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You are here: Home / Food / The Quest for the Best Pizza

The Quest for the Best Pizza

February 10, 2014 By: Daniel Parlegreco

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In my other post, I talked about my ‘Quest for the Best Burger.’ This page I am going to talk about my quest for the best pizza.

About 4 years ago, my now brother-in-law decided we were going to do whatever we could do to find the best pizza in the world. Whether that was try several of the most touted pizza restaurants in NYC, or go to Italy and get it the most authentic way. Well we did both! 

As you can tell from my site, two of the things I enjoy most are: food and traveling. And while I enjoy teaching people how to travel frugally, I also like to splurge! And the biggest way I like to splurge is to get delicious food! And in my opinion the best food in the world is pizza. So I began a quest that probably will never end to find the best pizza I can possibly find.

I’ve been all over New York, and New York City. I’ve been to Boston, I have been to Chicago. I have been to Italy multiple times. And I’ve also of course been to one of the most under the radar pizza spots in the country New Haven, Connecticut. And I am not just saying that because I live here in Connecticut, but rather because it really is THAT GOOD! 

Grading pizza, like burgers, is a multi-stepped process. Its not just about the taste of the pizza, but rather the many different flavors that make up that single slice of pizza. With pizza it is the crust, the sauce, the cheese, the toppings. All these different nuances blended either make an amazing slice of pizza, or take away from one another.

I decided that whenever I go to a new pizza place that is highly recommended to me,  I always get it just plain cheese. Why? I believe if you add too many ingredients or toppings it can change your viewpoint of the pizza. For instance, if the sausage or the pepperoni is not good, your viewpoint of the pizza is not going to be good.

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But rather with a plain cheese pizza you can see how good the pizza is in its purest form! So I always stick with just plain cheese the first time I try a new pizza place. I feel this is the fairest way to grade a pizza restaurant.

With pizza too, you have to almost grade each part of the pizza out differently. A lot of places have AWESOME crust, but the rest of the pizza is severely lacking. Or the homemade sauce is so excellent, but the crust is doughy. It is a very rare thing when you can get perfect crust, perfect sauce, perfect cheese all working together. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever found the perfect pizza yet.

To me, the perfect pizza would consist of:

  • Perfectly charred crust – If the pizza is overly doughy, or even overly crispy it can severely take away from the flavor. I like my crust to be charred at the bottom and crunchy, but not overly to the point where it tastes like your eating a piece of charcoal.
  • The perfect thickness – Generally, I like my pizza to be very thin. If it is overly thick, the dough takes away from the other flavors of the pizza. It should also not be so thin that it is brittle. The right balance is key.
  • Tasty sauce – I love sauces that incorporate san marzano tomatoes. That really adds to the flavor. I don’t like sauce to be overly sweet either.
  • The right amount of mozzarella – As long as it is mozzarella, I am not too concerned about whether it is fresh mozzarella or regular mozzarella. I’ve had amazing in both cases. It just has to be the right balance. Not too much cheese, but not skimp either.

Is this all specific enough? Lol. I sound like a total nerd explaining this. Maybe someone out there will agree with me. Continue to check this post because I will add reviews to this page as well. I will slowly put some reviews on different places.

How do you guys feel about pizza? And what are your favorite spots that I need to try? Please comment below! 

Hi There!

Daniel ParlegrecoMy name is Dan. Or you can call me The Traveling Dan :) And that is my wife Stephanie. Thanks for taking the time to read my site! Come connect with my on my social sites listed below. I would LOVE to hear from you.

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