Posted By: Pizza Expert on May 7th, 2009
After tweeting about it for a month, we finally held the first PizzaTweetup in South Florida. Last night 34 pizza lovers from Twitter gathered at Tucci’s Pizza in Boca Raton.
A little history on how the event came to be. Tucci’s Pizza recently opened up where Red Rock Pizza used to be in Boca.
Posted By: Pizza Expert on May 6th, 2009
Just spoke to our latest site sponsor The Pizza Butler’s founder Manny Velis. He told me the story of how they came up with the idea and the immediate success they have had with the product after launching it at the Las Vegas Pizza Expo in March. He says:
Six years ago my family and I moved to Tampa, Florida where for the first time in my life, I got involved in the restaurant business. As the owner of an extremely well known and popular 80‐seat restaurant called Formaggios Pizzeria Restaurant, I quickly realized that owning a restaurant was a 24‐hour, 7‐day a‐week business that demanded tremendous attention.
One Sunday evening at Formaggios I saw one of my waiters struggling to balance an 18” pie with one hand while trying to reposition items on the dinner table with his other so that the additional pie would fit. I have 42” square tables yet my wait staff still had difficulty finding room for two pies on the table. This was a regular
occurrence.
That particular day while watching my waiters jockey for table space, I was struck
with an idea for a space saving tray. It was a vision I knew I could produce back in
New York at my business, Hi‐Tech Metals, which manufactures high‐end metals. So I flew back first thing Monday morning, quickly designed and fabricated a prototype, and shipped it back to Florida the next day. As soon as we tried it in our restaurant, we all knew the headaches of our space issues were over. I immediately pulled it from use and went to a patent attorney.
This little “Z” pan was perfection. I decided to call it “THE PIZZA BUTLER.”
I have already changed the tables in my restaurant. I switched all my two top, six top and four top tables, which were 42” in depth to 30” which has allowed me to
successfully add 5 more tables to my restaurant. I am now turning over 22 tables
instead of 17.
We have been using The Pizza Butler for over four months now and the pan never
ceases to evoke endless comments. There has yet to be a single customer who has
not remarked on this unique and innovative pan.
Posted By: Pizza Expert on May 5th, 2009
Got a tip from someone the other day, that someone who used to work at Anthony’s had opened his own place up in Lighthouse Point, named Sicilian Oven. So naturally Mikey and I, made the journey to go and try it. The Sicilian Oven is located on 2486 N Federal Hwy 954.785.4155. When we located the place, I remember it being a DiSalvos or something like that. It was a place we tried many many years ago and didn’t really care for, so when we saw it no longer in business it came as no surprise.
The Sicilian Oven smelled great when we walked in, and we were seated within a view of the ovens that they use. Watching a fully flamed oven is kind of beautiful, especially when they throw some oil in there to heat it up! We ordered a small regular pie to split, and anxiously awaited for the first bite.
When the pizza arrived, it looked fantastic. We both took and slice, and upon biting in, we both looked at each other and gave the eyes of bliss to one another. This pizza was great. The crust was tasty and crisp, the cheese tasted awesome, and the olive oil they used on top of the pie after removing it from the oven, gave this slice such a rich taste. Ideally, I would take some of the chunks out of the sauce guys. The sauce was a little too heavy for my liking, but tasted decent. So it wasn’t nearly enough of a negative to take any points away from the overall experience. This is a place we will definitely try again if we are in the area, and we recommend to anyone who thinks Anthony’s Coal Pizza is good, to try this place before making that statement. The Sicilian Oven is far better then Anthony’s.
The Sicilian Oven gets 7 out of 8 slices.
Posted By: Pizza Expert on May 4th, 2009
As if the first Rosa’s pizza wasn’t awesome enough, they have a second one not too far away. The Rosa’s Pizza located in Midldle Village, Queens, is located on only like 10 minutes from the other one in Maspeth, Queens.
Although this Rosa’s was seemingly delicious, it wasn’t as good as the previous slices we had at the one in Maspeth. Maybe it was due to the fact that the Maspeth location was busier and had fresh pies coming out all day, and that the Middle Village one had to reheat theirs, but if I had to pick one or the other I would pick Maspeth.
Rosa’s Pizza in Middle Village might have been one of the best slices I had that day, had I not gone to the other Rosa’s before hand. It is important to note, that this pizza was still exceptional, and well worth going to. If you haven’t eaten at Spumoni Gardens or the other Rosa’s Pizza, you might think you have found the perfect slice actually. Rosa’s does server regular slices, but they are known for their Upside Down Sicilian, which they call Red.
The fresh Mozzarella cheese is baked into the dough and the sauce is added on top, with some parm cheese. The sauce is amazingly sweet and tasty, and all-in-all everything about this pizza says quality.
Rosa’s Pizza in Middle Village gets 7 out of 8 slices.
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