Between now and the next time we meet, National Pizza Day will have come and gone. However you plan to celebrate, please do so responsibly, and without chain pizza.

NPD falls on Monday, Feb. 9 this year, one day after the Super Bowl, a day on which an estimated 12.5 million pizzas will be ordered and eaten in the US. Some 2 million of those pies come from Domino’s, because some people probably just figure, “Hey, I got a lot of people coming over, this will be easy, and they deliver.”

Allow me to stand on my soap/pizza box for a moment: Don’t be a Domino’s person on Super Bowl Sunday, National Pizza Day, or any other day. Eat local and keep those pizza dollars in your community. If you need to order some pies for a Super Bowl hang, here are some suggestions in the Philly suburbs.

If I can make one more request, please spread the good word about Pizzavania among all your pizza-loving friends. Thank you!

Husband and wife Trenton-area natives Chris Volk and Daria Silvestro behind the counter at CJ & D’s Trenton Tomato Pies in South Philadelphia. (Contributed)

Not only does this newsletter afford me the opportunity to write about pizza, it offers me the chance to highlight folks who run community-oriented businesses, like husband-and-wife Daria Silvestro and Chris Volk, who serve up some of the best pies in Philadelphia at CJ & D’s Trenton Tomato Pies. 

The Trenton tomato pie—cheese on bottom, sauce on top, baked well-done to thin and crispy perfection—is in Silvestro’s blood. Her grandfather’s family opened Joe’s Tomato Pies in Trenton in 1910, widely considered to be the first tomato pie shop in New Jersey’s capital city.

As a former Trenton-area resident who has eaten many amazing tomato pies over the years, I feel qualified to inform you that CJ & D’s gets the Trenton tomato pie absolutely right. They also nail another Trenton-area pizza staple: the mustard pie.

Last time around, we asked you about the now-ubiquitous pizza topping we have Mike Kurtz to thank for: Hot honey on your pizza—yes or no?

An overwhelming majority of you, 73%, said THUMBS DOWN to a hot honey drizzle on your pie. That puts me in the minority. I love the stuff.

With Cupid’s big day approaching, for our latest poll question, we’d like to know:

We’re talking about the full pizza spectrum here: delivery or takeout by candlelight at home, a night out at your favorite local pizzeria, a homemade pie in the shape of a heart—in the context of your relationship, does this qualify as a suitable Valentine’s Day dinner?

Let us know, and we’ll run the poll results in our next edition.

Pizzavania editor Patrick Berkery made this pie with Neapolitan dough mix from Urban Slicer. (Patrick Berkery)

Time for a new Pizzavania feature: Dough it Yourself, where we’ll highlight the creations of DIY pizzaioli in our audience.

I’ll go first. My wife bought me several packages of dough mixes from the bake-at-home pizza supply company Urban Slicer, including a Neapolitan-style mix. With snow in the forecast for last weekend, I figured it’d be an ideal time to (finally) try my hand at making my own pies. Got myself this Ooni pizza peel, a NerdChef pizza baking steel, mozzarella, sauce, pepperoni, and roasted red peppers from the market, and went to work.

The process of making the dough (add water, let proof for 2-4 hours) and forming the crusts was easy enough, giving me two crusts just shy of the advertised 14”. The end result was… not bad for a first try?

I followed the instructions to the letter, but my Neapolitan turned out more like a pretty good frozen pizza. It was charred, as you can see above, but the crust was nowhere near as flavorful and chewy as I would have liked. The steel in a 500-degree oven may have been a little much,

I also feel that the dough mix—while very user-friendly for newbie pizza makers (this would be a great snow day activity for kids)—gave the pie a very pre-fabricated taste and feel. A dough mix that proofs for 2-4 hours is no substitute for the real thing. Next time, I’m making the dough from scratch.

Want to showcase your homemade pie? Share a photo and tell us about it.

Here’s your chance to let everyone know about the pizzerias that you love! Fire away:

“New Haven Pizza in West Chester. My husband and I have been going to this location for over 35 years by my best guess. Their crust is so good and their cheese is also really good.”

— Jo Ann Eller

“I like Grotto’s based out of Delaware. There are two locations in Pa.: Harveys Lake and Scranton. They just announced a location coming to Lancaster near me.”

— Bob K.

“You need to get to Colonial Pizza in Easton. Always great pizza, and plenty of other items too.”

— Sue G., Easton

“Two words: Verona Pizza. It’s in Maple Glen. Consistently unbelievable pies. I dream of their eggplant pie, and their grandma pies are great, too, if that’s your jam.”

— Terry O’Connor

Thanks for reading. This newsletter was written by Patrick Berkery. It was edited by Paula Solis.

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