Bite Club Pizza: Chicago vs New York

'Hey Hey' Jack Brickhouse Special at Pizano's in Chicago

A recent trek across the United States brought me to the home of our country's two most famous and notable pizza styles: Chicago's deep dish and New York City's large thin crust.  I've had both before.  I've enjoyed them in their hometown confines.  Eating these pizzas in their respective cities did not present a new experience for me in and of itself.  However, I had never been blessed with the chance to have each of them just a few days apart.  So when I had a few hours to kill in Chicago before catching a flight to New York, the only logical thought that crossed my mind was to jump on the "L" and grab some pie.  Brent and I took a train into the loop where we found a touristy and downtown business friendly joint called Pizano's.  Eating quickly commenced.   

Pizano's actually has several locations around Chicago.  The spot in the loop is not the original, but since I needed to hop right back on a train to Midway, it just made sense.  The famous deep dish pizza has a buttery crust and layers of flavor.  Packed with mozzarella and marinara, the pizzas can fill you up quickly as each "slice" contains enough food to sustain a drunk Cubs fan through the misery of another loss.  Brent and I split a 'Hey Hey' Jack Brickhouse Special which featured Italian sausage and mushrooms.  Every bite tasted like a little bit of heaven.  Okay, maybe that's a little strong.  This pizza did not top my list of best deep dishes I've had in Chicago.  But I'm still a sucker for it.  It is hard to go wrong with the combination of flavors presented in this deep dish.  The wedges of pie are most easily consumed with a fork, which is perhaps its one downfall in the eyes of New York City pizza purists.

 A Slice at Full Moon Pizza on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx

A different world over in the heart of the Bronx lies Arthur Avenue.  The traditional Italian neighborhood seems nostalgically out of place in the middle of the northern NYC borough.  That only gave it extra charm.  My friend Molly and I got a slice at the Full Moon Pizza on the corner of 187th and Arthur Ave.  Full moon serves up a multitude of large pies by the slice.  The thinly stretched and tossed dough is dusted with cornmeal to give it that authentically classic taste and texture.  The pies are topped with an assortment of combinations including the classics of cheese only, pepperoni, buffalo chicken, and more.  I went with a slice that had appropriate portions of peppers, mushrooms, and pepperoni.  Any more toppings than that and you're weighing down the pizza and sacrificing the integrity of the thin crust.  Many opt to fold their slice in half and eat it as a sandwich.  I took mine one bite at a time and finished each swallow with a smile.

So in the end, which pizza reign's supreme?  I haven't done many, but every now and then I make a special comparative post on Bite and Booze called "bite club."  In this battle of Chicago vs New York, I give the edge to Chicago.  The deep dish is a historic, cultural, and unique cuisine.  It is based off of the Italian pizzas, but transformed into something totally different.  The way the crust balances the ingredients is like having a lasagna with a buttery, crispy pizza crust instead of limp noodles.  While I do appreciate a large slice of New York pizza, I don't feel like I'm often blown away by them.  Perhaps the one exception to that was Lombardi's, but even then, the Bite Club crown goes to Chicago!  

Bite Club: Katz's vs Stein's

The return of a Bite Club post can only mean one thing: I recently ate two things that I strongly felt needed to be compared!  In an epic match up of the original Katz's Deli in New York vs the upstart Stein's Market and Deli in New Orleans, only one pastrami sandwich on rye could reign supreme!

Katz's on the Lower East Side of Manhattan has been around since 1888.  They are famous for pastrami, corned beef, and the orgasm scene from "When Harry Met Sally."  While the "I'll have what she's having" line is definitely the quote of the film, Meg Ryan wasn't actually eating a pastrami or corned beef sandwich.  Still, I had to go for the good stuff while I was there with my friend Caroline and her friends from Williamsport, PA.

Pastrami on Rye, Katz's Deli, New York

 
The pastrami at Katz's is undoubtedly some of the best I've ever had.  The brined beef soaked up all the flavors while the peppercorn rub on the outside left the beef spicy and delicious.  Each slab of pastrami is hand carved to order right in front of the customers and then piled high on rye bread.  Throw in a little mustard for good measure, and you've got one heck of a sandwich!  

On Magazine Street in the Lower Garden District of New Orleans, Stein's Market and Deli is a hot spot for diners looking to get an authentic Jewish Deli style sandwich.  Again, I ordered pastrami on rye with a little mustard.  Stein's also added some melted cheese to my sandwich.  I always have a hard time arguing with that!  The pastrami packed a lot of flavor into the thin beef slices while the cheese helped to mellow out the spices from the peppered red meat and the mustard.  This was a good sandwich... no, a great sandwich.  And I'd go back and eat it again and again when in New Orleans.

Pastrami on Rye, Stein's Deli, New Orleans

But, with that being said, Stein's pastrami truly presented itself as a distant cry from the mouth-watering succulence of Katz's deli.  Katz's thick-cut to order, tender slabs of beef had so much juice and flavor that it can easily put people into proper food comas.  It didn't need cheese to reach a desired mixture of tastes and textures because the pastrami could speak for itself.  I applaud Stein's for trying to bring a taste of the New York deli to Louisiana.  The store is great and the sandwiches are terrific.  However, do yourself a favor and try not to compare it too critically to the granddaddy up north.  Katz's Deli, while touristy, is overcrowded for good reason.  And locals flock there too.  Quite simply, it is just that damn good.

Bite Club BR - Crawfish Challenge

After the success of Bite Club BR Round 1: King Cake, it is high time to start planning the next installment!  Don't worry folks, it is sure to be a treat.  Bite Club BR Round 2: Crawfish is in the works!

#BiteClubBR will be back at the Hollywood Casino on May 21 as part of their Crawfish Festival.  There will be live music, plenty of eats, cold beer, and Bite Club!  For now though, we are still taking nominations.  So let's hear it folks: what are favorite restaurants and caterers in the Greater Baton Rouge Area serving up crawfish?  To nominate your favorite, leave a comment on this blog post, tweet it to @biteandbooze or @VisitBatonRouge, or leave it on the Jay D's Bite and Booze Blog facebook wall!  Once all the nominations are in, we'll get out more details about how you can do some taste-testing!!!

@BiteandBooze and @VisitBatonRouge Present #KingCakeBR: Bite Club Round 1

Round 1: #KingCakeBR

For more information about KingCakeBR check out this article from Visit Baton Rouge's Red Stick Blog! 
Also, Check out Erin's review in Deep South Magazine!

Also, here is another video from Scott Rogers and the Around Town Show!

Bite Club BR - Philly Cheese Steaks

Bite Club BR is a new series from Bite and Booze that presents a foodie fight, or "Battle Royale", between two "Baton Rouge" restaurants, bars, chefs, or other culinary creators.  In Bite Club BR's first ever showdown, we'll take a look at a notable sandwich from the Northeast that has recently made a splash in Baton Rouge: Philly Cheese Steaks!

Cheese Steaks are the culinary icon of Philadelphia.  The sandwich represents to them what the poboy means to New Orleans.  There is culture, creativity, passion, and pizazz all sandwiched between a roll of bread.  And like the poboy, there are many different variations on the Philly Cheese Steak.  One of the first things one needs to know is how to order the gastronomic glory known as the Cheese Steak.  Cheese Steaks in Philly have their own lingo, and if you don't know about it, you are likely to hold up a line while you are confused and trying to order.  

In Philadelphia, the first step is to pick which rival Cheese Steak you want to partake in.  In South Philly, Pat's and Geno's go head to head for sandwich supremacy.  In Baton Rouge, Bite Club BR puts South of Philly and Philly Me Up to the challenge. Step two is to decide what you want before you get to the front of the line.  There are menu boards to drool over while you wait, but once you're to the ordering counter, you best be ready.  The Cheese Steak has four basic items: meat, cheese, toppings, and roll.  You don't need to decide on the roll.  Much like French bread is to the poboy in Louisiana, the Amoroso long roll is pretty much the only option for an authentic Cheese Steak.

As for the meat, you'll usually have an option to go with chicken.  That's like choosing to have relations with the ugly step-sister when the hottie sister is willing and ready.  Stop thinking about yard birds and go with the beef.  Cheese for many is the most difficult decision.  One version of the classic Philly Cheese Steak uses Kraft's Cheez Whiz or just "Whiz" to Philly Phanatics.  First marketed in 1952, Cheez Whiz is a staple at Pat's King of Steaks in Philly where it was made famous as a sandwich topping.   However, since the Cheese Steak has been around since the 1930s, twenty years before Cheez Whiz, the folks at Geno's consider American or Provolone to be more authentic.  Either way, you're going with over 50 years of history and tradition, so the cheese choice really just comes down to personal preference.

Finally, the time comes to choose your toppings.  Onions are the most common, so if you want them, you just have to say "with" or "wit" if you want to sound like a local in Philly. If you don't want them, make sure you say "without" or you may be biting into a roll full of them anyway. Other acceptable toppings include mushrooms, sauce, peppers, and more depending on whose Cheese Steak you're eating.

For my taste test, I decided to get the exact same sandwich at both locations.  For consistency sake, I ordered a "whiz wit", their normal beef Cheese Steak with Cheez Whiz and onions.  This was the most basic steak that I'd feel comfortable ordering because I wasn't about to get one "wit out".  My first stop came at Philly Me Up on Jefferson Highway.  Philly Me Up sits a fairly new, small strip mall.

A 10" Classic Whiz Wit at Philly Me Up

Philly Me Up's Cheese Steaks can be ordered in a 6" small or 10" regular size.  Naturally, I opted for the regular at a price of $7.50.  When I asked for Cheez Whiz the guy behind the counter didn't know if they had any.  He went to the back to check, and it turned out they did, but the first impression of  a Cheese Steak place not knowing if they had Cheez Whiz was far from impressive.  The restaurant had a nice, relaxed feel to it.  I took a seat at a booth and watched a little afternoon Sports Center while waiting on my meal.  It didn't arrive in record time, but the wait also wasn't a burden on the lunch.  At first glance the Cheese Steak looked impressive.  It had been cut in half and looked loaded with beef and onions... and then I realized: where was my cheese?  As can be seen on the picture above, a little Cheez Whiz made it on to the left half of the sandwich, but the right half noticeably lacked a substantial amount the deliciously processed cheese sauce.  The good news is that the beef at Philly Me Up tasted very nice.  Each bite featured well seasoned and tender thinly sliced steak, and there were plenty of onions to add flavor.  I gladly ate all 10 inches of Cheese Steak and, along with a side of fries, I left fairly satisfied with the meal.

A 12" Philly Steak Whiz Wit at South of Philly

South of Philly on Sherwood Forrest serves up a wide variety of Cheese Steak combinations, though my duty consisted of ordering the exact same thing that I had at Philly Me Up.  This time around I had to choose between a 7" or 12" sandwich, so naturally I opted for the foot-long.  The 12" Philly Steak Whiz Wit ran me a tab of $9.25.  South of Philly apparently gets plenty of Cheez Whiz orders as they laid it on thick!  While they weren't skimpy on the cheese, they may have forgotten how to season beef.  The steak itself lacked the customary salt and spices, and provided a slightly bland sandwich.  There were plenty of chopped onions mixed in and the amount of cheese added to the flavor, but there was still something missing in the beef.  I ate the entire Cheese Steak, thinking the whole time that it tasted good, but could easily be better.  Perhaps they sell so many variations of Cheese Steaks that come with sauces or other toppings that they don't need to season the beef much.

In any case, the I'd gladly eat either sandwich again, but that's not what Bite Club BR is all about!  This Baton Rouge Cheese Steak Battle Royale must have a winner, and that's no easy decision.  If I could design my own sandwich from the two I had just eaten, I'd take the beef from Philly Me Up and put it with the bread, onions and cheese from South of Philly.  Unfortunately, that's not an option.  I'm going to have to choose...

And the winner is...........

As I said, this was a difficult call. Both sandwiches were by all means satisfactory.  Ultimately it came down to the lack of knowledge about whether or not Philly Me Up had Cheez Whiz and the lack of Whiz that they put on the sandwich after they found some.  Had that Cheese Steak gotten the same cheesy love that South of Philly delivered, this would have been a different story.  For what it's worth, I also like the atmosphere and character of South of Philly more, which goes a long way when trying to recreate an authentic Philly Cheese Steak.  Next time I might try some different varieties of toppings and cheese, but right now, on this edition of Bite Club BR, South of Philly reigns supreme!

If you have thoughts about either of these two places or another place to get Philly Cheese Steaks in Baton Rouge, feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this post!

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