I’m glad to report that I successfully achieved my Pizza Month goal of eating nothing but pizza for the entire month of April. I already addressed some of the biggest issues early on in the month, but I figured it’d be worth taking a look back to share a few thoughts and answer some of the most common questions I’m asked about the experience. It’s also a good excuse to make some lists.
First of all: no, I’m not sick of pizza. It helps to understand that I eat a lot of pizza anyway; it isn’t uncommon for me to eat pizza everyday for a week at a time. This doesn’t mean that the whole endeavor wasn’t hard though. On the contrary, it was much harder than I expected. Consider, for instance, the following situations (all of which happened to me during the month):
You attend a business lunch, but end up having to order nothing and watch every one else eat because the restaurant doesn’t serve pizza. This of course also involves trying not to come across as a total dick while you explain to everyone why you’re not eating with them.
It is the warmest, most beautiful day of the year in New York City and you can’t eat an ice cream cone.
You are on Martha’s Vineyard for an extended trip and end up needing to scrape the bottom of the local pizzeria barrel in order to fulfill your daily quota for new pizza.
While on Martha’s Vineyard, you are staying for a week with your boss, whose wife is the editor of a magazine that focuses on local food. You can’t eat their undoubtedly delicious home-cooked meals or act on recommendations for the best local restaurants (unless they serve pizza).
You attend a catered dinner with tons of amazing food that is also free, but you can only eat an undercooked pizza which you picked up beforehand.
I could go on, but you get the general idea.
To only cite difficult situations would be unfair, though. I had many outstanding experiences throughout the month which probably wouldn’t have taken place if I were eating a normal diet. For example:
Doing an interview for the local news which would be re-broadcast on stations around North America
Appearing in the news in other forms around the country, including interviews for the Chicago Tribune and a conservative fundamentalist right-wing talk radio show in Alabama (?!)
Visiting 18 pizzerias that I have never been to before in my life, many of which were a pleasant surprise
Hearing or reading feedback from people who thought my plan was entertaining, admirable, stupid, or otherwise thought-provoking
Losing 2 pounds (yes, I lost weight)
Having an easy conversation topic to fill awkward silences
Receiving an e-mail from a girl I’d never met, asking if I wanted to go on a pizza date with her
Since writing about every single slice I ate all month would take forever, I will instead name some superlatives, yearbook style:
Pre-gamer – Pizza I ate the night before Pizza Month started to get psyched up: Patsy’s Pizzeria in East Harlem, Manhattan
Hidden Gem – Previously unexplored pizza I wished I had known about earlier: Bacci & Abracci in Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Letdown – Most disappointing pizza based on the amount I expected to enjoy it and the amount I actually enjoyed it: Pulino’s Bar & Pizzeria in Lower East Side, Manhattan
Surprisingly Good – Most impressive pizza based on the amount I expected to enjoy it and the amount I actually enjoyed it: a Vegan Macaroni & Ground “Beef” slice from Vinnie’s Pizzeria in Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Healthiest – Pizza which probably provided the most nutrients I was missing out on elsewhere: a Dell’ortolano pie from Acqua Santa in Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Worst – Pizza I enjoyed the least: Vox Populi in Back Bay, Boston
Best – Pizza I enjoyed the most: a tough call, but I’m gonna go with the Greenpointer pie from Paulie Gee’s in Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Out with a fizzle – last pizza I ate during pizza month (also the runner up for pizza I enjoyed the least): Fresh Pasta Shoppe in Edgartown, Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts
On May 1st, after eating nothing but pizza for an entire month, these are the first 3 things I ate (in order):
a single sunflower seed
a slice of cold leftover pizza
a sandwich with cherry tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and olive oil
In conclusion, I’m glad I went through with this year’s Pizza Month challenge, but I’m not sure I’ll do it again next year. I might return to the same challenge from previous years, to eat one slice every day from at least one different pizzeria every day. Another option I’ve considered which might be interesting is to eat from at least one pizzeria I’ve never been to in my life at least once a day. We’ll see…
Three days in to eating literally nothing but pizza, I can already tell that this year’s Pizza Month challenge is going to be much harder than I originally thought.
First I’ll clarify the specifics of the rules I’ve set out, because many people ask about them. The first part is pretty simple: anything I eat during the month of April will be pizza. This means no snacks, appetizers, desserts, candy… nothing. When I went to Pulino’s for pizza on the first day of the month, and my friend Dan got olives before our pies came, I did not eat any because they were not on a pizza.
Some people I’ve talked to have tried to find loopholes that they would take advantage of, like eating soup, but I’m going to try to keep it as legit as possible: Anything I chew and swallow until midnight of April 30 will be pizza.
On top of that, as with previous Pizza Months, I’m also attempting to eat at a different pizza place (i.e. one that I haven’t been to yet this month) every day.
Despite what you may think, the eating of pizza isn’t the hard part. There are many factors that I hadn’t really considered when deciding to eat only pizza for a month. For instance, pizza is often a social meal; but if I’m hungry and I can’t find anyone to get pizza with – as is often the case in the middle of the day – I have to either wait for someone or go eat alone. It’s fine if you’re just getting a slice, but I’m guessing I’ll probably also end up being that creepy guys alone at a restaurant many times throughout the month. This isn’t made any easier by the fact that I tend to stay up late at night, when many pizzerias are closed and potential dining partners are asleep.
Another thing I hadn’t really realized before is how much of my normal diet consists of food that isn’t the main course of a normal meal. So many foods that I love to munch on between meals are conspicuous in their absence. It’s similarly difficult to walk past all the awesome bagel shops and bakeries in New York without stopping in to grab a small bite. Furthermore, considering my normal diet, life without dessert or candy is going to be brutal. Finally, other than a few places where breakfast pizza is offered, normal breakfast will be greatly missed.
So far, I’ve been drinking a lot of liquids to tide me over between pizzas. I’ll probably put down many cups of orange juice and smoothies before the month is through, and I’m relying on those kinds of things to keep me from getting scurvy.
Because of all this – and contrary to the common assumptions about a pizza-only diet – I’m predicting that I might actually lose weight over the next month. This certainly isn’t my goal, but I’ll be curious to see what the correlation is.
Back in 2007, I began a personal tradition I call Pizza Month. The specifics of the challenge have evolved over the years, but the general premise is that I eat pizza every day for the entirety of April.
In 2008 and 2009, to make Pizza Month more challenging, a new stipulation was introduced in which I had to get pizza from a new place every day (no repeats). It made the whole endeavor much more exciting than just grabbing a slice from my local pizza spot every day.
For Pizza Month this year, I’ve decided to step things up another notch and eat nothing but pizza for the entire month of April.
While many people think that eating pizza every day would be challenging, the hardest part to me for this new level of pizza dedication will be the elimination of candy and desserts. Luckily, Coca-Cola is basically candy in liquid form and happens to also be the best beverage to complement pizza with.
I’ll try to post updates and notes here throughout the month. Also keep an eye on my Flickr photostream for photographic documentation.
For more info on my previous Pizza Months, see the related wrap-up entries from Pizza Month 2008 and Pizza Month 2009, as well as all my Pizza Month photos on Flickr.
I completed my third annual Pizza Month yesterday at Stone Hearth Pizza in Cambridge, MA. As with the past two years, I ate pizza every day for the entire month of April. Similar to last year, I managed to do so without getting pizza from the same pizzeria twice.
Since I’m currently in vagabond travel mode, I got a lot more variety this year, geographically, than in past years. New York got some heavy representation early on, followed by a string of various Massachusetts pizza.
Billy (who participated in Pizza Month with me the previous two years) folded only 3 or 4 days into the month after forgetting to eat a slice, so I did this one solo.
Best pizza all month: Not as easy to say this year as it was last year; it’s a toss-up between Motorino in Brooklyn, and my childhood neighborhood favorite, New England Pizza House #1, on Cape Cod.
Worst pizza all month: Arizona Pizza Company in Hadley, MA. Better Fella’s (formerly Vinny Vella’s) in Brooklyn was a close runner up in this category too.
I must say I was really surprised at how easy it was to complete Pizza Month this time around. I’m starting to think about stepping it up somehow next time (Pizza Season???)
Unfortunately, the pizza I ate on day 11 of Pizza Month is of unknown origin. I had it at a party at the Kaiju Big Battel studio, which is in Somerville, so it must’ve been from that area. When I asked the person who bought it where it was from they couldn’t remember the name, and whatever location they described to me I didn’t recognize and/or remember.
With that said, I’ll put off writing about this one for now. I don’t really remember too much about the pizza, so there’s probably not much to tell anyhow.
Despite its name, my stop for day 10 of Pizza Month is located in Boston.
I’d file this pie under college pizza. It’s almost exactly what you’d expect from a pizza shop that’s right next to Emerson College. It’s quick and dirty, but fills the void; almost the exact opposite of Teatro, which is right up the street. It could definitely be waaaay worse and still stay in business, especially considering the relative lack of many competitors in the immediate area.
It’s a good slice if you’re hungry, and don’t have lofty expectations or mind dining in the company of Emerson students.
For day 9 of Pizza Month, I checked out Bostone Pizza on Newbury St in Boston. There are actually way less pizza spots on Newbury and the surrounding area than you might think, and Bostone is one of the few non-chain options.
One of the unique aspects here is that they’re one of only a few pie shops in Boston that I know of who offer sicilian slices all the time. That doesn’t really sway me one way or the other because I’m not too into sicilian, but I’m sure it’s a bonus for some people.
Another thing that stuck in my head about Bostone is that they are obviously huge Red Sox fans. There were Red Sox balloons outside, some other decorations inside, and they had multiple TVs playing the game that was on at the time.
The general decoration motif was slightly on the fancier side, but nothing crazy. I’m guessing nitty-gritty slice shop probably wouldn’t do too well on Newbury St.
The pizza itself wasn’t especially memorable. It wasn’t bad at all, but not worth really getting too excited about. The bottom crust was on the crispy side, but the slice wasn’t super light and thin the way it often is with a crispy crust.
Minus points for lack of Coke. Root beer available however.
Billy and I ended our 2nd annual Pizza Month yesterday at Oggi in Harvard Square with Springer. It seemed fitting as their tagline is “The Start to a Delicious End”.
I’ll write more on that particular pizza in a separate post (after I catch up on the other stuff I had during Pizza Month).
For now, here are some quick notes on this year’s experience:
Rules I followed:
Eat pizza every single day for the entire month of April.
Get the pizza from a new place every day (last year I did repeats, had leftovers, etc).
No big corporate pizza (Domino’s, Pizza Hut, etc).
Best pizza I had all month: Grimaldi’s in Brooklyn, NY
Worst pizza I had all month: Zesto’s in Jamaica Plain, MA
I took photographs of each day’s pizza and posted them to a??Flickr set.
Eventually I’ll be writing about all the pie I ate and posting it on this site (so far I’ve only covered up to day 8).
Did I gain any weight? Nope (not sure how that worked out).
Day 8 of Pizza Month was a big one: I went above and beyond the requirements and ended up having pizza 3 times in one day.
I was awake around 2 AM in Manhattan and nowhere near tired, so I decided to ride my skateboard from East 82nd St & York Ave down to 1st & 1st (I always wanted to go there after seeing that episode of Seinfeld where Kramer gets lost and ends up at 1st & 1st). It was about a 5.5 mile skate, but skating late at night in Manhattan is so much fun, so it was awesome.
Anyway, when I got to 1st & 1st, I decided that before heading back I might as well grab some pie. I’d been to Famous Original Ray’s with my friend Shaun once before a show and figured I’d check it out again. I’d file their pie under “crappy but delicious”; it’s the kind of pizza drunk college kids like to eat on their way home from a party (a few of them came in when I was there).
Downside: When I paid for my slice and soda, the cashier took it upon himself to round the amount of my change down to the nearest dollar and preemptively award himself the extra 45 cents worth of coins as a tip. WTF? I probably would’ve given him the change anyway, but just because he took matters into his own hands, I’m paying with exact change next time.
Other downsides: No Coke, only Pepsi; the radio was set to some shitty top-40 station; when I was there, there seemed to be some kind of inspector that was disapproving of whatever it was he was inspecting; and the manager seemed like he constantly had to shoo off bums who would gather outside the door asking everyone for change on their way out (not like I had any change anyway, thanks to the dickhead at the register who thought he deserved it more).
The slices are good and they’re open 24 hours, so it’s too bad almost everything else about the place sucks.
Later in the day, after I finally had gotten to sleep, I took a trip to Williamsburg in Brooklyn. Not too far away from where you walk off the Williamsburg bridge is this pie shop called Vecino. I’ll be honest and admit that the main reason I stopped in for a slice was mostly because of their awesome hand-lettered sign (which, by the way, gives no indication of their name — only that they sell pizza).
Once inside, I felt as thought I were right at home in the part of Jamaica Plain where my apartment is (dubbed by Mayor Menino as “the Latin Quarter” of Boston). The reggaeton was blasting and there was a whole crew of older dudes with fresh haircuts just hanging around shooting the shit (in Spanish, of course).
The pie was mediocre. It’s on the hefty side, which isn’t so bad in itself, but it felt like a little too much dough for my taste. No Coke, but they at least had some bottled root beer.
I did like the setup with the metal-topped counter. That plus the sweet sign and generally friendly vibe inside make this place OK in my book.
Later on in the day my good friend Yvonne, knowing that I was doing pizza month, took me out to a spot called Grimaldi’s in an area known as DUMBO, (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) in Brooklyn. We actually took one of these livery car service kinda things there, which was a first for me. They’re kinda like cabs but look way fancier. Actually, on the ride there, they took us in this beastly hideous SUV, which had some ridiculous bass sound system. Surprisingly enough, they don’t cost that much more than cabs though.
Anyway, Grimaldi’s… holy shit! I had heard of Gramaldi’s before, but I am forever indebted to Yvonne for taking me there. This was easily the best pie I’ve had so far for Pizza Month.
When we first got there, we had to wait outside for a bit. They definitely pack ‘em in here; most of the tables are touching, so you have to basically sit with other people and pretend that you can’t hear their conversation (the photo of the tables below was taken after we had eaten and most of the people who were there when we showed up had already left).
It’s not without good reason though: the pizza is fucking amazing and easily worth bumping elbows for. In fact, one of the things I like so much about Grimaldi’s is that there are no pretensions. They could easily charge way more money and make it seem super fancy, but that’s obviously not their deal. It’s clear that the pizza is what it’s all about, and basically if you’re too caught up in being fancy, then you can go somewhere else.
Fresh moz’, delicious sauce, perfectly cooked dough&hellip this is the kind of place you are lucky you don’t live across the street from, because if you did, you would become a fat-ass. I only wish we had gotten a large pie instead of a small.
To finish it off, we got this ice cream dessert that was like a weird Klondike bar-esque kind of thing with cherries in the middle. I forget what it was called, but that was really good as well.
Perfect ending to a long day of Pizza Month action.
