Pizza Quixote

Among the new pizzerias with pies worth seeking out, many are crafting Neapolitan-style pies. But as the Pizza Renaissance goes along, I'm seeing a wider variety of styles including rectangular pan-baked pies like the Detroit pizza at Via 313 in Austin and the Roman al taglio slices at Alice Cucina Romana in Philly.

Another relative newcomer with a rectangular pie is Pizza-Grill.com, whose name would never suggest anything beyond typical fast-food pizza. But the suburban Trenton location is one clue that you need some serious chops to sell a unique pizza here in the heart of Trenton tomato pie country.

The owner of Pizza-Grill.com is Marcello Mandreucci, a Sicilian immigrant and veteran restaurant owner in the region.

Take-out only at Pizza-Grill.com

Marcello has a wonderful story of how he came to recreate the "Corleone style" Sicilian pizza of his youth - I encourage you to read the review and story by Rich Pawlak at Edible Jersey, HERE.

Marcello's first stop in America, Bordentown NJ

Based on that insider scoop, I made it a point to stop for this unique pie when passing through Trenton. It's take-out only, with no real space to sit and eat inside.

What is a Corleone style pizza? It looks like a Sicilian pizza, but I found the dough to be light and airy yet crisp -- much like that found in the Philly-style tomato pies offered at bakeries.

The Corleone, garnished with two fresh basil leaves

Don't confuse a Trenton tomato pie, which is essentially a pizza with the chunky tomatoes laden over top the cheese, with a Philly tomato pie, which is more like a Sicilian pizza with no cheese beyond a dusting of Parmesan. Click HERE for a primer on tomato pie.

Marcello uses only Italian tomatoes, Sicilian oregano, Sicilian olive oil, and a secret blend of three cheeses. What he's achieved in this Corleone pie, though, is balance.

That crust has a surprisingly delicate texture and flavor, and it would be overwhelmed by the payload of red sauce and dense mozzarella found on a typical Sicilian pizza.

Light and airy crust

This was a pie of perfect proportions; crust, cheese, and sauce in ideal balance. I was delighted to see that the pepperoni topping I ordered was the "spicy cup" style that curls when it bakes, and it added the right notes of salty and savory.

Multi-tiered rotating oven can take 20 pies at once

The only way to improve this pie would be to offer it with real chunks of Italian sausage that cook on the pie.

They typical experience with Sicilian pizza is that I'm full after one or two slices. Here, I confess I wolfed down four of these feathery delights.

Under the hood of the Corleone

This pie is not as hearty and umami-rich as a Detroit pizza or the thick pillowy squares at Rize Pizza (Broomall and West Chester, PA), but it brings a lot of old-world satisfaction in a lighter and balanced way. No pizza lover near Trenton should miss the Corleone pizza.

When I moved from Bucks County PA (near Trenton NJ) to West Chester PA in 2009, it was only one hour west. But when I begin searching for good pizza near my home, I felt like I'd gone to Montana.

There were three or four pizza joints within a mile of my house, but each was standard strip mall pizza made with mass-sourced ingredients. Big, soft, floppy slices overloaded with generic mozzarella and processed red sauce.

It wasn't until 2017 that you could find true "destination pizza" in West Chester, when Rize opened on Market Street with its unique take on a Sicilian-style pan pizza.

Before the re-heat

The final frontier is my own suburban neighborhood. One small strip mall has always housed a pizzeria, and it has changed hands 2 or 3 times since I've been here. The great news is that the newest occupant - Tonito's Pizza - is operated by the Spatola family. I ate and loved the Trenton and Brooklyn style pies at the Spatola's Pizza in Paoli PA, and I saw them on the menu at Tonito's.

Every bite is different

In Trenton, a tomato pie is a round pizza that is made with cheese applied first, then large clumps of chunky red sauce on top. It is generally superior to conventional pizza because the cheese protects the crust from becoming soggy. It is better than "upside down" pies where a sea of red sauce covers the entire pie, because much of the cheese is still exposed to oven browning.

At Spatola's and Tonito's, the Trenton tomato pie is a large square pizza, much like the wonderful pies at La Villa in Morrisville PA. The "Brooklyn" pizza has nothing to do with Brooklyn unless you think it has something in common with a New York Grandma slice. Here, the Brooklyn is simply the same as the Trenton pie except fresh mozzarella is substituted for standard dry mozzarella.

I ordered a Brooklyn pie with sausage to go. Inside, Tonito's is a small standar strip mall space with just a few tables; clearly, the emphasis is on takeout.

Slices at Spatola's Paoli location

Like Spatola's, Tonito's uses thin longitudinal slices of pre-cooked sausage. It was a perfectly fine topping, but any pizza could be improved by the application of fresh raw sausage in chunks, squeezed right from the rope, to be cooked on the pie.

At home, I opened the box to see a beautiful pie, but it was the Trenton, not the Brooklyn I had ordered. I had to decide if I was going to give it an oven re-heat and re-crisp; the square slices were a bit soft, so I broke out the 12 slices over two perforated pizza pans and gave it 10 minutes at 375 degrees.

Crispy oiled crust

That was a great idea - and why this pizza is so good when you just buy a slice in the shop - because the re-heat really improves the texture. The crust is very thin, but the cheese and sauce payload is pretty substantial. There is just enough oil on the crust to help it become crisp and rigid while keeping a nice dense chewiness.

I was fearful that the pizza would not be as good as the one in Paoli. However, this pie matched and even exceeded my memory of the Paoli location (Spatola's has Downingtown and Phoenixville locations, too). The thin crust was a little crisp, a little chewy, and ideally al dente after the re-heat.

The standard mozzarella cheese was plentiful and adhered perfectly to the crust, but it was a role player here. The red sauce was especially vibrant; chunky and dense and piquant. Its distribution could be improved by spreading it around a bit in smaller pools atop the cheese, and I did a bit of adjustment before the re-heat.

Each bite provided a true Trenton tomato pie experience of a rigid and tasty crust, with varying ratios of cheese and chunky red sauce. I shared this pie with 3 others for dinner, and we demolished the entire pizza. Superb.

Like Spatola's in Paoli, Tonito's also makes a more conventional round pizza. Those pies too are above the standard strip mall fare, but the star offerings here are the Trenton and Brooklyn pizzas. Seven years into the Pizza Quixote Blog, and there is finally a wonderful pizza that is practically walking distance from my home.

I love ALDI for its above-average groceries at below-average prices. The frozen pizzas there are always cheap, but they have been hit-and-miss. No matter how cheap, you shouldn't often waste calories on frozen pizza unless you are feeding kids or the pizza is at least as good as DiGiorno.

The best ALDI frozen pizzas come from ALDI's home country, Germany. For example, their occasional "Specially Selected" brand is an excellent value, on par with the Trader Giotta pies imported from Italy for Trader Joe's.

Fun fact: there are two ALDI chains - North and South - in Germany, operated by competing brothers. One is the same as the American ALDI, the other operates here as Trader Joe's.

Recently, my local ALDI (West Chester, PA) began carrying a few varieties of "Hangry Tomato" frozen pizzas in some splashy packaging. They feature spicy flavors and the regular price is $4.99 for a typical smallish frozen pie. When I saw them on sale for $3.49, I grabbed one each of the "Flamin' Chicken" (20.55 oz.) and "The Sizzler" (18.35 oz.) varieties.

Flamin' Chicken, pre-bake

The Sizzler, pre-bake

The chicken-topped pie featured buffalo ranch sauce with mozzarella and cheddar cheeses, topped with Romano, Parmesan, onion bits, and spiced chicken chunks. The Sizzler also lacked red sauce; its base was siracha ranch sauce and mozzarella, and it was topped with Parmesan, Romano, jalapeno, and uncured pepperoni.

Flamin' Chicken, post-bake

I often doctor frozen pizza by adding toppings, but I cooked these unaltered, following the package directions to bake them directly on the oven rack at 425 degrees for 18-20 minutes. They came out with a golden crisped crust and some nice top browning.

The Sizzler, post-bake

Given their modest size, I cut them into 6 slices instead of 8. I was pleased to note that the crust was sufficiently rigid that it did not droop when lifting a slice, but I was disappointed in the overall texture and flavor of the crust.

A slice of the Flamin' Chicken

Unlike the "good bread" taste in the ALDI frozen pizzas imported from Germany, these were more akin to the typical American frozen pizza. In other words, a bit dry, mealy, and flavorless. The impression I got was "stacked saltines without the salt." Not offensive, but adding nothing to the overall pizza enjoyment.

A slice of The Sizzler

The chicken pizza was just barely spicy. Its flavors were basic and simple; it could have used a boost from a robust red sauce instead of the tame ranch dressing.

The "Sizzler" with fat slices of jalapeno and generous rounds of pepperoni was much better. The peppers were tame by jalapeno standards, but still added a nearly ideal amount of spicy zing. The flavor of the pepperoni carried the whole pie and rescued it from mediocrity.

Under the hood

Final verdict? Good enough, but too spicy, for kids. Not good enough for adults, even at $3.49 per pie. The Sizzler was far better than the Flamin' Chicken, but I won't be buying either one again. I ate it so you don't have to! If you are going to buy frozen pizza, get stuff imported from Europe or the rising-crust varieties from DiGiorno or Freschetta.

There are several shortcuts available for making pizza at home. The whole idea of using other-than-scratch ingredients is to craft a pie that is better than any frozen pizza, but without a lot of time or effort.

I've had plenty of success with buying balls of pizza dough from bakeries, ALDI, Trader Joe's, and Whole Foods. I've also had surprisingly decent crusts fashioned from pizza crust mix packets.

A pre-baked pizza shell by Boboli

All of these "fresh dough" approaches are superior to using a pre-baked pizza crust shell, even the venerable Boboli crust.

Click on any image to enlarge

I was intrigued when I spotted a new approach from Pillsbury. The package of Pillsbury's Best Thin Crust Pizza Dough had the same dimension as a roll of cling wrap, and it contained a rolled-up 10" x 13" sheet of thin pizza dough on parchment paper.

Unrolling the dough with parchment paper

Dough on paper, ready to bake or top

The basic directions are to unroll the dough with the parchment paper onto a baking sheet. Top as desired, then bake at 425 degrees for 11-15 minutes. I followed the package's alternative "for a crisper crust" instructions by baking the crust alone for 7 minutes, then adding toppings and baking for an additional 6-8 minutes.

Out of the oven

Baked alone, the crust developed some very large bubble bulges, almost as though the dough was composed of two very thin layers. It was simple to puncture these so that the crust would be flatter for adding toppings.

The most common error in pizza making - home or in pizzerias - is overloading the pie with sauce, cheese, and/or toppings. On this very thin crust, the risk of overloading is even higher. I used Spanish Manchego cheese, sliced homemade turkey meatballs (heavily seasoned with garlic and onion), and canned Italian cherry tomatoes that I seasoned with basil, oregano, sugar, and salt.

Dumpling-textured underside of the crust

Out of the oven, the crust had taken on a lovely golden brown. On transferring it to a cutting surface, it seemed limp in the middle. However, after I cut it into 8 rectangular slices, each slice remained reasonably rigid - no wet, soggy, or droopy sections.

I can't imagine this is very good in flavor or texture

Results? This crust is delicious, and it really gives no hint that it is a cousin of all the puffy Pillsbury bread products you can get out of a cardboard tube. The bottom was perfectly browned in spots and crisp, but the rest of the crust had a chewiness that I would compare to a fried Chinese dumpling. Not a typical pizza texture but it was delectable.

The simple toppings of a savory cheese, flavor-packed meatballs, and a modest amount of cherry tomatoes proved to be a winner, too. You could go a lot of different directions with toppings as long as you maintain proportions.

I wouldn't rank this better than, say, a pizza made from a Trader Joe's dough ball, but one keen advantage is that this is a relatively low-calorie way to make a pie at home. The entire crust (8.21 oz.) has 600 calories before toppings, so that works out to just 75 bread calories per slice if you cut it into eight pieces as I did. By comparison, the Pillsbury's Best Classic Pizza Dough (14.56 oz.) makes a 12" round pie that clocks in at 1,050 calories.

Gourmet slices at Jules Thin Crust Pizza

One drawback is that these can be pricey - expect to pay $3 to $5 for one dough sheet. (If you see them for less, please share the price and the store in the comments section.) It may well cost more than a frozen pizza once you factor in the cost of your toppings, but I got pizzeria-quality results with this dough. It compares favorably to some very good pies I've had at places like Jules Thin Crust.

Over 35 years ago, a colleague in Princeton took me to Trenton's storied tomato pie place, DeLorenzo's. From the very first bite, I was smitten. Here was a thin and crunchy pizza that was better than any I'd had in my life, including Rosa's, my childhood favorite from Riverside, NJ.

I've had hundreds of pizzas since then, all over America and even around the globe, but DeLorenzo's has maintained its spot as #1 on my list of favorite pies. I visited the original Hudson Street location about a week before it closed (review HERE) and I've been to their new flagship operation in Robbinsville NJ (review HERE).

The new DeLorenzo's location in Yardley PA

Robbinsville captures almost all the flavor and texture that we found on Hudson Street; if the pies differed at all, they seemed less oily in Robbinsville. Soon after the Robbinsville transition, we learned in 2014 that DeLorenzo's was exploring a Pennsylvania location in Newtown, Buck County. That never came to be, but in February of 2018, the western branch finally opened in a new building complex in the historic Edgewood Village in Yardley.

Spacious dining room

There's a cruel irony here, because this new location is less than five minutes from where I lived in Yardley for 22 years, and from which I'd trek across the river to Trenton to score a decent tomato pie at Papa's, Joe's, or DeLorenzo's. Today, I now live an hour west of of Yardley, so the DeLorenzo pie remains a holy grail quest for me.

Fresh out of the oven

When I got the chance to be in Yardley, I phoned in an order for a large sausage pie to go. Calling in a tomato pie order was quite a privilege itself; the Hudson Street location had been so popular that they stopped answering the phone within 5 minutes of opening because the day's orders were already filled.

It was about 4 hours later when I gently re-heated the pie for dinner (375 degrees for 8 minutes on a vented pizza pan). Any pizza is best when you consume it on site, but a re-heated pie captures perhaps 95% of the original fresh experience and restores a crispness to the crust.

Underside of the crust

What makes a DeLorenzo's tomato pie so special? The crust is very thin, golden brown without char, and has an ideal mix of crunch and chewiness. I do miss the extra oil from the Hudson Street pies, especially on the home re-heat, because the crust can become a little over-dried.

Owner Sam Amico in the kitchen

The tomato sauce had the same flavor I recall from Trenton and Robbinsville, but seemed less chunky. DeLorenzo's has its own signature cheese blend, though I've never been sure what cheeses are included. One one visit, we noticed some Sargento mozzarella. On this pizza, I felt I detected some cheddar notes.

The key, though, is that each bite delivers something a little different - some where you get a big batch of tomato, some with more cheese, some with that delectable Italian sausage that cooks on the pie.

Given that I've eaten so many pizzas - legends and newcomers - the gap between DeLorenzo's and all the others has narrowed. The biggest challenger for that #1 spot has to be Picco in Boston, a newer place making pizza in a very old-school way.

It may be partly for sentimental reasons, but DeLorenzo's keeps its top ranking. The Yardley pie is every bit as good as the Robbinsville version, and this means that more people than ever can enjoy this very special tomato pie.

I got to know Trenton NJ during the 1980s, which in retrospect were the glory years for Italian dining options. The city's Chambersburg section was bursting with a full range of Italian restaurants from the homey and casual to the elegant upscale options.

And of course, Trenton was still full of many great tomato pie joints: Papa's, Joe's, DeLorenzo's on Hudson Street, and the "rival" DeLorenzo's on Hamilton Avenue. Around 1985, I scoffed when a Pizza Hut opened in Trenton. Who would buy a chain pizza in this iconic tomato pie town?

Trenton, though, has long been a city of new immigrants. The Italian and Polish neighborhoods began to change in the 1990s as the second and third generations took on new interests. Today's Trenton is home to a new wave of Latin American immigrants, and just about every Italian restaurant and tomato pie joint has closed or moved to the suburbs. You can track the new bodegas and everything else in this evolving town at the wonderful website Hidden Trenton.

Casual booths, in front

Papa's Tomato Pies and the Hudson Street DeLorenzo's are prospering in Robbinsville, NJ. There is also a brand-new Pennsylvania outpost for that same DeLorenzo's in Yardley, and we found it to be very much equal to the Robbinsville location.

Fresh out of the oven

Back when both DeLorenzo's were in Trenton, I always felt that the pies from Hamilton Avenue were a distant second to the square-cut pies on Hudson Street, my favorite all-time pizza. If Hudson Street was a 10, Hamilton Avenue was a 6.

A sausage slice

I'm lucky that a long-time colleague and friend from the Trenton region alerted me to DeLorenzo's The Burg, which is a restaurant that opened in suburban PA in 2017. There, a nephew of the Hamilton Avenue DeLorenzo's is fashioning the same tomato pie. I was skeptical that I'd like it any better than the original, but my friend was consistent in his praise.

A pepperoni slice

I stopped in around lunch time to get a pie to take home for dinner. After confirming that their sausage topping is properly applied raw, I ordered a large tomato pie with half pepperoni and half sausage, which came to about $18.

Good color and texture underneath

The restaurant, housed in a brick strip mall on New Falls Road, has a cheery casual dining area in the front and a surprisingly large formal dining room in the rear. The staff was particularly friendly, too.

Box features the iconic "Trenton Makes" bridge to PA

On my recent visit to the (Hudson St) DeLorenzo's in Yardley, I took the same approach of ordering a pie at lunchtime to reheat for dinner. Despite years of experience in re-heating pizza with mostly good results, I found that I had dried out the very thin crust. But because I had been so familiar with the pie, I knew the fault was mine and not that of the pizzaiolo.

Because it's probably been 15 years or more since I had tried a (Hamilton Ave) DeLorenzo's tomato pie, I needed to sample this one fresh from the oven. I took the pie to the car, placed it in the trunk, and grabbed a slice to sample.

Formal dining room in back

Just two bites, and it was a revelation. Even though this tomato pie was a little bit overloaded with sauce and cheese, the thin crust had an ideal snap and it held up to the payload. I was instantly transported to the glory days of Trenton tomato pies by the sweet red sauce commingled with the cheese.

I can't explain why I was never impressed with the Hamilton Avenue DeLorenzo's, but my thoughts after two bites in the parking lot were "the best Trenton tomato pie in 2018 may be in this strip mall in Levittown." There was a brightness and freshness to this pie that are hard to find.

Strip Mall location on New Falls Road in Levittown

The pizza remained in the box in the trunk until 6pm, when I heated it for about 10 minutes at 375 degrees on a perforated pan. I'm sad to report that I once again dried out the crust on a tomato pie. Its flavor was intact, but it was dry and crunchy where it had been crackly and chewy right out of the oven. Again - entirely my mistake.

As I noted, the fresh Italian sausage is added in chunks and it cooks on the pie. The sausage here was generously applied and it remains the premiere pizza topping when done right, like this. The red sauce is sweeter than the sauce at the other DeLorenzo's, but it works perfectly on this pie.

"Not Just Pizza"

The pepperoni was the one less-than-stellar feature. I'd love to see these thin-cut standard pepperoni circles replaced with smaller but thicker "spicy cup" pepperoni. This is a very minor quibble, because this tomato pie was close to perfect in taste, texture, and balance.

Can you judge a pizza by two bites? Indeed I can. This is spectacular tomato pie. For 35 years, I never had any doubt that Hudson Street was superior to the pie made by cousins on Hamilton Avenue. I need to eat them side by side to know which is best, but let's say just that people in Robbinsville, Yardley, Levittown, and Hamilton cannot go wrong visiting any DeLorenzo's. The cousins remain past, present, and future kings of Trenton Tomato Pie.

Perhaps you saw the 2012 Jane Pauley special on Paul Giannone, aka Paulie Gee, who at age 56 swapped an IT career for a shot at pizza making. His first pie shop was in the uptrending Greenpoint neighborhood in Brooklyn. He was on the early edge of Neapolitan pizza makers in the U.S., and one of the first to put his own twist on it.

He's been wildly successful doing the things he loves, and there are now four more Paulie Gee's locations including Chicago, Columbus, Miami, and Baltimore. I got to meet Paulie last summer at the Pizza Palooza event near Washington DC, and I sampled a slice of his signature pie the Hellboy. Terrific stuff, but I still needed to get to a Paulie Gee's restaurant. For the record, Paulie was warm and genuine - and that was true of nearly every pizzaiolo that day in DC.

Paulie Gee's Hampden, Baltimore

I still haven't made it to Paulie's flagship Brooklyn operation, but a trip to Baltimore gave me an opportunity to visit his Hampden shop. Baltimore is a crab town, above all else. When you think of all the great northeast pizza cities (NY, Philly, New Haven, Trenton, Boston), you'd never think of this almost-Southern city on that list.

Interior, from the front door

Interior dining and kitchen spaces

Previous Baltimore trips had yielded mixed results - the highly-regarded B.O.P. Brick Oven Pizza near Fells Point was pretty ordinary. On the other hand, we loved the thin square crisp pies (and the vibe) at Joe Squared in the Station North district.

Kitchen and wood-fired pizza ovens

Once an isolated working class neighborhood, Hampden was reclaimed by artists and like-minded hipsters beginning in the 1990s, and the neighborhood attracts a great mix of stores and restaurants. There are many parallels to uptrending neighborhoods like Greenpoint in Brooklyn and Fishtown in Philadelphia (home to the wonderful Pizza Brain).

Neapolitan with fennel sausage and cremini mushrooms

The menu is filled with inspired pizzas and clever names (Barry White, Stinger Bell, Mo Cheeks), but for this purpose I had to go with the pizza that put Paulie on everybody's map, the Hellboy. This Neapolitan is made with fresh mozzarella, Italian tomatoes, Berkshire soppressata picante, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and Mike’s Hot Honey. My dining partner ordered a Neapolitan with mushroom and sausage toppings.

The Hellboy

Let's talk about that pie first. Most importantly, Paulie does sausage the only proper way - big chunks of raw sweet fennel sausage that get cooked on the pie. Also noteworthy, at most pizza places the question around the mushrooms is "canned or fresh?" Here, not only fresh but sliced cremini mushrooms go on the pie for an added flavor boost.

My Hellboy shared the same Neapolitan crust, and it was a superb rendition. Each pie was a large personal size yielding six slices (there were no leftovers!). The cornicione was puffy with ideal leopard spotting. The bottom surface was light and soft without being floppy, and there were no wet or soggy spots even though it was prudent to eat the first bite of each slice with knife and fork.

Perfect leopard spots underneath

The crust was a little thicker closer to the cornicione, and it had an ideal chewiness. Most importantly, the crust (containing only flour, water, salt and yeast) had its own wonderful flavor. Shame on anyone who doesn't eat the cornicione of this pizza.

I was a little fearful that the combination of spicy soppressata and the hot honey would make this pie so fiery that I'd not be able to taste the other elements, but it was suprisingly mild. You don't need a lot of heat tolerance to enjoy the modest spiciness that these ingredients deliver. I did find the subtle sweetness of the honey played very nicely with the salty/spicy/savory combination of flavors coming from the sauce, the cheese, and the cured meat.

From pauliegee.com/hampden. Click for larger image

On some pies, the sauce or the cheese will stand out. While I'm sure that both here were top shelf quality, what happens with this pie is that all the elements come together. With each bite I wasn't thinking "great crust" or "wonderful sauce" but instead "holy crap this is good." The parts are all great, the sum is greater than the parts.

Source: baltimorepizzaclub.blogspot.com/2016/10/making-things-pizza.html

Even with an expanding operation where quality control can be a challenge, this Paulie Gee's location is making a nearly flawless Neapolitan pizza. It stands right up with the best I've had - Roberta's in Brooklyn, Capofitto and Vetri in Philly, Zero Otto Nove in the Bronx. Hats off to a great guy and a great pizza.

Chain pizza has a mixed reputation. It's fast, it's cheap, it's filling, generally good but rarely great. In my view, it was the big chains like Pizza Hut and Domino's and Papa John's that destroyed the mom and pop franchises. Some dropped out due to the price competition, others changed to inferior mass-sourced ingredients to compete on price.

Click on any image for full size view

Having said that, there are some chains making pretty good pizza. Some great regional pie makers include Bertucci's (mostly New England), Monical's (midwest states) and Grotto (Delaware). The most amazing chain is Anthony's Coal-Fired Pizza, which has grown quite large but still makes a great pie.

More recently, there has been a move to fast-food style assembly-line versions of Neapolitan pizzas that cook in 1 or 2 minutes. Chains like SNAP, MOD, Blaze, and others are bringing good Neapolitan facsimile pizzas to the masses at modest prices. All of them are miles better than the soft doughy white bread pizzas from the traditional big chains.

An emerging and ambitious new chain is MidiCi, begun by the same crew that launched Menchie's Frozen Yogurt, which has more than 400 locations. MidiCi sold more than 300 franchises before a single location was open, but now dozens are in operation, including the spot I visited in the swanky new upscale suburban dining village, the King of Prussia Town Center.

Open kitchen with Neapolitan ovens at MidiCi

The idea here is to make "real" (but not Naples-certified VPN) Neapolitan pizza. Pies are made with "signature Neapolitan dough – light, thin, soft and chewy, with a high crust" containing only 00 Neapolitan flour, water, sea salt, and yeast. Tomatoes are not San Marzanos, but Ciao Pomodorodi Napoli peeled tomatoes.

We arrived for dinner at 6:30 on a Monday night. As usual, the big parking lots around the restaurants in the Town Center were jammed, but traffic in MidiCi was light. The dining room was large, modern, and comfortable with a choice of bar, high-boy, or regular table seating. The grand Neapolitan ovens, finished in gold, were the center display of the open kitchen.

Cheese board appetizer

Unlike the paper-plates and plastic utensils of the assembly-line quasi-Neapolitan chains, everything about MidiCi had a more elegant feel and finish. Table cloths, nice silverware, modern white plates, and a host of culinary additions for your pizza. This location is a BYOB. Despite the nice trappings, prices for 12" pies ranged from $8 for the marinara pizza to just over $14 for one with truffles.

The double pepperoni pie

We ordered two pies to share. One was the Double Pepperoni ($10.95) made with the Ciao Pomodorodi tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, pepperoni, and spicy Italian Calabrese salami. Our other pie was the Egg N Bacon, with fresh mozzarella, applewood smoked bacon, house made spicy sausage, garlic, oregano, and topped with a freshly cracked egg (no tomato sauce). I'm very fond of eggs on Neapolitan pizzas, such as the remarkable breakfast pizza at La Brea Bakery Cafe, on the Disney property in Anaheim, CA.

The egg and bacon pizza

On this slow night, some of the crew was taking publicity photos of menu items, and kindly offered us the $10 cheese board for free when they had finished. Cheese and bread as appetizer is a bit redundant to the pizza coming later, but it was excellent toasted crusty bread with a lot of olive oil and an artistic drizzle of balsamic vinegar, paired with a nice mix of cheeses, dried apricots, dates, and walnuts. Pretty to look at and delicious to eat. Also worth noting was that my lime-flavored seltzer was served in an attractive glass and the staff was quick to replace empties.

Pepperoni slice with barely-melted cheese

So -- how was the pizza? Both of these pies were beautiful in presentation, with a big puffy and charred cornicione framing some well-presented interiors. The egg was cooked perfectly (solid white, runny yolk) in a way that I can't master at home. The egg and bacon pie was nicely balanced with an ideal mix of meats, egg, and cheese.

Egg and bacon slice

The double pepperoni pizza was surprisingly spicy from the Calabrese salami. The meat toppings were plentiful and tasty and clearly high quality. However, the slices of cured meat blanketed the pie almost completely, with the undesired side effect that the sauce did not get any direct oven heat. That lead to a steaming and slippery layer of watery sauce beneath the cheese and meat, eager to slide off the crust. Even though the menu indicates that knife and fork are appropriate for a Neapolitan pie, this pie was softer and wetter than it should have been.

Pretty good color underneath side of crust

The egg and bacon pie held together much better. Both of these pies were very good, but there was something not quite on point. Neither delivered the magic of the most recent Neapolitans I had eaten at Paulie Gee's in Baltimore, and the shortcoming was the crust. I found that I agree with other reviews I've seen, that the pizza seems undercooked even as a visual inspection does not suggest it.

On the pepperoni pie, the cheese hadn't melted, and the pie was soft and rubbery where it should have been a bit crisper and chewy. That was less of a problem on the egg and bacon pie, and I suspect that the pie came together better without the added moisture of tomato sauce. I'm not sure if the ovens aren't as hot as they should be or if the pizzaioli-in-training haven't mastered the craft yet.

It's important to note that despite the flaws, these were very good pizzas, and truly excellent fare in this price range. Just ten years ago, this would have been the best pizza in a fifty mile radius. Today, the bar is higher. Still, MidiCi is a very positive step forward. If places like this can help crowd out all the mediocre pizza we eat from the big chains, we're all better for it. And for now, it's not good enough to push out the great Neapolitan at places like Zavino, Capofitto, and Paulie Gee's.

A better-cooked pie, from the MidiCi website

Final tally says that this is very good pizza - with the potential to be much better - in an upscale BYOB setting at a downscale price. Thumbs up for MidiCi in King of Prussia.

In 2012, I first experienced Roman "al taglio" style pizza at the glorious Forno Marco Roscioli, near the Campo di Fiore Farmers Market in Rome. This rectangular, medium-thick "by the slice" pizza was a revelation, and it made me wish I could find it back home in the U.S.

Slices at Rione. Click on any image for full size picture

In 2012, the Pizza Renaissance in America was mostly about Neapolitan style pies. Superb renderings of the personal-size puffy and charred pies were coming out of 900 degree wood-fired ovens in the hippest parts of Brooklyn and other leading edge foodie towns.

Image from facebook.com/rionepizzaphilly

Happily, creative pie-o-neers have continued enhancing traditional styles and importing the classics. Philadelphia, a great pizza town by any measure, now has two Roman-style al taglio pizza joints.

I've been to Alice, the first American branch of an Italian chain, and the slices there were wonderful. It's a hip space divided into simple slice shop on one side with a trendy full service cafe on the other side. Rione, which opened its doors some months before Alice, is a simple BYOB slice shop with perhaps ten tables.

Rione is close to the tony Rittenhouse Square region of center city Philadelphia. Arriving around dinner time on a warm Monday night, I noticed a brisk take-out business, but I was the only dine-in customer at the time (I can imagine a solid lunch hour business in this upscale part of Philly).

Dining area at Rione

Behind the counter there were about 10 different long rectangular pies from which I could choose slices, smartly arranged into "has meat" and "no meat" divisions. Unlike my al taglio experience at nearby Alice and in Rome, this pie is priced by the slice, not by weight. I chose a baseline Margherita slice ($3.25) to get a taste of the red sauce, and a "Salsiccia & Rapini" slice (sausage and broccoli rabe, $3.75). I rounded off my dinner with a San Pellegrino water for $2.50.

My Margherita slice

Perfect structure & texture. Image from facebook.com/rionepizzaphilly

The re-heated slices came out pretty quickly on a metal tray while I waited listening to the little-too-loud hipster soundtrack playing. Before I even took a bite, I made note of the terrific aroma wafting up from these slices.

My Salsiccia & Rapini slice

Next time, the potato pie. Image from facebook.com/rionepizzaphilly

Both slices were medium-thick. In other words, thicker than a Neapolitan or traditional American pizza, but much thinner than a Sicilian slice. My first impression was about the noise of the crunch. The bottom of the crust was as crunchy as any pizza I can recall, but only for a wafer thin layer. Above that, the crust was dense yet airy and it had a delightful al dente chew. Texture means a lot for any pizza, and this texture was remarkable. I wrote in my tasting notes "like a super crispy foccaccia."

Underside of the crispy crunchy crust

The Margherita slice was topped with some very mild fior di latte mozzarella, fresh basil, and a generous amount of olive oil. The red sauce, smooth and thick, was tangy but surprisingly subdued. With relatively mild sauce and cheese, it was left to the crust to stand out, and it did. I'd eat this crust with no topping because its flavor was wonderful and its texture unparalleled. But the sum was greater than the parts, even if the sauce and cheese were essentially role players.

The sausage and rabe slice contained a much more intense cheese blend of mozzarella and a shaved aged Italian cheese that I couldn't precisely identify. The meat topping was real chunks from ropes of genuine Italian sausage, which everyone in Trenton knows is the only proper format for a sausage pizza.

The rapini added another bright and sharp flavor to this slice; the only thing I would change is that I'd chop the rapini into bite-size pieces. The overall experience of this slice, though, was a brilliant combination of bold flavors and - again - that ethereal texture. This is the best slice I've eaten so far this year, and I've had some great stuff already.


Image from facebook.com/rionepizzaphilly

I'd have been delighted to have either Alice or Rione within driving distance of my home; Philadelphians are blessed to have both of these authentic Roman style pizza sellers in town. Because they are so close to one another, on my next trip I may need to do a side-by-side comparison.

Barry (left) and Paul, the General Manager at Rione

"Suppli al telefono" fried snacks. From facebook.com/rionepizzaphilly

Rione also offers "fried Italian snacks" as traditionally offered in Roman al taglio shops, as well as salads and dessert. This is can't-miss destination pizza.

I've made the trek to Bushwick, that worn-down part of Brooklyn being revitalized as young hipsters find Williamsburg and Park Slope to be too expensive.

One of the earliest signs that Bushwick would be an attractive neighborhood was the opening of Roberta's Pizza, where the Neapolitan pizzas are both faithful to the authentic Naples version yet creatively American in toppings. Roberta's makes one of America's best Neapolitan pies.

The pizza I ate at Roberta's in Brooklyn

Frozen pizza, on the other hand, rarely reaches gourmet level. It's tasty and passable, especially the rising-crust style frozen pies. The best frozen pizzas I've had to date, though, are the small thin Neapolitan-ish pies at Trader Joe's (the Trader Giotto brand, imported from Italy) and the occasional specialty frozen pizza from ALDI (but only those imported from Germany).

With that as background, I was delighted to learn that a line of Roberta's frozen pizzas are now available at Whole Foods. There are two varieties - a base Margherita and the "Baby Sinclair" which is a white pie with kale. At my local Whole Foods, I bought the Sinclair because it was the only style available.

Neither pie contains any meat ingredients. The packaging is novel in that you have clear plastic shrink wrap instead of a cardboard box; this allows you to see exactly what you are buying. These are small 9.7 ounce pizzas, and priced at $11.99. Expensive compared to almost any other pizza, but cheap when compared to a fresh pie at any high-end pizzeria.

Before baking

I followed the package instructions, cooking it for five and a half minutes at 450 degrees, directly on the oven rack. I was tempted to add some soppressata, but to make a fair taste test the only embellishment was the addition of fresh garden basil after it came out of the oven. I cut it into six small slices.

Out of the oven

A freshly-baked Neapolitan has a soft and pliable crust, but this very thin crust was crisp and rigid. The immediate impression on the first bite was the forward flavor of the cheese blend - cheddar and Parmigiano.

The kale was plentiful, but its flavor subdued. The garlic was a nice and powerful note. Although this pizza was tagged "medium spicy" I could not detect any heat at all from the Calabrian chilies.

As noted, the wafer-thin crust was crisp from edge to edge. Despite this departure in texture from the fresh-baked pie I'd eaten on my visit to Roberta's in Bushwick, it retained a lot of the excellent flavor. With that tasty base and the nice mix of strong flavors from the cheese and garlic, this was an exceptionally tasty frozen pizza.

Good char underneath

Bottom line, this is the best frozen pizza I've had. If this was your only taste of Roberta's pizza, it would not send you in a hurry to try one freshly-baked. But it's almost as good as leftover pizza that got slightly overbaked on the re-heat. If it's in your budget, you should upgrade to this (or Trader Giotto) from whatever frozen pizza that is currently taking up space in your freezer.

When the American Neapolitan pizza movement got into full swing during the last decade, the pioneers made pizza in the true Naples fashion. They built (or imported from Italy) the wood-burning dome ovens that reach temperatures of 800-1000 degrees, they used 00 flour, San Marzano tomatoes, Fior di Latte or Bufala mozzarella, and fresh basil. Those artisans set a new standard for great pies while introducing America to this traditional pizza of southern Italy.

Some of the first are still among the best - Forcella, Motorino, Paulie Gee, Zero Otto Nove. One of Philly's top Neapolitan piemakers, Vetri, is attempting to expand regionally. So it's not surprising that there would be several attempts to create a national chain of Neapolitan-ish pizzas.

By now, you've probably had the "fast casual" build-your-own personal pies which are frequently an imitation of a true Neapolitan, but with a wide range of non-standard ingredients. I've tried some of those and some other regional Neapolitan-ish chain pies, and they range from good to very good. The best I've experienced thus far was at Eccoin Anaheim, CA.

Choose your ingredients

Other pizzeria chains in this "Chipotle of Pizza" market include:

1000 Degrees Neapolitan Express
Blaze Pizza (200+ locations with one soon in Anaheim)
MOD Pizza (200+ locations in US and UK)
ZAZA Fine Salad & Wood Fired Pizza (Arkansas)
Snap Custom Pizza (6 Philly area locations)
Sauce Pizza and Wine (15 locations in AZ and NM)
MidiCi (250 locations in development)
Pieology (100+ locations)
PizzaRev (about 50 locations)

Conveyor oven

One of the fastest-growing entries in this market is &Pizza (https://andpizza.com), which calls itself an "anti-establishment establishment built on the renown of its creative pies and craft beverages, localized shop design, and the strength, unity and vibe of its living-wage-paid, ampersand-tattooed Tribe." There are about 25 locations in DC, MD, and VA, with new stores opening in NYC, Boston, and Philly. On a warm June night, I visited the Philadelphia location just off Walnut Street in Center City.

Much like other fast-casual pie joints, you approach a counter and choose a specialty pie or begin making custom-pie options. There are three dough choices (including gluten-free), five sauce choices (two red, two white, and pesto), nine each of vegetable or protein toppings, and twenty post-bake add-ons.

I opted for the specialty "American Honey" pizza with spicy tomato sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, arugula, red pepper flakes, goat cheese, hot honey. The long oval pie was rapidly assembled and then placed on the screen of a conveyor oven for a bake that was under two minutes.

The gentleman staffing the post-bake add-ons bar thoughtfully asked if I wanted all four of the items designed for this pie. I gladly accepted the arugula, goat cheese, and hot honey, but declined the extra heat of the chili flakes. The pie was priced to come out to $10.50 with tax; I added a can of seltzer water for another $2.50.

There is plenty of long table and counter seating in the large black-and-white themed dining area. My pie was cut into 8 small slices that were easy to handle except that the post-bake items had to be balanced carefully so that they wouldn't fall off.

The crust was thin, but perhaps not quite as wafer-thin as the pies at places like MOD and SNAP. It had a nice puffiness at the cornicione, and a deeper graininess that makes me think it was the "ancient grains" dough and not the traditional dough. Crisp on the bottom, chewy above that, and sporting a good flavor, this was a solid crust on which to build a successful pie.

The toppings matched the quality of the crust. The thick ovals of pepperoni were applied generously but in reasonable proportion. Each bite yielded a flavor blast dominated by the savory goat cheese crumbles and the hot honey. The arugula added a bit of snap and textural balance.

Nicely browned and crisp underneath

The cheese, generously applied, was a bit of a role player as was the red sauce, but all the elements worked in harmony. I'm pretty certain this particular combo was better than anything I might have attempted in the build-your-own approach.

Nice texture in the crust

Overall, terrific pizza. It did not quite match Ecco, but the pies from that two-store "chain" are baked in a genuine Neapolitan dome oven. The pizza from &Pizza gets the nod over MOD, for instance. All of these pies live somewhere in between the generic and the genuine, but they also represent a huge leap forward in chain food.

More than ever, there is no reason to waste calories on Papa John or Domino's pizza when these superior pies are available almost everywhere. Kudos to &Pizza for raising the bar in the fast-casual pizza category.

In 2007, the Capitol Riverfront was created as a business improvement district, south of the U.S. Capitol in Wasington DC. Adjacent to the Navy Yard and Washington Nationals stadium, it is now home to more than 9,000 new residences and all the shops are services for the (wealthy) people moving in. There is a boardwalk along the Anacostia River, a wading pool, a marina, and plenty of hip destinations.

Among them is a second location in DC for All Purpose Pizzeria, directly on the waterfront with both indoor and outdoor dining. On an unseasonably warm Father's Day, we opted for inside seating. The space is very bright, open, and well-organized; elegant but still casual. The kitchen is in full view, a dining trend that remains welcome.

All Purpose describes itself as offering "local beer and seasonal dishes inspired by the Eastern U.S. and Italian coastlines." Reading the menu, I noticed a lot of NY and NJ references; our server told us that the owner grew up in New York and North Jersey. The beer list was short but impressive, as was the offer of a free beer for Father's Day. I chose "Downright Pils," a Czech style pilsener from Port City Brewing in nearby Alexandria; it was especially good.

The menu is divided into four categories. Pizza, of course, but also salads, spuntini (light appetizers), and antipasti (heavy appetizers). Although the pizzas are a large 11" personal size, we decided to split one pizza and one appetizer for our lunch visit. From the many good choices, we selected the spring asparagus "marinati" which included blanched and sliced cold asparagus with whipped robiola cheese, toasted sesame, lemon, and salsa verde.

This appetizer was an omen of good things to come; it may be the best asparagus dish I've ever eaten. It was tender but crunchy and there was a swirl of wonderful flavors from the cheese, sesame, and light touch of green salsa.

Asparagus as served in salad bowl

I asked our server about its preparation, and she knew the technique from start to finish! The key was to first remove the outer layer of fibrous stalk, then marinate in salt and sugar, then blanch, then slice and mix with the other ingredients.

Asparagus, plated

The pizza menu included eight styles and a build-your-own option. We chose the "Buona" which features tomato sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, Calabrian chili honey, and fresh basil. Our pie arrived with a deep golden glow and a very puffy cornicione. It's important to note that these are not Neapolitan pies; they cook about ten minutes in a conventional gas oven.

I sometimes keep notes about the particular qualities of the sauce, the cheese, the toppings. I failed to do that here - and that speaks to how much I was enjoying each slice and how the ingredients were in ideal balance and harmony. Much like the authentic pizza I grew up eating in New Jersey, the sauce and the cheese melded into a delicious orange swirl that married the pepperoni to the crust.

I did take particular note of the crust, always the most important element. It was even darker on the bottom than the top, but not burnt or overdone. The crust was thin in the center, but not wafer-like. It was much thicker at the cornicione. All the way through, it was delightfully crispy on the outside and lightly chewy within. I commented that they could just bake the crust alone and serve it with butter and it would make a very satisfying meal.

Underside of crust

Although I'm partial to the small but thick "spicy cup" pepperoni, these large thin circles had excellent flavor and texture. The Calabrian chili honey added more sweetness than spiciness, but certainly enhanced the other flavors. Mike Kurtz (Mike's Hot Honey) and Paulie Gee started the whole hot-honey-on-pizza thing and it remains one of the best non-traditional pie toppings.

Conventional gas deck ovens

Everything about this visit was a success. Great ambiance, superb service, excellent beer for free, amazing asparagus, and a perfectly balanced pie built on an expertly baked crust. Washington DC already offers some wonderful pizza options, and All Purpose stands with the best of them.

Kiawah Island is a superb beach and golf destination about 40 minutes south of Charleston, SC. Within the sprawling resort, there are plenty of good but pricey dining options. Just outside the resort property is an outdoor mall called Freshfields Village, with a nice mix of shopping and dining options. There we found La Tela, which bills itself as a wood-fired Neapolitan pizzeria.

Opened in 2009, the La Tela website says:

Family-run and operated, we are proud of the relationships we’ve built with the local community and farmers we buy from. Whether it is the pasta made with eggs from SC pasture-raised chickens, wood fired pizza topped with shrimp from SC waters, or a bottle of Barolo from a family-run vineyard in Piedmont, Italy, you can taste the love we have for only sourcing the best.

We stopped in for lunch on a sweltering Monday in July. The dining room was not quite full, but there was a happy bustling of activity. Our waitress was especially friendly in greeting us and gave terrific service throughout our meal.

In a Neapolitan pizzeria, I often feel like I should get a more autentico pie that includes red sauce, but we were intrigued by the Quail Egg pizza, made with olive oil, pancetta, mozzarella, Parmigiano Reggiono, Pecorino Romano, and cracked black pepper. The 14" version was $20, pretty modestly priced for resort-area dining.

We began by sharing a dry roasted golden beet salad that included baby arugula, dried apricot, ricotta salata, pistachios, and a vanilla bean vinaigrette. The good news is that we loved it - a terrific mix of fresh flavors, colors, and textures. Scrumptious and good for sharing. The bad news is that we ate it so ravenously that I forgot to get a picture.

The pizza came out looking terrific. I love the "egg on a Neapolitan" concept, but it often seems that one conventional chicken egg doesn't cover much of the pizza surface. It's also a difficult trick to add the egg at the right time to get it cooked perfectly. The quail egg approach is a great solution. I counted nine eggs on this 8-slice pie, so you get an egg on every slice. And the much smaller eggs cook faster.

With the savory pancetta, this was very much an eggs and bacon pizza. The three Italian cheeses blended into a smooth but robust flavor. Everything about the toppings of this pie were spot on in flavor, texture, and balance.

None of that matters if the crust can't measure up and stand up to the toppings. A lot of Neapolitan pies are too soft and too thin to support the toppings; many are soggy in the middle. Purists argue that Neapolitan pizza has a wet center by design, but I want no part of that tradition.

Happily, that was not an issue here. Even though the lack of tomato sauce disqualifies a pizza from being authentically Neapolitan, a white pie is less likely to become soggy due to less moisture on top. I suspect this crust, though, would stand up just fine even with a red sauce.

Cooked in a wood-fired oven, the crust seems like a Neapolitan hybrid. It was a little thicker, much more sturdy, and the cornicione was downright crunchy. Crisp outside, pillowy inside with great hole structure, this crust also had a wonderful flavor on its own, like a fresh loaf of Italian bread. I often prefer a Neapolitan hybrid crust - like the one at La Porta - over an authentically rendered Neapolitan pie.

This pie was essentially flawless. It was a well-chosen pairing of cheeses, eggs, and pancetta on a delectably crunchy and chewy crust. The amount of toppings were in harmony with the crust, and the whole pie was impeccably balanced. Add in the friendly ambiance, terrific service, and modest pricing and this stands out as an exemplary pizza experience - a delightful surprise in a resort area. Absolutely destination pizza.

Crust Wood-Fired Pizza occupies a cozy spot in a James Island strip mall on Maybank Highway, just south of the Charleston peninsula. We visited at lunch time on a Friday and chose patio seating despite the intense heat of a Carolina July day; shade and porch fans kept it comfortable.

From a list of creative pizza options, we chose to share two 12" personal size Neapolitan pies. One was a fairly conventional pizza with red sauce and mozzarella, albeit a bit heavily loaded with the three-meat topping of pepperoni, sausage, and bacon. The second pie was the "Crustacean" with spicy shrimp, prosciutto, arugula pesto, feta, fresh mozzarella, fresh arugula, and chili oil.

At a pizzeria named "Crust," the expectations are high for the dough base of the pie. I'm happy to report that Crust earns its name. This is a pretty pure version of the traditional Neapolitan pizza, made in a wood-fired oven (although not a dome oven) with the characteristic puffy cornicione and leopard spotting.

On both pies, the crust was soft but not floppy, thin everywhere except the cornicione, and delicious all by itself. On some Neapolitans, the white pies work better because the reduced moisture load (no red sauce) prevents the pie from becoming soggy in the middle.

Here, both pies were expertly crafted and there was no hint of the wet center that spoils so many otherwise tasty Neapolitan pizzas.

The Crustacean pie sported several large brick red pieces of shrimp, made dark by spices. Seafood on pizza is a difficult challenge, because the intense heat required for any pizza - and especially a Neapolitan - is a threat to obliterate delicate seafood like shrimp. The shrimp here did not seem to suffer; perhaps they were added toward the end of the bake cycle.

What dominated that pie, though, was the arugula pesto. It blended smartly with the fresh mozzarella cheese and prosciutto. There were a lot of flavors going on here, and the shrimp got a little bit lost in competition with the meat, cheese, pesto, chili oil, and fresh arugula. All told this was a wonderful pizza, but I think it would not have been very different if made with any spicy meat in place of the shrimp.

The three-meat pie was also a bit of risk of too much bulk in the toppings, but the crust was up to the job. The red sauce was simple but prominent among the flavors.

The pepperoni was thin and nicely crisped, and adhered well to the base as did the bacon. The sausage, pre-cooked large crumbles, added another dimension of flavor.

On most pizzas, Neapolitan or otherwise, I prefer traditional dry mozzarella to fresh mozzarella, because it doesn't release much water into the pie and it typically has more flavor. On both of these pizzas, however, the wonderful flavor of the fresh mozz was a standout. It seemed creamy and somehow more dense than most fresh mozzarella. It helped turn good pizza into great pizza.

The wood-fired oven

Just days earlier, we'd eaten shockingly good pizza at La Tela, also on James Island just outside Kiawah. Here again, we found pizza that was essentially flawless. An ideally-rendered and authentic Neapolitan crust topped with deeply flavorful fresh mozzarella and well-mated toppings. We asked ourselves if Crust or La Tela had better pizza - but the answer is that they are both wonderful.

Coastal Carolina is a wonderful place for visitors - historic mansions and plantations, pristine beaches, the charm of Charleston, and of course that low country cooking. During an 8 day stretch spent on Kiawah Island and in Charleston, I had (and fulfilled) great expectations for local fare like shrimp and grits, fried chicken, and okra gumbo.

My pizza bar was set a bit lower - but I did some scouting ahead of time and found four pizza places of interest in or near Charleston. I expected nothing better than ordinary tourist stuff around Kiawah, but we were astonished and delighted to stumble upon La Tela in a modern shopping center just a mile or so outside the island.

We struck gold again on our short trek from Kiawah to Charleston, stopping at Crust Wood-Fired Pizzaon James Island. Before we even got into our hotel room in the French Quarter we'd found two wonderful Neapolitan-style pies. That's already two more than I had anticipated.

Our last day was a Sunday with a short agenda. We had visited the wonderful Drayton Hall on the outskirts of Charleston and found ourselves in a remote area with time to kill before a late flight home. Since we hadn't yet visited the top pizzeria from my scouting report, we decided to head to EVO in North Charleston on a hot afternoon.

What remained of our corn salad

EVO ("Extra Virgin Oven") is located on a quiet boulevard that looks like an old-time Mayberry-ish strip of downtown storefronts, except that every one had been updated to a hip destination for dining or yoga or other services. We felt that we could likely get a good meal in any spot there.

The interior was comfortable and casual, and we were greeted promptly and warmly. Because the personal size pies were listed at 12" and we had no capacity for taking home leftovers, we decided to split one salad and one pizza.

The salads come in two sizes, and the large size ($11) is big enough to be a meal. From an inventive list, we chose the Corn Salad, which featured tender mixed greens, fresh roasted corn, and a cured meat that (I think) was bacon, all in a savory dressing. We were hungry and that salad was terrific, which explains why there is only a picture of it after more than half was eaten.

The pizza menu likewise offered options that were inventive without venturing into the weird or the excessive. We settled on a special "speck and mushroom" pizza ($15) that featured that wonderful cured meat (speck is - to me - the best take on prosciutto), deeply flavored mushrooms, and basil pine nut pesto.

The pizza arrived at our table cut into 6 slices. It looked beautiful, top and bottom. A big and puffy cornicione, plenty of leopard spotting, and a generous distribution of curled and crisp speck.

EVO is both a bakery and a pizzeria, and it seems they have some special bread skills. The pies at Crust and La Tela had both sported flawless Neapolitan or Neapolitan hybrid crusts, but this crust was at another level. It had all the elements of great bread - flavor, a tender chew, structure to support the toppings, and a crisp crunch.

But the crust was only the beginning here. Some white pies can be tame in flavor, lacking the acidic punch of a good red sauce. Here, though, was an explosion of deep savory flavors. I wish I had taken note of what kind of mushrooms were used (shittake?), but there was an umami party going on here.

While the cured meat and mushrooms provided the first burst of flavor, it was the basil pinenut pesto that brought all the elements into harmony. I'm sure the cheese was top grade, but it took a bit of a back seat to the intense flavors even as it was an essential element to balance the textures.

Mrs. Quixote rarely battles me for the last slice, but here we instantly lamented when it was gone. This was about a perfect pizza, and she said it was the best pizza of her life. I'm not ready to go that far, but it's the most flavorful pizza I can recall and this pie should make anybody's Top Ten list.

The "Extra Virgin Oven"

There's a thousand reasons to visit the Charleston area, and EVO may be the best of them. Absolutely destination pizza, worth the trip no matter where your starting point may be.

For home pizza makers, the biggest challenge is the crust. There are plenty of good recipes to make your own dough - this one to emulate Roberta's pizza is one of my favorites. I often opt for a shortcut, buying a ball of pizza dough from a bakery, Trader Joe's, or Whole Foods.

Earlier this year, I tried a pizza-ready dough by Pillsbury, where the crust is rolled in parchment paper. Unroll it onto a baking sheet (including the parchment paper), add toppings, and bake. I was pleasantly surprised by the result - a thin, chewy, and tasty crust that held up well to my toppings.

Thanks to a reader comment on that review, I discovered a similar product by Wewalka, made in Austria and carried in Giant supermarkets in my region of Pennsylvania. I found a "buy one get one" sale and picked up the "Classic" (14.1 ounce rectangular crust) and the "Bistro" (7.8 ounce round crust).

To compare it to the Pillsbury product, I chose the rectangle crust for my first attempt. There is a big calorie difference here, worth noting. The Pillsbury crust has 600 calories, which works out to 75 crust calories per slice if cut into eight servings. This Wewalka Classic checks in at 1040 calories, which comes to 130 calories per slice. The Wewalka Bistro, weighing 6 ounces less, has 560 calories.

Summer tomatoes

The dough rolled out a bit more easily than the Pillsbury dough, and it filled most of a large baking sheet. For my sauce, I diced some red and orange summertime garden tomatoes, and drained them for a few hours. I saved the juice and boiled it down with some olive oil, salt, and a pinch of sugar. I then took that thickened liquid and combined it with the fresh diced tomato. (I generally avoid fresh tomatoes on pizza due to the excess moisture, but this labor-intensive process solved the water issue.)

I used two cheeses - some Priano fresh mozzarella (from ALDI) and some Asiago. I added some red and orange sweet peppers (mostly for color) and thin slices from a large clove of fresh garlic. Finally, I squeezed out 4 ounces of fresh (raw) Italian sausage from its casing to make lovely chunks that cook on the pizza.

Pre-bake

Following package directions, I baked the pie for about 18-19 minutes at 425 degrees. Out of the oven, I topped the pie with fresh chopped basil. The overall product was delicious, but that was mostly due to the sauce of summer tomatoes, the excellent cheeses, and the sausage. The crust was thin, dense, golden brown, chewy, and sturdy enough to support the toppings.

Out of the oven

However, the crust was blandly flavored. I remember the Pillsbury crust being oddly reminiscent of a Chinese dumpling in texture and flavor, but this crust had little distinct flavor. It served nicely as a vehicle for the toppings, but did not stand out in any other way.

Based on results to date, my top choice for home pizza dough (beyond make your own) remains the $4 dough ball at Whole Foods. The $2 dough ball at Trader Joe's would be my next choice. Due to its convenience and low calories, the Pillsbury dough comes in third. I enjoyed our pizza on the Wewalka Classic crust, but it's in fourth place here.

Underside of crust

I'll update this post if I get a different result with the Bistro crust. Add your experience in the comments section.

This blog features occasional guest reviews. "The Franklin Expedition" previously reviewed Primanti Brothers in Grove City, PA. Here's a new one:

Cincinnati is full of surprises.

From www.facebook.com/pg/ATavolaPizza

The William Howard Taft birthplace/historical site is a fascinating place to spend a morning or afternoon. The Cincinnati Art Museum has, among many worthwhile holdings, a stunning collection of Islamic calligraphy from the 17th and 18th centuries. Krohn Conservatory displays thousands of beautiful and exotic plants in a pleasant setting. The latter two institutions are in large, lovely Eden Park.

Downtown is easy to drive in and there are at least three vibrant and attractive neighborhoods, Over the Rhine, Walnut Hill, and Mount Adams. But among these and other surprises, perhaps the least expected was superb pizza.

Cincinnati is definitely a Midwestern city and its primary ethnic heritage seems to be German. For someone used to pizza crafted by New Jersey/New York Italians, neither of those Cincy descriptors sounds promising. But a necessary visit to the Ohio River city and a bit of research led us to think we should give a place called A Tavola (“to the table”) a try.

Interior at A Tavola

We drove into the trendy Over the Rhine section and easily found parking (another surprisingly common thing in this busy city). The restaurant is in a beautifully preserved commercial building and has an attractive interior, with the exposed overhead ductwork and refinished hardwood floors that typify these restorations.

Gorgonzola and sausage pizza

From the extensive drinks and wine list, we selected a Fantasia (limoncello made in house, plus prosecco and sorbet) and a Bellini. Both were refreshing and tasty. Our ‘red and bleu’ salads combined Bibb lettuce, radicchio, cherry tomatoes, red onions, and Gorgonzola in a balsamic vinaigrette. Ingredients were perfectly fresh and the combination was excellent.

Red and bleu salad

Our Margherita pizza emerged from the wood fired Stefano Ferrera oven with a somewhat charred, remarkably light crust. The tomato sauce had rich flavor that blended well with the fiore i latte mozzarella. Shreds of fresh basil were scattered over the pizza—I may have added a bit more, but that is a small quibble. The overall taste of each slice was, simply, delicious.

Stefano Ferrara wood fired oven

We were so pleased with the Margherita, and it was so light, that we decided we could have a second pie. We opted for a house specialty that includes tomato sauce, mozzarella, Gorgonzola, sausage, and pepperoni. Recognizing the Pizza Quixote dictum that a pizza is spoiled by too many toppings, we asked them to omit the pepperoni.

Perfect char underneath

The resulting pie was first rate. The sausage is cured in house and is more American than Italian, but was very flavorful, with both spicy and sweet elements. The strongly flavored Gorgonzola could easily have overwhelmed the other toppings, but instead served to balance the spiciness of the sausage.

Our knowledgeable server noted that A Tavola emphasizes local sourcing of ingredients (even the beers on tap at the bar are from local microbreweries) and in-house preparation of everything, including curing their own meats.

Fantasia (L) and Bellini (R) drinks

When we learned that this included homemade gelato, we had to ask to wrap the last two slices of pizza so that we could try it. We both chose stracciatella, and were rewarded by the perfect ending to a superb meal—rich, creamy, and smooth.

Stracciatella gelato

We don’t have a specific reason to return to the “Queen City” anytime soon, but our experiences were so pleasant that we might try to find one. And if we do, we’re certain to pay another visit to A Tavola.

Situated in a huge two-story former furniture store, Porta is Philadelphia's largest restaurant space. This is the third location for Porta, which began in Asbury Park, NJ in the space once occupied by The Student Prince, the nightclub where Bruce Springsteen met Clarence Clemons.

I visited the Philly location on a Wednesday night, and the place was abuzz with dining parties of all sorts. There are two levels inside, and the place feels warm and comfortable despite its cavernous dimensions. My visit was part of a group outing for food and drinks, so I didn't have control of the menu.

Porta is known best, perhaps, for its authentically Neapolitan pizza, but there is a fairly complete Italian menu including salads, fried appetizers, pastas, steaks, and even branzino. We gathered around a large attractive bar on the second floor and began with drinks and appetizers.

Our Caesar salad was simple but well-executed, and the big crunchy croutons were a standout. Another impressive starter was the house-made mozzarella drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, & black pepper, served with excellent fresh sliced Italian bread. Bread is always an odd appetizer before pizza, but this really set our taste buds on edge.

The first pizza I sampled was the simple Margherita, always the truest test of a Neapolitan pizza. This was was rendered with San Marzano tomatoes, house-made mozzarella, Parmigiano Reggiano, basil, and extra virgin olive oil.

It was perfectly balanced in tastes and textures, with none of the wet spots or sogginess that plagues so many Neapolitans. I took particular note of the brightly flavored red sauce. The crust, always the most important element, was excellent if not quite at the level of Razza or Scuola Vecchia, the best Neapolitans I've had.

The Quattro Formaggio and the Margherita

The next pie I sampled was a white quattro formaggio. I like a white Neapolitan, because although it's indeed inauthentic without the red sauce, the reduced moisture content means the cheese gets to absorb more of that brief 90 seconds of heat in the 900 degree dome oven.

Much like the Margherita, this pie too was ideally balanced. I can't name the four cheeses (nor find it on the menu), but the blend was particularly tasty, with a strongly flavored one (goat cheese?) in the mix.

Excellent char underneath

The third Neapolitan was the least successful, essentially a Margherita topped with peppers, onions, and sausage. These are all terrific conventional pizza toppings, but not ideal on a Neapolitan. The peppers were tasty, but not in harmony with the more delicate flavors of the Margherita underneath.

Quattro Formaggio

The sausage, excellent quality, were inch-size pre-cooked slices which did not integrate into the pie at all, riding on top like the sad add-ons at a slice joint when the pizzaiolo puts sausage on a plain cheese slice before the re-heat. Porta's catering menu seems to tilt toward more "Medigan" tastes and this pie was probably a compromise to that. I'm glad it's not on the regular menu.

Sausage, peppers, onions

Finally, the last pies to come out were Nutella dessert pizzas. I've seen versions of this at other Neapolitan places and never was tempted, but in this setting it was easy to grab a slice to try it. I put some Nutella slices and other leftovers in a box to take home. An hour later, I tasted the Nutella pie and I was floored. Dusted with powdered sugar, it was a delightful mix of that savory and chewy crust with the sweet chocolate-hazelnut flavor inside. I had another piece the next day after overnight refrigeration and it was still wonderful.

Source: @pizzaporta on Twitter

Philly is a great pizza town, even if Beddia has come and gone. Roman al taglio style at Rione or Alice, traditional masterpieces at Tacconelli's and Pizza Brain, Neapolitans at Capofitto and Vetri. Porta is a worthy addition both in terms of the quality of their Neapolitan pies, but also the huge space with great ambiance in an ideal center city location. We'll be back!

In October 2018, Philadelphia Magazine published an article specifying "30 Cheesesteaks to Eat Before You Die" and it included John's Pizza in Frazer PA as one of the best in the Philly metropolitan area:

It's got a huge dining room, a long counter, a vintage Pac-Man arcade cabinet in the corner, and signed pictures on the wall from Paul Anka, the Supersuckers, Kenny Rogers and Mr. Tony Danza. Know what they call that 'round these parts? Bona fides, man. This place has been around the block and back again, looks like it hasn't redecorated since 1981, and turns out a solid roster of 'steaks on crispy bread. The only option here is with onions or without, but if you need anything more than that, you're too bougie for John's anyway.

John's occupies a large rectangle building on Route 30, a particularly dreary stretch between Malvern and Exton with lots of dog kennels, sundry automotive services, a U-Haul store, a bowling alley, and a dive bar.

Other than the tilted letters on the sign out by the road, there is nothing visually interesting to draw you into John's Pizza. In fact, I've driven by it frequently for nine years in my search for authentic pizza and never imagined it would be more than another mom-n-pop place slinging Sysco-sourced generic floppy cheesey pizzas.

A few years back, I conducted an extensive cheesesteak survey in Philly with a good friend, so I was excited to try this local entry endorsed by Philly Magazine. We stopped by for cheesesteaks and they were excellent, good chopped steak on a lovely fresh chewy roll with grilled onions and American cheese. Folks in this region of Chester County now have at least two great options for cheesesteaks, John's Pizza and The Pepper Mill in West Chester.

That might have been the end of the story, but we saw a nearby couple order a pizza. It looked great! Thin crust, clearly not generic Sysco stuff, and a deep red sauce with plenty of cheese. We vowed to return soon for the pizza, and we did.

Celeb photos from Philly TV newsmen of the past

In addition to the furnishings noted in the magazine article, we noted a group of photos of Philly TV news celebrities, going all the way back to the legendary Jim O'Brien, on air from 1970 through 1983 (trivia note: his daughter, Peri Gilpin, played Roz Doyle on Fraser). There are also framed newspaper clippings of special events at John's Pizza in the wake of the Phillies' 1980 World Series victory.

Our 16" sausage pizza

The staff at John's is casual and very friendly. Our server let me know that all the dough is house made, and that on a sausage pizza, the sausage is applied in raw chunks, as it should be.

We ordered a large (16") pizza with sausage; all of the pizza prices are modest by modern standards. Like most pizzerias, there are fountain sodas as well as a cooler of various soft drinks.

The pizza arrived and that golden-edged thin crust looked beautiful. The red sauce was a vibrant color, but we noticed it was applied in great abundance, resulting in a swirly pool of sauce and melted cheese on top. Without careful lifting on the first slice, you'd be at risk of the sauce and cheese sliding off.

This was less troublesome than it first appeared, because as the pie cooled a bit, the sauce and cheese congealed a bit and had better crust adhesion. I did eat the first bite of each slice with a knife and fork, but the rest was easily consumed without the bad habit of folding.

Despite the sea of red sauce, the crust was uniformly thin and crisp - no soggy spots anywhere. It sported really good char underneath and had a good bready flavor.

Nice char under the hood

The red sauce, it seems, was so plentiful because it was the star of this pizza. Deeply flavored, both rich and sweet, it reminded me of the pizza at another local old-school pizzeria, Franzone's of Bridgeport. In fact, our pizza at Franzone's was also awash in a flow of wonderful sweet red sauce. In my review of Franzone's, I dubbed it "pizza soup."

Saucy pie from Franzone's

There was plenty of cheese here, but the cheese was largely a role player. The sausage turned out to be a perfect choice, because it was good quality genuine Italian sausage with ideal browning as it cooked on the pie. All told, each bite was delectable and surprisingly balanced, given the volume of red sauce.

Chris, one of the owners, making cheesesteaks (from facebook.com/JohnsPizza610.647.4297)

Our server told us that some customers ask for "light sauce" and I will certainly try one that way. John's Pizza is old school in all the right ways. You can't go wrong with the award-winning cheesesteak or the old-school thin-crust pizza at John's. We'll be back often for both.

Visitors may not think of San Diego as a pizza destination, but two recent trips here have permitted me to find good, great, and amazing pizza.

In 2016, I found a small place that serves authentic Chicago style deep dish, by the slice, at Berkeley Pizza. I suppose there is no such thing as "San Diego style" pizza, so why not Chicago? The theme continued when I stopped in at Basic Pizza, and had a wonderful New Haven style apizza. Those two places alone put San Diego on the pizza map, but my latest visit here turned it up to 11.

Pizza geeks had been buzzing for a while about Tribute Pizza, where owner Matt Lyons fashions several kinds of pies in tribute to the world’s best pizzas, such as Apizza Scholls in Portland, Best Pizza in Brooklyn, Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix, and a rotating variety of other regional favorites.

Wood-fired oven at Tribute Pizza

Lyons says "We’re not looking to create exact replicas or take something and make it our own. We want to make something incredible as well as we can." I had been following Tribute on Facebook, drooling over pics of the pizzas and appetizers, and a visit here gave me the opportunity to visit the North Park pizzeria.

The Margherita

The large, open space is modern and comfortable, housed in a former U.S. Post Office. Wooden tables wrap around a large counter, behind which you can see the pizza prep and the large oven.

We visited on a Sunday night, and the place was nearly full. Happily, were were quickly seated and we had superb service the entire evening.

Underside of the Margherita

I regret that we did not order appetizers, but our group of five was able to try three different pizzas. As a baseline, we ordered a Neapolitan Margherita. We also opted for a pie modeled on Best Pizza in Brooklyn (which I have visited) that was constructed with fresh mozz, ricotta, wood roasted onions, parsley, and sesame seeds on the crust.

The Brooklyn pie

Our final selection was Bronx inspired, the "Mushroom Whitestone" featuring fresh and aged mozz, garlicky wood roasted mushrooms, garlic confit, Calabrian chile, ricotta, and Pecorino. We also ordered some drafts from the excellent selection of beers on the menu.

A Brooklyn slice

The Margherita came out first. I was immediately struck by the vitality of the red sauce. So simple yet so vibrant, the closest comparison I can make is the simple crust, sauce, and olive oil al taglio slice I had at Forno Marco Rosciolo, by the Campo di Fiore in Rome. The crust, too, was revelatory. Thin, crisp, and delicate. So light and so tasty, yet no soggy spots anywhere. No one in our party left any uneaten pizza bones.

Underside of the Brooklyn slice

Thrillist says, and we agree, that "the Margherita pie is the perfect benchmark to judge the quality of any given pizzeria. Here, it’s made with organic Bianco DiNapoli tomatoes, creamy fresh mozz, basil, and primo olive oil -- and serves as a fitting homage to its inspiration, Pizzeria Brandi in Naples." Lyons uses flour from Central Milling and his crust is more breadlike than other pizzas, in all the best ways.

The Bronx Mushroom Whitestone

The Brooklyn's Best pizza was also wonderful, and somehow the crust was even better with the addition of sesame seeds. All the ingredients were in harmony and balanced in both texture and flavor, even as I was missing that impeccable red sauce. The thin and crisp crust became puffy and bubbly at the edges, and these may be the most delectable corniciones of any pizza anywhere.

Underside of the Mushroom Whitestone

There was no drop in quality with the Mushroom Whitestone, which we enhanced with a prosciutto topping. While the Margherita pie was as completely authentic as you'll find anywhere in America, the other two pizzas seemed to start with that Margherita base and then morph into something more American; it's hard to think of a better Tribute than that. These pies are not replicas, but ground-breaking stuff that blends ancient methods with cutting edge pizza craft.

Gwen with a Bronx slice

It's important to note that, even after stuffing in the last few slices, we were persuaded to order dessert. I had the vanilla soft serve topped with olive oil and sea salt, and it was the perfect combo of creamy, cold, sweet, savory, and salty. How to make a fabulous meal even better, this was it.

I've eaten a lot of pizza and it's often tempting to say "this was the best X pizza ever." I must say that you would be hard pressed to find better pizza anywhere. This stuff stands with the best pies I've had in NYC, Rome, New Haven, Trenton, Philly, and Chicago. As good as the sauce and other toppings are, it's the dough that makes a great pizza, and I could eat this stuff every day.

Soft serve with EVOO and sea salt

In writing about pizza and eating great pizza, the best experiences are talking with owners who have true passion for their craft. If you're watching Mozart in the Jungle on Amazon (if not, you should be), you know that the Maestro cherishes artists who play music "with the blood." By that he means that they play with feeling and passion. No amount of technical finesse can cover for a shortage of passion.

Jeff helps finish the last few slices

Some of the most inspirational pizza makers are Norma Knepp, who made such wonderful boardwalk and Detroit style pies in her tiny shop in a farmer's market, and the wonderful folks at Elio G's, where making Old Forge style pizza is a long family tradition. We had the chance to chat with Matt Lyons at the end of our meal, and he told us about his time making pies in Nairobi and what inspired his approach and how his team plays "with the blood."

"With the blood"

This was one of the top pizza experiences not just in San Diego, but anywhere. Don't miss it if you're in town, just a 12 minute drive from the Gaslamp district. Magical stuff.

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