Guys, welcome back.
I hope you're enjoying the show.
I'm about to call one of my favorite spots in the city.
It's Dave from Coalfire.
(phone rings)
Dave, you all right? (alert chimes)
- Yep.
- Okay, are we recording?
- Yeah, we're there.
- Okay, how excited are you to be back on "Chicago's Best"?
- Scale of one to 10, 2.4.
(Elliott laughs) I'm just kidding,
come on, 300.
- Was there anything about the filming process
that truly surprised you?
- Me, this guy?
You mean me?
You're asking me if I was (laughs) surprised
by the filming process?
All of it, my man, it was incredible.
It was so cool to watch!
(quirky, percussive music)
(lively rock music)
- Your pizza education starts at the beginning,
classic, old-school.
(alert chimes) And Steve on Facebook said--
- Hey, Steve on Facebook, tank you very much!
Appreciate it.
(school bell rings) - Well, get your
notebooks out, kids.
- Anyone? - 'Cause class is in session.
(lively country-rock music)
All right, so, Dave, let's--
- English, London?
Who gave us these friggin' haircuts?
- Yeah.
- No, they have pizza there, do you know what they call it?
(game-show chirp escalates)
- What? - Chips.
(comedic drum-kit rimshot music)
- All right, all right. - They're called chips.
And they're wrapped in newspaper.
(clicks) Fun fact for all you viewers,
we had to cut, because I made a joke
at Elliott Bam-be-rah's expense
and he had to run to the bathroom
and cry it out for a few minutes.
But we came back strong.
- Fun fact, it's pronounced Bambrough,
and also, just like baseball, there are no tears in food TV.
(clicks) All right.
(energetic music)
I'd start off by talking about what you guys do here,
what you're famous for.
(clanks)
- We're the only place in Chicago cooking with hard coal.
We use no wood, no gas assist.
And while we take elements from Neapolitan,
New Haven, New York style, and Chicago style
into the equation, so we don't have
a geographical bias, per se.
- It's (beep) the man--
- [Dave] We don't follow any of it.
- [Elliott] Screw your rules.
- Totally. - School's out for the summer.
- Chicago's all about mixing a lot of people
from a lot of different cultures.
- The city has 77 neighborhoods.
Everybody loves pizza.
- It feels really Chicago in that way.
You've got regular standard pizza places,
and this is a little something special.
- [Elliott] We're clearly not here for deep dish,
we're not gonna be making thin crust.
What are we gonna do?
- An 'nduja coal-fired pizza.
- 'Nduja?
- 'Nduja, a Calabrian salami
'nduja pizza. - Right, spreadable.
- Thin in the middle and chewy, crispy, burnt on the edges.
(clicks) There I am, trying to sound
like I know what I'm talking about.
I had no idea.
I'm reading off the script.
I'm reading off the back of my hand right there.
(clicks)
The Bambroughnator can stretch pizza way better than me!
(rewind chirps)
- I've stretched a few pizza bases in my time.
- Oh, I can tell.
(fast-forward chirps)
- On the bottom. - Nice layer right
on the bottom. - Ooh, this is super soft.
- That's fantastic cheese.
- That's spongy in consistency,
almost. - I can't even tell you
where I get it, man.
I'd have to kill you, 100%.
I might kill you anyway.
- All right. (gun fires)
- This cheese is out of this world.
- He's normally a very friendly guy,
understand. - Nobody knows.
I'm not friendly, it's not true.
"We cook with love here."
No, no, no, we cook with rage at Coalfire.
That's still true.
I get up every morning, I don't meditate,
I get myself all revved up with anger before I come to work.
(laughs) I find that works best to cook pizza.
'Nduja is 80% fat content, but most salumis are 80% lean.
So this is the fat stuff, man,
this is the butter salumi right here.
- If you didn't know that--
(clicks) - There is Elliott
pointing fingers, which almost got him killed.
(clicks) Boom, into your mouth.
(comedic drum-kit rimshot music)
- [Elliott] We top our pie with some stracciatella,
house-pickled cherry peppers, and a little
Parmigiano-Reggiano.
- The Italians say, "Feed the chickens right there."
(chicken clucks)
- [Elliott] A bit of chili olive oil for some--
(clicks) - Yeah, when he hits
me in the eye with the chili oil?
Not cool.
- The chili oil in Dave's eyes
(clicks) was actually payback
for the crying that definitely
didn't happen in the bathroom.
(Paul's speech slows down)
(karate kick lands) extra kick,
and the always necessary chopped garlic.
- Ready to bake this?
- Dude, the (speaking in foreign language) oven.
- This is.
It's the (speaking in foreign language) oven,
that's how you pronounce it, it's
the (speaking in foreign language) oven.
So we're doing it as old-school
as you possibly can in the States.
- I'll see you in the dining room,
finish this up. - Let's do it!
- Okay! (claps) - 100%.
- Anarchy in the pizza land. - Let's go!
(energetic rock music)
- It reminds me of Old World classic Italian pizza.
- Neapolitan influence, but they're doing
an American take on it.
- Really nice crisp on the bottom.
- It's a little bit burnt, a little bit bubbly.
- All the flavors put together.
It's super delicious.
I can never get enough of it.
- Circular, sexy beast.
(panther growls)
- Normally I would've gone in the bathroom
and washed up, got rid of this flour and dough and stuff
(Dave laughs) all over me,
but you've taught me something new today.
I am now a pizza anarchist, and I don't care.
- [Dave] Follow your own rules.
- [Elliott] Right.
- [Dave] Do what you please.
If it makes you feel good, do it.
- This'll make me feel good.
- Let's do it.
- See, right there.
I'm like, "Let's do this so you can get
"the hell out of my hair, Bambrough!"
- [Elliott] That crust bears all the hallmarks
of a traditional Old World Neapolitan-style pizza,
but my God--
- There it is, look at me taking a big, greasy bite!
- That is astonishing.
(clicks) The smells that emanate
from that place, partially due
to that coal fire, is incredible.
You just gotta go.
Also, Dave is actually a really nice guy.
(clicks)
Why do you think you guys here are Chicago's best for pizza?
- We were the first restaurant in Chicago,
and maybe America, to put 'nduja on a pizza.
There I am, claiming to have invented
'nduja pizza, and you went right
(school bell rings) along with it,
so I really appreciate that. - For the world.
Pizza anarchists, coming to a town near you.
(Dave laughs)
You can hit stop on this video,
now, too, if you want.
- Oh, oh, no, dude, I never started it.
I'm not kidding.
- [Elliott] You're joking!
- [Dave] Dude, I never started the video.
- [Elliott] No, you're joking.
- [Dave] I'm sorry, man,
you what? - Are you still--
- [Dave] I'm just kidding!
Come on! (air whooshes)