The Best Pizza Pie in Philadelphia

I've spent most of my time in the bedroom these last few days. Quit giving me the sassy eye, that's not what I'm talking 'bout. It's the only room in the house with an air conditioner. In case you haven't heard, there's a heat wave in Philadelphia. 

104 °F outside feels something like 9,941 °F in a South Philly row home. Accordingly, I've been treating the rest of my apartment like the surface of the sun and venturing out only for necessities like water refills and multiple showers. 

Baking? HA. Haha. Ha. Ha. Ha. What is that? I'm fairly certain if I turned on my oven it would spontaneously combust at this point. So while I'm in the kitchen, I'll just grab this pint of coconut sorbet and this bag of fresh cherries and head back to my crisp bedroom climate, thankyouverymuch. 

I've got a fridge full of just-picked garden-fresh veggies and herbs. But they're just gonna have to wait. Now is the time for going out to eat and grabbing take-out. And, oh yeah: Pizza. 

You probably already know about my love for pizza. It's a pure, deep and wholesome love. After a couple of terrible experiences with pizza joints around Philadelphia, I swore off pizza from the city entirely. Until I tried the vegan pizza at Whole Foods on South Street. 

I'm usually unimpressed with Whole Foods' pre-made vegan dishes, especially anything that comes out of their bakery. But this pizza is the best pizza I've had in Philadelphia. Seriously. It reminds me a lot of pizza from Scranton. Like if Calabria's and Maroni's got together and made delicious pizza pie babies. 

I have to confess, I found out about their pizza months ago. I get a slice every week on my Whole Food's shopping trip. But I've never held on to one long enough to document it. Usually, a slice doesn't make it out of the parking lot. What you're seeing here is the first slice to have a life-span longer than 15 minutes. Historical. 

So what's so great about it? The crust on WF's pizza is thin and crispy, but with flavor (they often use a multi-grain crust). The sauce is a little sweet, and tastes like it's freshly made. And the cheese, THE CHEESE. They use Daiya, which is a new vegan cheese product that actually melts and stretches. It's amazing. It's completely changing what it means to be vegan (or lactose intolerant)! Whole Foods' uses a combination of the mozzarella and cheddar flavor, and when those two powers combine the result is miraculous. The cheese actually gets gooey and melty in the best way possible. NOM NOM NOM

I cannot vouch for the quality at any other Whole Foods, but if you can make it to the one on South Street in Philadelphia, I highly recommend this snack. They usually have two vegan options, one with a chef's choice of toppings. Get a slice of each and thank me later. You can find me sprawled out on my bed along with Gracie in a very unlady-like manner trying to stay cool. Knock first, please. 

Snackin' in Scranton: Gold Crown pizza

My kitchen's still an inferno and I haven't turned my oven on in over 2 weeks. So, while I'm itching for a baking fix, here's a little something to distract you check out from my Scranton trip. I apologize to Nicole Snyder in advance, who will now probably be craving pizza for the rest of the day:

We've discussed this before. I'm from Scranton, and I frequently travel home to see friends and family eat pizza. Sometimes it takes up my whole visit. Thankfully, it's pretty easy to round up a group to head to Gold Crown for pizza and beers. It's a two birds, one stone kinda thing in the most delicious way possible.

Now, before anyone gets their panties in a bunch, let me clarify. Gold Crown is not actually in Scranton. It's in Dunmore. Which is near Scranton. But just like a Japanese man would be offended if you said he was Chinese, Dunmoreans are proud of their borough. And I've got too many friends that live in Dunmore to start angering them. OK, now that's out of the way, let's talk about the pizza.

On this particular venture, we got a tray of plain and a tray with olives. I don't have much to say about Gold Crown other than it's extra yummy, in a very NEPA-pizza kind of way. Crispy bottom crust, slightly sweet sauce, gooey cheese blend. 

Their pizzas are smaller than normal trays, but not quite personal-pan size. I've thought about finishing one on my own, but I've never actually done it. Two pizzas will very easily feed 4 people, and you might even have left-overs. But you'll probably find yourself justifying that third, and sometimes fourth, piece. Do it. It's worth it. Also, I find their pizza is best while still warm, and looses some deliciousness the longer it sits. All the more reason to have that extra piece, love handles be damned. 

Yeah, yeah, I know. I shouldn't be eating cheese anyway. Ken reminds me all the time. But there are some things that are worth the pain. Pagash is one. Gold Crown is also on that list.

Gold Crown has a bar on one side, kitchen on the other. You can eat in, or take out. They only serve pizza until around 10pm though, so you need to get there before beer o'clock if you want to enjoy the gooey awesomeness. The bar stays open till 2AM, so you can continue drinking your calories. They've got a pretty good bottled beer selection for a NEPA bar, so if you're a beer lover and you find yourself stranded in Dunmore, it's not such a bad place to be.

Gold Crown is definitely on my top ten list for NEPA pizzas. It's good snackin'. 

Gold Crown Pizzeria

634 E Drinker St

Dunmore PA 18512

570-346-4481

Osh Kosh PAGASH

Ahhh, Scranton. The Electric City. Sometimes (but only sometimes) I really miss my hometown. As I mentioned in the last post, I was up in NEPA (NorthEastern PennsylvaniA for those not from the area) visiting this weekend, and just arrived back in Philly a few hours ago. Scranton visits are always great. It's so nice to go to my favorite places, see friends, spend time with famil-OHWHOCARES let's talk about PIZZA. 

Let's be honest here people. I love my family. My friends are my world. But somewhere around 80% of the reason I go home so frequently is for the pizza (that percentage is an average; sometimes that number is much higher). The pizza in Philly sucks. Sure, there are some I'll tolerate if I'm forced to eat them, but in the last year I have not eaten a single slice of pizza from the 215 and I'm much better for it. Philly's got a really great food/beer scene. But pizza is most certainly NOT included in that statement. 

"But, Colleen," you say. "Pizza?? I thought you were lactose-intolerant." Yeah, yeah. I am. But some things are worth the pain, and NEPA pizza is one of them.  I've gotta hear enough complaints from my boyfriend about my cheese-cheating habits and I don't need to hear any more from YOU too. Now get off my back and hand me another slice.

Seriously though, let's get down to business. I know, I know, this blog is supposed to be about baking and sweet treats and the like, but I need to talk to you for a minute about a kind of pizza called PAGASH. Because, if you know about it, you probably want to talk about it, and if you don't know about it, you need it in your life. Pagash goes by several names. Potato Pizza. Pierogie Pizza. Whatever you call it, doesn't matter, it's still delicious. Do you like pierogies? Do you like pizza? How about if we put them together into a warm, gooey, smooshy, crunchy snack and I'll watch your mind melt and your head explode from the sheer awesomeness of it all. If you're not familiar with pizza from the Scranton-area, you'll just have to bear with me for a minute while I try to explain. You start with a square crust, you top with cheesy mashed potatoes mixed with onions and garlic, then you finish with Old-Forge style cheese (usually a mixture that includes american and maybe some cheddar and provalone). Still with me? 

My favorite version (from Ferri's in Moscow, which coincidentally has one of my top 3 favorite red pizzas as well) has chopped up white onions in the potato mixture (which is a weird yellow color, but no matter because it could be neon green and I'd still eat it) along with thinly sliced white and red onions and scallions on top. And here's the kicker: You can only get it once a year, during Lent. That's right. It's only available for 40 days and 40 nights, and if you miss it you've gotta wait till next year. Sure, I hear there are some places where you can get it year round, but I don't want those. Maybe a part of the appeal is that it's a limited edition kind of thing, like Cadbury eggs, Shamrock shakes, or Troegs Mad Elf. And considering its main components are dough, potatoes and cheese, it's not exactly something you want to be available all of the time. Regardless, it's a need that borders on obsession this time of year, so you can be sure that this particular trip home involved picking up a half-tray of the stuff before hitting the road this afternoon. And I may or may not have eaten a slice or two in the car while on the turnpike. Don't judge me. You just try to sit in a car with a fresh box of pagash for 2.5 hours and keep your hands off the stuff. I'm only human. And besides, I've done a pretty good job so far of saving Ken half the box (3 whole pieces!!), so I've exercised some restraint. But, honestly, I'm secretly hoping he doesn't like it so I can have the rest. What? People, did you miss the part where I said it's only available once a year? Sheesh! Stop Judging!

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go do something to keep myself busy and my mind off of those 3 other slices...