Professor Pizza

This is a pizzeria I have long been looking forward to visiting. I first encountered Tony Scardino - “The Professor” - from his incredible-looking pandemic-era pizza-making. Scardanio has a formidable pizza resume, including studying under the legendary @capopizza and winning at the @ipc_internationalpizzacup. A pizza intellectual, he was deemed “Professor” after lecturing at DePaul on Italian food culture. Starting as a pop-up, @professorpizza now has a location in Old Town. It is in the same building as Second City’s Main Stage and so is a favorite of the comedy crowd (a beshirted @bertkreischer is a regular). It was an honor to meet the professor, converse on the art of pizza, and reverently receive his gift of a free basket of garlic knots.

Professor now offers four pizza styles: Sicilian, Grandma, New York, and Cracker Thin Tavern style. We went with the Deluxe Pepperoni in the Grandma style as I have been eyeing that pizza from a distance for years. While a square pizza, Grandma style is the thinner relative of the heavier Sicilian & Detroit styles. It typically has a light chew and crispy lightly-fried crust, just like the type of pizza your Sicilian grandmother actually made.

If I had to describe Professor Pizza’s grandma-style in one word, I would call it *Maximalist*

This is a pizza of intense flavor. To start with, it’s about 50% more vertical than the average grandma style. The flavorful crust is thicker and well-fried with an artfully browned undercarriage. The crisp fried exterior contrasts well with the airy interior - a sign of a thoughtfully made crust (they use a 2 day fermentation on high hydration dough). But what stands out is the abundant quality toppings: cupped pepperoni, thick dollops of chunky red sauce (added post-bake), whipped ricotta in rosettes, and topped with Mike’s Hot Honey. With heavy sauce, #ronicups, and cheese - this pizza has some strong flavors. So, each slice is heavy and indulgent - perhaps showing the Chicago influence. However, the structure holds and the flavors stay balanced. So, I might call it “Elevated Maximalsim”.