Or is it an R34? This drift toy has received the same R34 front end conversion (as the post before) together with a glitter paint job. Super fresh!

Fooking 18X13″ -36 off in the rear! Talk about crazy fitment.

LOOK AT THAT LIP! “That’s a HUGEEEEEEEE bitch!”

Favorite food of all time? Definitely, pizza. The versatility of pizza is one of its greatest assets. Pizza doesn’t discriminate and can be enjoyed by all, whether you’re a vegan or a meat lover, the toppings are never ending and no matter what you throw on it, it is delicious. In a city like Chicago, finding great pizza doesn’t require too much effort (after all, we are the founders of the Chicago style deep-dish pizza). Every neighborhood has their own pizza parlor serving up unique blends of flavors and toppings while larger chain restaurants tend to stick to more of the classics. Here are a couple suggestions to get you started!

In the mood for a scrumptious slice of Chicago’s finest deep-dish pizza?

Lou Malnati's Deep-Dish Pizza

Lou Malnati’s (multiple locations)
Nothing says ‘Welcome to Chicago’ like a deep-dish pizza (w/butter crust) from Lou’s. The Deluxe, with a layer of sausage and cheese topped with green onions, mushrooms, a rich tomato sauce- It really doesn’t get much better than this!

Specialty Pizzas

Exterior of Great Lake in the Edgewater neighborhood.

Great Lake Pizza (Edgewater)
Reviews have claimed that this little neighborhood pizza joint is the best in the country (wow). Loads of fresh ingredients, a phenomenally crisp, thin crust and overall a pizza that will “blow your mind”. Expect to wait, for pizza THIS good, there’s going to be a line.

Piece Chicago (Wicker Park)
Want variety? Housed in a renovated garage space featuring multiple TV’s, a full bar, and everything else you need to enjoy a pie- Piece gives you a wide range of options for your personal pizza. Create something exotic or get a traditional New Haven pizza with some Italian sausage thrown atop. Long waits but it’s definitely worth a try.

***More to come on Chicago’s finest***

Though there are traditional methods of baking pizza without the help of any deep dish pizza pans whatsoever, modern cookware also includes special deep dish deep dish deep dish pizza pans and shapes that allow the baking of thick or thin pizzas. Usually made of steel, one of the most common deep dish pizza pans models has an insulated design that ensures an even browning and presents no risk of sticking whatsoever. A deep dish pizza pans is great to have at home, particularly if you are fond of cooking such dishes on your own.

Very often the secret of the thin and flexible slices that you buy at the restaurants and fast foods lies not only in the making of the dough: the deep dish pizza pans is equally important. Of course that for restaurants, the size of such cookware is truly impressive, and it is usually custom made.

From the idea of the basic deep dish pizza pans, a whole chain of pizza shops was started as a family business. Under the motto of the “original home of the free pizza” the small company called Deep dish pizza pans became widely know in northeastern Ohio for its great pizza varieties and for the quality of the service.

The growth of the Deep dish pizza pans is also justified by the use of individual franchises that proved a more than happy business move. The year 2007 saw the introduction of the online orders at Deep dish pizza pans; now you can have your pizza delivered directly to your home by a few clicks of the mouse.

Much of the success of the Deep dish pizza pans on the market is tributary to the use of a very wise marketing promotion policy, aiming to attract customers by the quality of the products and the unique nature of the offer. Thus, when buying a pizza, you’d receive two more for free, or on delivery for each pizza ordered you got another one free of charge. This was actually great food for a more than incredible price.

Related:
Why Deep Dish Deep dish deep dish pizza deep dish pizza pans Should be Non Sticky

Chicago and Pizzeria Uno, Birthplace of the Deep Dish Pizza

Today Americans aren’t known for their savory pies. This was not always the case, for many, especially among the Italian-American population, the first American pizzas were known as Tomato Pie. Today, tomato pie is most commonly found in the Northeastern United States, especially in Italian bakeries found centered around New York. Opposite pizza pies, Tomato Pies are constructed first with cheese, then the toppings, and finally the sauce.

According to early records, America’s first Pizzeria was opened in 1905 by Gennaro Lombardi. Lombardo is now known as America’s “Patriaca della Pizza.” The early 30s saw tables and chairs added and a menu expanded to include spaghetti as well.

There are many ways to enjoy modern pizza. Until 1943 the basic recipe was for a flat crust baked bare of any structural support. This changed in 1943. Chicago style deep dish pizza was introduced by Ike Sewell at Pizzeria Uno. This pizza featured a flaky crust surrounding an abundance of toppings compared to the Napoli style of pizza.

American diets are still regional, and pizza is not widely known. This changed as American GIs returned home from World War II. Those soldiers who saw duty in Italy bring home a fondness for pizza. This leads to the first commercial pizza mix. “Roman Pizza Mix,” it was sold in supermarkets. The 40s were giving way to an era of prosperity for America, and this introduced an explosion of new quick serve restaurants, including Pizza Hut in the late 50s. The 50s also brought American homes the frozen pizza.

Today, pizza has become a food available in nearly every grocery store coast to coast, and in the majority of cities and towns, regardless of size.  Next post, we will explore the various relatives to pizza offered today. After that, we begin with reviews!

I am starting this blog because I was told that I should love New York style pizza more than Chicago style. So begins my review of the ultra thin vs the thick and everything in between.

In all my years of eating pizza, I’ve come to the realization that there are four fundamentals to your basic pizza (listed by order of importance).

1) The Crust. Whether it be thick or thin, if the crust is not just right, it can spell doom for a slice.

2) The Sauce. This can be a bit of a preferance deal breaker. Light or heavy. Sweet or savory. Smooth or chunky. White, red, or pesto. It all depends on your tastes.

3) The Cheese. You can get a slice with cheap cheese and it can still be good, but if it’s REALLY cheap and/or barely coated, it can be a real let down.

4) The Toppings. In my opinion, toppings are usually not important. Sometimes a really great slice of cheese pizza can trump any combo slice. Bad toppings do contribute to the downfall of a pizza, but if the cheese slice is bad, then more likely than not, any other slice will fall short.

…lou malnati’s…

Living on the border of Playa del Rey, Culver City, Westchester, and Marina del Rey surprisingly leaves little options for pizza, beer and watching sports.  This is probably why when I arrived to BJ’s Brewhouse on a Monday night for some football, beer and pizza there was over an hour wait.  Knowing that getting back in the car would only lead to driving around for an hour without being able to think of another place to do this (besides maybe Tony Ps in Marina del Rey) I stuck it out.  This new BJs is located in the new (renovated) Culver City Westfield mall and I think everyone is excited as I am to add a chain restaurant to a very barren area.

www.bjrestaurants.com

So the real reason for coming here was their claim for a Chicago style deep dish pizza.  I kind of laughed before even arriving because I am from Chicago and have never heard of a BJs before.  I ordered the BJs favorite which consisted of meatballs, pepperoni, italian sausage, mushrooms,  green peppers, black olives, white onions and seasoned tomatoes.  I ordered it minus black olives because black olives on pizza is repulsive.  

I guess it was wrong to assume that although sauce isn’t listed, it would still be there. It was not. I also could not distinguish the meatballs from the sausage.  The biggest issue is that this was not Chicago style deep dish… nor a deep dish pizza at all.  This is called pan pizza and in my experience isn’t even close.  I know this seems like a negative review, but overall I still enjoyed the pizza.  The flavors are good and I had no problem eating half of the pizza in one sitting.  But, this is not deep dish and it doesn’t even have sauce – so take it for what it is.

The best thing about BJs is the beer selection and I thoroughly enjoyed my flight of beers.  I also had the BBQ chicken ranch salad which was fabulous.  Looking around a lot of the plates coming out of the kitchen looked good so I will come back – someday.  If you want to go I would wait until the hype of a new restaurant in town is over, and I wouldn’t  go on a big sports day, and I probably wouldn’t order the pizza.

2.5 Stars

BJS CULVER CITY
6000 Sepulveda Blvd
310-574-5170  TEL

Columbus Day: The myth of ‘America’ by Dahr Jamail

A Columbus Day meditation by Thom Hartmann

Israel will not allow war crime trials over Gaza from AFP

Honduras: Coup troops raid TV station from Narco News

Surveillance footage of masked coup invaders from The Field

Argentina: New media laws ’settle old debt with democracy’ from Deep Dish

Free speech: Gagged from reporting on British parliament from The Guardian

Obama accused again of concealing Bush-era crimes from Truthout

Nobel Peace Prize: He won because he speaks of peace by Andrew Stelzer

White House vs. Fox News: NY Times & Raw Story & The Nation

Noam Chomsky’s books banned at Guantanamo

Acorn foresaw the foreclosure crisis in 2001

10 guidelines for funding citizen media from PBS Idea Lab

Broadband isn’t just the web, its our future from Giga Om

Public library technology access study from Benton

Broadband mapping: Connected Nation fuels controversy

Colleges want net neutrality to keep costs down from E School News

Round up: How will net neutrality impact investments from WA Post

Users of Sidekick phones lose data, Microsoft to blame? from Reuters

Why Dan Rather’s suit against CBS was dismissed from FindLaw

Will The Rachel Maddow show survive as liberals turn off TV?

News Corp reportedly interested in share of NBC Universal

New Arbitron ratings system under the microscope from FMQB

Arbitron’s flawed ratings hurt minority radio from The Hill

Mini newscasts for attention deficient viewers from Broadcasting & Cable

100% of LA’s medical marijuana dispensaries illegal? from Raw Story

Market research: Overestimation of Twitter effect on Bruno from LA Times

Webcasting helps conferences get more inclusive from PBS Media Shift

It’s been a month since I’ve made my residence in Fullerton, and honestly, the pickings are slim. Now, I haven’t had the opportunity to venture into the Placentia area, and thus, I haven’t been able to try the Yelp!-renowned tortas restaurants, but I’m not holding my breath. The more I walk the streets of Fullerton, the more I am homesick. The company that I kept back in my hometown make me question the bonds that can be formed in such an area. An area so dense in establishments, and yet so hollow in the character that defines a fine eating establishment. A testament to this Epicurean ghost-town is the rather baffling ratings on Yelp! for the area. Do I make Yelp! my end-all-be-all for edible destinations? No. But I find it incredibly troubling when chain restaurants like Pepe’s and Wendy’s have 4 or 4.5 star ratings. Not that there isn’t a place for such restaurants. I love fast food. But in a city with six times the inhabitants of San Gabriel, I would’ve expected a few more gems. When I asked my realtor for restaurant tips, she said that El Torito had the most delicious fish tacos ever, clearly overlooking the potential Mexican goldmine in next door town Placentia. And that sealed the deal for me. I guess in a city so close to the business sector of Orange County, and so focused on its prized possession, Cal State Fullerton, there really isn’t any time for craftsmanship. So Fullertonians just eat at the local Farmer Boy. Or El Torito, or whatever. Or visit Downtown Fullerton for subpar “upscale” dining, with bloodthirsty, lycanthropic culinary entrepreneurs scoping out their prey: starry-eyed clientele, nightlife victims who fan out their cash like they haven’t got a clue.

And those that do try to make an honest living on this expressway to ruin called owning a restaurant are doing just that, making an honest living, not much else. Restaurants like North China and other take out places are carving out a niche for themselves, a stable flow of income. Mediocre Chinese-American fare for Mediocre-ly paid college students. There are also 4 Pho restaurants in the city, all carving their own niche of “There isn’t another Pho restaurant for miles. We can ease up on quality, because the kids will be so hungry, they won’t know the difference”. Personal favorites? Well, there’s one just up the street I’m adjacent to. Their sign calls it something like, “Saigon Pho Tofu House Vietnamese Bar and Grill”. Unless I have recurring nightmares of very uneventful occurrences, I think that’s the name of it. Needless to say, I’ve never tried it. There’s also the brightest pho restaurant in the pantheon of pho restaurants: Pho Yummee. Yeah, that’s the name. Everything is lime green. The walls, the chopsticks. I think my waiter had lime green lip gloss too. Or it might’ve just been the light bouncing off the walls. Food, decent at best. Price? Not as good as in the San Gabriel Valley. So yeah, I may sound like a spoiled kid, but I think my complaints/worries of this city are justified.

Or have I got Fullerton all wrong?

…No. No I haven’t. The place I’m reviewing is technically in Placentia.

Tony’s Little Italy Pizza. I’ve scoped this place out ever since I stopped doing work in my Commercial Art & Design class last year. Who knew it’d be less than a mile from where I’d soon live? It was everything I had longed for the minute I stepped foot in this oasis deprived of water, so to speak. It is an anomaly in the sea of commerciality that has swept the residents of Fullerton away from shore. Away from the roots of earnest living. It’s an anomaly in both name, and personality. Their name really has no true indication of their product. You won’t be getting a thin crust/cooked in about 7 minutes type of pizza. You’ll be getting the one pizza that is most uniquely American. Because in the small and cozy restaurant, there is only a small portion of the walls dedicated to the Angels. The rest? Chicago. Chicago. Chicago. Bulls, White Sox, Cubs. It’s all up there. Because for the brief hour or so you are there, you, along with your compatriots, are transported to Chicago. The land of the Deep Dish Pizza.

I’ve had my share of deep dish. Pizzeria Due in Chicago was delicious, and a truly eye-opening experience for a burgeoning food addict like myself. And to have a place rekindle such fond memories so close to you…it’s something to be treasured. Anatomy of a Deep Dish? Sure. Let’s review. Crust is unlike any other pizza crust you’ve ever encountered. It is thick. Real thick. More like a pie than a normal “pizza pie”. Next layer? Meat and veggies. And lots of it. Next? Enough cheese to will a lactose intolerant into submission. Trust me, I saw it firsthand. Lastly, sauce on the top. This my friends, is the sequence of events that defines a lifetime of pleasure. Fuck you, Fibonacci. What has your sequence done for humanity?

It doesn’t take much to make a good pizza, but a great pizza has essential qualities. Fresh ingredients. Attention to detail, and just a keen sense of tradition and know-how. Tony’s has the Chicago format internalized. The Tony’s Special, which is what I ordered the two times I went, has sausage, green bell peppers, onions, and mushrooms. You couldn’t find a better deep dish pizza in Southern California, and until I reach Oakland for Zachary’s, this is the King of California. It is a hearty meal, and honestly, a slice or two can hold someone up for a day. Keep in mind, the Deep Dish was intended for soldiers. It literally feeds armies. So some prepared.

Only gripe? As amazing as the crust is, the salt content is very high. When paired with the toppings, sauce, and cheese, it’s excellent, but when you just want a nice bite of that buttery crust, the salinity can be overbearing. Luckily, this problem was not nearly detrimental enough to the taste. And so, as always, I ate on, and had seconds, and thirds. Fourths and fifths were leftovers. Day old, these babies reheat perfectly on a non-oiled pan, just allowing the amazing crust to crisp up, and allowing the cheese to -. Seriously. The amount of cheese on this pizza is ridiculous. Remember Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii? Yeah. The amount of cheese on this pizza is about equal to the amount of ash that fell on the Pompeiians. Poor people… Mmm… Cheese.

So, in the desert, I found the most gratifying elixir. Fullerton may not be the food haven I thought it was, but luckily, the neighboring cities aren’t ones to follow in its more esteemed brother’s footsteps. This post was definitely negatively charged, but I don’t hate Fullerton at all. It’s a beautiful place, with beautiful people. What bothers me is that even though the city is so much larger than my hometown, it doesn’t have a big-city feel. And because of that fact, I expected its culinary scene to reflect a more down to earth culture. But it doesn’t, and I’m not angry, just disappointed. But this is America. The land of opportunity. And this is California. So the opportunity is there. It’s just a drive away.

You have to have something to say about Crabtree or Braylon Edwards and Lebron, right?  -Harts1780

Did Lebron really run Braylon out of town?  Is he the fucking Godfather of Cleveland?  -ChaChaWoodruffisretarded

I noticed two things about the situation, right away.  Braylon Edwards, Lebrons mortal enemy, apparently, was traded to the town that had the best chance of signing Lebron this summer.  It’s almost as if Cleveland saw an oppurtunity to prove they would do anything for him, and additionally add a mark to the “cons” list of New York when Lebron has to make his decision.

Additionally, I found it strange that the NY Jets traded for a WR at the EXACT SAME HOUR that the WR they were accused of tampering with signed with the team that drafted him4 weeks after the season started.  If I find out that MC Hammer is a Jets fan, I’m calling a lawyer.

Are you scared of dying?  The idea of only having one life and then everything just stopping forever really terrifies me. -9kwolfshirts

It’s the only thing I’m sure I don’t want to do without any previous experience.  But just because I don’t want to do it, doesn’t mean I am afraid. I have come to terms that it’s something we’ll all have to deal with.

Pizza:  NY style or Chicago deep dish? -Carlt0nJ0nes

When done right, Chicago.  But, it’s hit or miss.  Consistently, NY style rarely disappoints.

So I basically brushed my teeth with my own semen.  I always take my toothbrush out of the bathroom cause germs and stuff, and I had it over some thing here in my room. I fapped and threw the toilet paper with the semen and it landed right on my toothbrush.  Up mine. -PrimitiveKing

Wait a second. So, you got baby batter on your toothbrush, and then knowingly brushed your teeth with the seminated toothbrush?

I noticed you’ve been playing a lot of Fallout 3.  Get the DLC? -Glocktypus

Yeah, I rented the game and decided to keep it.  It’s great, and I am not a fan of first person shooters.  The exploring and ransacking of abandoned property is, by far, the greatest part of this game.  I did purchase the downloadable content, and it gave it a second life.

When i go to college should i live at home or in the campus dorms? -Squatto88

Live in the dorms for at least a year and then you’ll be able to make a more reasoned decision.   Just know, if you live at your aunts house there’s much less the chance for random hot girls in pyjamas to show up at midnight for a drink and some company.

What’s your opinion of Rodney Harrison getting owned, HARD? Does he deserve it or is Owens an asshole? -Disneygro

Well, Rodney makes his money as a commentator now. He was asked a question.   Is he really supposed to say “I can’t say anything bad about TO because I took steroids.”  From what I understand, there’s alot of bad things to say about both players.   Only one is getting paid to say them, though.

screw those cracker things… Catholics should use dried apple slices…  but Jesus said, “Take this dried apple slice. It is my body, which I shed for you.” Just doesn’t have the same ring to it. -UWSerdna

Not like “Take this chalky, processed, dry wafer thingee. It is my body, which I have given up for you.” is any better.

I previously reviewed the original Pizzeria Uno, offering a slightly negative opinion but remaining fairly agnostic (with an admitted New York bias) on the issue of deep dish pizza in general. It took a few months to overcome my bloatedness of that evening and to bring myself to eat deep dish again, but I did it. I ventured downtown and tried another Chicago staple, Giordano’s, which gets immense praise from foodies and common restaurant-goers alike. I still went in with some trepidation given my Pizzeria Uno experience; nonetheless, I really wanted to be won over. I wanted to start on a path towards loving Chicago’s specialty so I could reap the benefits of that love for a few years.

However, I moved in the opposite direction. I’ve become convinced that, in general, deep dish pizza just doesn’t cut it. The concept of deep dish is flawed philosophically. The philosophy underlying deep dish is a philosophy of excess. Let’s stuff as much mozzarella cheese and as many other ingredients of your selection as possible between the tomato sauce and the crust at the bottom of the pizza. And, let’s use a ton of dough, so much that the crust alone will virtually fill you up after one slice.

Excess, when combined with other elements, need not be something negative. Jewish delis will offer you a ridiculous amount of pastrami on rye bread, but the pastrami is of such excellent quality that you don’t mind taking it home if you don’t finish it in one sitting. The problem with deep dish is it’s about the excess more than the ingredients. While the quality of tomato sauce at the original Pizzeria Uno was above average, no other ingredient was more than mediocre. The mozzarella is your typical overly processed mozzarella, which is to be expected: When you force so much in there, you can’t expect expensive high-quality buffalo mozzarella to be used unless you’re okay with a $90 pie. The sausage in both instances was ridiculously greasy, and the other ingredients were not particularly fresh or high quality. In fact, I would say, in both of my experiences, they were of no better quality than the ingredients of Domino’s.

This lack of a premium on ingredients is also evidenced by the fact that you can (and are encouraged to) order virtually any combination of toppings inside your pizza. Sausage, mushrooms, meatballs, onion, and bacon: Why not? It doesn’t matter what meshes or what doesn’t, we just want you to eat as much as you like! At Giordano’s, it’s not like you can even really taste the toppings since the cheese was so overwhelming. But, you certainly can feel them in your stomach after you manage to stuff two full slices in.

Now, often, when one speaks poorly of an esteemed food in a new city or geographic region, he is criticized for being biased and not open-minded enough. But, the problem for those critics in this instance is that exposure to many varieties of New York pizza, rather than biasing me, gives me a standard by which to compare deep dish. Sure, using certain arbitrary characteristics of a standard that you’re used to can be a source of bias (e.g. critiquing a non-Philly cheesteak for their lack of cheese whiz), but, in many cases, having a high-quality standard for comparison can increase your insight into what makes a food good or not. People who grow up eating Domino’s or Pizza Hut have a lower standard as their basis of comparison. This may be better for their relative satisfaction with deep dish pizza, but certainly doesn’t make them a more informed or objective judge of the quality of deep dish. Because of New York pizza’s relative minimalism*, the quality competition occurs at the level of three ingredients. The best slices in New York are not the best because of their size or heaps of cheese but because of the high quality of their ingredients. The increased popularity of the Grandma’s pizza, which generally uses whole tomatoes or a sauce that is less processed than your typical pizza sauce, is a testament to the premium put on ingredients.

*You almost always compare New York pizzerias based on their cheese slice first, and, only, then, look to other offerings. This cheese slice usually consists of the dough, the cheese, the tomato sauce, and assorted seasonings.

In the end, eating deep dish is about eating a lot, not about eating well. If you’re into that sort of thing (I think this guy is), then deep dish may rightly be for you. Even if you’re occasionally in the mood for excess for the sake of excess (maybe after a week of fasting?), deep dish can be justified. But, if you evaluate your food based on ingredients, taste, and quality, deep dish doesn’t compare.

3/7 ? Sim 3 ou 7, porque podem ser os 7 anões a comer a cebolada, que mania de se esquecerem da vossa triste infância, onde eles sempre estiveram presentes!

Continuando

O que vos diz, diz Deep Dish, tendo vocês uma “cultura” musical muito elevada, elevada, normal, baixa, muito baixa, quase nula e até nula, e sabendo também que dia 7 (dia do facto sucedido, com montes de cartazes de publicidade espalhados por toda a parte) ouve o “Sound Bits” da Sapo, onde foram algumas bandas e DJ’s? Dizem-me, Deep Dish é um DJ (por acaso é uma DJ mas isso não é o que quero realçar).

Agora veja-mos o que diz: “Deep Dish”, para a Rósina? (ela é uma colega minha que para além de muitas coisas, como o nome, temos quase todos a certeza de que ela está na terra de visita e que deixou a sua nave estacionada algures na Baixa).

Resposta: É um prato fundo!

Saudações!

@ December 08, 2004

Arraigado por:

Ruben da 3ª Gaveta à Esquerda dos Himalaias

Killer set from Deep Dish. One of my favorite mixes. Their old (can I say that?) stuff is amazing.

Part1//Part2//Part3

Info

Sharam (Deep Dish) – Official Podcast 10

Mirror

when i was in london last month for field day, i paid my first visit to the fabled phonica records on poland st. embarrassingly enough i had to ask a “bobby” for directions – he had a map in his pocket, which i thought was hilarious, but hey, it worked for me. when i got there i picked up some cheap promos and one record, loudeast’s shadows from 2006. the only other time i came across this guy was through his track lights off, which featured on two great compilations in autumn 2001 (funny how that year figures so much in my electronic musical history): hernan cattaneo’s funky deep ‘n’ tribal mix for ministry magazine, and deep dish’s second yoshiesque compilation. its beats were solid yet funky, pounding while at the same time infused with a breezy lightness. it was marked as progressive, but i thought it was much funkier than most of the droning ploddish muck that was given that tag. have a listen for yourself – but ignore the vocal over the track throughout. it’s actually from luzon’s the baguio track.

when i saw this record on sale for a measly 99p, i couldn’t resist. not only did the tracks have cheesily accurate titles such as “jackin’ dub mix” and “acid rain mix”, the cover was just a huge acid smiley face. as it happens, i left the record in my friend’s place and only got around to getting it back this week. i wasn’t disappointed. the-a side features two trippily acidic slices of prog, both of which feature the best bits of each style: they go on for ages, and, well, they’re really acidy. meanwhile the b-side is taken up by a slow-burning nine-minute dub mix by alexkid, whose work i first discovered on wevvers‘ awesome fabric mix.

i feel a bit daft writing about this when fellow bloggers are writing about tunes that were written this morning, exported this afternoon and emailed ten minutes ago, but i just really dig these tracks. it just goes to show that bargain-hunting in record stores can still reap its rewards – and to be honest i’ve enjoyed this experience much more than any time i’ve stumbled upon some thirty second clip on beatport. whether or not i’d be able to play them out at transmission is another story. maybe i’ll slot one of them into this running mix i keep on thinking about making. plod plod plod (but in a good way…)

Loudeast – Shadows (Loudeast Jackin’ Dub Mix)

The Buffed Bitchin’ & Beautiful series of course!!

Volume 2, you need it.

Buffed Bitchin’ Beautiful – The Workout Mix v.2

Get Volume 1 here!!

Buffed Bitchin’ Beautiful – The Workout Mix v.1

A smoothed out remix of Craig David’s “Fill me in”, although im not sure that song could get any smoother? Mixed with the house track by Deep Dish “We gonna feel it” definitely something you need to have in your ’sexin’ music rotation!

Teknikscian – We gonna fill me in

Chicago Pizza & Oven Grinder Co.

So last Thursday I was in Chicago with the gal pal and her brother hoping to grab a bite at the famed burger joint Kuma’s Corner off of Belmont Ave. in the Avondale neighborhood. To my dismay, Kuma’s had an hour and a half wait time. Personally, I could have waited but the gal was hungry now and we decided to go look elsewhere for a bite. We didn’t want a feast or anything, just a simple meal and she suggest to go to Chicago Pizza & Oven Grinder Co. in the Lincoln Park neighborhood.

If you are a first time visitor of the City of Chicago, this place can be pretty challenging to find…especially at night. It’s a small place located near DePaul University’s campus on Clark Street. The Victorian style building blended so well with the environment that you might mistakenly think this is an apartment building. It’s a nice little place though. When we got inside, it was dimly lit place that had a full bar, and the place was packed from wall to wall. We had a 30 minute wait that was fine by us, but if you get claustrophobic easily 30 minutes in a small, packed place can be uncomfortable. Other people who were waiting were complaining and very uncomfortable. I actually don’t mind being in tight crowds and I didn’t think it was that bad.

The wait gave me time to observe the place and feel the environment. The place was decked out nearly entirely of wood. There were huge wooden pillars that made up the skeleton of the roof, the benches and booths to eat at were wood, and the bar was all wood. There was hardly any metal or hint post-modernist architecture. The lighting was very dim by the dining area but the bar area was a bit brighter. The best way I could describe the place is that it had a “pub” look to it that took you back to the days of the 1920s during the Prohibition Era. It just had an Old Italian feel to it that reminded you of the deep European roots of Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. It was very nice and good change from all the fancy designs of other restaurants in the city.

I noticed right away that this is a favorite spots of young adult locals and especially DePaul students. The bar was packed with college students grabbing a quick drink before getting seated. However the place wasn’t composed of entirely young adults as the person I sat next to was lady lawyer and her teenage son from Evanston. Overall it was good mix of all age groups but on this night it was more of the younger twentysomethings that dined and wined there.

When we finally got seated and given the menus I noticed right away how little choice there is on the menu. It was a very simple menu that probably has never changed much since the place opened in the early 1970s. It is a menu that has withstood time and become a favorite of the locals. This is not a place for diners who love variety or can not make up their minds. For starters, there is a choice of Antipasto, Mediterranean Bread, and just a few other things as an appetizer. For a main dish there is even lesser choices. You can order their famous Pizza Pot Pie (comes only in two flavors – loaded or vegetarian – either half-pound or full-pound), Oven Grinders (basically a big Italian sandwich that comes in six varieties), or their popular Salad Dinners (in four different flavors). For dessert there’s only one thing: Tortoni.  Why change if they are successful? I respect that.

The waiter and service was very good, respectful, and helpful. First timers, like me, would feel at ease with a waiters’ guidance. From quick glance at the drinks menu they had a good amount of choices for wines, beers, and drinks. I usually have Morretti’s Italian beer but they only had Peroni and I loved it. We ordered two Mediterranean Breads and that was a mistake – a good “mistake” though. There was only three of us eating and we thought the bread was small, but trust me one of these can satisfy two to four people. The Mediterranean Bread was very good, and something unique that I have not seen served elsewhere. It is simply a large, circular bread brushed with Olive Oil and topped with hearty amount of Italian Spices that diners just rip a piece of and eat. I highly recommend this as a starter.

CP&OG's famous Pizza Pot Pie

For the main dish we all ordered the half-pound Pizza Pot Pie with everything. Other than Chicago-Style Hot-Dogs, Chicago Deep Dish Pizza is a famed staple of this magnificent city. Chicago is littered with a ton of Deep Dish pizzerias that are all pretty damn good and there is never a shortage on a good deep dish place. What Chicago Pizza & Oven Grinder Co. does is they totally put a unique twist to Chicago Deep Dish Pizza. Deep Dish aficionados who are used to seeing cheese or sauce on top might initially be terrified when they are served…the pizza comes upside down. But no worries, the waiter flips it over and comes out as a Pizza Pot Pie. I am the kind of pizza person that loves the crust but on this pizza there is not really a pizza crust. When I took that first bite with a knife and fork (you can not eat this with your hands – sorry New Yorkers) I fell in love with the “inside” toppings. The sauce was not overpowering, the meat was hearty, the veggies were all there and not destroyed, and the bread/dough was perfect compliment to the “insides.” It was a perfect unison of sauce, toppings, and dough. In a city that has so many famous Deep Dish Pizzerias, Chicago Pizza & Oven Grinder Co. does an excellent job of uniquely defining themselves and carving a niche. It’s no wonder they are immensely popular despite having only three main dishes.

One caveat: This place is cash only.

Rating: 4/5

2121 North Clark Street

Chicago, IL 60614

(773) 248-2570

www.chicagopizzaandovengrinder.com

Chicago Pizza & Oven Grinder Co.

Pizza de pepperoni en el típico recipiente donde se cocina

La pizza es un invento italiano, napolitano para ser más exactos.  Pero la  popular combinación de masa de pan, tomate y queso fundido ha traspasado de largo fronteras italianas y se ha convertido en un clásico a la hora de comer en todo Occidente. La Chicago-style pizza, también conocida como deep-dish pizza, tiene personalidad propia y es uno de los platos obligatorios a probar si visitas la ciudad del viento.

La base de la Chicago-style pizza es una masa muy gruesa y crujiente, se tiene que notar que hay masa, tanto por la base como por los laterales.  Para conseguir la altura en los laterales y que la masa tenga su peculiar gusto crujiente esta pizza se cocina  sobre una especie de sartén sin asas y amplia. Los dos ingredientes básicos son queso mozarella y salsa de tomate en abundancia. Después se añaden otros ingredientes a escoger entre salchichas, pepperoni, bacon, cebolla, pimientos,  champiñones, espinacas…

¿Dónde probarla?

La encontrarás en muchos restaurantes de Chicago pero ya que estás en su ciudad natal, es recomendable ir a la Pizzeria Uno. Se dice su dueño la inventó en 1943.

Pizzeria Uno | 29 East Ohio, Chicago.

¿Sabías que?

La Torre Sears ha cambiado de nombre y ahora se conoce como Willis Tower debido a un nuevo contrato de arrendamiento con la empresa Willis Group Holding. Ésta es el mayor rascacielos de Chicago y el tercero más alto del mundo.

Otra curiosidad sobre este rascacielos es que para subir al mirador de la planta 103 el primer ascensor que coges te enviará hacia los sótanos en lugar de subir. O al menos así le pasó a mi pareja.

Además de las impresionantes vistas, podrás vivir The Ledge Experience entrando en unos cubos de vidrio transparentes adosados a la planta 103, a 412 metros de altura, y que te harán sentir como la ciudad de Chicago está realmente a tus pies. No apto para personas con vértigo.