31 Days of Pizza

[Sean_Taylor]

As many of you may know, October is National Pizza Month and this year- I'm going to do it! I'm going to eat pizza every day for the entire month of October.

For the remaining days of September I intend to prepare for this ambitious endeavor. I was fortunate enough to score Sam Riegel as 'honorary trainer' without whom I most likely don't stand a chance.

If you want to help make this happen or just want to be there while personal history is being made, merely monitor this thread. The who? what? where? and even information enabling you to book a pizza meal with me anywhere from one to 31 times will follow.

For those of you that can't wait for the online 'pizza schedule', you are welcome to email me at seantaylor99@hotmail.com.

[Sean_Taylor]

Do me a favor, eat with Sean Taylor!

Directions for eating with Sean Taylor this October:
(1) goto http://www.stomping-ground.net/calendarix/
(2) login: 'pizza'; password: 'pizza'
(3) click on 'October 2002' for month display
(4) click on '+' sign on 'open' day convenient for you
(5) fill out your name and a ballpark start time/end time for our meal*

* L = Lunch; D = Dinner

Feel free to book more than one day.

[Sean_Taylor]

Tomorrow it begins.

So today I sit, full of anticipation--and questions...is it possible? can pizza be eaten for 31 straight days at 31 different locations? what if I fail? what if my remaining open days (login/pass=pizza) remain 'open'? Should I continue to set such ambitious goals if only to fail miserably in their pursuit?

Time will tell, I suppose.

The only question I can answer is "Who's first?"
The answer...Kevin Hines

Happy Pizza Month Eve everyone!

[Sean_Taylor]

DAY 1: October 1st

LOCATION: Famiglia (1600 Broadway @50th St, NYC)
GUEST: Kevin Hines
ORDER: 2 slices of cheese
PIZZA REPORT: Yummy. I really liked both slices but I have to be honest--I think they used to make it better. Now, it seems the slices are smaller and both of mine were victims of 'red edges' (a telltale sign of poor cheese distribution). I put crushed red pepper and chopped oregano on each slice and that seemed to do the trick.
MISC.: Kevin gave me a photo album as a gift today. The album has 31 pages in it--one to capture a moment of each day of Pizza month. You can bet I'll use it for exactly that. Thank you, Kevin!

[Sean_Taylor]

DAY 2: October 2nd
LOCATION: Ultimate Pizza (1st ave @ 57th St)
GUEST: Chris Butler, Andy Butterworth
ORDER: 2 slices of cheese
PIZZA REPORT: Absolutely delicious. The slices were just the right size (roughly 12"x12"x3π"). In addition, the crust was crunchy yet chewy which is a tough balance to attain. I was very pleased with the entire eating process and thank Chris for his excellent choice of the 'Ultimate Pizza'.
MISC.: Andy Butterworth perceptively pointed out that an alternate defintion of 'ultimate pizza' is 'last pizza'. Well, while this was delicious, it's far from my 'last pizza' so we'll have to save that interpretation until October 31st.

[Sean_Taylor]

DAY 3: October 3rd
LOCATION: Anna Maria's Pizza and Pasta (7th st and Bedford, BRKLYN)
GUEST: Erik Marcisak
ORDER: 1 slice of Veggie
PIZZA REPORT: This slice of pizza had every vegetable imaginable including artichokes, broccoli, black olives, cauliflower, lettuce, tomato, and onion. This came at the expense of a consistently cooked slice of pizza. There is a critical mass when it comes to pizza and this slice doubled it. Anna Maria's illustrated that when it comes to pizza, 'more' does not always mean better...or evenly cooked.
MISC: Erik seemed very pleased with his pizza and he's been in NYC much longer than I have. That being said, I think I will give Anna Maria's another shot...just not this month.

[Sean_Taylor]

DAY 4: October 4th
LOCATION: da Vinci's (18th ave bet. 65th and 66th st, BRKLYN)
GUEST: Eric Del Pozo
ORDER: 3 slices of cheese
PIZZA REPORT: This pizza was a work of art. When I hear "da Vinci" I used think of the Mona Lisa, the Last Supper, a before-its-time design for a heliocopter, and a ninja turtle that leads...but not anymore. From now on, I will only think of delicious pizza when I hear "da Vinci" or anything sounding similar (like when my landlord says 'the windshield'). The secret is in the sauce. Turns out the sauce is imported directly from Italy.
MISC: I must confess, I ate 2 slices of cheese for lunch that I didn't report because I always eat two slices of cheese for lunch on Friday. Before this 'pizza month' began, there was 'pizza day' and the fact they overlap this month is no fault of my own.

[Sean_Taylor]

DAY 5: October 5th

LOCATION: Anthony's (2nd Ave bet. 10th and 11th st, NYC)
GUEST: Matt Decoster, Chris Butler, Lauren Snyder, Kevin Cragg, Kevin Hines, Marian Rosin
ORDER: 1 slice of cheese
PIZZA REPORT: Near perfection...although I stress the word 'near'. The sauce and cheese distribution was just right, but the crust was just a little brittle. I discovered this while attempting to fold my slice together for quicker (and more New Yorky) injestion. All along the crease the slice of pizza bifurcated. I wouldn't have noticed except the sauce and cheese began to leak through the cracks and burn my hand.
MISC.: Attached is a snapshot of the post-meal euphoria that me and the participants experienced. I splurged and bought a cherry coke which I poured into a styrofoam cup full of ice and shared with Matt Decoster. It was the perfect end to a near perfect slice (once again I stress the word 'near'). I'd describe the cherry coke in more detail, but I'll leave that to resident daily beverage expert, Terry Jinn. Terry--if you haven't had it yet, give it a shot. It's perfect after 18 holes of lousy golf but will do at anytime.

[Sean_Taylor]

DAY 6: October 6th
LOCATION: La Villa Pizza (Herald Sq bet. 34th and 35th, NYC)
GUEST: Amy Kuhn
ORDER: 1 slice of Cheese
PIZZA REPORT: Mmm...mmm....aah, man! burnt crust!
MISC: Did you know Macy's closes at 7pm on Sundays? I didn't. Me and Amy ended up going to see Red Dragon instead of buying me a tennis racquet and dress socks.

[Sean_Taylor]

DAY 7: October 7th
LOCATION: Joe's Pizza (Carmine & Bleeker st, NYC)
GUEST: Matt Pack
ORDER: 1 slice of pepperoni, 1 slice of cheese
PIZZA REPORT: Brilliant! Aside from a slightly burnt crust on the pepperoni slice, this place is pizza-perfect. They used conventional oven process to produce brick oven results. Combine this brick oven crust consistency with great tasting sauce and Joe's has created a pizza masterpiece.
Q:Hey, Joe, what'dya know?
A: Pizza
MISC.: Today, not only did my taste buds meet something nice, but I did too. I met Matt Pack (UCB level 2 student). He and I both like improv and pizza, thus setting a firm foundation for a solid friendship.

[Sean_Taylor]

DAY 8: October 8th
LOCATION: John's Pizzeria (278 Bleecker St, NYC)
GUEST: Kevin Hines, Will Hines, Andy Butterworth
ORDER: 2 slices of cheese, 2 slices of meatball
PIZZA REPORT: Wow! After eating each of four slices of this masterfully cooked brick oven delight, I continued to want more (although from a lactose point of view it was good I stopped at four). Some people prefer sauce on top of cheese, some prefer cheese on top of sauce...but at John's, you can have both! Although most of any given slice is topped with cheese, without exception, there exists a place on the slice where the sauce is exposed to the surface. These 'sauce pockets' are like the treasured treat of each slice. Either you're in the middle of eating one or you are quickly working your way to one. Some might call these 'sauce pockets' a mistake, but I'm a firm believer in motto 'there are no mistakes in pizza'...especially not John's pizza.
MISC.: Two things...

I sustained my first PRI (Pizza Related Injury) yesterday when I began eating my slice of pepperoni too soon after it came out of the oven-burning a portion of the roof of my mouth. While eating today's thick-crusted brick oven pizza I may have re-aggrevated it. Although my mouth is sore, I will continue my pursuit. I only mention because it wouldn't be true to the 'full-disclosure' promise I may have made if I kept this PRI to myself.

I was honored to be present as the Hines brothers nominated and selected the official 'Top 10 Best Animated Movies'. The list was thoughtfully compiled and is extremely accurate. If you would like to see how good your guesses were, the list is currently in the posession of Will Hines.

[Sean_Taylor]

DAY 9: October 9th
LOCATION: Carpo's Cafe (Bleecker at MacDougal St, NYC)
GUEST: Erik Tanouye, Amy Kuhn, Andy Butterworth
ORDER: half pie of chicken parm, quarter pie of fresh mozzarella, quarter pie of vegetable
PIZZA REPORT: Pretty darn tasty even thorough the sore mouth. The crust was stiff yet unburnt, sauce was really red but not too tomato-y, and the cheese was awesome. My favorite slice was the fresh mozzarella one. Although it looks like a flock of crack-shot pigeons flew over just as the pie was being served, it tasted like a piece of heaven. It was like inverse pepperoni...red with white circles, but delicious nonetheless.
MISC.: We ate pizza in observance of two remarkable events; Erik Tanouye's 25th birthday and Andy and my one year anniversary of working at Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB). We commemorated the events by eating ourselves silly and thinking of new ways to flip someone off.

[Sean_Taylor]

DAY 10: October 10th
LOCATION: Due Amici (30th ave & 49th St, QUEENS)
GUEST: Erik Tanouye
ORDER: 1 slice of cheese
PIZZA REPORT: Idyllic. The sauce, cheese, and crust were all great. All the things this slice wasn't: overly greasy, red edgy, overcooked, too small, painful to my mouth.
MISC.: Erik and I went to our favorite local pizza place here in Astoria, Queens. It's never let us down in the past and the streak continues (even on a near-binary day like today). Yes it's 10/10/02, which-as Erik and I discovered- is actually 2/2/2 if the day and month were in binary converted to base 10 and the year were already in base 10. Also, there are four (4) zeros in the expanded date (10/10/2002) which won't happen again for another ten days! And furthur, if you were to look at the '/' like a computer and actually divide '10' into '10' into '2002' it would be the day '2002' (because the tens would cancel. And you thought it was just any ordinary 'October 10th'...

[Sean_Taylor]

DAY 11: October 11th
LOCATION: Famiglia (8th ave bet 43rd and 44th st, NYC)
GUEST: Marian Rosin, Kevin Hines, Erik Tanouye
ORDER: 1 slice of Pizza Margherita
PIZZA REPORT: Los deli-she-oso! The orginal pizza margherita's toppings were designed to resemble the Italian flag...my slice today did exactly that. The basil leaves were green, the fresh mozzarella was white, and the tomatoes were red. I have to admit I was a bit hesitant to eat a slice of pizza so white, as white tends to indicate undercooked cheese. But I went for it anyway and intend on doing it again. I just hope in the future I don't accidently eat a real Italian flag.
MISC.: While Kevin and Erik discussed animated films and Buffy, Marian and I expressed our opinions on the bleak state of our economy. Eventually the conversations converged as talk shifted to the elephant in the room. Turns out, elephants really enjoy Famiglia's pizza.

[Sean_Taylor]

DAY 12: October 12th
LOCATION: Two Boots (Ave A bet. 3rd & 4th st, NYC)
GUEST: Dan Dunford
ORDER: 1 slice of Red, 1 slice of Bayou Beast
PIZZA REPORT: Beast is the best, Red is the rest. I worded it that way because it rhymed but that is also the order I ate them in and the verdict I gave them. Bayou Beast is a signature dish with crayfish, shrimp, scallions, cheese, and jalapenos. 'Signature' because for those of you (like me) that don't know 'Two boots' refers to the shape of the two areas which influenced the cuisine; Italy and Lousiana. The Bayou Beast reminded me of all of what's good with pizza. The toppings were evenly distributed, cooked thoroughly, and absolutely delicious. It was the perfect foil to the other slice I injested; the Red. Really the main complaint I had with 'Red' was the pesto crust. It was too thick and...well, I don't like pesto.
MISC.: Found out today, thanks to Dan Dunford's baseball expertise, that I am in possession of a collector's item New York Mets pennant. This information combined with the fact Dan paid for my pizza was the silver lining on this otherwise rainy day.

[Sean_Taylor]

DAY 13: October 13th
LOCATION: Rosa's Pizza (69th st & Clinton Ave, QUEENS)
GUEST: Erik Marcisak, Amy Kuhn
ORDER: 1 slice of original, 1 slice of Grandma's pie
PIZZA REPORT: Sicilian style scrumptious! Alliteration that is very accurate. Rosa's signature pizzas are the original and the grandma's pie sicilian style pizzas. I had a slice of each. Although I should probably have some different system of judging rectangular (sicilian) pizza than I have for round pizza, I'm not going to. The toppings on the original were well distributed, the crust had a firm yet chewy consistency, and the cheese combination (mozzarella and parmesan) was perfect. This was also true for the slice of grandma's pie...but 'grandma' must be some sort of sicilian contraction for 'garlic and basil'-cuz that's what I got.
MISC.: This meal saw the reunion of Erik with a friend years past. Also, thanks to Amy, I learned just how contagious and dangerous small pox can be if released on the general populace.

[Sean_Taylor]

DAY 14: October 14th
LOCATION: Pizza Italia (Whitehall St & Stone St, NYC)
GUEST: Zohar Adner, Geoff Carlson, Andrew Butterworth
ORDER: 1 slice of broccoli, 1 slice of Grandma's
PIZZA REPORT: Wall Street Goodness! I chose the broccoli and the grandma's slice because those seemed to be the signature pies of Pizza Italia. I've never seen so much broccoli on a slice of pizza before. Because of their shape, eating my slice was like eating a tiny forest (with cheese). They did a really good job of distributing the cheese between the broccoli bits and making it taste really good. The grandma slice was unquestionably delightful. This is because the sauce was both tasty and spread expertly (and grandma-ly) about the entire slice.
MISC.: There is a big metallic (anatomically correct) bull at the south end of the canyon of champions in downtown NYC. Within the span of five minutes, me, Zohar, and Andy witnessed three groups of tourists representing three different nationalities walk by the bull, notice its testicles, laugh at them, pose in a lewd photo with them, then laugh again.
Metallic bull balls...proof positive that good humor is truly universal.

[Sean_Taylor]

DAY 15: October 15th
LOCATION: The Pizzeria (MacDougal St bet. 3rd and Bleecker)
GUEST: Kevin Hines
ORDER: 1 slice of cheese, 1 slice of fresh mozzarella
PIZZA REPORT: New York pizza- nothing more, nothing less. My slice of cheese was a model for wanna-be New York pizza parlors. The size, cheese distribution, and sauce quantity was ideal in both appearance and taste. The Pizzeria's crust, however, is what 'sealed the deal' for me. Not only was it the happy medium between too chewy and too crunchy but the entire circumference of the pie was smooth and even. Sometimes the greatest pies are spoiled by uneven or 'pinched' edges.
While eating the slice of fresh mozzarella, I had a 'misbite' which sent chills running down my spine--but it's difficult and unfair to pin the blame on such a great tasting slice of pizza...so I won't.
MISC.: Today's the Ides of October. Learning from Caesar, I have been on the lookout for friends to betray me all day. Kevin Hines passed the test at lunch, but there are still 8 hours of potential betrayal remaining in this godforsaken day.

[Sean_Taylor]

DAY 16: October 16th
LOCATION: Lil' Frankie's (1st Ave bet 1st and 2nd st, NYC)
GUEST: Matt Pack
ORDER: 6" Marguerita pizza, 6" Marinara pizza
PIZZA REPORT: Music to my mouth. Lil' Frankie's makes brick oven thin crusted pizza that really makes my mouth water. This place knows that thin crust pizza cannot endure the weight of too many toppings so it puts only the amount necessary. Despite being a miniature version of a regular size pizza, all four slices that made up each of the pizzas were fold-able but not too brittle (another danger of thin crust pizza that Lil' Frankie's avoids). From a taste standpoint, I prefered the Marguerita, but the Marinara had a nice kick to it.
MISC.: Matt told me that he saw a commercial for ESPN basketball featuring Billy Merritt. Isn't that cool? I think it is. I love recognizing people on TV. I'll definitely tune into ESPN now. Maybe I'll even watch a basketball game this year.

[Sean_Taylor]

DAY 17: October 17th
LOCATION: Credit Suisse/First Boston Data Center (Princeton, NJ)
GUEST: Andrew Butterworth
ORDER: 1 slice of peeled tomato
PIZZA REPORT: Who said corporate cafeterias can't make good pizza? The answer is me. I felt like I was eating tomato sauce on cardboard only with less taste. They must bake it, then store for a week, then reheat it in order to lose so much pizza potential. Not that it matters, but the cheese and tomatoes were well distributed. Also, I did eat the entire so I guess it shows that even when pizza is bad, it's still stomachable (well, so far).
MISC.: Andrew and I found out today that the CSFB data repository's command center offers 24 hour support, 7 days a week for seven different O/S platforms; UNIX, NT, VAX, AS400, MVS, and Tandem!