Since my brother has visited only two or three times, I shouldn't expect him to remember, but I do. So I am always dumbfounded by his perennial request at some point during his visit for "some good pizza". My husband and I reply to him in unison without fail, "There is no such thing as 'good pizza' in New Jersey!"

But he expressed his desire for "good pizza" over the weekend when we were at the shore. I asked another mother at the playground to recommend a place and she said Attilio's in Ursula Plaza, up Ocean Blvd. a bit. It's been years since I had eaten at Attilio's, weekly after company softball games in Lincroft. It's typical Jersey pizza - soggy, burned crust, sour sauce and the sparsest of toppings.

I guess my brother and his wife caught a gander of the pizza on our way through the restaurant to our tables because they ordered calzones! Chickens! My husband and I dutifully ordered pizza. There are plenty of excellent Italian dishes in New Jersey ... pizza is not one of them.