The daily digest of Twin Cities culture | Secrets of the City

About 50 years ago, the BBC broadcast an April Fools report about the annual spaghetti harvest in Switzerland, and got hundreds of inquiries from viewers who wanted to know where they could buy their own spaghetti trees.

Really.

I'm out here in Boston during this lovely Nor'Easter. As a true-hearted girl from Minny, it's my duty to throw a few What's-The-Big-Deals around and trudge through the slush in just a fleece declaring the 33 degrees to be a bit "balmy". I wear my Northern pride and January birthday like a fierce badge.

But on to the eats...

Last week, the city happily basked in warmer than normal weather, which made it the perfect walking city. I had pizza on the brain and my local pal Alex told me to walk to the North End and find Regina's.

I recall sitting in a long, dull editorial meeting one Monday afternoon. It was around 4:30; a dozen writerly types, all disengaged. Our eyes were darting between our watches and the door. Then, the editor gave us the topic for our annual food issue: Best Pizza. Suddenly, everyone in the room perked up and had something to say.

What is it about pizza? Not only is it a strikingly perfect meal: if you assemble it correctly, all five food groups are represented in more or less the right ratio. But it seems to strike an emotional chord with just about everyone in the free world.