Coachella Pizza 2009

Well  it's that time of year again.  Festival time.  The first in the lineup is Coachella.  I went to it for the first time last year.  So now, as a veteran I can shed some light on the pizza.  Some great music.  Franz Ferdinand is great, and The Killers rocked the house.  People watching is always the best here.  Last year it was all about the Raybans and head bands.  This year it was more of the same, but louder and bigger colors, crazier glasses and clothing. Crazy mustaches was a thing, it seemed.  

The food was the same.  As to be expected there are pizza vendors everywhere.  Returning from last year, was "I (heart) Spicy Pie" a great place where you can get  jalapeno's on the pizza.  For the full review of this place and last Coachella 2008 check out my other posting.

I got a slice from I (heart) Spicy Pie again, because I can not say no to jalapenos.  It was a bit disappointing this time, perhaps I was not drunk enough.  Of course the big thing about festival pizza is consistency.  The time of day you go can mean the difference between a fresh well cooked pizza or a cold dried out pizza.  Unfortunately I went at the wrong time, because it was not as good this time.  The was practically no cheese, dried up tomato sauce and only 2 pieces of  jalapenos. I made the girl working put more on top, but these were uncooked ones and did not give the same effect.

 

 

However later in the weekend I found another pizza stand.  Maybe this was there last year too, I am not sure.  On the front they just have a sign that says NY PIZZA SLICES, very simple.  The name of the business is actually "Pie for the People"  I only know that because I asked.  This pizza was unbelievably good.  Again maybe the circumstances were different for this one.  Perhaps I drank more than I thought I did, or perhaps I managed to get one right out of the oven.  They were flying pizza of the counter so fast, I think everyone got a fresh slice.  

The crust was great.  Thin and crispy, and a big slice too.  I don't usually like "the big slice" but when you pay 7 dollars for it you want a big slice.  They had, I guess you could say more sophisticated pies.  I got one with pesto, tomato mozzarella and goat cheese? or was it feta, probably feta.  They had several different kinds.  With every bite you got a wonderful flavor of pesto and tomatoes and cheese on a nice crispy crust.  It was superb.  Again, maybe this is the alcohol talking, but I think it was as good as any of the best places in LA and maybe even some in N.Y.  It made me wish I didn't spend my money on that Spicy Pie.  So next time you are at a festival look for pie for the people.  I think they are going to be at Bonnaroo for anyone who goes to that.  

For more Coachella Pizza reviews click here

Pie for the People - Festivals around CA  

Price: normally $$$$$  outrageous  (for a festival $$)

Overall:

Happy 1 year Anniversary to ME !

I don't really remember dates so this is not an official anniversary.  But it has been roughly a year since I started this blog, I have compiled a data base of roughly 120 different pies.  I spent about $1,700 last year on pizza alone.  I wasted who knows how many hours writing this stuff and probably gained an extra 20 pounds.  Actually I don't think I gained anything, I still think pizza is healthy. 

Anyway I want to thank everyone out there for visiting my site and an extra thanks if this is the second time you were here.  I hope to continue this project forever or at least another year.  I hope to get all the pizza in the city catalogued and hopefully it can become the main data base for pizza in LA. Pick your style of pizza or your location and decide the best pizza for you and who knows maybe be able to look at a menu and order the pizza right from my site.  This is the dream and I hope you are all with me, 'cause then I'm on to other cities, if I'm not dead by then, from all the cholesterol.

I am only one man and can not do all this alone however.  So I continue to urge you all to post comments on your views of the pizza and of any ideas or ways I can make the site better or more useful.  I am not too web savvy so if anyone knows how to tame the internet I could use you.  And if you want to donate to the greater cause I will except, money that is.  Of course you won't do that, so I guess thats rhetorical.   

Thanks for the hits - Good luck, there is a lot of bad pizza out there, but I eat the bad pizza, so you don't have to.

D'amores Pizza

The UCLA campus has a lot of kids who like pizza, so naturally there are a lot of pizza joints to fill their mouths. There is a little area called Westwood Village just south of the campus, where you can find many college aged kids, thus many pizza places, including,  Enzo's,  Lamonica's, and D'Amores.  This is what I call the UCLA big 3.... I guess.   I hit them all up at once.  After some smaller ones like, Italian Express, and Angelino's I went to D'Amore's Famous Pizza.  Using a page out of Famous Rays book.  In fact it's kind of like Ray's because there are many names for it, D'Amore's Famous Pizza, D'Amore's Pizza Connection, or just plain D'Amore's.  Either way I think they are all the same owner.  

D'amore's actually has pizza by the slice, which is rare out here.  In N.Y. they would have a sign especially to say they DON'T have slices.  So once again, L.A. the opposite of N.Y.  Of course in this neighborhood it might be the trend, I believe Lamonica's and Enzo's both have slices too.  

D'Amore's has many locations.  Soon to be 7, I believe.  So how does the slice hold up from one to the next is something for a whole other blog.  For now I will assume that this location is the same as the rest.  

I ordered a medium I believe it was 14'' for 16$ but I can't quite remember.  It was a cheese and this is what it looked like:

It actually wasn't too bad.  The sauce was pretty light and sweet.  The cheese was light as well.  The flavor over all was kind of bland tasting.  There was some spice sprinkled on the top but it didn't seem to have much effect.  There was one flavor however, that was throwing me off.  Something that just seemed a little unusual about it.  I couldn't put my finger on it and I couldn't really say that I liked it.  So it wasn't completely bland.  The crust was extra thin and extra crispy.  It had a cornmeal bottom. 

(I want to make an observation here and someone can tell me if I am wrong, but I feel like every time the crust has cornmeal on the bottom, it is crispy.  Probably this is just coincidence, but is it possible that the crust cooks differently with cornmeal than it does with flour?) 

Anyway the crust was pretty good, a little too thin and crispy for my liking, it lacked a chewy or doughy texture to it.  It was just crunchy all the way through.  It had a little substance in between, not like Stone Fire Pizza, which is my go to, overly thin and crispy crust.

So bottom line is that the pizza is not the best by any means and a little pricey too I have to say. However, it does stand out from Enzo's and Lamonica's and even Italian Express which is something some people may enjoy.  Enzo's is a similarly bland pizza but much greasier and heavier than D'Amore's.  Lamonica's is the only place that claims N.Y. style pizza and is really the farthest from it out of the 3.  With a thicker buttery crust.  So thats the low down in Westwood Village.  I won't say what's better, I'll let you decided which style you like.

For other pizza in this area click here

*VIDEO COMING SOON

D'Amore's Famous Pizza

1136 Westwood Blvd. Los Angeles (reviewed location) 310-209-1212

7137 Winnetka ave Canoga Park -- 22601 PCH Malibu -- 2869 E Thousand Oaks Blvd Thousand Oaks 

300 N Lantana, Camarillo -- 18663 Ventura Blvd, Tarzana -- Coming SOON 3rd Street Hollywood

Price: $$

Overall: