“Faithful Foodie Adventures” is all about exciting opportunities that await us at various tables and food destinations across God’s beautiful world.  Some weeks I may offer a cooking class tip, a restaurant critique, or even some food ideas that hopefully expand our faith while satisfying our culinary sensibilities.  If you have any food adventure ideas, please be sure to let us know.  E-mail me your ideas at assistant@gracebeforemeals.com.

Big Apple Pizza Adventure!

For the past few years I’ve had the pleasure of visiting New York City, primarily for work, but I’ve still been able to work in some quick food visits.  And if there’s one food that always seems to be available and always done with culinary precision, it’s pizza!  No doubt New York has some of the best pizza in the world!  I know Chicago would argue with me, and Italy would completely disagree.  The fact is, many of the original pizza makers who came to America through Ellis Island brought their pizza making skills and set up shop in the “world’s city” of New York, New York.  And if they can make pizza there, they can make it anywhere!

In a non-scientific survey, I counted more than 50 pizza-selling restaurants in Manhattan alone.  Here’s a Google map of just some of them! And incredibly, I know there are even more fantastic specialty pizza shops in the other boroughs as well.  That could rival the number of pizza shops in Rome!

(A big pizza from a Jersey Shore boardwalk pizza joint.)

For those pizza aficionados and those who simply love those savory bites of sauce, cheese, and toppings, I have a few faithful foodie pizza tips for you when visting the Big Apple.

First:  If you want to visit just some of the more popular/famous pizza stops, I have a perfect pizza tour just for you.  It’s owned and operated by Scott Weiner, a well-traveled pizza foodie who has brought all of his love and taste-tested experiences together into a packed tour that you can either take by bus or on foot.  He’s been featured on several TV and radio shows.  He’s engaging, funny, and has a keen sense of what makes the best NYC pizza shop.  And he’s willing to share that love and knowledge with all of you!

Second:  While Scott’s tour does not take you to Bella Napoli Restaurant of 150 W 49th Street, that if you have a pizza craving while in the city, this is one stop I can definitely recommend!  It’s a typical pizza place but with a real Roman Italian feel.  The staff, primarily Italian, will respond in the mother tongue if “tu parli l’Italiano.”  I also appreciate the seating capacity in the back room for large groups, all of whom definitely appreciate the very large pizzas!  If you go, please remember, it’s a NYC pizza joint and not an upscale place.  So don’t be upset if you were expecting fine dining.  The last time I was there, I was serenaded by an Asian man singing Italian songs.  It’s just that kind of a place, which I’m perfectly content with – as long as the pizza is good!  And here, it’s pretty tasty and also in a perfect location, at the heart of the city and right next to the SiriusXM Studios, where I sometimes go for radio shows.

(Me with Adam Hamway, producer of the Advent and Lenten Radio Show and The Catholic’s Next Door.)

When I’m doing the radio show in NYC or visiting friends from the Catholic Channel, we usually take a little lunch break and enjoy a slice, or two, or three.  I know you will enjoy it too.

Finally:  Instead of simply gorging on pizzas made by other people, be sure to try your hand at making it yourself.  Chef and Pizza Guru Mark Bello will inspire passion as you experience hands-on cooking classes making artisanal pizzas.

(Mark Bello in the midst of setting up the Pizza A Casa shop on 371 Grand Street, NY, NY.)

Featured as a guest judge on the popular show Food Wars, along with other TV shows, magazines, and newspapers, Mark’s creativity and respect for tradition can help home chefs prepare pizzas even better than what they might pay for at a restaurant!  His pizza teaching shop even provides all of the proper accoutrements to make you a real “pizza-nista!”  My producer’s wife and son even took the class, as did my seminarians.  And I can attest:  Mark can teach anyone how to make awesome pizzas!

(9/24/10 – Soon to be Priest, Rev. Mr. Matthew Gray from the Diocese of Charleston, SC.)

If you’ll be in NYC, be sure to call ahead and schedule a pizza class for you and your friends today!

Is there a spiritual connection to pizza, besides loving the way it tastes?  As a matter of fact, yes!  Pizza begins with the crust.  The “leaven,” the “yeast,” and the proper “formation” of the crust “in the hands of an artist” is spiritual talk found in the scriptures.  We are called to be leaven and yeast in society.  And in the powerful hands of God, we are formed into that perfect person, as a perfect crust.  And as the crust is the base for the pizza, a well-formed person is the true “base” for society.  Each ingredient topping represents all of humanity.  Each person is different.  We can bring about a unique aspect of life, simply by our presence.  But the key to all of the toppings and the crusty base is balance.  Too much or too little of an ingredient can throw off the balance, weigh down the crust, make it soggy, and essentially make a mess of things.  Isn’t that true for our life – when things are balanced on a proper base?

My suggestion to families:  get a pizza night going.  But instead of making your own individual pizzas, organize a system so your family members can make pizza for each other.  Dad makes it for mom, sister for brother, youngest grandchild makes it for grandpa – you get the gist of it.   Even if you don’t make the crust yourself (although Mark Bello can teach it to you perfectly), you can always get premade pizza crusts.  This would still let family members be creative with toppings as well as show just how much they know what the other person likes.  These specially made pies will help bring families together, like a perfectly made pizza.