Ray's Pizza. [Photograph: New York Post]
In a fascinating read, the New York Post adapted a segment from the soon-to-be-published Mob Boss: The Life of Little Al D'Arco, the Man Who Brought Down the Mafia, by Jerry Capeci and Tom Robbins. The excerpt dealt exclusively with the chef and owner of Ray's Pizza, Ralph "Raffie" Cuomo. Despite being a popular success, turning out delicious pies was mostly a front. Together with the DiPalermo brothers (leading members of the Luchese crime family) Ralph would spend most of the rest of his life dealing heroin, until his death in 2008.
Nate Burleson. [Photograph: Rant Sports]
Next we have Detroit Lions wide receiver, Nate Burleson. Rant Sports reports that he was driving in Farmington Hills, MI at around 2:25 AM, two boxes of pizza on the seat beside him. When he noticed the top box beginning to slip, he desperately leaned over to fix it—and immediately crashed into the median, breaking his arm in the accident. It's terrible timing for the Lions, who take on the undefeated Chicago Bears next Sunday.
Side-by-side. [Photograph: Ben Yakas/Gothamist]
Over at Gothamist HQ, a debate has been raging—Grimaldi's or Juliana's? Grimaldi's was their pizza place of choice every Friday for the last few years, but in the 9 months since Juliana's opened in the old Grimaldi's space, a shift has been occurring. A side-by-side comparison ensued to determine the new favorite. Their winner? Juliana's—which also happened to be the conclusion here at Slice, too. Anyone up for picking this particular bone is welcome to chime in below!
Lastly, Huffington Post caught on to some of the hottest pizza news of all. Our very own Ramen Pizza (part of Ramen Week 2013)! It blew their minds (duh), reminding them of "an Italian version of Hong Kong-style crispy noodles." Obviously Kenji's mad scientist genius is a given, so in case you missed it check out the original post for his recipe and musings!
About the author:Kate Andersen is a Contributing Editor for Slice.