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Great Lake's Mortadella pizza (GQ.com Photo/Ditte Isager)

Posted: Tuesday, 19 May 2009 7:38AM

Chicago neighborhood pizza named nation's best



CHICAGO (WBBM) -  A Chicago pizzeria has been named the best in America.

GQ Magazine  food writer Alan Richman singles out Mortadella Pie from Great Lake pizzeria at 1477 West Balmoral Avenue as having the best he's tasted after traveling 20,000 miles searching for the perfect pie.

Richman writes that the pizza "represents everything irresistible about the new American style of pizza-making."

Second on the list was the Plain Pie from Lucali pizzeria in Brooklyn, and third place was awarded to the Panna Pie at Pizzeria Delfina in San Francisco.

Here's what Richman writes about Great Lake's Mortadella in GQ magazine:

"I phoned at 6:15 p.m., ordered a cheese pie, asked when I could pick it up. The reply: 8 p.m. When I arrived a few minutes early, two of the fourteen people seated in the tiny storefront shop were eating. The rest looked exasperated. Nick Lessins, the Polish-Czech co-owner and pizzamaker, seemed happily oblivious. I stood inside, watching for twenty-five minutes as he fashioned three pies, mine among them. No man is slower. He makes each as though it is his first, manipulating the dough until it appears flawless, putting on toppings one small bit after another. In the time he takes to create a pie, civilizations could rise and fall, not just crusts. His cheese pie, prepared with fresh mozzarella made in-house, grated Wisconsin sheep’s-and-cow’s-milk cheese, and aromatic fresh marjoram instead of basil, was slightly shy of unbelievable. The next day I returned to try the same pie topped with fresh garlic and mortadella, the dirigible-sized Italian sausage that looks like bologna, tastes like salami, and is usually cut into chunks. He sliced the meat very thin and laid slices of it over the pie the moment it came out of the oven. The mortadella, with its combination of burliness and creaminess, was a meaty addition to the earthy, bready crust. This pie—creative, original, and somewhat local—represents everything irresistible about the new American style of pizza-making."
 
Mortadella sausage is a a smoked Italian sausage made of ground pork and beef and cubes of pork fat, flavored with wine and spices.

And here's GQ's 25 Best list:
  1. Chicago: Great Lake - Mortadella Pie
  2. Brooklyn: Lucali - Plain Pie
  3. San Francisco: Pizzeria Delfina - Panna Pie
  4. Phoenix: Pizzeria Bianco - Margherita With Prosciutto
  5. Providence: Bob & Timmy's - "Spinach-And-Mushroom Pizza"
  6. New Haven, CT: Sally's Apizza - "White Pie With Potato"
  7. Los Angeles: Tomato Pie -"The Grandma"
  8. New York City: Co. - "Margherita"
  9. Philadelphia: Tacconelli's - "White Pie"
  10. Brooklyn: Totonno's - "Margherita With Pepperoni"
  11. Port Chester, NY: Tarry Lodge - "Clam Pie"
  12. New Haven, CT: Frank Pepe - "The Original Tomato Pie"
  13. Harrison Township, MI.: Luigi's "the Original" - "Gourmet Veggie Pizza"
  14. San Francisco: Gialina - "Wild-Nettle Pie"
  15. Detroit: Buddys - "Cheese Pizza"
  16. Marina Del Rey: Antica Pizzeria - "Pizza Del Cafone"
  17. San Francisco: A16 - "Romana Pie"
  18. Providence, RI: Al Forno - "Grilled Pizza With Roasted Eggplant"
  19. Boston: Galleria Umberto - "Square Slice"
  20. New York City: Famous Joes - "Slice"
  21. Farmington Hills, MI.: Tomatoes Apizza - "Pepperoni Pie"
  22. Philadelphia: Osteria - "Zucca Pie"
  23. Boston: Santarpio's - "Homemade-Sausage Pie"
  24. Detroit: Niki's - "Cheese Pizza With Feta"
  25. New York City: Una Pizza Napoletana - "Margherita"
The article, American Pie by Alan Richman appears in the June 2009 issue of GQ, which will be on newsstands nationwide on Tuesday, May 26.

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