pequod's pizza

it feels like a little bit of a betrayal to say that, when i visit chicago now, pequod's is my first pizza priority, followed only later by chicago's. frankly, in the beginning, pequod's was mostly a novelty. i had first heard about it about a week after i arrived in chicago from a friendly sue devitt makeup stylist, who dubbed it "the best pizza in chicago." (she was the roommate of john and chip, the nebraska transplant boys who singlehandedly saved me from starvation by getting me a weekend job at the chicago air & water show that involved free food plus $80/day, so i was inclined to listen to her.) i tried it, and liked it, and continued eating it as a general matter, but there was no vital spark of recognition. no, back then, chicago's was the name of the game: the pepperoni pizza gleefully ordered from a cab -- with extra sauce -- sometime between 3:30 and 4:30 a.m. on fridays and/or saturdays. (and/or thursdays. and sometimes during the day on sundays.) but, right around the summer of 2005, something started to change. pequod's crunchy caramelized crust of burnt cheese became less of a gimmick and more of a necessity to my tastebuds. i decided that pepperoni is tastier on top of a pizza, where it can crispen. i learned to love that robust and buttery bottom crust. and the sauce, delightfully tangy, had always been a favorite. thankfully, as the picture above can testify, nothing has changed at pequod's in the intervening years. sigh.

don't get me wrong, i still love chicago's. in fact, i had one just last sunday, at about 5:00 a.m.