Pizzeria

WITH SO much talk about Pizzeria Stella, at Head House Square, it seemed time to head on over and find out if this upper-crust pizzeria was the real deal, or just blowing smoke from its wood-burning oven. In my mind, few starters stimulate the appetite better than prosciutto from the San Daniele region, so an order ($10) went in before we even made our pie choices. One of the characteristics for preferring this cured ham over Prosciutto di Parma is that it is slightly sweeter, less salty, and the texture is softer.

WITH SO much talk about Pizzeria Stella, at Head House Square, it seemed time to head on over and find out if this upper-crust pizzeria was the real deal, or just blowing smoke from its wood-burning oven. In my mind, few starters stimulate the appetite better than prosciutto from the San Daniele region, so an order ($10) went in before we even made our pie choices. One of the characteristics for preferring this cured ham over Prosciutto di Parma is that it is slightly sweeter, less salty, and the texture is softer.

My friend Ed Levine grabs a slice by its puffy outer lip, lifts it high over the table, and peers at its crusty underside with the knowing eyes of a mechanic looking under the hood of a tomato-red sports coupe. "Uh-huh . . . " he says softly, examining the margherita at Pizzeria Stella and starting to tick through his checklist. The "leoparding" is gorgeous, he says, indicating the perfect constellation of charry dots and heat blisters scattered across the crust. There's a nice rise to the edge, which inflates like a bike tire around the pie. And then there is the chew, a distinct yet delicate outer crisp, giving way to an inner tenderness that has just the right amount of salt and a roasty hint of wood smoke.

Passersby could not help but notice last Sunday that the shuttered Cosi at the corner of Second and Lombard was suddenly set off by a flared skirt of red-and-blue Cinzano tables, giving the sidewalk a romantic whiff of Roman holiday. It was now Pizzeria Stella, another milestone - Numero 19 - in the Stephen Starr galaxy. And if you peered through the window blinds, you could see its training day in progress. It would be opening Tuesday (as in five days ago), so it is not exaggerating to say that the hearthside activity was intense and a bit chaotic, as befits a work still very much in progress.

A North Philadelphia man was convicted by a city judge yesterday of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole in the robbery and shooting of an Egyptian immigrant who owned a neighborhood pizzeria. Cordell Adams, 25, was found guilty after a daylong nonjury trial before Common Pleas Court Judge Renee Cardwell Hughes. Earlier in the day, Adams rejected a plea deal offered by Assistant District Attorney Brian Zarallo under which he would have pleaded guilty to second-degree murder - murder while committing another crime.

My sense of smell welcomes the yeasty, garlicky whiff that carries promises of fresh basil, mozzarella from water-buffalo milk, and tomatoes plucked from the slopes of nearby Vesuvius. This is an aroma that wasn't built in a day. Indeed, they've been turning out pizzas at the Antica Pizzeria Brandi, just off the trendy Via Chiaia, for more than a century; it was here that pizza got its modern look in 1889 when a treat was prepared for Queen Margherita and taken to the nearby royal palace.

Stephen Starr took the boys (and a couple of girls) out for pizza Thursday. At 9:41 in the morning. For a clam pie, in New Haven, Conn., for goodness' sake, four hours and change by jouncing shuttle bus from his offices over the Continental in Old City. In the gray, drumming rain. He was so hungry by the time he got there that he did what any famished pizza-eater would do: He promptly, and with rueful chagrin, burned the roof of his mouth. And that was just pizzeria Numero Uno. There were four more to come on this gonzo pizza tour - back down in New York's East Village, and in Brooklyn, the harp wires of the bridge going hazy in the fading light.

A 44-year-old Egyptian immigrant tried to fend off an armed robber who knew him by name, but was shot to death in front of relatives who then wrestled the gunman to the ground. Aly E. Elkaied, co-owner of Carnival Pizza at 3062 N. 23d St. in North Philadelphia, was closing up Monday night when the masked gunman entered the rear of the store shortly after 11 p.m. and demanded money, police said yesterday. Police said the gunman, identified as Cordell Adams, 23, lives on the same block as the pizza shop and was known to employees.

Pete Mavroudis, owner of Apollo's Family Pizzeria in Bensalem, is feeling the economy's squeeze from all sides. The rising price of gasoline is making deliveries more expensive. The cost of his biggest ingredient - flour for the crust - is going up even faster than oil prices. And newly cost-conscious customers have cut back their orders 15 percent to 20 percent. This week, Mavroudis threw away 5,000 menus that offered 16-inch pizza for $8.50 and replaced them with new models that raised the price 50 cents.

THE CHAIN GANG never really noticed when Pizzeria Uno changed its name to Uno Chicago Grill, but it probably happened when the deep dish pizza maker added about 1,000 items to its menu, turning it into something like Pizzeria Bennigan's. We were at the Uno's out in Doylestown (they still let people smoke in restaurants out in the 'burbs) and in a bit of a rush, never the best move at a chain. First off, the music - Prince, R.E.M., Sheryl Crow - was surprisingly listenable, and played at a proper background decibel level.