Pizza party

There's pizza, and then there's PIZZA.

In an age where big company pizza shops offer 4 for 1 deals there is very little room for the little guy. In a time where you can drop by and pick up a "hot & ready" pepperoni pizza for 5 bucks from a multinational corporation, it's tough for the mom and pop places (and seriously - if a large pizza costs 5 bucks, how good will it actually be?).

Most places use bad ingredients. Cheese that isn't actually cheese. Crust that tastes like it was made with Aunt Jemima pancake batter. Sauce that little kids would be proud to put on hot dogs & french fries. And what about the love? Where is the love? They *claim* to use love, but really it's just that pretend love people use just to get something they want from you (your G.I. Joe with Kung Fu grip, that box of Salt Water Taffy that you brought back from the shore for your sweetheart only to find that the person in question is now dating your buddy from your homeroom...or in this case, money).

Well, there's a pizza place down the road from us that makes their pizza with love. They don't have love for me necessarily, but they do have love for making pizza and it shows. It also costs a lot more, but it's worth it. They have also changed their name several times even though it's still the same owners. I think they're currently called Pizza Del Nonno. "Grandpa's Pizza", i guess. Last night i ordered one that had fresh basil, pesto & walnuts on it, amongst other things. It was delicious. Can you imagine Domino's putting walnuts on a pizza?

I wish there were more places like this around. It probably cost us more than twice what we'd pay elsewhere, but it was more than twice as good too. It's a trade off. If i was going to feed a football team i'd probably just order from Pizza Pizza and be done with it. But for special occasions (i.e. when i want pizza), i'll order the better quality stuff. I know many of you will tell me how you make awesome homemade pizza...everyone loves to brag about that particular item...but sometimes, you just want someone else to make it for you. I'll order from Nonno's or whatever they are called this week.