New York -- Real Pizza finally comes to Chicago

When you grow up in the New York City area, certain foods prevent you from enjoying them anywhere else in the world. Bagels. and well, I guess there are only really two. Pizza. I was going to add strychnine laced pot. But that was never enjoyable. Anyway, this corpulent city turns out some savory chow, but its lack of doughycheesysaucy innovation has led to pizza purgatory. Deep dish pizza has a place. In your bloated gut after a mere 1 slice. You wait 45 friggin minutes for a pizza, only to stare in revulsion at the remaining 7/8ths of your pie. If I wanted that much dough, I'd shove yeast and flour into my water supply system and drown myself daily in noxious bread byproducts. Yet, there are some worthy Chi-town pizza champs.

But where has the truly thin, triangular, flour coated pizza been? Apparently it took some Dude escaping Italian yuppiedom, and a yearning desire to work 12 hours in a rather unassuming pizza shop to create tasty thin crust pizza. He'd prefer to say Italian influenced....but its clearly New York inspired.

He has called his join 'APART' which is oddly similar to the tasty Thai place close by coined 'OPART'. Despite the strange name, you will find one tasty pizza here. I could describe it....but similar to sex and fine wine, reading about it is worthless, you've got to get yourself into it.

Located on Montrose, just west of Lincoln.

Are you kidding me? Read the ***!!&&&? forum before you shill.

The RECENT thread made YOUR join(t) sound enticing...this obvious AD leaves a hella bad taste.

At least he didn't post a link to his blog.

how could you guys tell?

Shilling and trolling in the same post, yet.

bnowell724 Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2006 9:33 pm Post subject:

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how could you guys tell?

First forum post is one clue.

Diannie

sloppyseconds,

It seems like you have an intense connection to the pizza you grew up with. In that, you are not so different from any number of LTH forum members. A search would yield the background on this topic, which you may find interesting. I think many on the board would agree with me that people who are passionate about food are most welcome here.

Yet, there are some worthy Chi-town pizza champs.

Sounds like you also have your favorites in Chicago-style. Would you care to share them with us?

But let's get back to the topic, here, which is a certain style of thin crust pizza common on the East Coast.

Apparently it took some Dude escaping Italian yuppiedom, and a yearning desire to work 12 hours in a rather unassuming pizza shop to create tasty thin crust pizza. He'd prefer to say Italian influenced....but its clearly New York inspired.

Sounds like you got the story behind the opening of Apart Pizza, would you care to share the details in a narrative? Soon, this pizza will be my closest delivery option, so I am interested to know whether you have ordered for delivery, and what the condition of the pizza was on arrival.
Thanks.

Sounds like not all of us are convinced that sloppyseconds is, in fact, the owner of Apart Pizza. But if he is (and I'm leaning that way), how ironic that in one post he undid most of the goodwill generated for the place in the entire Apart Pizza thread!

I come off rather harsh in my initial response; tho' I'm sticking to my guns. There are so many levels upon which the initial poster errs(not searching the board, not reading the main page of the board, an attempt at a sarcastic personality, perhaps most-egregiously quasi-linking his? place with my beloved Opart...and more). Please tell me the place wasn't named as a coy reference...that it's simply a happy coincidence...please...I'm begging you.

Wouldn't it be much more honest to place an "ad" on the professional board---a quick scroll down. Or, I dunno, read through the titles of the ten or twelve posts that at the time rested atop the recent "Apart Pizza" one until he got to the appropriate thread? Then how about posting(even faking) a positive review? Seems obvious(and obviously unethical) to me were I drumming up interest in my business.

Go figure.

From the looks of the fotos on the appropriate thread I'd probably give Apart a chance. I'm sure it's a good delivery option. When I'm in the area I'm usually off to some tried and true favorite. There's lotsa competition.

I really hope he's not in any way affiliated with the place. If their marketing is being left to someone like that, they're not going to last long, no matter how exceptional they are. (and they are quite exceptional!)

I've spoken with the owner/pizzaio a few times. He's from Italy, as I stated previously. While his English is perfect, I'd like to think he is not capable of such blather. Purely selfish reasons for me -- he seemed like a very earnest and thoughful guy based on a few, very brief, conversations I had with him, and I'd like to think I'm a keen judge of character. I've been wrong before. My guess that this is not him, but if it is another owner or a "friend," that would be unfortunate.

Doubly confusing because the Apart menu already has a quote from an old, legit LTH post. Also, the signage in the restaurant clearly says the pizzas are cooked in the Italian style, without any NY reference. The "NY inspired" bit, while consistent with the actual pizza, would not seem to come from an Italian making Italian pizza.

Could it be Old Man Smithers, gang? Or maybe just a supposed New Yorker.

Christopher Gordon wrote:I come off rather harsh in my initial response; tho' I'm sticking to my guns. There are so many levels upon which the initial poster errs(not searching the board, not reading the main page of the board, an attempt at a sarcastic personality, perhaps most-egregiously quasi-linking his? place with my beloved Opart...and more). Please tell me the place wasn't named as a coy reference...that it's simply a happy coincidence...please...I'm begging you.

I have met the owner of Apart, and the tone of the OP's post is not reflective of the guy I met. I enjoyed the pizza I ate with 2 other LTH members. I consider Apart to be in the running for a GNR, after they have been in business for a year or so can generate some discussion.

Hi Everyone,

I have it on very reliable information the original poster is NOT a shill or has any relationship with the restaurant beyond enthusiasm (and an attempt at a humorous writing style). Little did this person realize the religious zeal a discussion of pizza will provoke.

I remember the very first post written by a friend who is a travel and food freelance writer. Her very first post was so well put together other moderators thought she was a shill. I'm thrilled Cynthia has remained active on LTHforum as a regular contributor.

Sometimes you have to give new posters the benefit of a doubt. It is not easy to dip your toe into a well established community. Some choose to answer questions and others go full steam ahead with an original post.

If you do suspect there is a shill, why not contact a moderator? PM or send us an e-mail to moderators@lthforum.com. We are pretty experienced in these matters.

***

Sloppyseconds!

Welcome to the LTHforum!

I hear you have a lot you can contribute to our forum.

All the best,

Greetings...I haven't been back to this site since I first posted my enthusiasm for Apart pizza. I was recommended to write on this blog, based on my penchant for dining in odd places throughout the world, coupled with a strong appreciation for Chicago's myriad restaurants. I thought..."ok, what the heck". Throughout the internet's brief run, I have never embarked upon the lonely world of messageboardom. But a good friend convinced me, otherwise.

So, without delving further, if everyone would go back to the first few replies, and ask why anyone would want to contribute to this site with a response (s) that was given.

Are you guys so pathetic to think that a positive person can't enter into your warlock world of web-bored and share enthusiastic feelings. Is every congratulatory rater of restaurants ostracized as a covert?. Are you friggin' kidding me? I can't believe Im even taking the time to respond. But since its the last time I plan on visiting the site of the socially repressed, I might as well.

If you're told to visit a message board where people discuss food, why would I bother to read instructions (I came to post not to try and read 200 other threads). Its a god damn message board. Post an opinion, and let people reply. Reply that Im crazy cause Chicago pizza is phenomenal. Maybe say you agree, but certain items are bad. Maybe rip on new york city, or throw more junk at chitown pizza. Cool. ok.
But to develop conspiracy theories about the owner (whose english would not put him here) or some other plant making this up. Who is the loser who came up with that? And to assault my character while completely failing to comment on the pizza/cities/etc is an embarassment to the universities who allowed you to graduate.

I'll end the harangue before it gets too deep. I will make the repressed peanut gallery ecstatic by withdrawing my membership, and will continue to seek out quality food throughout the city with people who remember how to actually have human social interaction.

Thank you for the time, and I will continue my career as a 'shill' on the new Minutemen message board.

Welcome to LTH.

The reason people are on the lookout for shills is because they've turned up before, quite a few times, here and on other boards. It happens. A well-written, enthusiastic post from someone who has never posted before is likely to draw attention and look suspicious. It's not your fault, as I'm sure you know.

That said, the issue wasn't that you were blasting chicago pizza and praising new york pizza -- others do that all the time here. What offended most people, I think, was the tone. "Corpulent city" and such. Trolling is the term LAZ used, and it's probably the right one.

You're clearly enthusiastic about food. So are we. Stick around, but know that you'll get lots of people biting if you troll. And the mods don't like it when people bite.

sloppyseconds wrote:Greetings...I haven't been back to this site since I first posted my enthusiasm for Apart pizza. I was recommended to write on this blog, based on my penchant for dining in odd places throughout the world, coupled with a strong appreciation for Chicago's myriad restaurants. I thought..."ok, what the heck". Throughout the internet's brief run, I have never embarked upon the lonely world of messageboardom. But a good friend convinced me, otherwise.

So, without delving further, if everyone would go back to the first few replies, and ask why anyone would want to contribute to this site with a response (s) that was given.

Are you guys so pathetic to think that a positive person can't enter into your warlock world of web-bored and share enthusiastic feelings. Is every congratulatory rater of restaurants ostracized as a covert?. Are you friggin' kidding me? I can't believe Im even taking the time to respond. But since its the last time I plan on visiting the site of the socially repressed, I might as well.

If you're told to visit a message board where people discuss food, why would I bother to read instructions (I came to post not to try and read 200 other threads). Its a god damn message board. Post an opinion, and let people reply. Reply that Im crazy cause Chicago pizza is phenomenal. Maybe say you agree, but certain items are bad. Maybe rip on new york city, or throw more junk at chitown pizza. Cool. ok.
But to develop conspiracy theories about the owner (whose english would not put him here) or some other plant making this up. Who is the loser who came up with that? And to assault my character while completely failing to comment on the pizza/cities/etc is an embarassment to the universities who allowed you to graduate.

I'll end the harangue before it gets too deep. I will make the repressed peanut gallery ecstatic by withdrawing my membership, and will continue to seek out quality food throughout the city with people who remember how to actually have human social interaction.

Thank you for the time, and I will continue my career as a 'shill' on the new Minutemen message board.

Yeah, why bother with instructions or a search function? Don't forget to enjoy your exagerrated self-importance and the pizza on the way out.

Friends,

This thread has been a learning experience for the LTHforum community, though certainly not one of our best moments. If anything, I hope the community will rely on the moderator’s to sort out whether a poster is a shill or troll. We can pull posts, make inquiries and wait for a response.

There are a lot of advantages to being a lurker before posting. I remember carefully reading posts to learn about the people involved, direction of the forum and where I might fit in. I learned there are a lot of people just like me whom I never knew existed. I consider my lurking period an important introduction to how the community works.

After I began posting I made mistakes and continue to do so. It’s like every social interaction; people sometimes misinterpret your communication and take offense.

This thread is now locked. IF you have further comments, then please go to the site chat discussion here.

Now go forth and eat something great, then report back here!

Regards,
Cathy2 for the moderators