On a lighter note, my recent post featuring a gorgeous Manhattan sunset has generated quite a comments-thread discussion. At issue is whether those flat, round food items made of baked dough and covered in tomato sauce and cheese rightfully deserve the name “pizza” when they’re made anywhere but in New York.

In the near corner, we’ve got my friend Cheno, who is championing a local Salt Lake eatery called Este. According to him, Este claims that visiting New Yorkers have praised Este’s pizza as “rival[ing] or excel[ling] over the best NY has to offer.”
New Yorker Brian Greenberg finds that claim difficult to believe. He says, “New York Pizzeria’s make their crust with a mix of spices that I haven’t found elsewhere, and the thickness/consistency of the crust & cheese seem to be unique.”
However, in the interest of scientific inquiry, Brian has proposed an experiment:

If Dave [at Este] wants to send me a pizza, I’m happy to try it out and blog about the results. For him, it would be guaranteed exposure to thous…er…hundr…ok, dozens of people (many of whom will never visit Utah). But still, there’s pizza honor at stake here.

Cheno has happily accepted, and is looking forward to the artistic possibilities:

If it’s okay with Dave and he agrees, (I’d even front the cost of the pie if necessary, but I think he’ll be up for the challenge as well) I’m going to document the making of the pie and create a short film about it.

I, of course, am planning to blog the whole process and am simply thrilled that my little corner of cyberspace has finally given rise to one of those ridiculous stunts that the Internet seems to have been invented for…