NY better than Chicago? Forgetaboutit!

I love food, most of it at least. And I am a man, most days. So it makes perfect sense, then, that I love Man vs. Food on the Travel Channel. It’s the show where Brooklyn native Adam Richman heads out across the globe tasting local treats then taking on an eating challenge of some sort. Down 50 Naga Jolokia wings in 30 minutes or ingest a twelve egg omelet topped with 1 pound of bacon, 2 and pounds of cheese without throwing up. I caught an episode this week where he was visiting Chicago. In case you’ve forgotten because we post here with a frequency just short of Haley’s comet passing, I am from Chicago and it’s a favorite travel destination of EJ and Roo given we live down South. In his tour of the town, he stopped at Gino’s East to try a deep dish pizza. While some Windy City folks will tell you thin crust is truly Chicago’s best pie, the deep dish is world-renowned and as synonymous with the Second City as are Harry Caray’s glasses. If you go to Chicago, get a deep dish. It’s worth the wait. If you are waiting for one at Gino’s East and are sitting upstairs and outside on the patio, look for our graffiti.

So back to Adam. Brooklyn guy. In the episode, he is clearly blown away by the Chicago style pie but mostly avoids making any comparison to the east coast style NY slice. He clearly doesn’t want to lose rep in his hometown but it’s that he is intrigued by the Chicago version (but then if he is a culinary guru that has “held every job in the business”, do we really believe that this is the first time he has had deep-dish?) He stopped just short of crowning Chicago’s pizza king, strategically I assume. Where he stopped, I will continue. There is no comparison. There is no way you can argue that a floppy, greasy NY triangle compared to the sophisticated, succulent pie that is a deep dish pizza. It’s like comparing Al Capone to Regis Philbin. Se determined was I to remind myself how great a deep-dish pizza really is, that I decided to make my own. I researched a few recipes on-line and came up with my own version.

Delicious. It’s not the real thing but close enough to remind that it is the best. Now, if I can just find a recipe for that 12 egg omelet.