September 15, 2010 3:50 pm

Dish of the Day: Tony's Coal Fired Tomato Basil Pizza

Tony Gemigani is a nine-time world pizza champion. So I guess it wasn't such a bad idea to taste a pizza made by the same hands that created the Best Pizza Margherita at the 2007 World Pizza Cup (yes, this exists). And he was also the only American to do so. Nevertheless, I am always a bit biased when it comes to New York brick oven pizza (even when comparing it to Italy). There truly is nothing else like a New York slice in the world. But one dish on the exact opposite side of the country, may come close.

The grand opening of Tony's Coal Fired Pizza and Slice House steered clear of both New York and Italian territory. Instead, it graced its doughy presence in San Francisco, the only pizza house in Northern California with a coal fired oven (we already knew this was the slow coast of the country, but at least it came to its senses). Despite the variety of dishes, which include Chicago Style Italian Beef sandwiches and New York Deli Sandwiches, this slice house bears its culinary pride upon originality with The Original Tomato Basil Pizza.

This 15-inch pizza is cooked to perfection in the city's first 1,000 degree coal-fire oven. A cross between thin crusted Florentine pies and New York grease-your-heart-out slices, you wonder how such a saucy beauty ended up on the West Coast. Yet all jokes aside, the fresh basil atop a slightly charred melted mozzarella balanced by what seems to be home grown tomatoes crushed by someone's Nonna is definitely worth any pizza lover's money.

Tip: Check out Pizza Napoletana, Tony's other restaurant next door for even more variations on Napolean pizza.

Tony may save you the trip to Naples, and even made me think twice about my New York pizza. Now, that's some saucy present.

Tony's Coal Fired Pizza and Slice House
1556 Stockton Street,
San Francisco CA 94133
415.835.9888

Photo credit: Bull Frog and Baum Pr

— Written by Joanna Weinstein

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Tags : Pizza, Margherita, Mozzarella, Neopolitan, San Francisco, Tony Gemigani, Joanna Weinstein

February 19, 2010 1:36 pm

Tricking Yourself Into Healthy Eating

Every New Year's is filled with promises of fresh starts. For most of us, that means getting in shape and losing weight after our holiday binges. This year was no different for me but I knew I had to make some serious changes for my resolutions to stick. I thought about what hasn't worked in the past and why. Most diets are just that —diets. And diet food does not taste or even sound good. I decided to come up with tasty recipes that also sounded delicious so that my brain would not automatically shut down at the thought of them.

When you're on a diet, comfort foods are always a no-no but after the ball drops, we're left with January and January is cold. In this weather, comfort foods are a necessary staple—things like tacos, pizza and fried chicken. There's no wonder that forcing yourself to eat nothing but salad for the first weeks of January will cause you to throw out the diet plan. To stay on track while feeding my winter cravings, I revamped recipes to make them healthy and taste great. Trick: Call these dishes by their original names so that your mind thinks that there is no difference.

Technique: In all the dishes I substituted cheeses with nonfat cheese. The spices in your taco meat and tomato sauce make the missing fat hardly noticeable. Tip: For your taco meat, use ground turkey or bison instead of high fat beef. You wouldn't believe the calories you cut and the taste is phenomenal. Trick: On your pizza, used fresh crushed tomatoes with some basil instead of calorie-loaded canned tomato sauce from your supermarket. Also the crust of the pizza and the shell of the taco should be whole grain instead of white flour based. This will provide more fiber, help keep you full longer and slow down your digestion so valuable nutrients can be absorbed. For the chicken, Technique: Instead of frying, try baking it. This will cancel out so much fat without sacrificing a lot of flavor. Instead of flour and egg batter, use heart-healthy olive oil or egg whites with whole wheat panko bread crumbs—they crisp up and are very light in texture. Instead of French fries, slice a few roasted sweet potatoes with the dish and you have a full rounded meal.

These are simple and subtle changes to classic comfort food that are minimally noticeable and highly effective. Follow these simple tips and you will see a a new you in the New Year without forfeiting your taste buds.

Photo credit: James Carrier

— Written by Jennifer Ambrose

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Tags : healthy, eating, tacos, pizza, fried chicken