I know, I know...

[sanpaku_backup]

I broke my promise.

But I'm glad I did, as for once it was an interesting game. And the Patriots winning makes me feel better about the Steelers losing.

Plus, who am I to stand in the way of the almighty chip-and-dip. Something about late January and junk food in me. When I was growing up -- sometimes in those days the Steelers would be in the Super Bowl, and they would win, too -- my mom would make these bigass corned beef sandwiches for the game, or we would get pizza from La Pizzeria up the street, which to me is still the yardstick against which all pizza must be judged.

Yes, my mom is the football fan in our family. My father kind of comes in, laughs at it all, and leaves. But for some reason my mother has always been a big Steelers fan ever since they moved to Pittsburgh. Go figure.

I hear fireworks going off. Idly wondering if there'll be a riot tonight. Now, that would be interesting.

Anyway, in less trivial news, we did nothing today. Well, we did go on a drive in search of a diner in the South End, just to see where it was. Found a Chinese supermarket that was pretty nifty. "You see? That's something we couldn't do in Baltimore," I tell Mrs. S. She still does not like it here.

Comments

[flw.livejournal.com]

La Pizzeria? Man, you have low standards. La Pizzeria? The best thing about that place was the Pac-Man machine in the back. Then they had Defender, then Moon Patrol, then finally Galaga. All video games end in Galaga. Galaga is kind of the Omega of the stand up quarter-pumpin' video game era.

But their pizza ... Ragu on bread, man and it was square ... in every way! I feel very sorry for you now! I hope to God you have surpassed La Pizzeria Pizza by now.

I feel bad that Mrs. S. doesn't like Beantown. Perhaps you will escape soon.

Re:

[sanpaku.livejournal.com]

No way, man, La Pizzeria pizza was excellent. Ragu on bread? What? The cheese was great, but that crust was perfect. Perfection. You are simply wrong.

Then again, my second choice would be Chicago pizza, and I know you hated that too.

So smartypants, what do you consider good pizza?

And need I remind you it is YOUR MOVE?

Pizza Yardstick

[librarygrrl.livejournal.com]

For me it's Caruso's uptahn mahnt lebanin. Tangy sauce, perfect crust-- crispy on the bottom with some bubbles on top. Yum.

I know just where that chinese grocery is. That neighborhood used to be a total pit. Now you can't touch it. Go figure.

Re: Pizza Yardstick

[sanpaku.livejournal.com]

You sure you're thinking of the same Chinese grocery? This one is across the Pike, kind of near the Herald building. Seemed like sort of yer classic Transitional Neighborhood... ie not very nice around there.

I don't think I ever tried Caruso's. Mt. Lebanon was a very balkanized place. What about that place near you... can't remember the road name... near the elementary school, that little strip? Went there with Mrs. Sanpaku once. I liked it well enough, I think.

Re: Pizza Yardstick

[librarygrrl.livejournal.com]

Oh, that chinese grocery. Yeah, that wasn't very far from me, but not the one I'm thinking of.

The pizza place near me was called Bado's. I remember eating there with J once years ago and he said, "I don't think I'd like to live in Pittsburgh." I'm still not sure what he saw that was so objectionable.

[flw.livejournal.com]

Yes, you do need to remind me that it is my move. I got a book out of the library on classic chess openings and I simply do not understand how to play this game. It makes no sense to me. There are a myriad of standard moves that people use. In fact, the first dozen or so moves in a modern game are almost all pre-defined, or so it seems from the transcripts I've been reading (They aren't the same in every game, but if you move this I move this and you move that then I move this, etc ... and nothing changes until someone does something non-standard, which ALWAYS costs them the game).

So, I feel like an idiot.

Anyways, perhaps I did like La Pizzeria, I mean, I went there all the time. I was probably there every chance I got. If there was a sitcom and I was a character (as a kid) then in the very special episode about my character, La Pizzeria would be the set.

Little Nippers was the place that got recognition on Beverly Road (down by LibraryGrrl). It was good pizza. Some people liked Bado's, but it had "New York" Crust, which means in the pizza business: "We take an extra small pizza, spread it it out to a large, put very little in the way of toppings on it and then sell it for twice as much because it is 'gourmet' and 'New-York Style'."

Pittsburgh has alot of unusual pizza places that people swear by:

1) Vinnie's Pizza Park (or maybe it's Vincent's). This guy does the New York crust trick, only he's not too damn accurate about making a circle. Then he ladles tons of stuff onto it. The result: a thin, rock hard crust atop which sits an oily lake of toppings. If you get sausage, he puts this giant meatball looking thing on it that bleeds grease onto the whole thing. But, some people swear by it.

2) Mineo's Pizza. Well done pizza. Good and cheap. Characterized by an abundance of cheese. They put down a layer of cheese and then another thick layer on top of the toppings. Almost invariably when you take a newcomer they say, "I thought we got [insert topping name] on this." and you have to say, "Yeah, it's in there, they just bury it in cheese." Cheese burial is an effective maneuver. It keeps the toppings from being burnt. Unfortunately at Mineo's, it also keeps them from being cooked. Also, you get to listen to the cooks talk about their golf game and wonder, "Weren't you guys having the exact same conversation the last time I was in here?"

3) Larry & Carol's in Oakland. People insist that they never had better. Unfortunately, the last time I ate a pizza from there (it was the first "double crust pizza" I ever encountered) Greg Hammond had just gotten me royally stoned. So, I ate seven pieces and then threw up for twenty minutes in his tiny college student apartment while a gaggle of Point Park Dance Majors listened on in disgust ... there's no way to come out of that bathroom and "score" I'll tell ya, but I was stoned enough to give it the old college try. the pizza, however was quite tasty, being defined by a thick and abundant sauce.

That's just a small sampling of "Unusual Pittsburgh Pizzas". I could write a book.

Re: Chess madness

[sanpaku.livejournal.com]

Yes, that is why I stopped with chess... it's just too massive. But supposedly if you learn just one opening really well you will have a big advantage over everyone else, since very few people will know the choreography of possible moves as well.

I know what you mean about it being a set from your life. I remembered all those video games, too. Moon Patrol at the Pizzeria. And now that you mention it, the sauce was strange because it was somehow very fruity. I dunno. Certain tastes just get locked in your brain as "this equals pizza" or whatever.

I did try Vincent's once. I do remember people saying it was the best pizza in Pittsburgh, but if it was, I don't remember it.

Here, we pretty much only go to Uno's for pizza, insofar as we can ever have it, which is not often, on account of Mrs. Sanpaku's diet (she's up to having lost over 50 pounds in the past 9 months). We did find a pretty OK place in West Roxbury, but for some reason only their slices in the place are any good; take-out is worthless. One place never to get pizza: Maine. Somehow the further north of New York you go, the more horrible the pizza gets. Or at least that is what the Mrs. tells me.