Pot Belly Pizza

I was invited to a belly dancing pot luck dinner up in the hippie dippy Topanga canyons nestled between Malibu and Santa Monica. I was totally game. The thought of showing my Irish colored, pot (lucked) belly was intriguing. 

But really. What does one bring to share? 
I considered my options...
It seemed like the kind of place to bring something vegan, something local, something that screamed quasi ethnic and uber healthy. Can't have too much roughage to induce pot bellies. Shouldn't be too rich or too spicy to induce GI problems...

I looked in my fridge for ingredients. Leftover Chicago style deep dish pizza? 
If anyone took a smell of that, leftovers or not, to hell with being vegan. 

Alas, driving the hour across town and up the canyon was just too much for me. Especially following a night of Masa deep dish pizza, beer and Italian pastries.

So what did I do instead you ask? Literally went through Travel + Leisure with a fine tooth comb. A guilty pleasure of mine. Leave me alone for hours. I will be happy as a clam. 
Unmotivated to drive around LA but literally scamming on dozens of restaurants from the comfort of my home. As if I could light this town on fire.

It all starts by going to CNN's website and finding some link that brings me right to T+L. I have to act like I stumbled upon it. I love you CNN but I'm really just using you to get to something better. I mean, food just sort of trumps news on SUV car crashes and the latest Obama discussion. I'll spend 10 minutes reading about how to elect a new pope but when push comes to shove, I really went on the sight to find "Best Desserts Around the World." 
That headline screams, "tell me more!!!"

This recent T+L romance went from "Best Brunches Around the World" to "Best Domestic Coffeehouses" to "LA Dining Guide" and then "LA Dining Guide" surely brings in a whole other element when I must check out the location + menu of each establishment. 
You can see how this might take longer than electing a new pope?
...or driving up to Topanga for that matter. 

The particularly fun part about T+L these days is that it's actually accessible. No offense St. Louis, I love you times one hundred, but you will hardly find a feature dining spot when you're up against the world. 
ie: Huckleberry in Santa Monica is pinned up against places in Bangkok to Timbuktu. And when the menu says something like...

Fried egg sandwich

with sunny side up eggs, Niman Ranch bacon,

Gruyère, arugula & aioli on country bread

and

Niman Ranch Maple-Bacon Biscuit 

..can you really argue? 
Really? With Maple-Bacon Biscuit? It's like going up against the pope himself. Holy. 
So you can see why STL may have it rough. I mean, I unknowningly frequent a "best" coffeehouse listed in the US.
 

So what do I do? Create email bucket lists. From A-nimal, the restaurant of the Top Chef winners, to Z. 

As the night grew on, so did my food cravings. This should be the warning label for T+L.

So did I go out you ask? God no. I couldn't even get up off the couch. Let alone belly dance. 

No, I invited some San Francisco company over. 

We looked in my fridge. Guess what was the only thing in there. 

Pizza + Beer.

My San Franciscoan had never had Chicago style pizza. 

un.heard.of. 

And let me tell you, this was like the best buttery cornmeal crust you could ever sink your teeth into. 

L+T may not have a warning label but I provided one. I warned said company, "Company, when you eat Chicago style deep dish pizza you are making a commitment to being uncomfortable. This is what happens: You will eat half a slice and say to yourself, "should I finish that off? Because I am Oh so full." And guess what? You inevitably do. Because you are powerless to that Chicago factor."

So we ate Masa California veggie Chicago style deep dish pizza with some San Francisco Mission Street pale ale in Los Angeles and had ourselves a combo meal of us and it and all things good. 

So I will take on the annual pot luck belly dancing extravaganza another night when I can "stomach" it. Which may not be ever. Especially considering my LA to Z dining plans.

That only-in-Chicago factor helps explain why the Windy City once again won the No. 1 spot for best pizza city, according to Travel + Leisure readers. This year’s America’s Favorite Cities survey—in which readers rank 35 cities for such enticements as luxury stores, live music, and good-looking locals—revealed voters’ reverence for Chicago’s deep-dish magic.

...Oh glorious confirmation. 

You have not let me down.