When I Became Serious About Pizza: Jon Stewart and Denino's

This blog is about my adventures in seeking out that one staple of food which never grows old: pizza. As it turns out, I live in Central New Jersey, part of the New York Metro Area, a staple of pizza in the country and world (in my opinion).

I had always eaten pizza. I had always enjoyed it. But I had never truly savored it, valued the experience and seriously compared different pies. I had been meaning to since I moved to this part of the country, but work and life got in the way.

Finally, I was reminded why I had been meaning to in the first place by Jon Stewart: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/02/jon-stewart-blasts-trump-palin-pizza_n_870118.html .

I consider the moment I watched this video the moment I really started getting serious about pizza. Something about Jon Stewart speaks to me. And, though I hate to be a spoiler if you haven't watched the video, but Jon Stewart himself mentions a great number of excellent authentic fine pizza cuisines in New York City.

I resolved to myself that I would start by trying to visit every single restaurant that he mentioned, which would get me immersed in the pizza culture.

The first pizza place Jon Stewart mentioned that was on my list: Denino's. The original Denino's is on Staten Island, however the family has opened a second location in Aberdeen, NJ. It is all family run, and by all accounts and reviews, the pizza is exactly the same. Granted, you would ideally like to visit both locations to be sure, but for a start, going to the Aberdeen location, which was closer, would do to get serious about pizza.

And my, was it special. OH MY LORD! I realized how much time I had wasted not savoring and seeking out great pizza. I ordered a margarita pizza my first time, and I have since then also ordered a white pie and a clam pie at various times.

My favorite part of Denino's is their crust: crunchy, yet chewy and foldable. And most important of all, as Jon Stewart says, "They got the bread crumbs on the bottom..." While most places use cornmeal to line the pizza, they use homemade, high quality ingredient breadcrumbs. In fact, all their ingredients are high quality (which is of course a necessity to be an upper tier pizzeria), and I could definitely taste the difference.

Perhaps I'm biased since this has been the first pizza I ate as a serious lover, but I still find it my favorite pizza ever.

I'll leave you with this picture of a half clam pie, half margarita from Denino's. If it looks good, it's because it is.