Thanks, eli, for this find. Open just 5 weeks on Lincoln Ave. a short distance north of Jibek Jolu, Jimmy's offers an authentic NY slice, the first I have found in the Chicago area. I spoke with Jimmy, who confided that he did not even like pizza until he turned 19 years old, and then, suddenly, he became obsessed with it, making crust after crust until he had run through a raft of 50 pound bags of flour. His plans for delivery are in the works, but he does not want to deliver until he finds a way to deliver the product that's up to his standards. Jimmy mentioned that he had a previous career in business, but that being in a cubicle all day was not for him. Instead, he shared, the draw of making pizza comes from two things: first, striving to get all the tiny details right until they come together in a good pizza, and, most of all, interacting with his customers. I could tell he was sincere about this, and his words made me think of things Burt Katz has said.
Here's the menu:
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Pizza under the lights, and calzone.
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Slices, Pepperoni and Ricotta "White" Pie
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The pizza itself? Hand-tossed crust, foldable and bready & soft overall, not-too-sweet straight up tomato sauce, not-too greasy cheese. In short, NY pizza as in Ray's on 6th Ave. back in the day when it was still great. This is not New Haven or NJ pizza, with its more substantial crust. But I liked the white ricotta pie quite a bit with its garlic notes and not-too-wet ricotta spots. This is not everyone's pizza ideal, but it is an excellent example of its type. And Jimmy is simply charming. I wish him well!
Man : I can't understand how a poet like you can eat that stuff.
T. S. Eliot: Ah, but you're not a poet.