Sunday Night Dinner at Sheffield - Catered by Vinnie's

Continuing our tradition of the Sunday Night Dinners at Sheffield Series, we gathered last night at my apartment to dine and enjoy each other's company. This time we had a special guest by way of my older brother, Drew. He was in town for a fancy New England wedding and decided to grace his little Brooklyn-dwelling sister with his presence for one night only.

Of course, because this is how the Universe operates, his 24 hour visit happened to fall on the exact same day is the Lost series finale. What to do? What to do? The obvious plan was to ply him with delicious food in exchange for his silence and cooperation during the 4 and a half hour epic Lost event. This seemed to be a success.

For years, Drew has heard my friends and me rave about Vinnie's pizza in Williamsburg. First revealed to us by my roommate's charming boyfriend, Vinnie's has been a big part of our gastronomical lives. This is no ordinary pizza. I wouldn't even consider it New York pizza. Vinnie's is its own genre. Legend has it that the unusual recipes were hijacked from the original location in Massachusetts and used to set up shop amongst the hipsters in Williamsburg. Whether that's true or not, I am eternally grateful to those pizza-burglars, whomever they may be. Forget everything you thought you knew about pizza. They shouldn't even call this pizza. They should call it crazy, delicious, unique toppings nestled on a bed of crispy crust. But that's a pretty long name.

This place is tiny -- maybe 4 or 5 tables. There isn't really a menu, you just press your face up against the glass that separates your taste buds from the dazzling array of strange and creative slices. Some of their options include cheese tortellini; barbecue chicken; tomato, avocado, and black bean; chicken quesedilla; macaroni and cheese with spinach and sundried tomatoes; chicken, bacon, and ranch...the possibilities are endlessly scrumptious. You never really know which varieties they offer until you walk in the door. It's quite a trek from Park Slope to Williamsburg, but after a quick call to Vinnie's asking if they'd deliver to our hood elicited a howl of laughter on the other line, we knew that was our only option. So, lured by the promise of amazing pizza, my brother and I hoofed it to the 'burg to pick up as many slices as we could carry.

I must admit that the photo above was borrowed from Google because we stuffed our pizza in our mouths before I could even think about taking a picture. But I thought it was an excellent representation of the tortellini pizza. Pasta on top of pizza = genius. However, my absolute favorite part about Vinnie's is their trashcan. Yes, the trashcan. I don't know who came up with this, whether it was a bored patron with a sense of humor or a deliberate attempt at cleverness by the management, we'll never know. The flap of the trashcan has been modified with the mere addition of a period placed in a strategic position between the letters that spell out THANKS. It now reads "T.HANKS", which is enhanced by a Bosom Buddies-era photo of Mr. Hanks himself. It is priceless. Clearly I approve...