Still, Alan Richmond (didn't he used to be on the Food Network when it first started and had a show with another woman titled "TV Diners?") of GQ Magazine had the balls to rate the best pizza in the US. And to my surprise, he rated a place here in my own lovely city of Chicago as having the best pizza. And I've never heard of the place!
1. Great Lake
Mortadella pie
I phoned at 6:15 p.m., ordered a cheese pie, asked when I could pick it up. The reply: 8 p.m. When I arrived a few minutes early, two of the fourteen people seated in the tiny storefront shop were eating. The rest looked exasperated. Nick Lessins, the Polish-Czech co-owner and pizzamaker, seemed happily oblivious. I stood inside, watching for twenty-five minutes as he fashioned three pies, mine among them. No man is slower. He makes each as though it is his first, manipulating the dough until it appears flawless, putting on toppings one small bit after another. In the time he takes to create a pie, civilizations could rise and fall, not just crusts. His cheese pie, prepared with fresh mozzarella made in-house, grated Wisconsin sheep’s-and-cow’s-milk cheese, and aromatic fresh marjoram instead of basil, was slightly shy of unbelievable. The next day I returned to try the same pie topped with fresh garlic and mortadella, the dirigible-sized Italian sausage that looks like bologna, tastes like salami, and is usually cut into chunks. He sliced the meat very thin and laid slices of it over the pie the moment it came out of the oven. The mortadella, with its combination of burliness and creaminess, was a meaty addition to the earthy, bready crust. This pie—creative, original, and somewhat local—represents everything irresistible about the new American style of pizza-making.
Well, if it took him that long to get a pizza before, it will be utterly impossible to get a pizza from there now after this publicity.
Still, I'm rather curious to see how the pizza really tastes like. So maybe I'll venture out and get some sampling.
Zz.
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