What is your ideal pizza?

[squibber]

Since it's slow and since I love pizza.....what is your ideal pizza?

Crust - I like thick bready dough so I would like Sicilian style.

Sauce- On the spicy side and a generous amount.

Cheese - A generous amount of mozzarella with grated Parmesan added after the pizza is done.

Toppings - Cup and char pepperoni, crumbled sausage, hot peppers, onions.

Drink - Ice cold lager beer.

[Ed Vette]

Brick oven style, clam or shrimp Pizza from Pepe's.

Thin crust with quality Mozzarella. Sometimes mushroom or sausage.

[DaveBrown74]

It's all about the crust for me. I like it fairly well done (burnt even) and to have no flop. Not that the other ingredients don't matter, there is no such thing as good pizza if it doesn't have a good crust.

[Jolly Blue Giant]

I'm not a huge fan of pizza, but grab a slice now and then when there isn't other options. Typically the main course at house parties

I get a craving for Cortese pizza, which I get quite often. It is unique to the Binghamton area. It's not like any other pizza I've ever had, and I usually just get the cheese with no other topping. Not sure how to explain it. I'll try. It's a mid-thick crust that is spongy, yet some crusty bark. The sauce is a family secret and is ridiculously good. The restaurant is a high end eatery, but it started as a pizza only place back in the 40's by the Cortese family who came from Italy. It is topped with a cheese blend of seven different cheese types. It doesn't taste like any pizza you've ever had and is truly unique. It's Detroit style (rectangle w/8 pieces) in shape and cut, but a unique taste you'll never find in Detroit because the sauce came from the original Italian immigrants, the Cortese family



The only other pizza I ever ate that I thought was worth going back for over and over (as I do Cortese pizza), is Lou Malnati's or Giordano's deep dish style pizzas in downtown Chicago

[squibber]

I'm not a fan of frozen pizza but there is one that I like. It's called Motor City Pizza. It's Detroit Style pizza with a thick soft dough. We enhance it by putting more mozzarella on it before we pop it in the oven.

Costco and Wegmans sells it. Don't know about other stores.

[Sem]

I'm not a huge fan of pizza, but grab a slice now and then when there isn't other options. Typically the main course at house parties

I get a craving for Cortese pizza, which I get quite often. It is unique to the Binghamton area. It's not like any other pizza I've ever had, and I usually just get the cheese with no other topping. Not sure how to explain it. I'll try. It's a mid-thick crust that is spongy, yet some crusty bark. The sauce is a family secret and is ridiculously good. The restaurant is a high end eatery, but it started as a pizza only place back in the 40's by the Cortese family who came from Italy. It is topped with a cheese blend of seven different cheese types. It doesn't taste like any pizza you've ever had and is truly unique. It's Detroit style (rectangle w/8 pieces) in shape and cut, but a unique taste you'll never find in Detroit because the sauce came from the original Italian immigrants, the Cortese family



The only other pizza I ever ate that I thought was worth going back for over and over (as I do Cortese pizza), is Lou Malnati's or Giordano's deep dish style pizzas in downtown Chicago

Oh man, what I wouldn't do for a Cortese pizza, or just a bowl of their homemade spaghetti and meatballs (with mushrooms), or their Milanese style steak or pork chops, or their lasagna....or their......

[LennG]

WE LOVE pizza. BUT, since we do try and keep Kosher, a lot of the combinations that others like are, well, forbidden to us. We also would never order or eat a Domino's or any other of those types of pizza.

That said, we both grew up in Brooklyn, home to the best pizza, kosher or not, it is still about the water for the crust. I do agree that the crust is everything when eating pizza. We both like a thin crust and the crust around the edge with cheese inside of that. With some homemade sauce and some good cheese, that is heaven for pizza lovers. Myself, I love some fresh mushrooms on mine.

As most know, we cruise a lot, and every cruise line usually has fresh pizza somewhere. When we cruised on MSC in Europe (Since it is an Italian line), they had a man making fresh pizza almost all day long. He made several types, one with a black crust, which was really delicious. I'm not exactly sure what grain or flour they used but again it was a black crust, thin and yummy.

[Jolly Blue Giant]

Oh man, what I wouldn't do for a Cortese pizza, or just a bowl of their homemade spaghetti and meatballs (with mushrooms), or their Milanese style steak or pork chops, or their lasagna....or their......

Whenever I sit down to eat instead of takeout, I usually get a steak Milanese style (unless it's lunch, then a bowl of soup and a sausage sandwich). I've never seen a restaurant that does Milanese and do it so perfectly. For those who don't know what it is, the steak is drenched in crushed fresh garlic, butter, and olive oil and served on a steaming hot cast iron plate. You can smell it coming the second it leaves the kitchen and leaves a trail that wafts through the entire restaurant all the way to your table making customers smile...and of course, the server warns not to touch the plate as it's just out of the oven. One of the few glorious moments one can have during life's travels

Steak Milanese style at Cortese


And have a handmade Cortese canoli before you leave



You'd probably like this story Steve, since you are familiar with Cortese. I had my own business called Ameri-Flex manufacturing next door to the restaurant and leased the building from Nate Cortese...the owner at that time. Nate used to let me eat lunch for free and liked to sit down and talk. He told me when they started the restaurant, he was just back from serving in the Navy during WWII. When an order came in, he'd call his mother on the phone, who lived on Conklin Ave. She would start cooking the requested meal in her kitchen at home, then Nate would drive over to the house, load up the meal and bring it back to the restaurant, the patrons had no idea...lol. They've been in business since the 40s and the place is always packed to this day. That is how you know a good restaurant, because the only way to survive in that business is to have incredible food and service. Nate used to take me through the kitchen at the restaurant, back to his office. The kitchen was large, all stainless steel, and everything was spotless - all the time. When my son died in a car accident in 2001, Nate was the first person to call me and lend his condolences and some emotional help. He was a great man, who passed away a few years later. They practically shut the city of Binghamton down during his funeral as thousands left work to attend - his picture graced the front page of the Binghamton Press to announce the news. Everyone knew him and loved him https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/pressconnects/name/nathan-cortese-obituary?id=29511095

[Sem]

It's 10am here on the west coast and I'm salivating looking at your pictures. Whatever we end up eating today it won't hold a candle to anything on the Cortese menu.

That's a great story. I had no idea that you once owned a business next to the restaurant on Robinson St, is it?

Pretty certain I've offered condolences in the past regarding your son's passing, but I'll do so once again. No parent should ever outlive their child.

[Jolly Blue Giant]

It's 10am here on the west coast and I'm salivating looking at your pictures. Whatever we end up eating today it won't hold a candle to anything on the Cortese menu.

That's a great story. I had no idea that you once owned a business next to the restaurant on Robinson St, is it?

Pretty certain I've offered condolences in the past regarding your son's passing, but I'll do so once again. No parent should ever outlive their child.

Yep...right on Robinson Street



Chris Cortese (Nate's youngest son) now runs the business. He added a covered outdoor dining area in the last couple of years, probably long after you left