The Girl Who Ate Everything

When is it okay to eat pizza and ice cream? If you don't care about your health, it's totally fine when it's awesome pizza and awesome ice cream (actually, if you really don't care then it's fine to eat unawesome pizza and unawesome ice cream...but that would suck). I was about to say that it's not a combination I eat much, but then I remembered that my last pizza outing to Luzzo's was accompanied by a stop at Il Laboratorio del Gelato. Now it's a theme. Crap.

line

I went to Grimaldi's for a flickr food meet. When I got there, I realized....wait, I don't know anyone; how is this going to work out? I only knew Allen, who couldn't answer my calls because his cell phone died. He called me from a payphone to tell me he'd be late.

DEAR HUMANS: Please have your cell phone. I've missed three fooding opportunities in the past because someone didn't have their cell phone (one was last night). If you have it, charge it. Plug it in. Embed it in your skull. I don't really care. Allen did meet up with us so it was fine, but you have no idea how much it stresses me out when I try to contact someone through their phone and they don't answer because they don't have it or it died. Besides that I'm sad for a missed fooding opportunity, I also have to alter my schedule around the supposed fooding opportunity. When it doesn't happen, I feel like I wanted a chunk of my life. I don't think I've mentioned this pet peeve of mine before, so...eh, remember it now. I'm not saying I'm always punctual, but I think I always have my cell phone when I need it most. Hell, people don't even call me that often.

I was worried because everyone was late due to crapped up subways. I wanted to leave when the 1 PM meeting time came and went, but since I knew Allen was coming, I stayed put. Most of the people eventually turned up though, resulting in MASSIVE FOODING, OH OH OH, HERE IT COMES!

inside

...But first! Grimaldi's is rather small, hence the line outside the door. Our party of 10 was split into four and six, but after a couple next to our 6-table moved, we shoved our detached party of four into our row. Six of us shared two pizzas while the other four people shared one.

garlic and basil

If you order a pizza with basil, you get a smattering of basil. If you order garlic, you will get a bucket of garlic. Hm. I'd prefer more basil, but that's okay. I was burping garlic all after the meal. Did you need to know that? Of course not.

slice, upskirt

Keeping in mind that I haven't eaten that much pizza in general, this is the best crust I've ever tasted. "Smokey", as Allen said. "Un-floppy and a bit crispy", as I said. My determination to finish every last bit of crust resulted in a sore jaw, but that's alright, COS I LOVE MY CARBS. The cheese was great; it had substance and sweetness, not like that tasteless semi-transluscent goop. I ate three slices of this pizza. Yup.

another pizza!

Our other pizza was topped with sundried tomatoes and sausage. Good stuff, of course. I'm not sure what else to say. If you like sundried tomatoes and sausage, THIS IS FOR YOU. If you don't, THIS IS NOT FOR YOU. I don't care, so THIS IS IN THE MIDDLE FOR ME.

half a slice

The other four people couldn't finish their one pie. How is it that six of us finished two while four couldn't finish one? I can do the math, and that math just ain't right, kind of like my grammar. Although I could've eaten the whole slice, I split it with someone else to be that much less gluttonous, which admittedly isn't ...much. Hm. This pizza had more deliciousness and heart-stopping qualities than our two pizzas, as it was topped with extra cheese, basil, pepperoni, sausage, and garlic (and god knows what else). The extra cheese really does make a difference. I may as well just eat a blog of cheese topped with bread and tomato sauce. All the meat made it uber meat-tastic (embracing swine and cattle!).

I ended up eating 4.5 slices of pizza. No one else ate that much, apparently. I beat everyone? That's bad. Although I'm a college student, perhaps at the peak of my metabolic performance for the rest of my life, my metabolism isnt't that good. One thing I've noticed is that my skin is strangely clear (don't worry, I went through a pizza face phase in 8th grade) despite that it shouldn't be. Or am I just healthier than I think I am?

...HAHAHAHA, god, I doubt it. My intestines are literally full of crap. And dead bacteria.

But we must move on, as there is more gluttony to be seen.

Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory

Somewhat evil-y down the street from Grimaldi's is the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory. You can't just step out of Grimaldi's and not notice the cute ice cream filled house at the end of the street. Can't. Unless you're lactose intolerant, perhaps. Even then, you'd still be drawn to the creamy delights against your digestive system's wishes. None of us was lactose intolerant, so we made our way to the factory of ice cream (perhaps the best kind of factory).

flavors

Even though there are only eight flavors, I still had trouble deciding. "Vanilla? Chocolate? VANILLA AND CHOCOLATE? Butter pecan? CHOC? MY BRAIN IS OVERLOADED." There was also the problem of deciding between one scoop or two. Tough choice, eh? I'm sure you can guess which path I took.

two scoops for extra death

Yes, two scoops. EAT THAT. Wait. Don't eat that; it's mine. I went with vanilla chocolate chip and butter pecan because I can't recall the last time I got either of those ice cream flavors. How was it? SO FREAKIN' GOOD. Softer and creamier than the leading competitor, whoever that may be. I attribute these qualities to good ice cream factory-ing, good ingredients, and loooove. While Il Laboratorio del Gelato wins for my favorite flavors, this might win for my favorite texture. Creamy. Smooth. Fat. Things that end in -icious. I tried Allen's peaches and cream and it was just okay (could've used more peach flavor), but butter pecan is good.

oreo!

Alice, who coordinated the flickr meet, made a crapload of delicious chocolate covered white chocalte drizzled double stuffed Oreos for us. Aww! We each got three...meaning that I ate three. (hangs head in shame) That stuff is full of jittery sugary goodness. Thanks for the dessert, Alice!

sweetriot

Speaking of sugary things, sweetriot was nice enough to send me some of their chocolate covered cacao nibs. They're officially the first food company to ever give me free stuff. Although I've hoped for it, I never thought I'd actually get offered food, especially chocolate, through sharing gluttonous babbling with the world. Sweetriot is on top of the game--they even have a blog. As you can see, their packaging is very cute and well designed. I don't need these little containers, but I'm going to keep them anyway, to store...something. Hell, I'll find a use for em. It's a simple design, but cooler than a standard cardboard or tin box.

sweetriot...riot

The first time I tried sweetriot was at the Chocolate Show last fall. They stood out as having the most enthusiastic chocolate team clad in matching lab coat-ish coats (...yeah, that was the stupidest description ever) while weilding "protest" signs. Cute, eh? My friend bought a few containers and really liked them.

choooc

I like em too. They're crunchy little chocolate bits. Do you not like chocolate or crunch? Hells no! The only problem with this snack is that you can eat the whole thing waaay too quickly if you're not conscious about your consumption. Then again, all tasty things are like that. Dammit.