New Yorkers love to tell Californians how great the pizza east of the Mississippi is as if we have never been treated to a tasty pie.
While we may not have a Grimaldi's under the Golden Gate Bridge, we do have Pizzaiolo in Oakland and Playboy thinks it is one of the best pizza places in the country.
The men's magazine took a break from printing pictures of scantily clad women to rating the 10 best pizza pies in the country based solely on their raw, stripped down taste.
The popular Oakland pizzeria was founded by a former Chez Panisse chef and the pizza strays close to the mantra of Slow Food Queen Alice Waters: use sustainable and local ingredients.
Playboy recognized Pizzaiolo for the difference ingredients can make in helping a simple pizza become a thing of beauty.
"It’s the little tweaks that chef Charlie Hallowell and crew do that elevate Pizzaiolo’s status to remarkable: Instead of pulled mozzarella, pies get mozzarella curd, the cheese in its rawest form that melts like butter once in the oven, avoiding any rubbery pitfalls," the magazine boasts.
And if you want to taste a slice of pizza heaven but you don't want to deal with the crowds at Pizzaiolo, head down to the Grand Lake area of Oakland and get a pie to go out at the pizzeria's new -- and strangely named -- outpost Boot and Shoe Service.
