illinois isn't pizza. It resembles pizza in the same way that a concrete block resembles a diamond. But in fairness, you probably wouldn't like the pizza in Italy. Your palate has been ruined.

[Dracula]

Like I said, I don't care what you call it or what you think, it's deep dish pizza to me and always will be, now go back to Italy and make sure you buy a bunch of deodorant before you go.

[kimba01]

I think the Chicago style pizza is just too much. It is a pie. With pizza toppings baked in to it. It's good, but I can barely eat one piece. And yes, the "pizza" flavor does get lost. It was just adapted from somewhere else. No biggie. A lot of foods are. I need to try a true Naples pizza.

[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by kimba01

I think the Chicago style pizza is just too much. It is a pie. With pizza toppings baked in to it. It's good, but I can barely eat one piece. And yes, the "pizza" flavor does get lost. It was just adapted from somewhere else. No biggie. A lot of foods are. I need to try a true Naples pizza.

The closest you can get without buying an airplane ticket is Settebello. Make sure you order some of Armandino Batali's salumi as an appetizer as well. I think the only thing keeping Settebello from tasting exactly like a real Neapolitan pizza is 200 years of use for the brick oven. It's kind of like the Chinese yixing clay teapots -- after a few hundred years, the pot is as important to the flavor as the tea leaves. That's why those old pots sell for tens of thousands of dollars. Some are even considered national treasures. The pizza ovens of Italy work the same mojo for pizza as the yixing pots do for tea.

IMO, the pizza margherita is the one to get first. It's basic. A little sauce, some good buffalo mozzarella and basil. That's the standard by which all other pizzas are judged.

And I wouldn't even call a Chicago "pizza" a pie. A pie doesn't have a crust that can only be measured with a yardstick. What they're eating in Illinois is basically a round pagnotta with a sausage casserole on top. There's nothing wrong with that. But it isn't pizza. It isn't even in the same ballpark.

The thing that irks me about the American "our regional pizza is the best" crapola is that it isn't even our national dish. For instance, we're the authority on barbecue. No other country can lay claim to barbecue greatness like America. Someone from Chicago blathering on about pizza is like someone from Milan making grand sweeping assertions about barbecue. Neither one has the necessary street cred.

If an Italian routinely wins trophies on the American barbecue circuit, I'll pay attention to what he or she has to say about barbecue. VPN certification for a pizzeria is like winning a barbecue trophy for a smokehouse. There are only a few dozen VPN-certified pizzerias in America. Settebello is one of them.

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by Dracula

Of course it's pizza, there are burrito's the size of footballs now, are they not still burrito's? There are 3 lb omelete's, are they not still omelet's? Are 64 oz steaks still steaks? I'm sure that the pizza from Naples is very good, but a recipe can travel anywhere, just because it's from Naples doesn't make it automatically magically delicious. The crust on deep dish pizza is about 2 inches thick and the sausage and cheese is about 3 or 4 inches thick...looks like it's true, you've never even had a bite of one before. Never until now have I ever heard anyone call it anything but "pizza" so I really don't care what you call it, if you don't like it don't eat it, but don't come on here talking crap about things you have no clue of.

I agree about different varieties of pizzas. There are so many varieties of pizza out there, and that's fine with me! Sometimes I want thin, cracker style crust that is made by the Italian families in Des Moines. Sometimes I want thicker crust (not often, though, because for me pizza is about the sauce and toppings, not the dough), sometimes I want deep dish, and sometimes I want the cheap chain place down the street because I love their sauce. And about twice a year I get to go back to my old hometown and have the awesome pizza made by a Greek family that tastes like no other.

if every pizza joint made all pizza the exact same way, how boring that would be!