BITES : The Year in Pizza

Domino’s Pizza releases statistics on pizza delivery orders around this time every year. While getting into the social behaviorism game, the company, of course, gets a plug in for itself. Here are some of Domino’s findings:

* When Amanda fired somebody on “Melrose Place” in 1995, tipping by women rose 7% during the next 24 hours and occurrences when men placed the call for pizza rose 48%.

* On days when Marcia Clark cross-examined a witness, pizza orders to hair salons increased 6%.

* For the 50th anniversary of the U.N., pizza deliveries in Manhattan increased 12%. (The French delegates tipped 42% less than any others and also made five times as many complaints about their orders.)

* On the day Jerry Garcia died, mushroom-topped pizza orders went up 61%. After midnight that night, Extravaganza pizza orders rose 78%.

Dining on the Web

Here’s a new place to look up restaurants on the Net: Kerry’s Restaurant World. It covers the top 10 restaurant cities (including L.A., New York, San Francisco, Chicago and Washington), offering photos and menus of about 800 places. It’s the work of Kerry Tracy, a restaurant marketer who also publishes pocket and desk appointment books featuring the menus of New York restaurants. The World Wide Web address: https://www.kerrymenu.com.

Lafayette, We Are Here

Homely American pastries such as brownies, blueberry muffins and chocolate chip cookies have become popular in Europe lately. Earlier Europeans looked down on the American products, but as they have come to live a busier, more American life, they have come to appreciate pastries that are hand-sized, can be eaten standing up, aren’t fragile or gooey and don’t have to be bought fresh every day.

Bellying Up to the Wine Tasting Table

When you think of Super Bowl Weekend, you think of fine wine, of course. You don’t? Well, An Arizona wine store named Wine Country wants to straighten you right out.

In honor of the impending Arizona Super Bowl, the Scottsdale operation has put together 12 California wines (predominantly Cabernets, but with a couple of Chardonnays and an ’85 Schramsberg champagne) as the Super Bowl XXX Fine Wine Collection. It’s an NFL-approved collector’s item complete with commemorative hardwood box shaped like an old suitcase with Southwestern decoration, and it comes with a commemorative coffee table book of recipes from top Arizona chefs.

Only 1,200 are available; the price is $695 each. If you’re interested, the number to call is (602) 443-8500.