• Cousin Vinny's Pizza is expanding yet AGAIN. Co-owner Rick Allen will open his sixth location in the York Commons area of Vandalia. He also claims he's looking to open two more stores in 2010, including one South of town - maybe Miamisburg. He's also eyeballing Englewood, Beavercreek, West Carrollton, Springifled and Springboro. At their rate they're picking up speed, I'd say all of those burbs will be begging for the own Vin's soon enough. The new North location will also be the first to showcase the "new" CV concept, which will focus more heavily on in-house dining and seat about 60 people. Did you know that Allen also earned the title "World's Fastest Pizza Maker" at the 2009 World Pizza Games in Vegas? Take that, Dayton haters. "Whaaaaaa!!! We don't have anything! There's nothing cool here!" Well, we have a dude that can make pizzas in 22 seconds, so choke on that, nay-sayers.

• Speaking of pizza, there's a new joint opening in Kettering - Mama Mimis' Take & Bake Pizza. Same concept as Papa Murphy's, but on the fancier side. They're menu also sports salads, desserts, and something called "Spa pizzas," which are half the fat, calories and carbs of their regular pies. It's located in Castle Hills, which is at the corner of 48 and Stroop Rd.

• Taste of Greene County is coming up in the next couple of weeks. Tickets are $18 in advance ($22 the day of) and the event will be held at the Nutter Center. If you're not familiar with this kind of things, you pay $18 at the door, and you walk around and eat food all day. So, for a paltry $5, you get to munch your way through offerings from:

It seems to have become a habit that we pick up a pizza before or after our big grocery shopping night lately. Earlier this week, my buddy Josh (a devout Atheist/humanist) told tales of a magical pizza that he'd "go to church for." He said it was made up of feta, garlic, bacon, paper thin red skin potatoes, and unicorn tears, among other things. So, the debate of where we'd get a pizza from was very quickly settled.

For those of you not familiar with the Dayton landmark of Cousin Vinny's, let me share a little Gem City history with you. Years ago when I rented a house near the UD ghetto dubbed Rowdy Palace, a drunken stumble from the ever-lovin' Tank's Bar & Grill, there was a little joint across the street called Cousin Vinny's. It actually went through a handful of name changes before it became that, but I drank a lot back then and it doesn't matter anyway. What mattered is that you could go get a large, one-topping pie there for $5. My friend Jenkins and I would frequently meet up there and split one. The strange thing is, it was always pretty good pizza. Anymore, when you hear "$5 pizza," you're reminded of Little Caesar's - or even worse, the box of hot diarrhea that Domino's calls food.

Serving late night, up until 4 a.m. (a big deal for people in mid-sized markets where joints just don't stay open that late), being close to a college AND having the smarts to send their guys into bars and clubs at closing time hawking those $5 pies, CV made quite a name for themselves. They've recently opened their fifth store in the unpolished Gem and are making a damn killing all hours of the day and night. I think they should change their motto to: "Cousin Vinny's: It's not just for drunks anymore!"

The really important point I'm trying to make here is that this new pizza, the Crimson & Cream, will melt your face off. Original Vinny's crust, Alfredo sauce, roasted garlic, mozzarella, cheddar & feta cheeses, bacon, and thinly-sliced red potatoes. I'm investing in some noise-cancelling headphones for Mr. FvF, because even a girl with a gluten allergy needs to get down on a pizza like this.