Everyone knows The Daily Show host Jon Stewart is no fan of Fox News, but what's he got against Chicago deep-dish pizza? A lot, apparently, as evidenced by a comedic rant last week that set Twitter aflutter and prompted a quick response from Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel. Stewart complained that Chicago-style pizza is "tomato soup in a bread bowl. This is an above-ground marinara swimming pool for rats…I want to know that, when I get drunk and pass out on my pizza, I'm not going to drown." Not surprisingly, Chicagoans flooded The Daily Show's Twitter account with angry tweets, but Emanuel got the last word, sending Stewart a deep-dish pie with anchovies and a note that read, "Deep dish with dead fish. Love, Rahm."

Read more at PMQ.com.

Shining a Light on Women Chefs

A recent article in TIME magazine left women off of a list of America's most influential chefs. How many women currently work in your kitchen, and how do they affect your bottom line? What's your take on TIME's view of the industry? PMQ's editor-at-large Liz Barrett offers her two cents' worth in her blog article, "No Girls Allowed!"

Read more at The Pizza Insider.

Pairing Pizza with Craft Brews

The folks at Rock & Brews know a thing or two about pairing beer and pizza. “We do pairings all the time,” says Michael Zislis, who co-owns the Southern California eatery with KISS rockers Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons. The beer’s IBU rating makes a big difference in pizza pairings, he notes. IBU stands for International Bitterness Units, a measure of the bitterness of a beer (which depends on the quantity of hops used during the brewing process.) “If the beer has a lot of IBUs, I like to pair it with our Maui Wowie pizza, which has jalapeños and pepperoni,” Zislis says. “I’ll pair a margherita pizza — which is a subtle pizza with just tomatoes, cheese and sauce — with a lighter beer, like a pilsner or a lager. With a really meaty pizza, I’ll go with a darker beer, like a dark ale.” Other experts recommend the following pairings: bacon and pineapple with a porter or stout; Italian sausage with blonde ale; and onion, olive, mushroom and peppers with an Indian pale ale.

Read more about Rock & Brews at PMQ.com.

Pizza Box King Earns World Record

Scott Wiener wrote the book on pizza box design – literally – so it should surprise no one that he now holds the Guinness World Record for the largest collection of pizza boxes. When Wiener, author of "Viva la Pizza! The Art of the Pizza Box," isn't taking tourists around to the city's top pizza joints with his business, Scott's Pizza Tours, he's ordering pies, gobbling them down and admiring the boxes that catch his eye. He has about 595 cardboard pizza boxes from 45 countries, including The Netherlands, Israel and Dubai. To learn more, watch PMQ's interview with Wiener about pizza box marketing on our new online talk show, Pizza 360.

Read more at PMQ.com.

Pizza Without Borders:
Pre-Orders Help Parisians Beat Crowds

Even with a 90-minute lunch break, Parisians can spend half of that time just trying to flag down a server. Some restaurants have addressed the problem with mobile ordering, which allows diners to place orders in advance, skip the lines and savor their meals "like decent human beings." Technology companies such as MonRestoEnPoche ("Restaurant In My Pocket") allow patrons to schedule and order their meals in advance (and even pay by phone), then walk right into the restaurant and start eating. Meanwhile, MidiExpress offers self-service kiosks that allow customers to place orders from outside the store before picking them up inside.

Learn more about these technologies at Pizza Without Borders.

Pizzeria Makes Wishes Come True

It started with a sick little boy's wish to meet Winnie the Pooh. After Betsy Kromidas helped make that dream come true through Make-A-Wish Connecticut, she has supported the organization ever since, recently bringing Pine Loft Pizzeria & Café in Berlin, Connecticut, into the partnership. The pizzeria hosted Making Music for Make-A-Wish on Sunday, Nov. 17, featuring music from five local bands. Guests paid a $10 donation at the door to enter, and nine prizes were raffled away, with 100 percent of the night's proceeds going to Make-A-Wish Connecticut. Kromidas told the New Britain Herald that the fundraiser was inspired by her work 10 years ago with a Hartford boy who suffered from Hunter Syndrome, a terminal illness. Make-A-Wish sponsored a trip for him and his family to Disney World. The boy passed away four years later, at the age of nine, but Kromidas feels grateful for the opportunity to help him and his loved ones. "It was the most amazing time for that family," she said. "No one can take those memories away from them."
Read more at PMQ.com.