Posted by Trott

Photo by Steve Ledzian

Day 3: Pauline's Pizza served delicious pizza with fresh organic toppings and a cornmeal crust. Blah blah blah. You either already knew that, or you couldn't care less. Anyway, I've determined that the secret to many a great pizza is the cornmeal crust. (There was cornmeal in the crust at Little Star, too.)

More important than the pizza itself, a great number of friends came out to celebrate my birthday. This had two exciting results:

1. Everyone paid for my dinner. It didn't cost me a dime. Score!
2. One friend brought an ex-Lemonhead who expressed an appreciation for the general concept of Steak House! (The Musical). Tonight, I will be cooking with lemons, so this means a lot to me.

Day 4: A16 served delicious pizza with sustainably farmed toppings and an authentic Italian-style thin crust. Et cetera. You get the idea. No cornmeal crust this time, but it didn't matter. It was great.

More important than the pizza itself, a small number of friends came out to celebrate my birthday. This had two important results:

1. Everyone paid for my dinner. It didn't cost me a nickel. Score!
2. None of my friends had ever been to the Wave Organ, so we walked over there. The Wave Organ is a neat spot, although I've never heard it make sounds other than faint tones. But I was amused by the sign about volleyball-playing that we saw on the way there. It seemed funnier and more bizarre then than it does right now.

Labels: pizza binge

Posted by Trott

Last night was the second of the Four-Day Birthday Pizza Binge. Tommaso's (which I've been misspelling in previous posts) in North Beach made a fine pizza, but it was not extraordinary.

I have read and heard a lot of rave reviews concerning Tommaso's pizza, including claims that it's the best pizza in the city or even the best pizza outside of Italy. Based solely on my experience there last night, I'd have to say that while it was a fine and enjoyable pizza, such extraordinary praise is not warranted. The San Francisco Chronicle article might have been a bit harsh ("The crust was underdone and the flavor of dried herbs permeated everything. The pizza was flaccid, sour and heartbreaking....") but I can agree with Urbanophile.com ("The pizza seems to be well regarded in the city, but if you're from a real pizza town like Chicago or New York you will be disappointed, so stick to the other dishes instead."). Perhaps I got a pizza that slipped past quality-control and I need to try again. But if given the choice, I'll stick with Little Star.

Tonight: Pauline's Pizza in the Mission!

Meanwhile, the critics are still raving about our short documentary about people and their relationship with Bob Dylan's Self Portrait.

This little film is kind of funny. Some mis-info, differing opinions, egotistical posturing, etc., but I guess that's the point. My favorite line, which I hearby nominate to be the official motto of the Pool, is when one guy says, "None of us should know so much about one guy."

this is great...a lot of Dylan opinions and thoughts, not totally Self Portrait talk.

It's fascinating. I'd love to meet the people in the film in person and have a conversation with them. They're all incredibly articulate not only about Bob but about art and the '60's and a lot of other topics.

These quotes are from a forum thread at the Dylan Pool site.

Labels: pizza binge

Posted by Trott

As I mentioned last week, I was half-assedly doing an elimination diet. It ended yesterday and I made up for lost time.

As promised, I went to Little Star last night for the first night of my four-day Birthday Pizza Binge. I shared an excellent deep-dish pizza with my friend Erik and had great cheesecake for dessert. Note the jukebox contents.

Afterwards, we went to Toronado where we met up with Erik's wife Michele. Good news: Dogfish Head Brewery was featured for the night. Their 120 Minute IPA is 21% alcohol by volume, so I immediately chose that. Fantastic! Bad news: Someone selected a block of Cream on the jukebox. I like to hear "White Room" or "Sunshine Of Your Love" once in a while. But a block of it? There was only one thing to do about it: Leave and eat more.

I went next door to Rosamunde and got a vegan sausage sandwich. The last time I had been to Rosamunde, I ate four vegan sausage sandwiches. The woman was so impressed when I ordered the fourth sandwich of the evening that she didn't charge me for it. She told me I was setting a record. Alas, she didn't remember me last night. It had been a long time. I had to pay for my sausage, just like everyone else. I should have mentioned that my birthday is coming up soon.

I ate back at Toronado, where Cream had given way to something else. I don't remember what, but I do remember discussing with Michele whether the surname of the guy from Thin Lizzy rhymes with "fly knot" or "pin knot." Who can help me?

Tonight, day two of the Pizza Binge takes place at Tomasso's in North Beach.

Labels: pizza binge

Posted by Trott

My birthday is looming and I'm going to celebrate over the course of four days by eating at four pizza places (all rumored to be excellent) that I've never been to.

Thanks to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, I am now aware that I am behind the times on pizza in the city.

So here's the schedule:

1. Little Star on Wednesday, 22-Jun-2005
2. Tomasso's on Thursday, 23-June-2005
3. Pauline's on Friday, 24-June-2005
4. A16 on Saturday, 25-June-2005

Raconteur Coach Bob told me a great story today about Communists protesting in the stands at Ebbets Field demanding that the Dodgers sign Jackie Robinson in the 1940s. I only wish I could see a photograph of a sign saying "Jews, Blacks, Italians, and Irish Say: Hire Robinson." (And if it didn't happen that way, maybe I don't want to know.)

Additionally, Raconteur Coach Bob reports that Robinson was signed on the same date as the first evening of Passover. So, when one Jewish Communist protester (who happened to be the youngest son in his family) was asked at the Seder why that night was different from other nights, he responded that it was because God had seen fit to have the Dodgers do the honorable and moral thing. The man's father responded that it was a loose reading of the Haggadah but that he would accept the answer.

I'm largely ignorant about the details of Jackie Robinson's life. But a Web search confirms that the Communist Party was, in fact, actively campaigning to end segregation in baseball. Ironically, according to a New York Times article, Robinson was "[f]ervently anti-Communist."

Labels: pizza binge