Something clicked when that delicious cheese concoction made its way across the Atlantic from Italy more than a century ago.
Pizza is beer’s best friend, it’s a warm cardboard box on your lap when you get home, it’s a greasy slice folded in half and shoved into your mouth at 2am. , it’s the mozzarella and tomato sauce that creates a perfect frisson from your taste buds and let’s face it. This: Pizza is just that.
Having risen from its humble beginnings, these days pizza is a battleground. Pitch (pizza chef) Patriots who sprinkle everything from truffle oil to salsa chips on a pimple-faced pie. No two cities have fallen more in love with pizza than Chicago and New York – and as in every battle for the perfect lover’s affections, the competition is between New York’s classic “slice” and Chicago’s “deep dish.” Happiness.
So who makes the best piece of pie?
Founding fathers of pizza in America
Gennaro Lombardi opened the first official American pizzeria in 1905 at 53 1/2 Spring St in New York. Lombardi – part of a wave of Neapolitan immigrants who settled on the East Coast – imported Naples-style pizza (a thin, Housewife/homestyle crust topped with only basic ingredients (such as tomato sauce and fresh mozzarella) in the Big Apple.
Italian workers would stop by Lombardi’s and buy what they could afford, but at five cents a pie, a whole pizza often cost too much. They’ll get a proportionally sized piece in a paper bag tied with string: better than Mom’s packed lunch any day.
Lombardi’s closed in 1984, but reopened 10 years later a block down from its original location and is now a dine-in/delivery-style pizzeria with lines that stretch around the block. are
Legend has it that in the late 1800s a Chicago street peddler, balancing a metal tub full of baked tomato pies on his head, hawked slices in Little Italy for two cents a share. The first pizzeria – Pizzeria Uno – was opened in 1943 by Ike Sewell, an American soldier stationed in Italy during WWII.
Seville shrewdly took advantage of returning soldiers’ admiration for the dish they had eaten abroad. Uno pioneered the deep dish style of pizza. Various ingredients (e.g. sausages and tomatoes) are piled inside a hearty apple pie-shaped base.
Unlike New Yorkers, Chicagoans pig out on whole pies, which they eat at restaurants or have delivered at home. Like the Windy City’s big business brass, Pizzeria Uno has expanded into an empire of restaurants known as Uno Chicago Grill, with franchises around the world.
Christ lust
When Chicagoans and New Yorkers discuss pizza, fists are bumped when the conversation turns to crusts. NEW YORK — True to the tall, narrow shape of the Manhattan — it’s all about a thin, crunchy crust that provides a flat, almost shapeless plate of pastry on which to layer the ingredients. For a thin crust, coal- or wood-fired perfection, the bottom should have a slight singe and a texture and smoky flavor.
The only way to eat a slice is to fold the crust in half like a paper airplane and let the fat squeeze out the back as you eat it from the bottom.
Chicago, a city where size matters — after all, it’s home to the first skyscraper — is big on base; The lip of the buttery crust is inches higher than the dense mass. hat (Mozzarella). Unlike slices, which can be handled by hand, Chicago pizza often requires a knife and fork to cut into dense, gooey (but not too gooey, if cooked correctly) goodness.
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Decision
“I think it’s better. It takes more work to make,” says Chicago native Michael Rau, speaking of the joys of deep dish.
New Yorkers, meanwhile, scoff at such ideas, believing mountains of dough and toppings are superfluous (an emphatic “blaigh,” was New York pizza aficionado Davina Cohen’s response, deep-dish dough). of the).
In the end – thick or thin, crispy or squidgy, sweet or cheesy – the distinctions are irrelevant. As Rao put it: “It’s a tribal thing. It’s considered a defect to join another tribe.”
Let’s face it: as long as it loves you at 4 a.m., that is. love.
The best of both worlds
It’s impossible to backtrack in New York without falling into a hole in the wall. Likewise, Chicago is peppered with pizza joints on every corner. Here are some to get you started:
The classics
The Fara – New York
These crunchy pies, baptized with late flower (fresh cow’s milk mozzarella), developed by one-man showstopper Domenico Di Marco, who has been spinning the wheel for over 40 years.
Lou Malnati’s – Chicago
One of the most traditional places to be found in town, Authentic, Bready Deep Dish crunches the numbers — and guess how many of those frozen pies sent As “care packages” across the country, they must be on to something.
Cheap and greasy
Coronet Pizza – New York
one Among the best deals in town: A jumbo, a piece of pie the length of your arm – a drunken winner.
Chicago’s Pizza – Chicago
Famous for late evening delivery, Chicago Pizza Will serve you a thick deep dish just the way you like it in the morning.
The rebel
Artichoke Basil’s Pizza – New York
Who knew Artichoke hearts on the slice It can also taste great topped with spinach, cream sauce, mozzarella and pecorino romano cheese. Operating since 2008, these relative newcomers have become a big hit in a city full of pizza snobs.
Pizza Fried Chicken Ice Cream – Chicago
Like with a bold name Fried Chicken Ice Cream Pizza, you have to knock it out of the park with each of your specialties and this Bridgeport pizzeria delivers (literally). Check out their Korean-inspired pizza with Polish sausage and kimchi topped with mushrooms, onions, scallions and a drizzle of mustard.
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Safety recommendations and restrictions can change rapidly during a pandemic. Lonely Planet recommends that travelers always check with local authorities beforehand for the most up-to-date guidance. Traveling during Covid-19.
This article was first published on June 16, 2009 and was updated on February 4, 2022.