I put together a summary of my Round 1 scores. The only
outstanding misfire that I see is that Marino’s sausage pie should be higher
than Marissa’s and I’ve already mentioned that Marissa’s sausage pie should
have been a little lower. A rookie judge mistake. While I may have had doubts
when looking back at individual pizzas, I think the “Total” column is a good
ranking in how I felt about the shops and the pizza we were served.
Shop
|
Sausage
|
Broccoli
|
Total
|
DeFazio’s
|
21
|
19
|
40
|
Marino’s
|
18
|
20
|
38
|
Marissa’s
|
19
|
14
|
32
|
DC’s
|
13
|
16
|
29
|
Mario’s
|
13
|
11
|
24
|
I Love
|
12
|
12
|
24
|
Mama Mia’s
|
14
|
9
|
23
|
5th and 50
|
9
|
8
|
17
|
I think the “we were served” part of that last statement is
important and something that needs to be taken into consideration. These rankings
were based on two pizzas from 8 shops on random Thursday evenings. I’d argue
that each of these shops is capable of putting out better (or worse) pizza than
the pies we were served. One judge joked, “Any given Thursday” and there is a
lot of truth to that. I would, however, also argue that the likelihood of
getting a better pizza than what we were served improves the higher you go up
this list. And the pizza at Mama Mia’s is better than their score. I bet they
lost 6 or 7 points due to an unfortunate decision.
My top 4 shops can’t be the Final Four because two of them fought it out in a match up but my three highest scores all advanced to the semifinals. In
my overall scores, the two shops in Saratoga bracket finished 7th and
8th. The order of my rankings of Mama Mia's and 5th and 50 were overruled by the other judges and 5th
and 50 squeaked into the Final Four.
Some final thoughts on Round 1: Three of the top 4 ranked
shops on my list make their own sausage. I think that shows a certain level of
commitment to quality ingredients and that commitment comes through in the
product they sell. Only one of the shops in my top 4 uses screens. That’s a
different level of commitment to skill. In my mind, screens have more to do
with convenience and ease than quality. And the final weird thing I noticed
looking back at the Round 1 results is that half of the shops in the tournament start with
the letter M. I’m not sure what to make of that.
So I look at this and want to needle you about DC and its relatively high score in your rankings (especially if Marissa's should be knocked down a point or two).
ReplyDeleteBut I'll save that heckling for the next round of judging.
We'll have to debate it. I think this list is the correct order of best to worst. It also looks tiered, which I also think is correct - best, middle of the road, not as good. With a better broccoli pie, Mama Mia's would surely move up in the rankings.
ReplyDeleteA score in the mid teens was an OK slice but nothing spectacular. Around 20 was pretty damn good. And I didn't think we had anything good enough to approach the mid 20s.