Spacca Napoli

Contrary to popular belief, Chicago's repertoire of pizza is not limited to just deep dish and stuffed style. In fact, it has its own VPN-certified Neapolitan Pizza joint in the northern neighborhood of Ravenswood, Spacca Napoli.


After numerous trips to Naples, Jon Goldsmith opened Spacca Napoli in the winter of 2006 after realizing Chicago had no traditional Neapolitan pizzerias to offer. Spacca Napoli translates directly to "Naples splitter," referring to a main thorough fair through Naples that literally divides the city into different sectors.


Originally Jon employed native Italian Nella Grassano as his pizzaiola until she left to start Pizzeria Nella in 2009, but nothing could have prepared me for who was behind the counter when a friend and I walked through the door:

(courtesy of FoodMayhem)

Keste pizzaiolo Roberto Caporuscio! We both did a double take upon seeing one another, and neither of us understood what the other was doing so far from home. I had just stopped in at Keste days before leaving for Chicago to see the man himself and grab one of his killer Margheritas. I am totally kicking myself, but in my stupor of such a coincidence I completely forgot to get a shot of him manning the oven (idiot!).


Check out that sweet custom oven! That bushel of grain is Spacca's logo designed by Jon's partner Ginny Skyles. Shortly after being seated, we were served a dish that any Keste regular would recognize-


I'm embarrassed to say, but I have no idea what this is called (anyone care to enlighten me?). Roberto whips these up and throws a combo of great toppings on top, ranging from squash and mozzarella to Marscapone and fennel. In this case, he made one with broccoli rabe, mozzarella and sausage. Yum!


Shortly thereafter, Roberto returned with Jon (a native New Yorker) to chat about Chicago pizza and gave me some additional recommendations while in town. Since the pizza menu was split between red and white pies and we were completely undecided, we decided to get one of each, starting of course with the Margherita:


This pizza was extremely tasty, but by no means life-changing in my opinion. After a while, it becomes hard to differentiate most Neapolitan pizzas from one another, especially when they are under the strict certification of the Vera Pizza Napoletana and there is little room to deviate from guidelines. Next up was our white pie, which features mozzarella, arugula, shaved Parmesan and Proscuitto:


This pie was the winner and tasted extremely fresh. After taking a bite, I realized this was one ingredient away from Paulie Gee's famous Parma d'Or, lacking only the fresh-squeezed lemon on top.


Something to note- of piles of leftovers I was forced to bring back to my gracious hosts while pizza hunting around the city, I think this pie held up the best. That being said, it's a no-brainer that this pizza is best consumed straight out of the oven.


Spacca Napoli (and Roberto Caporuscio) whipped up some fantastic pies, making this my third favorite pizzeria (out of 12) that I visited in Chicago.

Pizzeria Uno

Well kids, I'm back from Chicago, and while I may be five pounds heavier from all the pizza, I had a total blast. The trip had a tumultuous start in which I nearly missed my flight, but alas I made it to chilly Chi-town unscathed. Where else should I begin than at the birthplace of deep-dish pizza as we know it, Pizzeria Uno?


Located on the corner of Wabash and Ohio St., former University of Texas football player Ike Sewell opened the original Pizzeria Uno in the River North region of Chicago with his partner, WWII vet Rick Ricardo in 1943.


If you can't tell from this picture, the place is pretty tiny and cramped. It's got a real cozy, authentic feel to it (unlike the hundreds of other franchised Uno's). As the story goes, Ike wanted to open a Mexican restaurant in Chicago since the city had none to offer, but his friend Rick, having just returned from fighting fascists and nomming slices in Italy, insisted they open a pizzeria.


Only one problem: neither Ike nor Rick knew how to make pizza. In desperation, the duo found a saucy Italian guy named Rudy Malnatti to come up with a new-fangled recipe the likes of which had never been seen- or tasted before. The rest is history, I give you the birth of the deep-dish pizza:


So what exactly is a deep-dish pizza? In most cases these pies consist of dough pressed into a 1-2 inch deep aluminum pan, followed by cheese and any additional toppings (a bit of a misnomer in this case, isn't it?), then rich, chunky tomato sauce and a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.


What makes each pizzeria unique is what the ingredients they choose to make their dough. Comparatively, Uno has a relatively basic crust that tastes altogether bready compared to some of its other Windy City counterparts.


Both the menu and the pizza at HQ were significantly different (and simpler) from any of the Uno franchises I've ever visited. I know the chains use soybean oil in order to obtain that pastry-like consistency in the crust, but this did not seem to be the case here. No "Pizza Skins," "Avocado Rolls" or "Buffalo Chicken Quesadillas" either; just pizza, salad, and a few appetizers (the way it should be, in my opinion).


Twelve years after the creation of Uno, Sewell opened Pizzeria Due across the street to accommodate the crowds, and ten years after that, finally opened his Mexican restaurant, Su Casa. While it was refreshing to see that Uno's relatively-new corporate owners left the flagship restaurant untouched, the original Pizzeria Uno left me wanting more.

CHICAGO.

Well ladies and gentlemen, you must forgive my lack November material, but between scarfing at least a slice-a-day in October and what I knew was coming this first week in December, I had to take a little pie-atus or pie-bernation (oh man, I've gotta stop).

(courtesy of Pamparius)

That's right, I'm heading to Chicago, Chi-town, The Windy City, whatever you want to call it- in search of the best pizzas in town. The list of pizzerias to visit is daunting, the pies are bolder than any other, and I may not come back alive.

In the meantime, send me your favorite spots to hit (I think I have most of 'em covered), otherwise I'll see ya in 10 lbs.

National Pizza Month 2010

Woof. That's the word that best encapsulates my experience eating (at least) a slice a day this past 31 days for National Pizza Month. My goal was simple: eat a slice a day at a different pizzeria each day, no repeats. For fairness, I avoided toppings and stuck to plain slices at slice joints (with the exception of Frank Pepe's and Bar Pizza). Take a look at the cross section of pies, ranging from delicious-looking to yak-inducing-

October 1st: Pizza Box - 176 Bleecker St., Manhattan

October 2nd: Vinny's Pizza - 148 Bedford Ave., Brooklyn

October 3rd: Two Boots - 74 Bleecker St., Manhattan

October 4th: Joe's - 7 Carmine St., Manhattan

October 5th: Pizza Suprema - 413 8th Ave., Manhattan

October 6th: Gino's Pizza - 218 Flatbush Ave., Brooklyn

October 7th: Eden - 166 N. 7th St., Brooklyn

October 8th: Pizza Booth - 165 Bleecker St., Manhattan

October 9th: Pizza Moto - Lafayette & Vanderbilt Ave. (Brooklyn Flea), Brooklyn

October 10th: V&M Pizza Town - 85 5th Ave., Brooklyn

October 11th: L&B Spumoni Gardens - 2725 86th St., Brooklyn

October 12th: Bleecker Street Pizza - 69 7th Ave., Manhattan

October 13th: Ben's Pizza (Greenwich Village) - 123 MacDougal St., Manhattan

October 14th: Anna Maria - 179 Bedford Ave., Brooklyn

October 15th: Francesco's Pizza - 140 W. 4th St., Manhattan

October 16th: Rocket Joe's - 61 Delancey St., Manhattan

October 17th: Anthony's Pizzeria - 426 7th Ave., Brooklyn

October 18th: Ben's Pizza (SoHo) - 177 Spring St., Manhattan

October 19th: Phil's Pizza - 226 Varick St., Manhattan

October 20th: Artichoke Basille's - 328 E. 14th St., Manhattan

October 21st: Cafe Amore - 319 6th Ave., Manhattan

October 22nd: Bella Napoli - 150 W. 49th St., Manhattan

October 23rd: Rose & Joe's - 2240 31st. St., Queens

October 24th: Bergen Pizza - 67 6th Ave., Brooklyn

October 25th: Little Italy Pizza - 55 W. 45th St., Manhattan

October 26th: Famous Ray's - 465 6th Ave., Manhattan

October 27th: Stromboli Pizzeria - 112 University Place, Manhattan

October 28th: 99¢ Fresh Pizza - 388 6th Ave., Manhattan

October 29th: Z Pizza - 298 Bleecker St., Manhattan

October 30th: Frank Pepe's - 157 Wooster St., New Haven, CT

October 31st: Bar Pizza - 254 Crown St., New Haven, CT

While my adventure may not seem so daunting spread out across an entire month, I was beginning to feel like a pizza in my last week of eating (not sure if that's a good or a bad thing...), so I can't even imagine what Nick Sherman felt like eating nothing but pizza for a month.

What was the best slice you ask? (you are asking, right?) Taste is in the mouth of the beholder, but there was no beating Bleecker St. Pizza, though it had an unfair advantage: since there weren't any plain slices available, I had a slice of their 'Nonna Maria' pie which added garlic and basil. That being the case, the runner-up is Joe's.

On the other side of the spectrum, there were a lot of uninspiring slices (to put it nicely). If I had to chose a worst slice, it's gotta be Little Italy's which put me into a wretched pizza coma from a single slice. It takes a lot for me to get queasy from a slice, but this one put my vom-reflexes to the test. Grosstown city.

If I learned one thing from my slice-capade it's this: this town has too many great pizza joints to ever have a bad slice.