Pizza

A pizza delivery driver fought off five would-be robbers with a metal pipe Friday in Glen Burnie, Anne Arundel County police said. One of the suspects assaulted the 24-year-old driver around 7:30 p.m. when he exited his vehicle to make the delivery. Five suspects approached the driver and tried to rob him. One man assaulted the victim who fought off the suspects using a metal pipe he had with him. The suspects didn't get anything from the Pizza Hut driver, police said. Several officers including a K-9 and aviation unit were called in to search the area.

Police are looking for two men who robbed a pizza delivery driver in Glen Burnie Tuesday, police said. The 46-year-old victim was delivering pizzas to a house in the 600 block of Leprechaun Lane at 7:37 p.m. when two men approached him. One displayed a knife and demanded cash, police said. The victim gave the suspects an undisclosed amount of money while one of the men stole the pizzas. The suspects ran toward Four Leaf Clover Drive. They are described as black men. One is 6 feet tall and wore a dark sweatshirt with a hood and khaki pants.

"This isn't rocket science," assured John Azzolini, as he methodically attacked a lifeless mound of dough with his trusty rolling pin: four words that were music to my ears. John's a brilliant electrical engineer at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, and I was a guest at the house he shares with Mary Ann, his bride of 41 years. Both are native New Yorkers and they share an Italian ancestry: Her maiden name was Vinticinquo. What better locale than the kitchen of their lovely North Laurel home for me to receive the secret ingredients that make a genuine New York pizza?

He pulls to the curb in his dented sedan, grabs a bag containing the extra-large pepperoni and strides to the front of a dilapidated-looking rowhouse. Pizza deliveryman Shakeel Anjum knows too well that criminals have attacked people in his line of work several times recently, and he's working at a brisk pace. He rings the bell and gets no response. He calls inside on his cellphone and gets no answer. That's a bad sign to Anjum, who has been robbed and assaulted on the job. He returns to his car, starts it up and drives away.

  When we first heard about Birroteca, it was described as an artisanal pizza joint. Birroteca does have pizzas - good, wood-fired pizzas with chewy crusts and fancy ingredients, but there's more to it than that. Some of your friends and neighbors have already started staking claims to Birroteca, so don't wait too long. For one thing, there's an appetizer of grilled calamari that you need to have before the next fortnight passes. There are also promising pizzas, terrific salads and hearty autumn pastas.

Verde Pizza Napoletana is a family establishment. But don't let that scare you. You won't find arcade games, or even crayons, in the Canton eatery, which opened in September in the former Birches space. You will find good Neapolitan pizza, helpful service and — yes — kids. After 7 on a recent Friday night, the place was busy, though not packed. Despite the highchairs posted at tables both inside and out, the vibe was urban-cool, with reclaimed wood and exposed brick walls and a sparkling white open kitchen.

Dayone Jackson, 20, has been charged with attempted murder and armed robbery in connection with an attack on a pizza delivery driver, police said. Police said that a 26-year-old man was shot in the stomach Saturday in the Cherry Hill neighborhood as he delivered food from a pizza shop to a residence in the 2500 block of Terra Firma Road. The man, who has not been identified, was taken to an area hospital for treatment. Jackson's address is listed in online court records as being in the same block where the shooting happened.

At Hersh's Pizza and Drinks down in South Baltimore, Josh Hershkovitz has started factoring in some new fall dishes, like a wood-fired hanger steak with porcini rub and oven-roasted rutabaga; prosciutto-wrapped treviso (think radicchio) with balsamic vinegar and Grana Padano. He'll be adding in more fall appetizers and entrees, too. Of course, a lot of the things on Hersh's pre-set pizza list sound like they're made for fall, like the kale and pistachio, with fontina, pecorino Romano and garlic, and the clam pie, a beauty with shredded mozzarella, garlic, lemon, parsley and pecorino Romano.

The Cazbar empire is growing. The downtown Turkish restaurant now operates a full-time food truck, Cazbar on the Go. And this year, chef/owner Haluk Kantar and the Cazbar group have introduced a more casual concept called Homeslyce Pizza Bar. The first Homeslyce opened this spring in South Baltimore, and the second opened very recently downtown, just a block away form Cazbar. The menu includes a few Cazbar appetizers - hummus, baba ghanoush and delectable feta-stuffed meatballs made from lamb and beef - and a refreshing Mediterranean salad, too. But Homeslyce's focus is on pub food like wings, stuffed sandwiches, and, of course pizza.

Verde Pizza Napoletana is open in Canton. The Montford Street location was the home for years of Birches, and before that, the Wild Mushroom. The specialty at Verde is Neapolitan pizza, with toppings like prosciutto di Parma, imported buffalo mozzarella and wild mushrooms. The menu breaks down, simply into salads and red and white pizzas. There are a few menu innovations worth noting. Most of the pizzas include the ingredient fior di latte mozzarella , which is simply good mozzarella made from cow's milk.