Don't You Think We're Doing a Service to the World?!

Cheese Pizza -- Mimi's Pizza and Restaurant
Mimi's Pizza and Restaurant

By the time begin to we make our way to Mimi's Pizza and Restaurant for Bobby Flay's CHILDHOOD FAVORITE, the cheese pizza, we are in bad moods.  A deadly combination of poor service and poorer cake at Lady M Confections has had this effect on us, and Ginger is on a rampage.

"Don't you think we're doing a service to the world?!" she asks Vodka, as if she is the head of UNICEF.  "I mean, even if we discourage only one person from ever going to Lady M Confections, we have done our part."

And with that, we seem to have grown too big for our blogger britches, which is especially ironic considering that Vodka's mother is still our only confirmed reader.

Meandering our way up Lexington Avenue, we stumble into the bleak storefront of Mimi's Pizza, Vodka frantically jabbing at her phone as we have forgotten what we're supposed to eat.

Here's a Hint, Fools: It's Pizza

Ginger places our order for two slices of cheese pizza and a Diet Coke while Vodka stakes claim to two window seats and eyes the premises.

Barbra and No Bernadette? Unacceptable Mimi's

Slightly shabby, Mimi's walls feature headshots of celebrities whom we are certain were popular in about 1972, along with the ultimate tchotchke:

Ladies and Gentlemen, Feast Your Eyes Upon the Pizza Clock

"Wanna do me a favor and take a picture of that pizza clock over there?" Vodka asks Ginger.  Without a word about the absurd task she has been given, Ginger goes off to retrieve a shot of the prized clock along with our pizza slices.  Returning, she flashes a handful of one-dollar bills in Vodka's face.

"Stapled," she states.  When Vodka merely stares at her, Ginger clarifies herself.  Picking up a solitary dollar, she stretches it open to reveal a single staple in the middle.  "What am I supposed to do with a stapled dollar?!"

Vodka expresses no sympathy towards Ginger's plight as she is entirely too consumed in sprinkling a healthy dose of oregano and garlic salt onto her slice, while Ginger risks life and tongue by diving mouth-first into the tip of her scalding-hot pizza.

Pizza Tips Wait for No One

"Why do they always have to make pizza so hot?  I should've asked for the slice that's been sitting out all day," Vodka complains (proving once again that the effect of Lady M has not yet worn off).

Please Note How the Slices Are Too Wide for the Counter

Ginger is waving her hand in front of her mouth too rapidly to answer, so instead, we reflect upon the fact that the latest three blog entries may just be our most sober series of eating ever.  If this is how the rest of year proceeds, we might just be teetotalers by the time we reach 2013.

Which is about as likely as us ever returning to Lady M Confections.

Love How the Dirty Napkin Made It Into Every Shot

Eventually, the pizza cools down enough for us to taste, and we sink our teeth into the thick glob of melted cheese and rip through the thin, slightly soggy crust.

Hello Grease, Our Old Friend

The proportion of this pizza is pretty superior -- equal amounts of crust, sauce, and cheese, and they meld together perfectly.

Not Part of the Domino's Five-Five-Five Plan

While Mimi's pizza is supposed to be ideal for folding, this crust does not seem sturdy enough to do so (though we never make a habit of folding our pizza anyway).

We Prefer to Make a Mess

As we consume more of our ample slices, we decide that Mimi's is very good -- for pizza.  The sauce is especially tangy, the slice itself is well-cooked... but it is still just pizza.  And pizza, we think, is a little bit like roast chicken - it has to be extremely distinctive if it wants to stand out from the crowd.  Mimi's Pizza is good, yes, but it is also rather ordinary.  And while we understand why Bobby Flay would have nostalgic affection for it as his childhood pizza joint, it is just not special enough to warrant a specific trip uptown.

Unless, of course, one has a thing for clocks in the shape of pizza pies.

Mimi's Pizza and Restaurant's Cheese Pizza: 4 stars