The Legend is Gone: Vincent Chianese- 03/02/1925 - 03/07/2010

 *This is re-printed from the Tribune Review
The maestro is no more.
For more than a half-century, Vincent Chianese kneaded the dough, flung it effortlessly toward the ceiling then slapped on it enough ingredients to comfortably satisfy the collective appetites of a mid-sized military battalion.
He did so all the while with his trademark cigarette dangling precariously from his lips.
Chianese, the founder of Vincent's Pizza Park on Ardmore Boulevard in North Braddock and several franchise locations, died last week at the age of 85. He had been in declining health after selling the business he began in 1950 about five years ago.
Friends and former employees will gather at the pizzeria today from 4 to 9 p.m. to toast his memory and -- let's be honest -- probably indulge in a piece or two of his famous pizza.
"We've lost a legend," said Nina Burdell, 44, one of those former employees and North Braddock council president. "He was one of those larger-than-life figures who doesn't come around very often."

An Independent Review by JP

well, i was so determined to get some vincent's in me this weekend i decided to give it another try today. called first. the message on the machine said they're in their grieving period and will open back up soon. so i went to trusty old google on my android phone and found that i was closest to the penn hills location. called them and they were open! HUZZAH! so i drove there and got a vinnie pie. considering that this was not a tpc meeting, the review i'm about to give is unofficial and completely off the record. first thing i had noticed was that it was a vincents pizza/rudy's subs restaurant. sounds to me like the entrepreneur couldnt make up his/her (i'm thinking more along the lines of her ;) ) mind on which pittsburgh favorite franchise he or she wanted to open. i'm not a fan of rudy's subs because they give me migranes. dont know why. anywho, i didnt care for that too much. the girl making the pies looked to be about 19 years old and was texting between tosses. a far cry away from the woman that works at the plum location that i'm used to who's been doing it for 18 years and is the only other person that know's vinnie's secret at that location. if she cant come in, the place doesnt open. so as far as the actual restaurant i would give it a 2/5.

"Nobody makes it like I do"

Vincent Chianese, the gruff voiced, cigarette smoking, whiskey drinking, dough throwing owner of the Original Vincent's Pizza on Route 30 in Forest Hills, said it best.

Long known as the "Home of the Vinnie Pie", The Pizza Club (hereafter known as TPC) began on a Friday night in February of the wintriest winter anyone could remember. 02/19/2010 marked the first stop on a hopefully long tour of the best pizza pie shops around the Western PA area (not that we won't travel further in search of good pie!)

And what a stop it was. For some, it was the first time stepping into the Ardmore Blvd. shop; for others, well, it was like walking back into time. A time when your dough was tossed high in the air by Vinnie himself and his notoriously long cigarette ashes dangling from his mouth. Those were the days.

But I digress. Even though Vinnie and his smokes are gone, the ashes seem to live on in the ovens. And in the ridiculous amount of toppings piled on each pie. Some say it's too much while others say they used to get more, but if you get a pie with just cheese and peperoni, you've got a lot of work cut out for you indeed. Plus the thick, crusty dough gives you something to sop it all up with although some say it's a little too crusty. All in all, the flavors on my pie, which included the TPC minimum of pepperoni, plus sausage, mushrooms, anchovies, and garlic was reminiscent of the good old days. The pepperoni is hand cut and from somewhere great.

Maybe it's not like it used to be, with sausage chunks the size of my hand and pepperoni thrown across it like it was cheese, but all in all, the best pie around still.

But you don't want to read this drivel do you? See for yourself.

The First Meeting

TONIGHT: They start as six men on a quest to find and eat the best pizzas (hereafter known as pies) in the Pittsburgh/ Western PA/ Ohio area.

The Original Vincent's Pizza Park In Forest Hills will be the scene for the first meeting.

Pictures and posts to follow the carnage.