(Another) Pizza Party

Back in the good ol' days, when finances were in "irresponsible" hands, MCI would throw their employees a nice, big holiday party. A nice holiday lunch would be served in the cafeteria - we're talking carving stations, hearty sides, etc - and down the hallways (our site is six buildings long), they'd have dessert tables, coffee/tea/hot chocolate tables, and holiday-colored snack bins lining the walkway on your way to and from the cafeteria. Holiday music would be playing and the mood was extremely festive and it was a great time to take a break and just hang out with your peers and catch up on holiday plans. It was nice.

Then bankruptcy came (hmmm - too much egg nog?) and there was a quick halt to the company holiday festivities. In the first couple of years after bankruptcy hit, HR encouraged each group/organization to have their own little get together and could expense certain foods - as long as it wasn't unreasonable. We've had Olive Garden catering or a pot luck lunch always followed by the ever-popular White Elephant gift exchange. But even those days seem to have dwindled because it seems like any gathering that we have, in which lunch could be involved, it all boils down to pizza.

We've had a few pizza parties in the office - all catered by local pizzerias or Papa John's. For the masses (which are my Indian co-workers), the favorite seems to be Papa John's. I can't complain about Papa John's. It was, after all, my staple food in college. But growing up in Jersey and outside NYC, I had some of the best NY Style pizza - thin, oily, greasy or the Sicilian kind. And it wasn't mass produced - it came from the mom and pop stores in town. Ever since moving down to Virginia, I have been on the hunt for the best NY Style pizza. It took me awhile to even find a place that would sell me pizza by the slice! So for the first couple of years of living here, I was living off Papa John's and Pizza Hut to get my pizza fix. But then my co-workers took me to a local pizza joint (inside an ice-skating rink) and I have not been able to look at Papa John's since. It's by the slice and it meets all the NY Style requirements - thin, greasy, good. Since discovering Pomodoro's, I have been able to find more places to sell pizza by the slice but they're just not as good...why? The secret is in the sauce and their sauce is good. So good that I've already alerted my husband that he has to get Pomodoro's pizza for my birthday party in January.

Being faced with another group holiday gathering in a week, the lunch of choice...pizza (SHOCKER!). The last pizza order we had came from Pomodoro's and I was told it did not go over well with my Indian counterparts. Of course the (Indian) person that told me tried to do a blanket statement saying that no one liked it. 'Umm - I beg to differ,' I had to inform her. I know of at least six people that thoroughly enjoyed it. Is it coincidence that the six are all Americans? But it's looking like Papa John's will be the pizza of choice here.

Having said all that, I don't think Papa John's is a viable option as "my favorite pizza" choice when faced with all these other local pizzerias. I think Papa John's is an acceptable answer if you're in college or you are only surrounded by Dominoes, Pizza Hut, Sbarro, etc. But a real lover of pizza should never list a chain as "my favorite pizza." I think Papa John's is a favorite among the Indian co-workers because they wouldn't know to go to a local pizzeria to check it out by the slice. So I'll chalk that up to lack of pizza experience.

I've already got another NY Style recommendation right by my house - so there is a chance that my husband won't need to travel to go get my birthday party pizza. Who knew NY Style pizza would be so hard to find?