Daily Slice gives a quick snapshot each weekday of a different slice or pie that the folks at the Serious Eats empire have enjoyed lately.

[Photo: Carey Jones]

Take an oven-hot pepperoni pizza, but with the edges folded over into a boat-like shape, and the pepperoni swapped out for garlicky, cumin-y sucuk. What you have is a most excellent pide at Şimşek Pide Salonu, one of many fantastic recommendations from the good folks at Istanbul Eats.

Two different pizzalike foodstuffs are popular in Turkey, the puffy-crusted pide, which comes in several shapes, and the much thinner, much crisper lahmacun (more on that to come). You'll see plenty of inferior pide around Istanbul, some of them looking as if they were baked yesterday, others so flat they might have been squished in transit. But at Şimşek Pide Salonu, they're baked to order. The crust emerges an even brown, crisp on the outside, steaming and stretchy in the center, oozing with melted cheese and sausage oils. The final touch? A baste of melted butter. Little bits of it pool on the sides of the platter, all the better for dragging the crusty ends into. And any type of pide can be ordered with an egg on top.

They're just about sized for a single (hungry) person. If you get them to go, you get what looks just like an American pizza box, but, of course, long and skinny. This guy passed an important pizza test, too: the leftovers were taken home, kept overnight, and served as a very welcome breakfast the next morning, refrigerator-cold though they were.

Şimşek Pide Salonu

Taksim Caddesi 2/A, Taksim, Istanbul (map)
+90 212 249 4642
simsekpidesalonu.com

VIEW SLIDESHOW: 10 Ways to Let Fall Inspire Pizza

The cooler weather allows a lot more pizza making to take place indoors and for the toppings to get a lot richer. Look to these pies that feature heartier greens, squash, nuts, pumpkin seeds, Brussel sprouts, and much more for seasonal inspiration. You might just find the perfect Thanksgiving pre-game (or post-game) pie. Happy almost Thanksgiving, Slice'rs!

From Serious Eats

©iStockPhoto.com/JerryPDX

Yup, it's THAT time of the year again, our favorite holiday, the one that gives us license to eat copious amounts of food cooked with fat of every variety: Turkey (and crispy, crunchy turkey skin) cooked with lots of butter, duck fat, or bacon; stuffing made with butter and sausage and everything nice; mashed potatoes made with equal parts potato, heavy cream, and butter (thank you, Joël Robuchon) or Kenji's ridiculously delicious crispy potatoes cooked in duck fat; brussels sprouts cooked in brown butter studded with lardon; and pie, glorious flaky pie crust made with butter or lard or shortening or some combo thereof, filled with cooked down apples, or not-too-sweet pumpkin or sweet potato, or the caramel pecan pie we're having from Yura.

Yup there are a lot of foods to be thankful for on Thanksgiving, but here at Serious Eats we have so many things to be thankful for that aren't food-related:

We are first and foremost thankful for our amazing community of serious eaters. You keep us honest and laughing and thinking.

We are so thankful for all of our advertisers' support. There would be no Serious Eats without them.

We are thankful for all the farmers and purveyors and chefs who work so hard to supply us with seriously delicious and nutritious food everywhere we go.

We are thankful for our astoundingly talented contributors from around the world. You constantly amaze us with your efforts.

Finally, I'm thankful for our crew of tireless, passionate, insanely talented Serious Eats staffers. I'm in awe of everything you do and the thoughtful way you go about doing it. So much of our creative and business growth can be attributed to your smarts and heart and soul.

Happy Thanksgiving, Serious Eaters, one and all, from all of us at Serious Eats.

• Lou Monte sings "Pizza Boy U.S.A." [YouTube, via imwalkin]
• Slice Harvester collaborating on art-gallery pizzeria in NYC [SH]
• Oregon lottery winners use money to open pizzeria. (S'what I'd do with it!) [Register-Guard]
• Iggie's in Baltimore [IDoP]
• Greek pizza at the market stand [Norma]
• Neapolitan pizza makes inroads in India (Mumbai) [WSJ]
• Buckeyes paid Bo Schembechler for pizza [ESPN]
• Brooklyn-style pizzeria comes to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi [SunHerald]
• Editorial: DeLorenzo's Pizza is latest Trenton business to relocate due to city's violent crime problems [nj.com]

[Photograph: Robyn Lee]

It is the most leftover time of year, is it not? Which raises the very important pizza storage question that is the subject of today's poll: How long do you let leftover slices linger? For some, this may be related to the way in which they store their pizza. (Long time Slice'rs may recall the our own Ed Levine has some "questionable pizza practices" in the storage department that dictate the rate at which his leftovers need be consumed.) No judgement here. So how long does a leftover slice stand a chance in your kitchen?

Related: The Best Way to Reheat a Pizza Slice »

About the author: Meredith Smith is the Slice editor. You can follow her on Twitter: @mertsmith.

Tacconelli's Margherita pie (plus a side of seriously hot pickled hot peppers). [Photographs: Elizabeth Bomze]

There are a few things to know about Tacconelli's before you go:

• It's strongly recommended that you call ahead to reserve your pizza dough. They make a limited amount each day, and they usually sell out over the phone. Call between Wednesday and Sunday after 10 a.m.

• Pizza is the only item on the menu, though you're welcome to bring any accompaniments you might want, like olives or salad. You may also bring wine or beer—it's one of Philly's many BYO restaurants—and if you care about drinking either of those in something other than a plastic cup, bring glasses, too. (They serve soda.)

• The hot peppers (75 cents for a small cup) are HOT.

• They only serve dinner, but it's not a late-night pizza joint; last seating is at 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and it's earlier on other nights. They're closed Monday and Tuesday.

• Takeout: Yes. Credit cards: No.

• It's casual, but it's not cheap: Pies run about $20 before extra toppings.

• The restaurant sits in the middle of a crowded residential block in Port Richmond (which isn't a destination for anything other than Tacconelli's), and street parking can be tricky. Note the restaurant's parking lot one block away.

• Don't confuse this location with the one in Maple Shade, N.J. Apparently, they're family, but they're not affiliated.

• Even if you have a reservation, you'll usually wait quite a while for your pizza (that's what the olives and salad are for).

The crust is super-thin, crisp, and just a bit chewy.

If that sounds like a lot of planning for a pizza joint, it is, but the pies are worth it. They're really thin; to look at them, you might think they're crackery, and the edges are, just a bit. But from the handle to the point of each slice, there's just enough springy, satisfying tug.

They're also sauce-heavy. That's not to say they're dripping or at all soggy, but the tomato pie, regular pie, and popular Margherita pie are first and foremost canvases for the red stuff, which is concentrated, perfectly balanced, utterly smooth, and nicely baked into the crust so that it doesn't slide off when you pick up a slice.

The signature white pie is a misnomer. It's red and green, covered with fresh spinach and tomatoes.

The menu advises no more than two toppings, which makes sense given the thinness of the crust. Personally, I'd stick with the two house specialties—the Margherita, which has a modest (but ample) amount of fresh mozzarella and some torn basil, and the signature white pie, which is actually red and green. Over a thin layer of bubbly mozzarella, there are scattered piles of fresh spinach and tomato, and more than a few shakes of garlic powder. The two make a great combo.

Tacconelli's

2604 E. Somerset Street, Philadelphia, PA 19134 (map)
215-425-4983; tacconellispizzeria.com

About the author: Liz Bomze lives in Brookline, MA, and works as the Senior Features Editor for Cook's Illustrated Magazine. In her free time, she freelances regularly for the Boston Globe, Boston Magazine, the Improper Bostonian, and Martha's Vineyard Magazine; practices bread-baking and canning; takes photos; reads; and watches baseball. Top 5 foods: fresh noodles, gravlax, sour cherry pie, burrata, ma po tofu.

VIEW SLIDESHOW: My Pie Monday: Cheeseburger Pizza, Cherry Pie, Toaster Oven Pizza and More!

It's Cyber My Pie Monday! (Which of course is no different from any other My Pie Monday since we've always got a great collection of special pies.) There are some new additions to our galleries, however. Please make welcome Kaz, who has a New York pie in the mix, emsey of the pesto and honey wheat pizza, Florida9, who is sporting a steel baked pie, and the man behind the steel, Mr. Andris Lagsdin! We love these new additions here on Slice! Keep 'em coming. Also adding to this week's fabulous line-up, Ev keeps the Detroit spirit alive, Norma427 assures us she is still making Detroit's too each week, but delivers us a Greek, and TXCraig1 includes a spicy chorizo...mmmm, chorizo. Imwalkin did his part to support the night before Thanksgiving pizza eating with a spicy little number of his own, and Amusebouche1 continued to break in his Baking Steel with a cherry and prosciutto topped pie. Finally, having an oven hasn't slowed down Spicedham—check out his toaster oven pizza!

It's easy to get your pie included in next week's slideshow. Just take one picture of a pie you made recently, describe your cooking method (in 80 words or less), and follow these instructions to get it to us by 8pm (EST) Thursday. Be sure to let us know your Slice screen name.

Want to see more awesome homemade pizza photos from previous weeks? They're right here »

About the author: Meredith Smith is the Slice editor. You can follow her on Twitter: @mertsmith.

Daily Slice gives a quick snapshot each weekday of a different slice or pie that the folks at the Serious Eats empire have enjoyed lately.

[Photographs: Kelly Bone]

Pizza or not, the crust at Momed remains one of the better in Los Angles. Inspired by the Turkish pide (recently reviewed), it cradles toppings and flavors analogous to pizza. The dough is soft— a rich moist center folded in on itself—the outside crisps like pillowy flatbread—exactly as it should. Though the pides are sleeker than previous visits, the toppings are exceptional. The Fig and Arugula with caramelized onions and halloumi cheese ($14) is a menu standout.

The halloumi cheese, non-melting in nature, adds at sharp salty base to the sweet caramelized onions and slivered figs that are tucked into the folds of dough. Peppery arugula offset the fruit and cheese in texture and earthy flavor. The addition of sesame seeds and almonds complete each bite with their nutty crunch. Served steaming hot from the wood-fired oven, the balsamic reduction—though it's ruby red hue and jelly-like consistency is unlike any balsamic I've encountered—leaps into the sinuses for the first few bites. The effect is jarring if you don't know it's coming. Now that you've been warned, you're ready to enjoy this sweet and savory pide.

Momed

233 South Beverly Drive Beverly Hills, CA 90212 (map)
310-270-4444; atmomed.com

About the author: After nearly a decade in Brooklyn, Kelly Bone landed back in Los Angeles where she writes The Vegetarian Foodie. She spends the rest of her time designing office cubicles... you might be sitting in one right now! Follow her on Twitter at @TheVegFoodie

[Photograph: Robyn Lee]

Eater Boston sent out some exciting pizza news over the wire yesterday. Mario Batali is gearing up to add a new pizzeria to his roster of restaurants, which he named as "Babbopizzeria!" on his Twitter feed—making this his first Boston area restaurant. This morning, the Boston Heraldconfirmed that the 6,5000 sq foot pizzeria will be in Boston's Seaport District at 320 Summer Street. And nothing makes a big name restaurant opening more exciting than a dash of drama. To wit (via Eater):

...an Eater tipster had heard that the new restaurant would be an extension of Batali's OTTO brand, so the Babbo name might just be a way of avoiding going head to head with Boston's existing, unrelated OTTO Pizza, the chain out of Portland, Maine. Batali's no stranger to the local brand, calling them "d bags and thieves" and "#scumsuckingleeches" on Twitter back in February, when he found out about their similar name and logo.

The Boston/Portland OTTO responded, claiming "no disrespect" but noting that it's a good thing they didn't choose a name like "Ray's" because "we'd probably have 50 or 60 New York pizza shop owners hammering us on Twitter instead of just one."

Clash of the Ottos [Image: thebollard.com]

Well this certainly explains why Batali was so heated over the whole Otto Portland branding issue. (We reviewed the Cambridge Otto outpost on Slice back in 2011, in case you're curious about our take on their pies.) Looks like the big man must've already had his eye on getting a piece of the Boston pie. If, as purported, Babbo Pizzeria is an extension of the Batali OTTO brand, then the signature griddle/broiler style pies will be a welcome addition to the Boston pizza mix. Even if the branding is a bit muddied, the pies will certainly be distinct.

[Via Boston Herald and EaterBoston]

About the author: Meredith Smith is the Slice editor. You can follow her on Twitter: @mertsmith.

There are pizza makers and there are pizza game changers. Today's Pizza Obsessive, Andris Lagsdin, is in the latter camp. Thanks to his Baking Steel, you really are able to create the "crust you crave" at home. A recent Pizza Lab testing has more than a few of us replacing our stones with steel. So without further ado, let's get this pizza hero in the hot seat. —MS

[Photographs: Leslie Lagsdin]

Name: Andris Lagsdin
Location: Cohasset, MA
URL(s):stoughtonsteel.com; Facebook; Twitter @bakingsteel or @andrislagsdin

What type of pizza do you prefer?

I am not partial to any particular style of pizza, although my family seems to gravitate towards NY-style. This past year I've spent a lot of time tweaking dough recipes, toppings and cooking methods to come up with the "Lagsdin Family Style".

The Pizza Cognition Theory states that "the first slice of pizza a child sees and tastes ... becomes, for him, pizza." Do you remember your first slice? Where was it from, is the place still around, and if so, does it hold up? On that note, has your taste in pizza evolved over time?

I remember thick crust, lots of sauce and cheese, cheese, cheese. My dad was working on a project in New Hampshire and my mom would load me, my brother and my sister into the car every weekend to head up to NH to be with my dad. My favorite stop on the way was Mario's in North Conway. At that time (about 36 years ago), Mario's had the best pizza I had ever tasted. I'm not sure they are still in business. It is on my bucket list to find out and go back for a slice someday. My tastes have definitely evolved since then—I tend to lean towards minimal ingredients these days with a crisp, light and airy crust.

What's your favorite topping or topping combination?

My favorite pie is the classic Margherita. There is something so sexy about the simpleness of it—it's what I crave. In terms of topping combinations, I tend to always go simple. To me, less is more. However, I've learned a lot this past year following "My Pie Monday." It's inspiring and exciting to see all the different pizzas each week. I could see myself getting a little more ambitious in terms of topping combinations going forward. Kenji's pie with the pickled peppers and pepperoni looks incredibly tasty and is definitely on my list!

Where do you go for pizza in your area?

Going out for pizza is a pretty rare occurrence in our household, mainly because we enjoy making it ourselves and also, a great pie is hard to come by in our immediate locale. One local spot worth a mention is Bia Bistro, known more for their Mediterranean dishes, however, the pizzas are always my menu item of choice. On those occasions when we do a take-out pizza, it usually comes from Whole Foods, as my youngest son has food allergies and that is the only local place that will accommodate our special requests. Before kids, our favorite place to grab pizza was Al Forno in Providence. Figs in Charlestown is always great and is where my love for pizza really started. I can always count on Regina's or Galleria Umberto in the North End for a great slice as well.

And speaking of Al Forno, which is famous for their grilled pizza, do you make grilled pizza yourself, or ever use the Steel on the grill? I know some Slice'rs who do.

Ah, I was hoping to avoid the grill question. I'm actually on "probation" from using our grill at home. The first time I tried to use the steel on our grill, I made a very rookie mistake. I put the steel on the grill, lit it up, closed the top and took my two boys out for a walk. About 5 minutes later, my wife noticed an obscene amount of smoke pouring out of the grill and into our house. I could see the thick black smoke a block away and knew immediately where it was coming from. I hightailed it home to find the grill and my steel engulfed in flames. My first reaction was to get the whole thing on video, until I got the evil eye from my wife and an extinguisher to the gut. I put out the flames and found my rookie mistake—I completely forgot to empty the grease trap underneath, before lighting the grill. I spent the weekend scrubbing out the residue and I've spent the last year trying to convince my wife to let me try it again. Thank goodness my parents live less than 5 minutes from my office, so I have used it on the grill, but I still need some practice.

Well you are bound to break some eggs when making an omelette. Which bring us to the meat of this interview. How long have you been making pizza, and when did the steel enter into the picture?

I've been making pizza's since I started with Todd English at Figs in the early 90's.

Whoa, now. I gotta interrupt. Are you saying you worked at Figs?

I worked under Todd English for just over 2.5 years in both the kitchen and on his management team.

Wow! We may have to come back to this... So, you were saying.

It's been a pretty casual passion of mine over the years, making pies mostly for my family and hosting pizza parties for my friends. I used to make my pizza's on the back of a metal sheet tray, then switched to a stone for what I thought would help make a better crust. I have had my share of broken stones. I brought the steel into the picture just this past year, after reading excerpts of Modernist Cuisine in a Wall Street Journal article. The article stated that the best way to replicate brick oven pizza at home, was with a steel plate—so I decided to give it a go.

A little over a year ago, I brought home a piece of steel for our oven. My wife looked at me like I had 2 heads and insisted she "wouldn't feed our kids anything I made off of that monstrosity." Well, I made a batch of dough (Figs Boston recipe) and cooked up the pies. She marveled at the browning of the crust and decided to give it a shot—best pizza she ever had at home.

Just so we have the full story, where did you come across your first steel?

The first steel I brought home was actually the base plate from a Caterpillar FlipPad assembly. I pulled it off the production line just before it was to be powder-coated. It was 9 X 17" X ¼ thick and was made for a Caterpillar backhoe. Needless to say, I didn't tell anyone I would be cooking pizza on the plate. My brother thought I was a little out of sorts that day. But it made some pretty good pizza! I've cleaned up the design of the steel since then, and ever since we've been making pizza at least once a week, sometimes more.

I see a nice Caterpillar transformation story emerging. Well we're all glad you took the plunge! What recipes do you use at home now?

Thanks to Slice, we've tried some amazing recipes. Kenji's NY-style dough is a regular "go-to" and probably my sons' favorite dough. Andrew Janjigian from Cook's Illustrated has a great dough recipe that is pretty popular at our house as well and the Seattle Food Geek's Champagne Pizza Dough is a favorite of my wife's. I think all are tremendous. My current "go-to" is a tweaked combination of all three.

Do you care to share your preferred brands for flour, tomatoes, and cheese?

I like the King Arthur brand flours; I generally use their bread flour. For most of my sauces, I use organic tomatoes from Bionaturae. Cheese—I like Trader Joe's whole milk low-moisture mozzarella, and I love baby fontina from Whole Foods.

And what would you say should NEVER go on a pizza?

Never is a pretty strong word. I can't think of any one ingredient that I feel that negatively about. I would be willing to try anything on a pie, as long as I knew the chef/person baking it was passionate about what they were putting out. If they had a good story/reason behind the ingredient, I would give them the benefit of the doubt and try it, before passing judgement.

Most unusual pizza you've ever eaten?

I don't usually stray too far from my favorite, Margherita. I'm of the mindset, "why mess with a good thing." Mark Bello recently introduced me to a Bacon and Egg pie that was absolutely delicious! Not too unusual for some people, but that's probably most unusual for me.

Don't sell yourself short! The cheeseburger pizza you made for My Pie Monday this week looked pretty un-Margherita like!

What's the farthest you've traveled for pizza?

The farthest I can remember going specifically for pizza is probably Al Forno in Providence which is roughly 60 miles. With 2 young sons just starting to figure out the ins and outs of restaurant behavior, I don't like going any farther than our kitchen.

What do your family and/or friends think of your pizza madness?

I'd have to say my pizza madness has reached epic proportions this past year. It's not unusual for me to be up at the crack of dawn, experimenting with methods, or new recipes - which doesn't always go over that well with my wife when the aromas from the kitchen waft upstairs to wake the little ones. But all in all, I think they enjoy the madness. My wife is incredibly supportive and she is happy to see me doing something I feel so passionate about. My friends like receiving all the fruits of my labor - the pizzas!! I've become a very popular dinner guest, as long as I bring my steel and do the cooking.

Anything you'd like to get off your chest?

I received a lot of grief from fellow pizza-makers due to my "rolling-out" the dough on my kickstarter video. I have to admit, at the time of the video, I was nervous about the project at hand and felt that using the pin would give me the best results for video purposes. I do know how to hand-stretch the dough (though I am by no means a pro), and have been practicing ever since.

Oh, I almost forgot, I wanted to return to Figs. Todd English catches a lot of flak in Boston despite having paved the way for a real restaurant scene to take hold. Fig pizzas were some of the first really eye-opening pizzas I had back in the day, though made from a cookbook—not his restaurant. Who are some of your big pizza influences?

Todd was definitely my original inspiration. His passion for food and life were contagious! Everything that led to my love of pizza, I learned from him. While at Figs I also worked with Sara Jenkins who certainly taught me a thing or two about flavoring foods. But honestly, I've learned the most this past year. Since the Baking Steel™, I've been obsessed with all things pizza. Slice and all the great contributors and community members, Kenji (rockstar), Adam, atmast, Imwalkin, to name a few, have all been very inspirational. I've made a lot of great contacts and friends on this journey and I hope it continues for a long while.

I'm sure it will continue. You've made a pretty great contribution to the pizza making community, after all. Now: Who would *you* like to see interviewed next?

I love reading all the pizza obsessives. Everyone has a story to tell. Cornici1 was a big advocate during my kickstarter campaign—has he/she already been in the hot seat?

Cornici1, come out come out wherever you are! Looks like you have been tagged for an upcoming Pizza Obsessives interview. Thanks to you, Andris, for taking time to tell as all a little bit more about yourself. We certainly hope to see more of your pies and you around Slice!

About the author: Meredith Smith is the Slice editor. You can follow her on Twitter: @mertsmith.

Daily Slice gives a quick snapshot each weekday of a different slice or pie that the folks at the Serious Eats empire have enjoyed lately.

[Photo: Carey Jones]

While I prefer the puffy, chewy dough of pide, Turkey's other pizzalike foodstuff, I'm also quite fond of lahmacun. Popular in Istanbul, as it is in much of the Middle East, it's a thin, thin crust topped with minced meat, ground peppers, and herbs, and often spritzed with lemon juice.

At Halil Lahmacun in Kadıköy (one stop on an awesome tour by Istanbul Eats), the food menu is just two items long: lahmacun, and a parsley-cheese stuffed pide, both fired off in the same brick oven.

Hot as the oven is, this guy cooks in under a minute, with the oven master sliding them out several at a time with the same paddle. The crust is best eaten piping hot, the slices folded over NY-style. The topping is sparingly applied, a thin layer proportionate to the thin crust, but its flavor plenty pronounced, with the slight heat of the peppers against the lamb. The little bit of char around the edges spoke to a lahmacun cooked with care and precision, neither burnt nor pale, and as crisp as you'd want it.

Halil Lahmacun

Guneslibahce Sokak 26, Kadıköy, Istanbul (map)
+90 216-337-0123

VIEW SLIDESHOW: Top This: Apple, Bacon, and Gorgonzola Pizza (à la Williamsburg Pizza)

Ed Levine already named the slices coming out of the Vera Forno oven at Williamsburg Pizza "top-five-in-NYC quality." So we decided to hit up this South Williamsburg newcomer and talk to owner and pizzaiolo Nino Coniglio about his stellar toppings. Of special interest was an off-menu square pie topped with smoky thick-cut bacon, smoked mozzarella, pungent gorgonzola, and apples that go all soft and sweet in the oven. Click through the slideshow below to learn how to make this salty-sweet, porky pizza at home.

What You'll Need (for one pizza)

• 1 dough portion (See Kenji's Basic Square Pan Pizza Dough Recipe to learn how to make dough à la nonna)
• Smoked mozzarella, sliced or ripped into large pieces
• Fresh mozzarella, grated
• Thick-cut applewood smoked bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces (Nino gets his from Mario & Sons Meat Market in Williamsburg)
• 1-2 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced thin
• Gorgonzola, crumbled
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated
• Parsley, chopped

Williamsburg Pizza

265 Union Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11238 (map)
718-855-8729 williamsburgpizza.com

About the author: Originally from Los Angeles, Erin Mosbaugh writes Je Blague, where she captures her food adventures in NYC and beyond. Erin also writes for Robb Report's New York City and Food & Wine Magazine.

[Image: Hungry Channel on Youtube]

The Monday Eater New York Listage included a link to this YouTube video of NYC Citysearch scout Josh Ozersky touring "New York's Finest Pizza" for the "Hungry In" series. When our own Carey Jones asked "What is NYC's best pizza neighborhood?" back in July, most felt that it came down to East versus West Village. Kenji said he'd give West the edge stating, "Without Motorino, East Village would be no better than the average neighborhood in terms of pizza greatness concentration." Commentors like Pizzablogger, bdb318, and egadman concurred that the West Village has the Manhattan advantage. But Ozersky hands the title of "greatest pizza neighborhood on the planet" to the East Village. Check out his reasons for doing so in this video:

[Video: Hungry Channel on Youtube]

If you're skipping the video, here's the summary. He gives Stromboli the classic New York slice award for its "trademark orange color and homogenous taste" of the old time New York slice and for avoiding the old tip sag pitfall. Droop is ok, just as long as it isn't flaccid. (Got that, ladies?) We concur that it's a solid slice, which you can read about here. The East Village does have a much stronger crop to select from in this category, however.

Artichoke gets a big thumbs up for what he names as "the ultimate, extreme, final, Platonic version of the Sicilian slice" and what we know as their grandma slice. It has been a controversial slice shop, but we do include those crunchy bottomed square slices among the top ten in NYC.

As a "monument to pizza variety in New York," Ozersky includes "Michael White's love letter to Midwestern pie," that is Nicoletta, as another favorite. You may remember the harsh NYTimes review, but there is nothing but gushing here over this thick-crusted pizza. Some of our words on Nicoletta are here.

And last, but my no means least, is Motorino representing the Neapolitan tier of great New York piedom. We can't argue that Mathieu Palombino's pies are indeed "museum quality specimens." Read our early review of the East Village Motorino here.

About the author: Meredith Smith is the Slice editor. You can follow her on Twitter: @mertsmith.

From Serious Eats

"This is the most impressive home pizza product I've ever tested," Kenji raved of the Baking Steel. What started as a Kickstarter project by Andris Lagsdin, a former employee at Todd English's Figs chain of pizzerias, was a smashing success and now you can order them here. Or win one right here!

The Baking Steel makes some of the finest indoor-oven pies you'll ever make. It's a quarter-inch-thick, 15-pound steel plate that you place in your oven in lieu of a pizza stone. Because of its superior thermal qualities (higher volumetric heat capacity, as well as higher conductivity than stone), you can cook pizzas faster than you'd be able to with a regular stone. Kenji's pies baked in just under 4 minutes and had one of the finest crusts and hole structures he's ever seen seen come out of his crappy home oven. (Read more on how it works here.)

The Baking Steel's creator Andris "Man of Steel" Lagsdin was just featured in our Pizza Obsessives series on Slice; read the profile here!

Now, don't you want to make such consistently awesome pizzas at home?

To enter to win a Baking Steel, just tell us your favorite toppings to throw on a homemade pizza.

You have until 3 p.m. ET tomorrow (November 30) to enter. One winner will be chosen at random from among the commenters. Contest winners are limited to residents of the continental U.S., and you can only win once during the duration of the Seriously Delicious Holiday Giveaway contest. The standard Serious Eats contest rules apply.

[Photograph: Adam Kuban]

Pasta on pizza—it's a thing. How have we never put this question to you pizza lovin' people before? Adding ziti or macaroni to pies seems to be a regional trend that is most prominent in the Long Island and New Jersey swatch of the pizza belt. But there are outliers too, like this spaghetti pizza in Grapevine, TX. And I recently noticed that some frozen pizza brands have introduced mac n cheese varieties to their lineup. Are you into the carb on carb pies?

About the author: Meredith Smith is the Slice editor. You can follow her on Twitter: @mertsmith.

[Images: Caldwell Tanner on CollegeHumor.com]

Thanks to David Kover for expressing this over to the Slice mailbox!

About the author: Meredith Smith is the Slice editor. You can follow her on Twitter: @mertsmith.

VIEW SLIDESHOW: My Pie Monday: Figs, Brussels Sprouts, Pecans, and More!

Right this way to the My Pie Monday galleries! This week's pies include Detroit-style pizzas from TXCraig1 and Norma427, a couple of Motorino-inspired pies (including one from first time MPM'er anandm and old-timer JEL), and Imwalkin's ever popular Bianco-inspired Rosa. Jamesws is back with a Thanksgiving pizza he made with squash, blue cheese, and figs. And that pie is matched in autumnal qualities by amusebouche1's fig, goat cheese, prosciutto, and pear. Kenposurf and Okaru are on a similar pizza vibe this round with both rocking the mushrooms, peppers (albeit different kinds), onions, and olives.The Patate e Bacon that you'll see in this lineup from twleslie evidences the rewards of pizza perseverance. And the Baking Steel seems to be breeding new contributors for My Pie Monday each week. Welcome Steel fans Bunster10 and Wagyutail. And while you're at it, please also welcome SHore, who sends in an America's Test Kitchen style NY pie (developed by our man Andrew Janjigian). Finally, check out "just another Margherita" from Ev's well-appointed Airstream camper. Might we all have that kind of batting average.

If you're making pizza this week, send us a shot for next week's My Pie Monday!

Just take one snapshot of your homemade pizza, describe your cooking method (briefly!), and follow these instructions to get it to Slice HQ by 8pm EST on Thursday night. Be sure to let us know your Slice/Serious Eats screen name!

About the author: Meredith Smith is the Slice editor. You can follow her on Twitter: @mertsmith.

VIEW SLIDESHOW: A Tourist's Guide to Pizza in San Francisco

We'd like to argue that, along with sourdough bread, cioppino, Dungeness crab, and Rice-a-Roni*, pizza is one of the things you should be eating if you choose to visit San Francisco. A round of dough serves as a pretty amazing canvas for the creative cooking that's taking place all over this city. More than that, as of three or four years ago, high-quality pizza started popping up all over the city by the Bay. That means that, wherever you're headed, there's a pretty good chance you can snag yourself a pie that will beat the pants off the food tourists usually end up eating**.

Click through the slideshow for a list of likely San Francisco tourist activities and the pizza you should seek out nearby.

*That's a joke. If any restaurant tries to serve you Rice-a-Roni, please leave. Thank you.

**That said, Fisherman's Wharf remains a gaping hole in this particular round-up. There are rumors of a good pizza spot in that part of town, but until we can confirm, we recommend making a bee-line for In-n-Out.

About the author: David Kover is a San Francisco-based freelance writer and food enthusiast. He occasionally gets his tweet on as @pizzakover.

David Sheridan in front of his home backyard pizza oven. [Photograph: Adam Kuban]

Hurricane Sandy delivered a nasty blow to the buildout progress of Ditmas Park's newest pizzeria, Wheated. The restaurant, as Adam mentioned in September, was slated to open their doors at 903 Church Ave in early 2013. And despite the hurricane laying waste to their Moretti Forni electric ovens in the form of total saltwater submersion, that is still the plan. The ruined equipment, tallying $30,000, was in storage in Coney Island during the storm, and according to this post on Ditmas Park Corner, their insurance companying is denying theta claim. Furthermore, while the city has set up emergency loan programs to help businesses get back on their feet, because Wheated isn't an open business yet, they can't apply for the available loans. However, the post goes on to mention that David Sheridan and his wife and business partner Kim McAdam are considering community fundraising as a way to recoup the costs.

Our condolences go out to the Wheated crew, and we at Slice hope to be kept abreast of any community fundraising efforts to help get this much anticipated pizzeria up and running!

About the author: Meredith Smith is the Slice editor. You can follow her on Twitter: @mertsmith.

[Photographs: Nick Kindelsperger]

John's Pizzeria in Bucktown does not serve destination worthy pizza, but in its own special way, the John's experience is worth the trip. I realize I'm already confusing everyone right up top, but nothing about John's makes that much sense anyway. It's one of those places I've visited a dozen times over the past five years, and I've honestly enjoyed every one. Yet, I still find it hard to recommend. You have to know what you're getting into before you go, because the restaurant's very good thin crust pizza is only one component. Though it doesn't come anywhere close to serving my favorite pizza in Chicago, John's is one of my absolute favorite places to eat pizza. Let me explain.

The back dining room looks like a suburban den from the 1970s. There's even a random stone wall with a fake fireplace, complete with all the tools necessary to tend the imaginary burning wood. Like all Italian-American restaurants from this era, posters line the wall, showcasing random scenes of Italy. But John's also has a strange infatuation with buxom young brunettes. No matter where you sit in the restaurant, one of these ladies will stare down at you while you eat.

Let's move on to the menu, shall we?

Because of its length, it took me about ten minutes to read through all of John's menu. I did so not because I was entranced by all the wonderful things to eat, but because of the unintentional hilarity contained within. For example, notice the tower of onion rings in the top right corner? It is real. Don't believe me?

Bam! 1/2 foot of onion rings ($5.25) on stand. I could have ordered order the foot of onion rings ($8.50), but I guessed, rightly, that they'd be frozen. But wait, there's more!

At some point in the past the Sun Times apparently visited John's and flipped out. I know this because at various points on the menu quotes from the paper appear declaring that a particular dish is the best in Chicago. By my count, John's excels at mostaccoli/spaghetti, baked ribs, and fried chicken.

Okay, one more. But it's a doozy. Prepare yourself to gaze upon greatest placemat in all of Chicago.

Gangsters! A guy with a bullet hole through his head! Word games! It's like John's settled on a design in the mid-70s and decided to print hundred of thousands of copies, thereby forcing itself to use the placemat until it ran out. So why is there a Facebook logo above the open door?

I'll stop there. I could go on (each pizza is served with a white doily around it), but I have to admit that I feel like I'm picking on the poor place. I'm not, or at least I'm not trying to. In all honesty, I adore this place. John's is one of my favorite retreats in the city, a place where I can go to escape the outside world, and, it must be said, enjoy some good pizza.

John's specializes in Chicago thin crust, otherwise known as Midwest-style, which features a uniformly thin crust that is cut into squares. Inferior versions have doughy, cracker-like crusts with cheese that slides off like a blanket. John's stands out by keeping the crust extra thin and by showing restraint with the toppings—no slippage here.

With these kinds of pies, I always automatically order fresh sausage. You can get that and more with the John's Special ($15.65), a combination of sausage, green pepper, onion, and mushrooms (though the latter item was removed because of objections from one of our guests). For some reason, I have a strange affection for this combination, even though I'd never think to pick out the ingredients individually. John's rendition mostly works, though the sausage is a bit of a letdown. The pieces are too small and are missing the heavy fennel kick of the best versions in town.

The pepperoni pizza ($11.15) was a surprise hit. Heavily salted, and very smoky, the crispy pepperoni provided an aggressive kick to each bite. Perhaps too much for some people, but I loved the over-the-top nature and had a hard time to keeping my hands of this pie.

Taking a recommendation from fellow Serious Eater Joe Roy, the pizzas were ordered extra crispy—a wise move. While missing any sort of char or serious coloring, the crust was crispy throughout.

Even the crustless center slice was thin and yet still strong enough to hold up—a minor miracle, of sorts.

I'll admit that the pizza geek in me dislikes that the dough is run through a sheeter, a device that flattens the dough, removing any sort of hole structure from the crust. And I should note that I still prefer the flakier thin crust pies at Pat's Pizza in Lincoln Park, and there's no doubt that the sausage and other ingredients are better at Vito & Nick's. For the total package of pizza and atmosphere, Maria's in Milwaukee is a crazier experience. John's exists in the strange middle ground between good and very good, where you don't want to damn it with faint praise but I also don't want to hype it.

I'll leave you with one last thing to think about. The sign on Western Avenue completely ignores the founding date, but it does find the need to highlight the exact year that it began delivery service (1957). It's also one I'd like to caution against. The idea of eating one of John's thin-crust pies anywhere else but John's seems wrong to me.

About the author:Nick Kindelsperger is the editor of Serious Eats: Chicago. He loves tacos and spicy food. You can follow him as @nickdk on Twitter.