From: blamb@rodan.hri.com (Bill Lambert)
Newsgroups: ne.food
Subject: Pizza in Boston
Date: 3 Sep 92 20:43:56 GMT
Reply-To: blamb@rodan.hri.com (Bill Lambert)
Organization: Horizon Research


As some one else said, "Good pizza is what you're used
to eating."

Around 30 years ago in Boston, there were perhaps only
two types of places to get pizza around town. One was
the Italian bakery shop, which generally had the square
pan style. On Saturdays, I would get 50 cents to go to
the movies. $.25 would get us into the theatre, and 5 or 10
cents would get popcorn. After the show, usually consisting of
a couple of cartoons, a serial (Flash Gordon ?) and a
'B' grade western or horror flick, we'd beeline to a nearby
bakery and get a couple of slices for a nickel each. At
the time, it was to die for, and there was usually quite a
line waiting to get a hot slice. Probably, it was a bit
too heavy on the oregano for my current tastes, but so
good then. (A reasonable facsimile is available at Domenic
Maione's Bakery on Main Street in Waltham, also a source
or good eggplant parm subs.... please.... not grinders)

The second "style" was available at your neighborhood "cafe"
or "tavern". These were places that were usually split into
2 halves: a bar and a restaurant. Italian food, steak, fried
chicken, meat loaf and such were commonly on the menu, but
also they served middlin' to bad pizza. The thing I remember
most about this kind of pizza is that it was much better when
eaten on the premises, for when "take out" it took on the
strong flavor of cardboard, imparted from the cheap box.
Often, on Friday nights, my dad would make a pizza run
about 10 PM, and we would watch TV and eat greasy card
board flavored pizza. Somehow, though.... it did seem
good at the time, but now I know it wasn't so good. If
I did find that taste, I would surely recognize it, and
memories would come flooding back. This is the attraction
in the pizza one grows up with.... mixed with the tomato
sauce and cheese are memories and fondness for things gone
by.

Later, the "pizzeria" type places started to appear. They
all had guys tossing dough in the air in a window you could
see from the street. They sometimes would put on a show.
If you waited long enough, you could usually see a nice 
accident, such as a throwing error, or a pizza drooling
down from sprinkler pipes on the ceiling. This was the
local importation of NY style pizza, and the expertise of
the original was never quite evident. The best were perhaps
similar in taste to Regina's of today, which is not so bad,
but not so interesting either.

In the mid to late 60's, the rightwing government in Greece
squirted quite a few immigrants into the Boston area, and
of course elsewhere (Saturday Night Live used to have a standard
skit about a Greek counter restaurant in NY.... some may
remember, "Cheezbugger, Peipusi, Cheeps!"). I think at first
they were not so bad. At least the sandwiches were good,
and I can remember favoring a meatball/cheeze/tomato sauce
sub at a place on Comm Ave. near BU as a late night delicasy.
The pizza was not "Italian" style, but not so bad either
as "bread with stuff on it". For some reason, quality seemed
to deteriorate over time, and now the standard fare has the
crust essentially "deep fried" by the overabundance of oil
in a too hot oven, giving that cracker consistency that some
have noted, and flavorful and aromatic cheeses that make a good
pizza are for some reason not considered part of the package.

Bertucci's Pizza and Bowling, at least when it was only one or
two outlets, was extremely good. Their emphasis on fresh 
ingredients and a woodfired oven was a taste treat in the mid
70's, as well as the atmosphere. It was different, and very
very good. My most recent visit to one of their stores (I'll
call it a store now, and not a restaurant) in Norwood was a
shock. Alewife was a little better, but no comparison to the
original product as presented some years ago in Davis Sq.

The problem with franchise places is that they are run by
business people, not food people. Those people may have a
concept of how to run a business, but lack the small touches
and will for perfection that only a small operation can add 
to a special dining experience.

I suppose I would rather eat the pizza from an early 60's
Tavern (eaten there, not take out) than any chain pizza
in Boston today.

Two places that are good, IMO: Franca's in Waltham, and
Rossini's in Concord. Not half bad. But perhaps pizza is
like love, and the one that you remember most is your first
one.

- Bill Lambert