The Final Score

Hey, Anthony,
I'm guessing that Jim Baumbach's having blast in Italy, but I hope he didn't
go there for the pizza.

Sure,modern pizza was invented in Naples by Raffaele Esposito in 1889, but
just like Japan says it takes the best of everything in the world and makes
it its own, pizza isn't pizza unless it's Chicago Pizza.

Go ahead and tell me how great New York pizza is. I'm sure a lot of people
will agree with you, but only because their brains have been affected by all
the garlic they've inhaled while snarfing slice after slice while dodging
taxicabs and pickpockets. What is it with NY pizza and garlic anyway? Are
New Yorkers THAT afraid of vampires?

And what's with the folding it over and trying to shove the whole thing in
your mouth at one time? Are you just trying to get it over with?

Chicago Pizza is something to be enjoyed. The rest of the world associates
Chicago Pizza with the big, fat pizzas cooked up in a pan. I'm OK with that,
and although I think that Chicago thin pizza is better than NY's, too, I'll
stick to the pan pizza. And only the pan pizza actually served in the Windy
City. The Chicago-style pizza served up around the country is OK, but it's
just an imitation.

Imagine as the waiter or waitress brings over this huge, charred pan,
holding it steady with special tongs and grumpily placing it on the serving
plate. It's a thing of beauty as you look at the slightly-charred,
two-inch thick (or more) crust. You can smell the mixture of tomato
sauce and ground sausage fighting for supremacy with the ton of cheese on
top. No garlic odor, but you're free to add your own.

And check out the empty pan. It must be 20 years old, with 20 years of
flavor locked into it. Some pans are older, a lot older. Chicago's good
restaurants simply won't serve pizza in a new pan.

Now for that first bite. Ah, you're eating everything at once and yet you
can taste everything separately. The crust is thick and buttery with a hint
of char. The sausage is mildly spicy. The tomatoes are tangy and the thick,
gooey cheese holds it all together.

Don't forget to use your knife and fork. Chicago Pizza is a meal, not a snack.

If you're ever in Chitown, try it. You'll like it. No, you'll love it. And
when you're back in NY maybe you won't think it's so great to burn the top
your mouth with a folded-over piece of paper with hot goo oozing out of it and
on to your shirt.

Here's where Chicagoans go for what youse guys call Chicago Pizza: Gino's
East, Pizzeria Uno, Pizzeria Due, Gino's and Lou Malnatti's (although Lou's
is an acquired taste and not recommended for beginners). There is no
resemblance whatsoever between the national chain version of Uno's and the
original on Ohio Street. If you absolutely refuse to use a knife and fork,
try the thick pizza Connie's Pizza (also served at U.S. Cellular Field, but ballpark pizza is still ballpark pizza no matter who makes it) or
Home Run Inn Pizza. But get the sausage and skip the pepperoni.

I invite you or any other NY pizza-lovers to defend yourself.

Cheers,
Chicago Norm

Norm,
It's good to see what you are truly passionate about.

Chicago pizza is cute. But it's not New York pizza.

I would never argue that New York has more wind or bigger shoulders than Chicago. I would never argue that Andy Sipowicz from "NYPD Blue" is a New Yorker when he clearly has a Chicago accent. I would never argue that Refrigerator Perry is skinnier than Michael Strahan. Chicago wins all of those.

But New York wins pizza. By New York I don't mean Long Island. Maybe that's why you are confused. But as any New Yorker would say: Fugheddaboutit!!!!

Anthony