Tournament of Pizza voting leaderboard
With a little more than 24 hours to go in the crowd voting for this year's Tournament of Pizza field, there's a leaderboard after the jump. Some of the early standings aren't surprising to us (The Fountain) -- but we didn't see some of these coming (Giuseppe's!).
The top two vote-getters in each bracket will get spots in the field of 16. (Voting ends Friday at noon. Vote now!)
Albany
1. The Fountain - 15.6%
2. Paesan's Guilderland - 11.5%
3. Lou-Bea's - 7.3%
Close behind: Little Anthony's, Soho Pizza, Townsend Park, The Orchard
Saratoga
1. D'Andrea's - 13.5%
2. Cusato's - 12.1%
2. Pope's - 12.1%
Close behind: Venezia's, Marino's, Antipasto's
Schenectady
1. Fireside - 22.5%
2. Pizza King - 20.9%
3. Ario's - 14.7%
Close behind: Nico's, Homestyle, Johnny C's
Troy
1. Giuseppe's - 31.5%
2. DeFazio's - 13.6%
3. Pop's Pizza- 10.5%
Close behind: Purple Pub, Red Front
The four bracket winners from last year -- Pasquale's (Albany), Nunzio's (Saratoga), Marino's Flying Pizza (Schenectady), I Love (Troy) -- have automatic berths. The final four slots will be picked by the editors.
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Comments
I find it hard to believe that Antipasto's isnt' rating. Why is it considered part of Saratoga - it's NOT in Saratoga. This whole thing seems lame. Why not just open it up to a vote for all, regardless of area?
... said xina on Sep 9, 2010 at 10:40 AM | link
The brackets are really more by county, not by city. Saratoga, Albany, Schenectady, Rensselaer (Troy). Seems a decent way to do it.
... said Alex on Sep 9, 2010 at 12:25 PM | link
@Xina - from what I see, they are "bracket names" based on the local communities, NOT the actual location of the pizza places. I cant say I agree with you on the "lame" label...I think its pretty cool to give exposure to all of these small businesses, and on top of it, who doesn't like pizza?
... said JD on Sep 9, 2010 at 12:35 PM | link
D'Andrea's is the worst pizza in the history of the entire world. Even at 3 a.m. after spending far too many hours at Caroline Street watering holes. Are you people nuts?
... said Saratoga Sam on Sep 9, 2010 at 2:28 PM | link
Not to be a geographic snob...but Cohoes and Watervliet are in Albany County, not Rensselaer.
... said BobF on Sep 9, 2010 at 4:20 PM | link
Giuseppe's is the best pizza in town.
... said Brandi on Sep 9, 2010 at 6:57 PM | link
giuseppes!!! mama mia!!!!
... said buckpasser on Sep 9, 2010 at 8:50 PM | link
For those with short memories, or who weren't around for last years TOP, The Fountain and D'Andrea's didn't make it past the first round.
I know there are a lot of people out there who swear by these institutions, but I'm left wondering why they think their favorite pizza will perform better in 2010 than in 2009.
... said Daniel B. on Sep 9, 2010 at 9:57 PM | link
Tried The Fountain for the first time last night. It was decent but not anything I'd make an effort to try again. Lots (!!) of cheese though if you're into that. If I'm in Albany I'll head to SoHo.
... said DH on Sep 10, 2010 at 8:57 AM | link
Marisa's and Smith's Tavern both make a better pizza then a number of these contenders, in my opinion.
... said Joseph on Sep 10, 2010 at 9:42 AM | link
Considering that the same judges are being used this year, @DanielB's comment is particularly noteworthy. Too bad it looks like you guys will have to suffer through losing pizzas again this year. Different judges may have felt differently, but there's little reason to suspect the same ones will. In fact Daniel's comment sort of says it all, right?
With so many unrecognized shops out there, seems a waste of time and effort to have the same judges once again judge places they didn't like before.
... said BobF on Sep 10, 2010 at 12:04 PM | link
I'm officially volunteering as a candidate to be a judge for 2011...(Didn't work this year, but I guess I might as well...)
... said derryX on Sep 10, 2010 at 2:47 PM | link
@BoBF. I'm afraid so too. AOA: is this tasting completely blind? All across brackets?
... said -S on Sep 10, 2010 at 3:23 PM | link
About a few of the issues that have come up in this thread...
Bracket names
As a few people noted, the bracket names refer to general areas and not necessarily the cities themselves. We also interpret these areas liberally. So, as Bob noted, Cohoes and Watervilet are in Albany County -- but the pizzerias from there are in the Troy bracket. We did that because Watervliet and Cohoes are closely associated with Troy. And it allows us some flexibility in filling out the brackets (for example, we've put pizzerias from the west side of the Northway in Latham in the Schenectady bracket).
Repeat contenders
I have great respect for Daniel's thoughts on pizza (obviously, we picked him to be a judge), but I have to differ with him a bit on this one. One of the twists about the TOP is that we're never really sure what kind of pizza we're going to get.
We've had a few places turn out pizzas that I think were probably not the best representative of their usual work. Maybe they were having a bad day. Maybe the guy working the oven got a call right when he should have pulled the pizza. Who knows. I bet we've also gotten a few pizzas that are excellent versions of what a pizzeria normally turns out. It's like sports -- sometimes teams play worse -- or better -- than they normally do. On any given evening...
Judging
Sebastien asked about the judging process. It has been -- and will be -- blind. The judges know who's in the tournament -- like everyone else -- but they don't know whose slice is before them for tasting (they get slices on a lettered plate). Even the final -- where the pizzerias get to pick which pizza they'd like to enter -- is blind. The judges know who's in the final, but they don't know which pizza is which.
We're always open to ideas about the tournament -- I'm sure there are ways we can improve. But the basic structure has worked pretty well so far. And it's been a lot of fun.
... said Greg on Sep 10, 2010 at 3:50 PM | link
giuseppes oh my God! they are amazing! i can't get enough!
... said maria on Sep 11, 2010 at 1:56 PM | link
Greg's cool head wins again.
After the close of round one last year (when the Fountain's cheese pizza lost) I had the opportunity to have a slice from the Fountain with toppings that was significantly better than the cheese slice presented at the tournament.
My own favorite pizza place in California would only occasionally make the perfect pie that won my heart. And on rare occasions it would be fully mediocre. Most of the time it was exceptional. But like a junkie, I kept going back to try and experience those truly perfect moments.
So in a rare moment, I concede. And with renewed hope for greatness, I look forward to judging the slices put in front of me.
... said Daniel B. on Sep 12, 2010 at 11:15 PM | link
A few years ago I'd have to pay someone for this informatoin.
... said Janais on Aug 7, 2011 at 1:14 AM | link