LA is not really known to be a city to go to for great pizzas. I know there are few exceptions but we’re definitely overshadowed by NYC, Phoenix and SF. Having been to Roberta’s, Lucali’s, Grimaldi’s, Lombardi’s, Toby’s Public House and Di Fara’s I think I have started to become somewhat of a pizza snob. I didn’t know I became one while in NY but when my family sat down for a super late new years eve lunch at gjelina in Venice beach, I realized I have….changed.

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Toby’s Public House

This was my 2nd time going to Toby’s and was our last stop on the Brooklyn pizza tour. By then Mo, Howard and I were stuffed up with pizza but since it was our last stop we went all out. A table full of Old Speckled Hen is pretty eh?

Dramatic lighting on my spicy pecorino pizza. Ah.

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If I have to sum up 2009, I would say that this year was filled with street food and pizza. We attempted to make our own, Howard practically tried almost all of the pizza places, Wisconsin pizza, and then there was our semi-failed Brooklyn pizza tour. During our mini Brooklyn pizza tour I got the chance to go to Roberta’s. Currently it’s Howard’s favorite place.

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Donny sometimes gives me a hard time about being so “obsessed” with pizza, but if there’s anyone we know who’s more into pizza than me it’s Donny’s roommate, our friend Mo. He recently suggested that we do a tour of Brooklyn pizzerias, in which we would hit as many as we could in one day. He even volunteered to drive us from place to place so that we wouldn’t waste any time. We came up with a list of about six different pizzerias that we wanted to visit. Unfortunately, as Robert Burns said, “The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft agley.” In other words, it didn’t go exactly as planned.

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Once a month I would tell Howard that “damit we need to go here and here and here and here before 2009 ends!” And he would say “sure sure sure and when when when?” And I would say “how about this on that day and that on this day?” But in the end we either ended up either doing something else or we get lazy or I get lazy. But damit not this time!! I don’t remember how long it has been since I first wanted to eat at Roberta’s. I only remember Howard liking it and Mr. Paulie Gee is a fan as well.
We had came up with an awesome idea to travel around Brooklyn to try many pizzerias on Labor Day. Our friend, also another pizza fanatic, offered to drive so that we can make it to as many places in one day as possible. We had 5 places on our to-go map but by the end of the day we only made it to 2 plus 1 unplanned spot. The biggest problem we ran into was the West Indies Parade that took place on Labor Day. We were mostly stuck in traffic and trying to figure our way around Brooklyn. The other problem that we ran into, which was more obvious, was that it was a holiday and the restaurants would be closed. The third problem of this whole pizza tour was that it was a pizza tour. How the hell would it be a good idea to eat at 5 different pizza places in 1 day? We had decided to only order 1 pie and each of use will only eat 1 slice. As you read on, you will know that we didn’t follow that rule.
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I’ve been wanting to visit Toby’s Public House for a while now, ever since it was featured on Serious Eats about their nutella ricotta calzone. But the idea of going to this pizza place was overshadowed by other new pizzerias and for some reason crossing over the BQE seemed a bit far.
It’s nice to set goals for yourself once in a while. After starting this blog Howard and I started to have goals, foodie goals. Goals to try this place and that place. Since he’s a big pizza fan and recently few of our friends were having a pizza debate, I suggested going to Toby’s for dinner after our visit to good old Beer Table. We stumbled over, crossed the BQE and found ourselves standing in front of what I thought looked more like an old school firehouse. We walked in and found the place to be packed so we decided to sit at the bar. We looked over the menu and decided to get a good old margherita and a spinach pie. I thought it would be good to compare this spinach pie with the one I had at Co.
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