Friday Afternoon Pizza Party!

Holy shit. I really hope that everybody only gets the half of that image that I am getting. Even better.

Girl I sit next to at work gave up pizza for lent. Think I'd rather give up sex than being able to up my pizza intake for the next 40 days.

Joke's on her, too. There is no God!

Hanging out with Sausage and Paves, today. Pizza will be eaten! Gonna be so fucking dope.

Lent is 40 fucking days long? All these years of hearing about it and I didn't know exactly what the deal was. I assumed it was a week or something, like Mardi Gras.

Just ordered a large pizza from Pequods and scooped up a bunch of brew. Also my friend from SF is about to slide through.

Hope it was pepperoni!

I dunno a dick shaped pizza just doesn't seem appetizing and I love some pizza.

  

I'd eat that dick

Phallus/ray gun shape aside, that is one lousy looking pizza.

the tomato bellend is all wonky

Looks like it has crabs.

I'm not interested in pizza not shaped like pizza.

that crust looks terrible

not a fan of black olives on a pizza either

I'm with you, J.


I was interviewed by SF Eater today about pairing pizza w/ wine. Basically I was like, why drink wine with pizza when we have such a plentiful supply of beer?

does pizza just go with beer because they're both yeasty?

what about a white wine with a shrimp and white sauce pizza? or a lightly fruity red with a margherita. i think anything with a tomato and herb flavor pairs with red wine, but i know so little about pairing drinks and food that i couldn't tell you which type of red.

also, Mike, are you the rare type of wine industry person that enjoys beer, wine and spirits? or is it not actually that rare?

Michael K. wrote:I'm with you, J.


I was interviewed by SF Eater today about pairing pizza w/ wine. Basically I was like, why drink wine with pizza when we have such a plentiful supply of beer?

This is a terrible perspective on pizza, Michael K. I won't be taking the Epicurean wisdom of the SF Eater to heart anytime soon if they are publishing this opinion for all of their readers to see.

damn, pizza shots fired

C'mon guys. Pizza is great with wine and it's great with beer too. It's pizza!

jasperness wrote:does pizza just go with beer because they're both yeasty?

what about a white wine with a shrimp and white sauce pizza? or a lightly fruity red with a margherita. i think anything with a tomato and herb flavor pairs with red wine, but i know so little about pairing drinks and food that i couldn't tell you which type of red.

also, Mike, are you the rare type of wine industry person that enjoys beer, wine and spirits? or is it not actually that rare?

C-poots wrote:

Michael K. wrote:I'm with you, J.


I was interviewed by SF Eater today about pairing pizza w/ wine. Basically I was like, why drink wine with pizza when we have such a plentiful supply of beer?

This is a terrible perspective on pizza, Michael K. I won't be taking the Epicurean wisdom of the SF Eater to heart anytime soon if they are publishing this opinion for all of their readers to see.

Apologies, my dudes; was mostly just kidding. Here were my responses verbatim:

1) The food at Campo Fina is locally-minded and focused on the the community of the table, intrinsic balance, and value. My intent for the wine program is to mirror these ideals. I want wines on the list that, first and foremost, drink well with food. Every bottle should be delicious and punch above its weight class in terms of expectation and delivery.

2) The toughest thing about pairing beverages with pizza is the expectation about what pizza is. When a rep or importer shows me a "great pizza wine," I get the feeling its code for, "This is a cheap, shallow - even astringent - wine that works with a cheap, depthless food." Great pizza is certainly a blue collar food, but it's so imperatively about subtlety and balance. It must be about balance - most people like to eat copious amounts of pizza, and if there's anything out of balance, they won't eat more than a couple slices. Any beverage that accompanies should have as much balance - between acid, structure, and richness - as the pizza does. Beer is a great pairing, but so is Champagne.

3) I love light, fresh Italian reds w/ pizza, especially something like Arianna Occhipinti's Frappato from Sicily or the Manincor Schiava from the Alto Adige. Red wines that have just a touch of structure work really well w/ tomato sauced pies, but too much tannin and the pizza's acid becomes unpalatable. Also, overly ripe fruit doesn't work at all. The pizza turns sour, the wine turns sweet and the result isn't even good enough for a Seahawks game.

4) People always try to order red wine with pizza, and in spite of what I said above, I think white wine is generally a better pairing. This is obvious w/ white pie, but I think it applies equally to red pizzas as well. Crisp, acidic whites - but not overly aromatic examples unless we're dealing with a white pizza w/ a large amount of herbs/lemon - are great and a glass of good prosecco has just the right amount of sweetness and fruit to round out a margherita while cutting through its fat. As mentioned above, Champagne - especially those w/ yeasty and brioche notes - is just about perfect.

5) I don't take anything special into consideration when pairing food and wine in Healdsburg, but I do take advantage of one of the more maligned wine styles in the region. I love drinking Meursault w/ spaghetti and meatballs and meaty red-sauced pizzas. We don't have Meursault in California, but we do have a plethora of rich chardonnays. Rich chardonnay - whether the richness comes from malolactic fermentation, oak, or extended lees contact - usually still features enough acid to stand up to the tomatoes on a traditional pie, but it also has that rich mouthfeel and weight that plays well w/ pork, mozzarella, and olive oil. The Knez and Ramey chardonnays work gangbusters for this sort of thing.

As much as I love beer & pizza, I seldom enjoy them together. Rather just slam a diet coke with my pie and drink beer before and/or after dinner. And I'll gladly go without a drink before ordering wine with food. Just awful. Only ever sip grape juice with dinner when someone pours me a glass without asking.

I agree with you that young, fruit forward reds work well with pies. I definitely have enjoyed jammy but not huge Zinfandels with zesty pies for the same reason.

But the Seahawks drive-by was just uncalled for.   Talk about pandering to the 49'ers Chardonnay-sippin' base.

Those are my people, man, and this is for an SF magazine. It was going to be a Giants drive-by, but that would be shooting myself in the foot. Anyway, fuck Pete Carroll, so fuck the 'hawks by association, no offense. Your team just happens to have one of the all-time douchebags for a head coach, no matter how talented he is.

so apparently i know exactly what i'm talking about?

Michael K. wrote:a glass of good prosecco has just the right amount of sweetness and fruit to round out a margherita while cutting through its fat.

now this is a great rec. you like La Marca as a cheap prosecco, right?

Michael K. wrote:It was going to be a Giants drive-by, but that would be shooting myself in the foot

great choice. Giants fandom is practically the worst thing about the greater Bay Area these days.