From Today's Las Vegas paper:

"Getting the presidential stamp of approval has turned out to be a slice of heaven for a newly opened Summerlin pizzeria.

An already booming business jumped 25 percent in the past week, thanks to President Barack Obama's appetite for famous Brooklyn pizza, said Albert Scalleat, co-owner of Dom DeMarco's Pizzeria & Bar, 9785 W. Charleston Blvd.

But it almost didn't happen.

A week ago Wednesday, the pizzeria got a call for a dozen pizzas and 20 cannolis to be delivered to the Westin's Element hotel 3½ miles away.

When the caller was told the pizzeria didn't deliver, he asked for the manager.

Scalleat took the phone, listened to the request, then told the caller, "I'm sorry, but we don't deliver."

The caller persisted. "It would behoove you to make this delivery."

Scalleat, no easy mark after growing up on the East Coast, probed for a little more information.

"We've got a VIP here," the caller said, "and he specifically wants pizza from Dom DeMarco's -- six rounds and six squares."

His interest piqued, Scalleat decided to make the delivery himself. It turned out to be quite the adventure straight out of a CIA thriller.

As he approached Element, police cars blocked the street and he was redirected to another location.

Again, he encountered a blocked street, only this time, a cop told him, "I was expecting you." Told to park near the Nevada Cancer Institute, Scalleat protested. He had a lot to carry and that would be a long haul.

"There's somebody waiting for you over there," he was told, but he still had no idea who the VIP was.

Then he saw helicopters hovering in the area and "guys on top of the cancer institute with rifles."

"What's going on?" he asked three guys. Big tall guys. Secret Service, he said.

"The president is staying here," he was told. Follow us, they told him, as they took possession of the pizzas.

When they entered Element, it was like an airport TSA checkpoint, Scalleat said.

"They put all the pizzas on a conveyor belt and had me empty my pockets."

A bald guy said, "Wait here."

Forty-five minutes later, the bald guy -- later identified as the president's personal chef -- came back with a message.

"He said, 'The president wants you to know he loves the pizza and cannolis and he's a big fan of Dom DeMarco's pizza,' " Scalleat recalled.

When he got in his car, he made a quick call to his wife, Maryanne, and said, "Guess who I just delivered a pizza too?"

She said, 'I thought you didn't deliver.' "

He made an exception, Scalleat said. "Guess who and go high, go really high."

She paused. "George Clooney?"

"No, higher. Way higher," Scalleat said.

"Vice President Biden?"

"No! The president!"

"Did you get a picture?" she said.

No, he said, "but I got a story I'll remember. It was eerie. Like a movie."