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The Ten Most Recent Comments By Captainfirst

From Slice

Why Can't You Get a Good Slice Outside New York City? 'Wired' Magazine Says It's the Water

Must...defend Binghamton..LOL. True, most of the pizza places there serve the local variant of "sheet" pizza, but one of the best pies I've ever had used to come from a local place (now closed, sadly) called Marnelli's. The whole place was like it had been airlifted from Brooklyn and dropped in downtown Binghamton (where, btw, the local water is barely drinkable).

Personally, I think that the flour is the key to it all when making pizza.

Captainfirst at 9:09AM on 04/24/08

From Slice

Old Forge, Pennsylvania: The Pizza Capital of the World

I used to live one town over, in Taylor, PA. Hated Old-Forge style pizza and was glad to get back to upstate New York where I could get something better. Still searching for great pizza now that I'm here in San Francisco...

Captainfirst at 12:53AM on 03/27/08

From Slice

A List of Regional Pizza Styles

Here's another vote for Binghamton, New York's "sheet pizza"- I moved away from the area last year, and what I wouldn't give right now for a couple of slices from Nirchi's. As regards Old Forge pizza, all I can say from having lived in the area at one time is- yuck.

Captainfirst at 8:49PM on 01/29/08

Responses to Comments by Captainfirst

From Slice

A List of Regional Pizza Styles

I moved away from Pittsburgh the Bay Area (where there is plenty of good pizza) and i STILL crave Aiello's!!!! Pittsburgh pies do have a unique taste- its the sweeter sauce.

Ohio Valley pizza certainly deserves its own category- its pretty unique.

If you want true Ohio Valley Pizza, you have to go to the Firehouse in Ambridge, PA on Merchant street. Only open on the weekends, the business is run by firemen to support the firehouse (we're talking real social capital here). Its not my favorite (really dougy crust) but its certainly an experience.

Another experience would be Tony R's pizza in Sewickley on Nevin Ave. A tiny pizzaria run by Tony (who does all the deliveries himself) and his two sons.

katie123 at 2:03PM on 05/07/08

From Slice

Why Can't You Get a Good Slice Outside New York City? 'Wired' Magazine Says It's the Water

I disagree with the water theory. The best pizza I have had outside of NYC was in North Carolina - two brothers who moved down from the bronx to open up a place. It's how you make it as well as the ingredients.

exvaxman at 1:22PM on 05/04/08

From Slice

Why Can't You Get a Good Slice Outside New York City? 'Wired' Magazine Says It's the Water

It may help those engaged in this melee to know that there is no one "NYC" water. Upper Manhattan and the Bronx get it from one source and reservoir system. Manhattan south of 110th St or so (I'm not sure where the boundary line is exactly) get it largely untreated from the Delaware River and southern Catskills through a different reservoir system. Brooklyn and Queens get it from another source, and I don't know where Staten Island gets theirs from. As many have pointed out, you can get good pizza from places other than the lower 2/3 of Manhattan and outside NY City. I'm sure there is water so bad that you can't make good pizza from it, but it's clear that you can do fine with lots of different kinds of water. For what it's worth, Phoenix gets its water from the Colorado River, the source of a lot of Southern California's water. The City of L.A. gets theirs from the Owens Valley, east of the Sierras.

gustoct at 3:09PM on 04/28/08

From Slice

Why Can't You Get a Good Slice Outside New York City? 'Wired' Magazine Says It's the Water

Slightly OT...but when I was in NYC for my first wedding anniversary 10 years ago, I had a pretzel from a street vendor that I could swear tasted like smog. Not exactly a good thing, not exactly a bad thing...but distinct and unforgettable. So I don't know if you can rule the water thing out...though I agree that bad pizza is probably due more to user error than bad water. =)

akk328 at 2:43PM on 04/28/08

From Slice

Why Can't You Get a Good Slice Outside New York City? 'Wired' Magazine Says It's the Water

h2o? maybe-I think it's a northeast us thing: I've traveled all over the US and there's nothing like NY/NJ/PA ( I live in Central PA) pizza. California pizza just doesn't have the sauce flavor or the great foldable crust.

benlee: FYI-San Fran's great sourdough is from a decades-old starter, but there are also specific cultures/spores present in the air out there. They've even been named for the city!

foodiemama at 2:08PM on 04/28/08

From Slice

Why Can't You Get a Good Slice Outside New York City? 'Wired' Magazine Says It's the Water

i'd say it's the italians.
that and all the tough customers in ny.

norman at 8:23AM on 04/28/08

From Slice

Why Can't You Get a Good Slice Outside New York City? 'Wired' Magazine Says It's the Water

FYI, NYC water now is way different than it was when I was a kid growing up in the Bronx. There's way more chlorine now and it just doesn't taste as good.

varasano at 1:05PM on 04/26/08

From Slice

Why Can't You Get a Good Slice Outside New York City? 'Wired' Magazine Says It's the Water

As I've been saying online for 4 years, the water thing is 100% myth. I get emails about this several times a week. According to Maggie Glazer, the myth that baked goods are better in NY because of the water goes all the way back to the 1700's when in the rest of the country people used well water and not municipal tap water. Half the time this wasn't too far from the latrine. In other words the original comparison was comparing NY water, which comes from a pretty good aquifer system upstate, to other systems that would be comparable to what the 3rd world uses today. This rumor says more about how rumors and 'common knowledge' are passed down through the ages than anything about your local water system's shortcomings today. As anyone who's read my recipe (http://slice.seriouseats.com/jvpizza/) or tasted my pizza here in Atlanta knows, it's not the water...

varasano at 1:03PM on 04/26/08

From Slice

Why Can't You Get a Good Slice Outside New York City? 'Wired' Magazine Says It's the Water

Nanuet Hotel
Nanuet, NY

ears516 at 10:01PM on 04/25/08

From Slice

Why Can't You Get a Good Slice Outside New York City? 'Wired' Magazine Says It's the Water

My, my...it takes more than H2O to make good pizza. It's takes the embodiment of beliefs and soul to create magic and mozarella. The alchemy of alimentary proportions. IMHO, it boils down to these simple rules - high turnover = more production by the pizza man, seasoned ovens = better flavor and product, and lastly, NYC Dept of Health codes = everyones' on their toes, including Mr. D of Midwood. Guess who's favorite dishes are these inspectors lingering over?

hungry_traveler at 9:12PM on 04/25/08