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I wanted to set the record straight about Richman's top 25. The following is a link to my full review of Osteria on my Philadelphia best pizza blog, one of the only two pizza joints from Philly to make it on this list. A little hint: I was very disappointed. Happy reading!

http://www.bestphiladelphiapizzablog.blogspot.com/2009/09/osteria-philadelphia-pizza-review.html

Blog Pizza

I have recently found another pizza place in Providence Rhode Island that will put Alan Richman's 2 Providence best pizzas to shame. It's called Zooma's on Federal Street. I put the whole review on my blog at the following link:

http://www.blog-pizza.blogspot.com/2009/06/zooma-bar-ristorante-best-pizza.html

Blog Pizza

I hit UPN last night for the first time in a while. I had forgotten how flavorful his crust is. Although his Bufala Margherita was a bit too soupy for me (especially having to cut it myself), the combination of the flavorful dough and tangy bufala was an awesome combination. Perhaps I'm a bufala fan after all. I also had the Fileti for the fist time and was very impressed. Garlic and raw tomato are typically not my favorite combination on a pie, but it worked for me yesterday. What made it for me most though were the course sea salt cyrstals that I bit into. I've never experienced that on a pie before. I don't think it was applied post oven, so they must have been very big granules to not have melted into the pie. Bottom line is there is no way UPN should be relegated to the last spot on Richman's list. This list is very subjective and has been taken way too seriously.

Ciao,

Paulie Gee

This review by Alan was acceptable but I had some problems with a few of his comments. If anyone is interested, I posted the full write up at:

http://blog-pizza.blogspot.com/2009/05/best-pizza-restaurants-gq.html

Blog Pizza

tarry lodge is no longer, it is now a batali enterprise. the best in boston is regina

People never seem to give Indianapolis the attention that it deserves. There seems to be a unique identity of pizza shaping up in this humble Midwest city. Places like Bazbeaux's, Some Guys, and Jockamo's, all have a similar style and delicious taste. The pizza almost feels healthy, not that they are. They are typically thinner crust with lots of gourmet ingredients. After growing up in Boston and living for many years in Chicago, I feel Indy gets over looked.

Pegasus Pizza in Seattle is also pretty good...although for some reason it sucks as a leftover, so be sure you eat it all when it is still hot.

No lists for me. I make my own pies just the way I like them. No argument here, mine are the best!

I'd really be interested to see the 109 pizza joints he went to. It does appear the NW got snubbed.

imo, you get to a certain level of quality and it becomes a question of palate. But prior to that, there are a lot of relatively objective factors that can be referenced along with traditional standards. There's an established language around pizza and some agreement within styles about what makes a good pizza. It's not just up to one man's opinion.

So it seems right that there should be some diversity unless he just wants to call it "Alan Richman's Favorite Pizzas". But, of course, that doesn't sell magazines like "the best in the USA" does.

We currently have 5 strong contenders in the Portland area: Apizza Scholls, Nostrana, Ken's Artisan, Al Forno Ferruzza, and Tastebud. If you extend down to Salem (45 minutes away), there's also a place that does an excellent New Haven style pie. The place is just called Apizza. All of these places use top quality ingredients and hot ovens. They all use long ferments for their doughs. Two of them have all wood ovens. Two of them make their own cheese (one makes a ricotta for calzones, the other mozzarella). I think three or more make their own salumi/charcuterie. Several of the owners were bread bakers before opening their pizza shops. These are classic pies with slightly varying styles, all falling in the Neapolitan, New York Neapolitan, and New Haven range, probably. But they're all just fricking good.

Admittedly, the offerings get thin after this with rather standard-issue stuff, though at least we have a decent number of places making actual pizza rather than just the chains.

But Portland should be on any pizza lover's radar and I have to wonder if Richman came here at all.

There are still a lot of places I'd like to hit. I was talking to a friend today who called to ask me questions about improving efficiency at Great Lake. Sounds like they really have a product they care about and I'm eager to get back to Chicago to try it. I still haven't hit Bianco. And I'm going to Mozza in July.

But I've been to a lot of the best around the country and Portland holds its own really, really well. I'd be surprised if there is any city in the US, except maybe NY, where the craft of pizza is being renewed as strongly -- ie, places that are only a couple years old as opposed to 100 years old. Is there any place that defines the next generation of honest pizzerias better than Portland? Prove it.

@Pizzablogger: There are way more than 7 pizza styles in the U.S. See: A List of U.S. Regional Pizza Styles

Alan forgot to even mention midwest tavern style pizza...Chicago's true signature pie. This list is garbage.

http://chibbqking.blogspot.com/search/label/tavern%20style%20pizza

how did Difara not make it onto this list?

Paulie, I'm hitting the Campari a little too hard tonight I guess....for some reason I thought you mentioned you were going to Philly for crabcakes? :)

If you plan on being in the Inner Harbor area of Baltimore, you might want to skip Phillips if you are interested in seeing more of an old school Baltimore crab house. Obrykci's, which is about 1/2 mile from Phillips may be a good choice as it is not to far away. It's somewhat unusual by foregoing the Old Bay seasoning in favor of cracked black pepper, but the crab cakes here are definitely better than Phillips. There are a few more places I would recommend, but they would require more driving and parking headaches than Phillips....and it sounds like you may be looking for a stop and pop. Wherever you go, enjoy!

http://www.obryckis.com/

While I've devoted many hundreds of hours studying, baking, and consuming bread, it remains a humble food. Let's remember that most bread, at its simplest, involves only four ingredients, but, being a humble, simple food, it allows the baker's talent to shine through. With so few ingredients, a gorgeous loaf is produced through knowledge, experience, and serious talent. The bread is either decent or amazing.

Le Pain Quotidien's pain a l'ancienne is probably some of the best bread in the city. It's beautiful, with a glossy, cracked and golden crust that shatters when you take a bite. It's a beautiful thing because of its simplicity and because of its price: at under four dollars, it's one of the best meals you can find -- if you like eating plain bread, that is, which I do.

Virtually anyone can buy bread at this quality, in the city, for the same cost as, say, a supermarket loaf of Pepperidge Farms, or for less money than my fallback, Bread Alone. Even Wonderbread doesn't cost a whole lot less.

Bear with me, I'm getting to my point.

Bread is humble, bread is beautiful, bread is plentiful, and above all, it's cheap. Quality often bears no relation to price.

Patsy's uptown, my personal holy grail of pizza, puts out amazing pizza at half the price of Co., and while it's delicious, it's also a simple, utilitarian, no-bullshit, confident slice.

While I respect that Lahey and pizzaiolas across the city and the country are pushing pizza in somewhat non-traditional directions, I'd like to point to two things once again:

Real confidence in bread baking means creating complex flavors and textures with simple ingredients. Be confident: show off your experience, knowledge, and talent, and please, don't put truffles on a pizza to justify its ridiculous cost.

Don't try to glorify a utilitarian food that's all the more beautiful because it is and always will simple and humble.