Rich Pawlak

As mentioned abovethread.

There's a whole section there, beside what I've written. Doof. And yer damn right I'm tooting. Never ever gonna wait for someone else to do it.

You mean this one? Perhaps it was the byline. Interesting 3Ms, those... ← There wasn't a doubt in my mind. And hey, funny about all three places starting with the letter M. Never gave it a thought.

Rich, I suspect these will be fightin' words to ya, and no disrespect intended, but based on my one recent foray to Old Forge (Salerno's Cafe), I'd sooner have Lorenzo's. Though I'd be willing to try your favored Arcaro & Genell's or Maxie's before passing a definitive judgement. ← Salerno's IS a version of OF Pizza, but far from the best, far from it actually. My mom likes Salerno's, so there's no genetic taste bud connection apparently.

No craptacular memories from growing up in Scranton, Pa, just all good Texas weiners, Old forge pizza and reelly good home cooking. In college , I'll admit to hitting the Penn Roy Rogers just before closing when the manager would fill a bag of whatever was under the hea tlamps and sell it to us for a buck or two. Good times.

Is that Liscio's on Oregon Ave.?

Sheila: Your report on spotty service has been echoed by others I've heard from regarding Nineteen. I haven't heard that the food was bad, just sort of overpriced and disappointing. The room is gorgeous, however, and is a great place for drinks and the view. Do you think they need a savvy sommelier?? ← It would be my educated (and personally experienced) guess that they do not really have a real sommelier in place.

Looks promisingly tasty! Thanks!

Well, it's a chain. ← Rich, I don't think all Santucci's are part of the same chain. I think I read once of a split in the family business, a la Pat's Steaks..... Another clue might be the difference in names--- there's just plain 'Santucci's', 'Santucci Brothers', and the one on Welsh was 'Inn Santucci'. ← Oh brother!

Yeah, this is a wonderful video all about the Trenton Tomato Pie phenomenon; and they went to all the right places, too.

Jan, do you know if the Gaeta's version is served hot or room temp? Round or square? ← I just called-- they will make them hot if you want but they generally serve them at room temperature. They're a square pie, and the basic version is tomato and parmesan. They will add mozzarella if you want. ← Sounds like Don Giovani's on Street Rd in Feasterville, another superb bakery tomato pie. Now I'm hungry again.

I'm sorry, Bob, but slop is slop. I rank Lorenzo's right alongside the places to which you refer, all insults to the art of true pizza-making. For the same reason I just dont have Bud, Miller or Coors in my fridge, it's just not worth dsumbing down the tastebuds to consume an inferior product.

The Italian Bakery in Conshohocken has a very good room temperature version. ← Do you have an address for this bakery?

Jan, do you know if the Gaeta's version is served hot or room temp? Round or square?

All three ways are, or can be, terrific; and all are very very different. Rich, I'm curious: do you see a characteristic that links them, other than the name? ← I see no connection except for delving into the geneology of each and discovering when and why they evolved.

Well, it's a chain.

As mentioned in my initial post.

Last night, I relished a Duck Rabbit Milk Stout that I picked up in its native North Carolina last month. Rich, creamy and wonderfully roasty.

Well, this isnt the forum for recipes, but essentially, in these parts, "tomato pie" is a pizza variation that appears in the Philly area in primarily three ways: as a sheet pan pizza dough topped with thick tomato sauce and (often) grated cheese, sold room temperature at many Italian bread bakeries with retail stores, most commonly found in the Northwest and Western quadrants of the metro area (Manayunk, Germantown, Norristown). I've heard it called "Germantown style tomato pie" more than a few times, but it is also found in Bucks County. The second distinct version is NE Philly tomato pie, a round crust with cheese (often provalone) on the bottom and the tomato sauce on top, served hot. The third distinct version is the Trenton, NJ version, where pizza is rarely called anything but tomato pie. This is a thin round crust with cheese topped with lighter amount of crushed tomatoes, so that the end result LOOKS like pizza, but the overall experience, taste, texture, etc., is completely different. And there are variations, as mentioned above, with either square or round crust topped with just tomatioes, just sauce, or sauce with a very very light smattering of shredded cheese. Excuse me, I just got very very hungry.

Apparently, Herb doesnt care to read the Thursday Yo Food! section of the Philadelphia Daily News.

Thanks, Chris! I forgot about that truly excellent version of room temperature tomato pie! Outstanding!

I'm working on something and I am in search of the great tomato pies in the area. I've classified the pies into three categories:the room temperature baking sheet version with sauce and grated cheeese, usually found in Italian bakeries; the Trenton version, which is thin crust crushed tomatoes and cheese; and the NE Philly version, with cheese on the bottom, topped with spicy red sauce. So far, I have: Delorenzo's of Hudson St., Trenton Marchiano's in Manayunk Franco & Luigi's of South Philly Tony's , NE Philly Grey Lodge, NE Philly What I'm really interested in are the room-temperature tomato pies, rather than the hot versions, though I am looking to see if there are any other NE Philly versions. I believe Cacia's and Sarcone's also make baking sheet versions, but are there others worth investigating? As always, thanks in advance for your suggestions!

Youve just returned form Italy and you consider Lorenzo's "awesome"?!?!? Boy just done left his mind in Italy.

I am miffed at anyone's enjoyment of this sloppy version of pizza. I guess it tastes OK after a night of heavy drinking/clubbing/debauchery, but you couldn't make me buy a slice sober.

f ever there was justification for a road trip, Old Forge is it.