Review: Napizza - San Diego, CA

October 22, 2018, 6:06 am

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In Rome, pizza is often made and sold "al taglio" - by the slice. A Roman style pizza is not a round pie cut into triangles, but an elongated oval/rectangle from which large slices are lopped off with a big knife, and then weighed to determine the price.

Old School slice (left) and La Lasagna slice (right)

I first experienced this kind of pizza at Forno Marco Rosciolo in Rome, and it set the standard for my expectations. That was in 2012, and I wondered why no one was making this kind of pizza in the USA. Fast forward to 2018, and it's much easier to find Roman style.

Napizza, San Diego

Philadelphia offers two authentic renditions in center city -  Alice (pronounced "Ah Lee Chay") is the first American branch of a major Italian chain, and Rione is a smaller BYOB that also offers remarkably genuine Roman pizza.

Some of the Al Taglio slices available

On visits to San Diego, I found solid Chicago deep-dish pizza at Berkeley, amazing New Haven style apizza at Basic, and ethereal modern twists on Neapolitan/American pies at Tribute Pizza. Beyond all those great choices, I found Napizza, a casual al taglio spot with four San Diego area locations for Roman style slices.

Bapo slice (left) and Truffle Porcini slice (right)

Much like the medium-thick and airy crusts on the slices at Alice and Rione, the dough at Napizza develops for 72 hours, giving these substantial slices a surprising lightness despite the crisp edges and chewy interior. Each slice is cut into two for serving, so with a dining partner I was able to sample four different slice varieties.

Bapo up close

The crust was identical on all four. It was uniformly crisp underneath, full of airy pockets, and chewy like good Italian bread in the middle. It was a bit more oily than other Roman slices, but mostly in a good way. The crust is the key component of every pizza no matter the style, and this crust is good enough to eat without any toppings.

Crispy undercarriage

We ordered four different slices:

• La Lasagna, topped with Bolognese sauce, fresh mozzarella, Parmigiano, and besciamella
• Bapo, featuring potato, bacon, fresh mozzarella, and fresh rosemary
• Old School, with house-made red sauce, fresh mozzarella, and pepperoni
• Truffle Porcini, made with porcini mushrooms, truffle pate, fresh mozzarella, and parsley

Old School slice

La Lasagna slice

Every slice was delectable in its own way, but my clear favorite was the Truffle Porcini for its rich combination of flavors. Truffles and the porcini mushrooms made this a umami explosion.  

Truffle Porcini slice

Likewise, fresh rosemary really pumped up the Bapo slice. Potatoes on pizza can become a wet and heavy mess if not executed properly, but this slice contained a judicious amount of diced/smashed potato. I'd like to have that slice topped with an egg as a perfect breakfast pizza.

Conventional gas ovens

The slices with red sauce had a more traditional pizza flavor, and could have passed for excellent slices of Sicilian style with a slightly thinner crust. We easily polished off all four slices; I could have eaten more. 

With Napizza, Berkeley, Basic, and Tribute Pizza, you can now add San Diego to the (growing) list of great pizza towns.

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Review: BIGA Pizza and Beer - Bryn Mawr, PA

October 28, 2018, 11:59 am

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There's a lot of great restaurants on Philadelphia's storied Main Line, but this prosperous stretch of western suburbs hasn't fully participated in the pizza renaissance blossoming nationally. Other than a cluster of good pies in Wayne, such as Jules Thin Crust and an outpost of Anthony's Coal-Fired Pizza, Main Line pizza eaters have been stuck in the 90s.

BIGA opened in May of 2016, and quickly got onto the radar of local foodies when legendary Philly food critic Craig Labanwrote a review seven months later. On a Wednesday night in October, I visited with three others to try four different kinds of their 12" personal size Neapolitans.

From the outside, BIGA looks like a place that has been around forever; flat gray walls on an old boxy building. The interior, which seats about 40, has a cozy brick and wood decor that makes you instantly feel welcomed.

Owner Sean Weinberg cites Brooklyn's Roberta'sand DC's 2Amys as inspirations for both the pizza and the decor, and those are both superb destinations.

Weinberg has a high end restaurant Alba in Malvern (at the Western-most end of the Main Line). Here, according to Laban, "he and chef Steve Fulmer have put a lot of energy into refining their dough (a 48-hour process that fosters complexity of flavor), a bright raw tomato sauce just touched with basil, and a series of toppings that range from traditional ('Margherita') to unconventional."

BIGA offers a nice selection of draft beers and over 80 kinds of bottled beer (though I can't understand why anyone would choose a bottle over draft beer). The Saint Benjamin Belgian Wit I had paired nicely with our pies, but there are plenty of more serious IPA style beers too.

Margherita with pepperoni

We shared as an appetizer of  the buttermilk-crusted fried cauliflower, served with an almond-thickened base of red pepper romesco sauce. It was as light as fried food can be, and the texture was perfect - delicate and soft inside without being wet or mushy. It was garnished with some nice pickled onions.

The Daytripper

Our four pizzas were:

• Margherita -  tomato sauce, basil, fresh mozzarella, olive oil; topped with pepperoni
• Classic Cheese -  tomato sauce, shredded mozzarella, Parmesan; topped with beer-braised onions
• Da Bomb - tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, soppressata, basil, Calabrian chilies
• Daytripper - mushrooms, roasted garlic bechamel, fontina, pecorino, scallion

"Da Bomb"

Like all good Neapolitans, these pies cook quickly in the high-heat wood-fired oven. 

The Classic Cheese

The Margherita is always the baseline to assess a pizzaiolo, even though we added the pepperoni to ours. The crust was perfect - ideal leopard spotting on the puffy cornicione, thin and chewy throughout, and no soggy spots anywhere. As with any great pizza, the crust was good enough to eat without any toppings.

"Da Bomb" slice

Tomato sauce on a pizza can be old-school long-cooked gravy style, or it can be applied to the pizza without any previous cooking, as it was here. I like both ways, but this style - fresh and vibrant - suited these Neapolitans perfectly. The cheese was excellent quality but kind of a role player to hold all the other ingredients together. The pepperoni was outstanding - large thin circles that curled and crisped even during the brief time spent in the oven.

Daytripper slice

After our meal, I asked the pizzaiolo about the pepperoni, and he told me it was made by DiGiacomo Brothers in nearby Conshohocken, PA.

Classic Cheese slice

The Da Bomb pizza had quite a bit in common with the Margherita, with an identical crust, sauce, and fresh mozzarella. The soppressata was not very different from the pepperoni on the Margherita, but what made this pie sing was the Calabrian chilies, applied judiciously in a way that gave it a very warm but not overpowering heat. It was a favorite of our group, an especially well-balanced pie.

We chose the Classic Cheese because one member of our party prefers standard aged mozzarella to the fresh variety (I do too, on any non-Neapolitan pie). He was intrigued by the beer-braised onions and ordered those as a topping. This pizza - in my view - is offered as a compromise to those who want their pizza to look and taste like the ordinary pies they ate before the pizza renaissance.

It certainly looked conventional, with that pale orange melange of cheese and sauce. However, those unremarkable toppings riding on this fantastic crust, enhanced by the beer-braised onions, made for a very satisfying pizza. Despite a big cheese payload, that Neapolitan crust was not overwhelmed, and like the other pies, the Classic Cheese was an ideal balance of flavors and textures.

The pie that most surprised me was the Daytripper. This white pie was just a flavor explosion; I'm not sure what kind of mushrooms were used, but they were bursting with umami, and it was doubled by the cheese blend, the garlic bechamel, and the liberal application of diced scallion.

Four pies, four winners. The crust here is wonderful; perhaps not better than Vetri or Capofitto in Philly, but you can talk about them all in the same sentence. What elevates BIGA above other Neapolitan pizzerias is how thoughtfully-chosen and well-balanced these pies are. A lot of failed pizzas result from unartful pairings of toppings that are good or great but ideal on that particular pie. Clearly, there is enough culinary skill here to avoid any such miscues.

Ideal char underneath

I've stood in line for a lot of pizza - an hour at Frank Pepe, two hours for DiFara, three hours for Pizzeria Bianco. It's always gratifying to find great pizza where you can walk in, get seated and get a beer, and then place your order. 

We arrived around 5:30 and the place was nearly full by the time we left, but it seems you can get your fix of first-rate pie here with a minimum of hassle; you can even park at the broken (hence: free) parking meters on the side of the building.

Delicious mutant bubble

BIGA was a top-shelf experience; don't overlook this gem in the heart of Philly's Main Line.

Review: Pizza Hut Spicy Beef Pizza - Chengdu, China

November 17, 2018, 4:58 am

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Pizza Hut has restaurants all over the globe, and they tailor the product offerings for local tastes. There is a Chicken Tom Yum pizza in Thailand, Fish Roe and Cream Cheese pie in Hong Kong, and the Grilled Pork Trout Soy Sauce and Prawn Mayo Bacon pizza in Japan. 

We spotted a large and elegant Pizza Hut at the airport in Chengdu, a large city in Southern China, and decided to take a short break from the wonderful Chinese food we'd been eating in Chengdu and Beijing.

Unlike American Pizza Huts, this location sported a very upscale decor. Service was pleasant, but a bit disorganized. I saw very few other westerners in Chengdu, including this airport.

We experienced some exotic street food in China; scorpion on a stick, roasted rabbit head, and chicken wings stuffed with sticky rice. Would Pizza Hut in China stretch the definition of pizza?

Scorpions on a stick

Roasted rabbit head

Chicken wings stuffed with sticky rice

I imagine the menu is more customized to local tastes at other Chinese Pizza Hut locations; here at the airport in this major city, they seem to have crafted a menu to appeal to both natives and to western travelers. The pizza choices were pretty tame. 

Pesto pasta

The "New Orleans" pie included shrimp topping, there was a typical "The Works" pie with gobs of toppings like peppers, onions, sausage, pepperoni, etc. I was tempted to try the simple pepperoni pizza to compare it to the American version, but we instead got the "Spicy Beef" pizza to see if it was some East-meets-West attempt.

"Spicy Beef" pizza

Our hungry table for three also ordered a lasagna and pesto pasta, which I found to be surprising menu options for a Pizza Hut, especially in China. The lasagna was a little bit soupy with red sauce, but otherwise pretty standard stuff. 

The Pesto dish seemed to be spaghetti noodles, which were amazingly al dente. We'd found that in China, noodle dishes get the same respectful preparation as in Italy, pairing perfect texture with rich and complex flavors. That kitchen skill carried over to this pasta dish in a Pizza Hut, a delightful surprise.

The pizzas are offered as small (personal size), medium, or large. I ordered the small version, and this "Spicy Beef" pie was topped with some modest bits of meat, bell pepper, corn, mushrooms, onion, cherry tomatoes (no sauce), and conventional cheese.

Golden oiled crust underneath

Other than the corn, it was a pretty standard pizza. There was a nice golden hue to the cornicione and good browning of the cheese. Underneath, you could see how a layer of oil helped the bottom of the crust get crisped and browned as well.

The crust was very white bread-ish, thick and soft. I couldn't detect a hint of spice in the beef, even though Chengdu is in the heart of Sichuan, which is known for fiery hot cuisine. 

Overall, though, this was a tasty and balanced pizza, more satisfying than I would have expected. I don't have much use for American Pizza Huts when there are so many other better options, but this Chengdu location exceed my expectations.

Review: Bricco Coal Fired Pizza- Westmont (Haddon Twp) NJ

December 20, 2018, 11:59 am

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Food writers often overlook the very fertile turf between the great pizza cities of New York and Philly: New Jersey. Jersey is where I learned to love old-school thin-crust pies; it's the home of my still-favorite Trenton tomato pie at DeLorenzo's; and it has what one critic called the "best pizza in New York" at Razza in Jersey City.

When I have occasion to travel to Jersey, pizza is on my mind. Happily, NJ has its own impeccably qualified pizza expert - Peter Genovese. He does an annual Ten Best Pizzas in NJ, and also has written about the best pizza in each of NJ's 21 counties. He's covered the ancient square slice joints at Kate and Al'sin the Columbus Market, a unique Sicilian-style pie in Trenton's suburbs, and pies all over the state. He has never steered me wrong. 

There are fewer great pies south of Trenton, but recently Pete wrote about Bricco in Westmont, Camden County. Bricco also won the endorsement of James Oley, esteemed pizzaiolo at Binge House Pizza.

Four lifelong friends (and Jersey residents) were able to join us for lunch. Bricco has a warm and attractive dining space with the kitchen in full view near the entrance. We skipped the interesting choices for salads and antipasti and went directly to the pizza.

The Short Rib

The pizza, as we discovered, is a Neapolitan hybrid with a typical charred and puffy cornicione. Most Neapolitans (hybrid or not) are offered only in a small personal size, due to the delicate nature of the crust, especially in the center of the pie. But here you can choose the 12" personal pie ($11 - $19) or a 16" version ($15 - $25) suitable for sharing.

The Vanti

Our group of six opted to share four different types of the 16" pies, two red and two white. We ordered:

• The Short Rib ($22) a white pie featuring beef short ribs, caramelized onions, fontina cheese, and arugula
• The Vanti ($20) with meatballs, fresh mozz, ricotta, and san marzano tomatoes
• The Stinger ($24) with buffalo mozzarella, tomato sauce, spicy soppressata, honey, basil, and mint
• The Sailor ($24), a white pie with spinach, roasted garlic, gruyere, pecorino, and mozzarella

The Stinger

The Short Rib pie came out first, and it was a masterpiece. The ingredients were perfectly proportioned, and the rich savory rib meat blended perfectly with the caramelized onions and fontina cheese. The slight edge of the arugula garnish served to balance the sweetness of the onions.

The Sailor

As with every pizza, the crust is the key component. This is masterful stuff here. Not as pale as a typical Neapolitan, this golden crust sported a bit more crunch all around. There may have been a bit of olive oil in the dough that gave it the crispy sturdiness that Neapolitans typically lack. Beyond its ideal texture, the crust had its own rich flavor, too.

A Short Rib slice

Next up came the Vanti, to which we had requested sweet red peppers as an additional topping. It featured the same wonderful crust, and all of the toppings were first rate. However, this pie was overloaded. 

The coal-fired oven

Along with the moisture from the red sauce, the meatballs and the ricotta and the peppers contributed too much weight and wetness. So even though every bite was bursting with good flavors, half of each slice had a soft and soggy crust. Still a great pizza, but not at the perfection level of the short rib pie.

A slice of the Vanti

Next came the Stinger, and this was perhaps the most flavorful of all four. Riding on that great crust was some wonderfully spicy soppressata, beautifully offset by a touch of sweet honey. But this pie was downright soupy in the center, and all the toppings were sliding off even though there did not seem to be an excess of red sauce. I was fortunate to have a slice of this as a leftover the next day; heated for 15 minutes at 325 degrees, it had a chance to dry out and meld - the texture was much improved.

Soupy center on the Stinger

The last pie was the Sailor, a wonderful way to finish. The blend of cheeses worked to create great flavor and texture, and there was an ideal amount of spinach. The calling card here, though, was the roasted garlic. Each bite had the tang of fresh garlic which was ideal to accompany the cheese and spinach. Without red sauce, the crust did not suffer from any soggy spots.

Magnificent char underneath

All told, we had four pies with a wonderful variety of well-balanced flavors. Two had ideal textures, two were soft and wet in the middle. My guess is that those two red pies would have worked a lot better in the 11" personal size; there was just too much payload for a 15" expanse of thin Neapolitan crust.

Lovely rigid slice from the Short Rib

Without question, Bricco is great pizza - destination pizza that is worth the trip. It's much better than a typical Neapolitan due to that superb hybrid crust. 

Next time back I'm going to experiment with the smaller pies and also the intriguing salads and antipasti offerings. Bricco was pretty packed during our visit and there's no mystery why.

Review: Brigantessa - Philadelphia PA

December 23, 2018, 6:53 am

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As Neapolitan pizza makers continue to pop up in every hip neighborhood, not all of them can be distinctive.  Some of the best ones are hybrids with a sturdier crust, such as the standout pies at La Porta(Media PA) and Bricco (Westmont NJ). And Philly has its share of superb Neapolitan pizzaioli at places like Vetri,Nomad, and Zavino.

Despite the ubiquity of Neapolitans, one pie at Brigantessa, in the heart of South Philly on Passyunk Avenue, caught my eye some time ago. The "Stella" features star points where the edge of the crust is cut and folded to create a celestial design and allow for an epicurean version of a "stuffed crust." As pizza scribe-turned-pizzaiolo Adam Kuban has said about some pies, that is a pizza which "haunts my dreams."

Exterior of Brigantessa

We arrived at opening time (5pm) on a Tuesday. Downstairs is an attractive bar and a few tables; we were seated upstairs in a long cozy room overlooking Passyunk Avenue and Greenwich Street. The entire space seems to be a converted row home. We were the first diners but the place filled up quickly during our visit.

Second floor dining room

Beyond the appetizers, Brigantessa features Neapolitan pizza and Southern Italian pasta dishes; we decided to order one of each for sharing. Our meal began with thick slices of excellent crusty bread, with a plate of olive oil for dipping. Bread before pizza always strikes me as redundant, but not one bite of this excellent bread went uneaten.

Orecchiette

Our pasta was orecchiette (little hats) with fennel sausage, broccoli rabe, peperoncino, and caciocavallo cheese. The small dense hats were almost gnocchi-like with a perfectly al dente feel. This richly flavored dish was terrific, although very close to the high end of saltiness.

As with most Neapolitans, the pizzas are personal size. When you start with a personal sized pizza and fold in parts of the crust edge to create the pockets which form the points of the star, the final pie is pretty small in diameter. While ours was cut into eight tiny slices (one slice per star point), this is the kind of pie that could be served uncut, to be properly eaten with a knife and fork. But the slices made it convenient for sharing.

A slice of the Stella

The Stella is made with sheep's milk ricotta, pork sausage, San Marzano tomatoes, and mozzarella di bufala. The first bite of each slice contained the most red sauce, which was brightly flavored. The modest amount of mozzarella added a delicate creaminess and enhanced the texture. Despite the abundance of this excellent sauce, there were no soggy spots. The excellent sausage added a savory note without overpowering the more delicate cheeses.

Underside of the crust

Moving out toward the stuffed cornicione, each bite yielded a thicker section of the perfectly puffy, chewy, and tasty crust as well as the ricotta. I typically avoid ricotta on pizza because it is wet, heavy, and bland - adding little more than unwelcome moisture and throwing off the balance. But here it was superb. Dense, creamy, smooth, with a distinct yet delicate flavor. 

Menu item that we didn't have - "Pizza Rosa" (from www.brigantessaphila.com)

I loved that each bite offered a different mix of flavors and textures. First the red sauce and sausage and mozzarella, then a thicker bite with red sauce and ricotta, then the star point which was a wonderful puff of Neapolitan cornicione wrapped around a dollop of rich sheep's milk ricotta. All that moist cheese and yet no soggy crust here; this was a resounding success.

From www.facebook.com/pg/Brigantessaphila

I regret that we didn't have the time or appetite for the spuntini or antipasti, because there is great stuff coming out of this kitchen. We spent $60 (before tip) for two drinks, the pasta, and the pizza. If I was living closer, I'd be a regular. Wonderful Neapolitan pizza in a warm, hip, cozy setting. It's a great time to be in South Philly.

The 18 Breakout Pizzas of 2018

December 27, 2018, 12:13 pm

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The American Pizza Renaissance continued into 2018 with no signs of slowing down. Just as we are living in a Golden Age of Television with too many good shows on Netflix, Amazon Prime, and HBO, just as we are living in a Golden Age of Craft Beer with countless high-character local brews available in every state, we're living in a Golden Age of Pizza Worth the Calories as the legendary pie makers soldier on, joined by Neapolitan pizzaioli in every city and some new pie makers creating American pizza in a true old-school fashion.

Slice sampling at Porta in Philadelphia; click on any image for full size

What follows here is a countdown of the best pies that I tried for the first time in 2018. Like 2017 and every year before, 2018 turned out as yet another banner year in discovering "pizza worth the calories." Life is too short to eat mediocre pizza!

What's a Corleone style pizza? Read on!

In 2017, we found great pizza in all sorts of styles: Neapolitan, American old-school, Detroit, NY style, Old Forge, Roman al taglio, New Haven apizza, and even a Chicago deep dish. 2018's list of discoveries was dominated by the Neapolitans and Neapolitan hybrids, but there are plenty of old-school pies that made our list of 18 Breakout Pizzas.

Cozy interior at La Tela, Kiawah Island SC

This is not a "Best 18 Pizzas in America" list - these are the best ones I discovered in 2018. And some are truly spectacular! Click on any pizzeria for the full review and more pictures.

18. &Pizza Philadelphia PA. One of the fastest-growing entries in the "fast Casual" pizza market is &Pizza (https://andpizza.com), which calls itself an "anti-establishment establishment built on the renown of its creative pies and craft beverages" There are about 25 locations in DC, MD, and VA, with new stores opening in NYC, Boston, and Philly.  

Personal size pie at &Pizza

I visited the Philadelphia location just off Walnut Street in Center City. All the elements were good quality and in harmony on this well-crafted chain pie. Overall, terrific pizza. I noted that these pies live somewhere in between the generic and the genuine, but they also represent a huge leap forward in chain food. 


17. Napizza San Diego CA. Roman style "al taglio" pizza has finally come to America, and what took so long? Our 2017 Breakout list found Roman style slices from Alice Cucina Romana (Ah-lee-chay) in Philly landing on the #6 slot. 

"Al Taglio" slices at Napizza

Much like the medium-thick and airy crusts on the slices at Alice and Rione (also Philly, more on that coming up), the dough at Napizza develops for 72 hours, giving these substantial slices a surprising lightness despite the crisp edges and chewy interior. San Diego may not have its own unique variety of pizza, but it covers the great styles exceedingly well.


16. Crust Wood Fired Pizza James Island SC. Spoiler alert: three Charleston area pizzas made this 2018 list. Can there be a truer sign of the Pizza Renaissance than how easy it's become to get destination pizza here in the land of low country cooking?

Flawless Neapolitan at Crust Wood Fired Pizza

Our notes indicate that "we found pizza that was essentially flawless. An ideally-rendered and authentic Neapolitan crust topped with deeply flavorful fresh mozzarella and well-mated toppings."


15. PortaPhiladelphia PA. This brand-new Neapolitan pizzeria, with a few other New Jersey locations, occupies the biggest interior restaurant space in Philly. 

A slice at Porta

I sampled several pies, and they were 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 too.



14. MiDiCiKing of Prussia PA. MiDiCi is the highest ranking chain pie on this list; the fact that any chain pie qualifies is just another flashing red light announcing the ongoing pizza renaissance.

Egg and Bacon pizza at MiDiCi

On my first visit, the wonderful ingredients on this Neapolitan were not perfectly baked or balanced, but the quality was apparent. On a subsequent visit, no such flaws were found. Just ten years ago, this would have been the best pizza in a fifty mile radius. Today, the bar is higher. If places like this can help crowd out all the mediocre pizza we eat from the big chains, we're all better for it.


13. John's PizzaFrazer PA. Regular readers know my soft spot for old-school American pizza; thin and rigid crust, tangy red sauce, no overload of cheese. What a thrill it was to sample the throwback pies at John's, right in my neighborhood, after having ignored it for 9 years.

Throwback pizza at John's in Frazer PA

The plentiful and deeply flavored sweet red sauce was the star of this pizza. Come for the cheesesteak, stay for the pizza!



12. Tonito's PizzaWest Chester PA. Not only in my back yard, but close enough to walk! Tonito's makes conventional round pies, a Chicago pizza, and spectacular square thin crust "Trenton" and "Brooklyn" pizzas.

Trenton pizza at Tonito's

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



11. BrigantessaPhiladelphia PA. In a year filled with many wonderful but conventional Neapolitan pizzas, the Stella was a head-turning variation.

The "Stella" at Brigantessa

Each bite of this little powerhouse pie offered a different mix of flavors and textures. First the red sauce and sausage and mozzarella, then a thicker bite with red sauce and ricotta, then the star point which was a wonderful puff of Neapolitan cornicione wrapped around a dollop of rich sheep's milk ricotta.


10. La Tela PizzaKiawah Island, SC. Can you expect a great pie from a shopping plaza location on the outskirts of Kiawah Island, South Carolina? I didn't, but we found a delightful surprise when we ordered a pizza with nine quail eggs on top. 

Quail egg pizza with pancetta at La Tela

Compared to a traditional Neapolitan pie, this hybrid 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. This pie was essentially flawless. It was a well-chosen pairing of cheeses, eggs, and pancetta on a delectably crunchy and chewy crust. 



9. Bricco Coal-Fired PizzaWestmont NJ. Finding great pizza means having great sources, and in Jersey you can't do better than Pete Genovese. Bricco made Pete's Top Ten and it's a wonderful Neapolitan hybrid pie.

The short rib pie at Bricco

We tried four different pizzas; each sported a wonderfully distinctive crust. Not as pale as a typical Neapolitan, this golden crust sported a bit more crunch all around. There may have been a bit of olive oil in the dough that gave it the crispy sturdiness that Neapolitans typically lack. Beyond its ideal texture, the crust had its own rich flavor, too. Well-chosen toppings makes this an ideal meld of old-school American with Neapolitan qualities.


8. Pizza-Grill.comTrenton NJ. An unusual pizza from an unusually-named pizzeria, this square pie is made in the "Corleone" style. 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.

Corleone style pizza at Pizza-Grill.com

Pizzaiolo 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. This pie brings brings a lot of old-world satisfaction in a lighter and balanced way. Trenton is famous for its round tomato pies, but no pizza lover near Trenton should miss the Corleone pizza.


7. Paulie Gee's HampdenBaltimore MD. I met Paulie and first tried his "Hellboy" Neapolitan at the Pizza Palooza near Washington DC in 2017, so it became a priority to motor down Interstate 95 to visit his Baltimore location.

Paulie Gee's "Hellboy" Neapolitan

Paulie has pretty much perfected the Neapolitan style pizza where all the elements come together. At 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.


6. All-Purpose PizzaWashington DC. Our nation's capital region is already blessed with some fine pies, such as 2Amys and Seventh Hill Pizza. The pies at this new spot in the Capitol Riverfront area are inspired by the old-school joints in NJ and NY. These non-Neapolitans take about 10 minutes to cook in a conventional gas oven.

"Buona" pizza at All-Purpose

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.


5. (Tie)DeLorenzo's The Burg (Levittown PA) and DeLorenzo's Tomato Pies (Yardley, PA). Okay, this was a sneaky way to get 19 pies into my list of 18, but this was a fitting tribute to the two great legendary pie makers of Trenton. 

Sam Amico, owner at DeLorenzo's Yardley

For decades, locals argued over which was better - the tomato pies from DeLorenzo's on Hudson Street, or the pizza from DeLorenzo's on Hamilton Avenue.

Tomato pie from DeLorenzo's Yardley

The different pizzerias, owned by relatives but not otherwise affiliated, engaged in a longstanding mostly-friendly competition. I always felt that the tomato pies on Hudson Street were much better than the pizzas at Hamilton Ave. In fact, since about 1980, DeLorenzo's tomato pies have been my favorite pizza.

DeLorenzo's Tomato Pies - Yardley PA

Times changed; DeLorenzo's Tomato Pies moved to Robbinsville NJ and DeLorenzo's Pizza moved from Hamilton Avenue in Trenton to nearby Hamilton, NJ (which has a Trenton zip code, to keep it all the more confusing).

A slice of DeLorenzo's tomato pie in Yardley

2018 brought the expansion of the DeLorenzo tomato pie franchise to my former home town, Yardley PA. I made it a point to visit and was pleased to find that although a bit of the Hudson Street magic is gone, the pies are every bit as good as they are in Robbinsville. Importantly, these great pies are available in big, comfortable settings that can serve a lot more customers.

A large pizza from DeLorenzo's The Burg

A current Yardley resident alerted me to DeLorenzo's the Burg, where nephew of the Hamilton Avenue DeLorenzo's is fashioning the same pizza. I was skeptical, especially because I always felt that Hamilton Ave took a back seat compared to Hudson Street, but I trusted his counsel.

DeLorenzo's The Burg - Levittown PA

That was wise, because this pie floored me. Way better than my memory of the Hamilton Ave pizza, it had the tangy sauce and sturdy crust of all the long-closed old-school pizza places of the 60s and 70s. You just can't go wrong with any pizza from any DeLorenzo's. These two PA descendants are winners.




4. Rione Pizza Al TaglioPhiladelphia PA. Roman "al taglio" pizza made our 2018 list at #17 with the slices from Napizza in San Diego. Philly, already blessed with one genuinely authentic al taglio pizzeria at Alice, now has Rione just blocks away.

Brilliant crust on al taglio pizza at Rione

I was just as delighted at Rione as I had been at Alice in 2017. In May, I declared it "the best slice I've eaten this year." 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.

Choices at Rione

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.


3. BIGA Pizza and BeerBryn Mawr PA. Philly is home to great pizzas of all kinds - old school, Neapolitan, Roman al taglio, and excellent hybrids. But the fashionable western suburbs, collectively known as the Philadelphia Main Line, has been largely left out of the pizza renaissance.

"Da Bomb" at BIGA

Happily, there is a very notable exception at BIGA. We tried four pizzas there and found four winners. The crust is wonderful; among Philly's best. What elevates BIGA above other Neapolitan pizzerias is how thoughtfully-chosen and well-balanced these pies are.

The "Daytripper" at BIGA

The pie that most surprised me was the Daytripper. This white pie was just a flavor explosion; mushrooms bursting with umami, and it was doubled by the cheese blend, the garlic bechamel, and the liberal application of diced scallion. On a return visit, we tried other pies and appetizers, all at the same high level.

2. EVO PizzaNorth Charleston SC. The third and final South Carolina pie on this list lands at number two for 2018. This pizza was so wonderful, in fact, that my wife declared it best pizza of her life.

Speck and mushroom pizza at EVO

EVO (Extra Virgin Oven) is both a bakery and a pizzeria, and it seems they have some special bread skills. The pies at our other SC stops - 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.

EVO pizza

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. Not sure what kind of mushrooms were used (shittake?), but there was an umami party going on here. 

Crust perfection at EVO Pizza

When we visited in July, I was sure this would be the top pie of 2018. You could argue for that, because #1 and #2 were really close. This is perfect pizza.


1. Tribute PizzaSan Diego CA. At the end of the day, great pizza comes from passionate pizza makers. The further you get from the pizzaiolo, the less likely the pizza will rise above ordinary. That's why frozen pizza is stuck at ordinary (or worse) and why great pizza rarely remains great once a chain gets a lot of locations. People make all the difference, like the energy flowing from Paulie Gee.

Margherita at Tribute Pizza

It was the bloodline and the passion of the wonderful folks at Elio G's in Old Forge PA that took them to the top of this list in 2017. The husband and wife team at tiny Rize Pizza took them to the #3 spot in 2016. Pizza perfectionist James Oley (Binge House Pizza) won in 2015 with his inspired Old Forge-Detroit hybrid. And in 2014, Chopped star and Caputo Cup winner Norma Knepp's incredible boardwalk pizza took the #2 spot.

A slice at Tribute

I was truly excited to take a bunch of colleagues on an excursion to Tribute Pizza, because it had already earned a lot of buzz among pizza cognoscenti. At Tribute, 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. 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."

Tribute Pizza, San Diego CA

Our group ordered a variety of pizzas to share. 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.

"Brooklyn's Best" pizza at Tribute

I've eaten a lot of pizza and it's often tempting to say "this was the best X pizza ever."  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 every day.

Enjoying a Margherita slice

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 is committed to excellence. There's a lot of good reasons to make a visit to San Diego, and Tribute Pizza is a can't-miss destination pizza there.

Review: Pete's New Haven Style Apizza - Arlington VA

January 10, 2019, 1:05 pm

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What is New Haven style apizza? To a casual observer, apizza ("ah-beetz") is not too different from conventional pizza. It has a thin, and ideally rigid, crust like a Trenton tomato pie. It may or may not come from a coal-fired oven, and the pie may be more of an oval than a round shape. It's rarely sold by the slice. 

Of course, you can get terrific versions in and around New Haven, at stalwarts like Sally's, Zuppardi's, Modern, andFrank Pepe's. Suprisingly, there are some pretty fine apizza makers in locations far to the west. San Diego's Basic Urban Kitchen is simply superb, and could stand alongside any Connecticut-sourced apizza. Apizza Scholls in Portland Oregon has likewise earned a lot of deserved praise for its massive New Haven style pies.

On a recent trip to the Washington DC area, I scouted for destination pies. The region is blessed with plenty of good pies, such as the Jersey style pizza at All-Purpose Pizza or the Neapolitans at 2Amys. Given the success of apizza places in Portland and San Diego, I was drawn to the regional mini-chain (currently two locations) of Pete's New Haven Style Apizza, so we visited the Arlington VA location for dinner on a Saturday night.

The "New Haven" clam apizza

There are three different sized apizzas on the menu: 10 inch small, 14 inch medium, and 18 inch "very large." To maximize the variety for our party of four, we ordered (at the counter) three medium pies, one soup, and one pitcher of beer, which came to $99.

The "Merritt Parkway"

Our selected apizzas included:

• The New Haven, a white pie with clams, garlic, oregano, EVOO, and Pecorino Romano cheese
• The Merritt Parkway, a red pie with prosciutto, Kalamata olives, caramelized onions, fresh basil, and EVOO
• Original Cheese, a red pie to which we added pepperoni and roasted mushrooms as toppings

"Original Cheese" apizza with pepperoni & mushroooms

The signature New Haven pie arrived first. These 14 inch "medium" pies were pretty big, and this one was also beautiful. It sported a thin and wonderfully rigid crust that provided an ideal al dente chew followed by a crisp snap at the cornicione.

A slice of the New Haven clam apizza

The flavor was dominated not by the clams, but by the garlic. Unlike the apizza I had at Zuppardi's, which was covered in fresh-shucked clams, the clams here were more of an accent. The pie was round and not oval, but it did have an excellent char that is characteristic of a New Haven apizza. 

Thin and rigid crust

The crust had its own excellent flavor on all three pies. Overall, the flavors and the textures were in balance, and two of us felt the New Haven was the best pie of the night. 

The "Merritt Parkway" apizza

Next up was the Merritt Parkway. This was the most intensely flavored pie of the night. All of the elements were distinct - the salty olives, the savory proscuitto, and the post-bake fresh basil. But the leading flavor here was the caramelized onions, applied liberally. 

Nice char underneath

The red sauce was a role player to bring the other elements together. The downside here is that the weight and moisture from the olives and especially the onions caused the crust to get a bit soggy in the center. Overall, though, a very successful apizza and the same satisfying crunch at the cornicione.

A slice of the Merritt Parkway apizza

The original cheese pie, topped with pepperoni and roasted mushrooms, was a winner on its own merits but it lacked the snap of the other two pies. The mushrooms brought a good earthy flavor, but also a bit too much moisture. 

A slice of the Origiinal Cheese with pepperoni & mushrooms

The pepperoni was thin and conventional; it could have been so much better with the thick "spicy cup" style of pepperoni. Texture wise, this pie was like the Merritt Parkway; a bit soggy on the first bite, but well balanced otherwise. 

Overall, I felt this was excellent apizza across the board, but not as good as I'd found in New Haven, Portland, or San Diego. To my surprise and dismay, all three of my dining companions found it to be "just OK" pizza. I think this reveals my bias for traditional thin and crisp pizza; others would have preferred a Neapolitan.

Pete's was a great stop for me; I'd go often if it was in my neighborhood. If thin and crunchy crust is your thing, this is a nice slice of New Haven.

Review: Brooklyn Pie Co. - Round Rock, TX

February 7, 2019, 2:53 pm

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Folks don't think first about Texas when thinking about pizza, but I've found plenty of destination pie in the Lone Star state. In fact, Austin might boast as much great pizza per square mile as any city in America. 

For example, I've never been to Detroit but I'd be impressed if there's any place in Michigan making a Detroit pie better than the version coming out of Via 313 in Austin.

The suburbs of Austin pose more of a challenge. I spent a week in beautiful Lakeway, 30 minutes from Austin, and found little there besides dull chains, burgers, and Americanized "Mexican" food. Round Rock is a more mature neighboring suburb, and we were visiting family there on Super Bowl Sunday.

The "Spicy Sicilian Sausage" pizza

We decided to have pizza with the Super Bowl. That would be a challenge in Philly or New York; every pizza place would be bustling with take-out orders. We found no such difficulty in Texas - perhaps everyone there is ordering takeout BBQ?

Pepperoni, with half mushrooms

We chose Brooklyn Pie, a Texas mini-chain with a location at 2711 La Frontera Blvd in Round Rock, because their website indicated that they were attempting to create a New York style pizza. About 10 minutes before halftime (of a very boring game), I ordered two large pizzas - one with "spicy Sicilian" sausage, one with pepperoni and mushrooms - for takeout.

On arrival, I found a very quiet shop - one family dining outside al fresco on a lovely Texas February evening, and no one inside at the very few tables. The friendly counter guy had my pies ready, and the tab came to about $37 including the Texas 8.25% tax.

A slice of the sausage pie

It was a short drive back to our Super Bowl gathering, and we quickly dug into these pies while still hot and fresh. Each pie was a very large 18" in diameter, making for some huge slices.

Some nice color underneath

No question, this was authentic NY style. Many will argue about what that means, but to me it is a large pie (16" minimum) with a thin crust that is a little crispy and a lot pliable. (New Yorkers have a dumb habit of folding pizza slices to turn the magic of pizza into a sandwich, thereby destroying the aesthetics of pie consumption.)

Anyway, this crust was spot on in that aspect. Happily, no one in our party was a folder. The best NY pizza crusts also sport enough flavor that you'd eat them without any toppings; this one was tasty but fell a little short of that mark. As a bonus, it sported a huge fluffy cornicione.

Oversized cornicione

Another key characteristic of a New York slice is that the cheese and sauce are applied in the right proportions that they meld into an orange goo that clings to the crust. I love a bright red sauce, but the key color of a New York slice is orange. Here again, spot on. Neither the sauce nor the cheese was a standout - they were role players here but very nicely integrated into the gestalt of this pie.

Pepperoni slice

Whether Philly, Trenton, New Haven, New York, or Chicago, there is but one correct way to top a pizza with sausage, and plenty of wrong ways. The only proper method is to squeeze out chunks of raw sausage from a fresh rope of Italian sausage so that it cooks on the pie, browning there and leaching flavor into the rest of the pizza.

The worst way is sausage pellets, the Sysco rabbit poop that some mom and pop shops use; next worst is sausage crumbles, precooked stuff that lacks character. Also less than ideal is real sausage, pre-cooked, then sliced onto the pie where it then gets a second cooking.

That's what we had here. It was better than most pre-cooked sausage, and it was quite spicy. If the topping had been called "DC half-smokes" (the spicy hot dog sausage sold at food carts around the nation's capitol) instead of "spicy Sicilian sausage" I would have found that the topping matched the description. It was a hit with my Texas crowd.

The pepperoni was standard grade. The freshly sliced mushrooms were so beloved by my dining partners that I didn't get a slice with mushrooms on it!

Overall, there was not a single standout component here, but the parts were well balanced and perfectly integrated. I read some online comments from transplanted Easterners grateful to get this kind of pizza in Texas, and I fully get that.

Would I go to Round Rock just to get this pie? Perhaps not, but if I'm in Round Rock and I want pizza, I don't think I could do better. Authentic NYC pizza, deep in the heart of Texas.

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Review: Backdraft Pizzeria - Bee Cave (Austin) TX

February 12, 2019, 1:45 pm

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Lakeway and Bee Cave are lovely outposts about 30 minutes west of Austin, Texas. There's rolling hills and captivating views of Lake Travis, but not many interesting dining choices. It's all so new that there's little history or character to the culinary scene; folks are excited just to have a big new H.E.B. grocery store.

Route 620 is the main artery through Bee Cave, and there we found a dusty roadside stop that featured a few picnic tables and three food trailers. All of them looked authentic and terrific; there was a Chicago-themed trailer featuring Chicago hot dogs, a BBQ outpost, and Backdraft Pizzeria. Naturally, we came for the pizza.

The pies at Backdraft are all 12", enough for one large hungry person, or enough for two to split at lunch, as we did. You can customize your pizza with a broad range of meat or vegetable toppings, but we decided to trust the experts and select from their five different specialty pies.

All of the pizzas are made with Caputo 00 flour, Wisconsin cheese, and canned San Marzano tomatoes. We were able to order a half-and-half pie, one side featuring the "Sweet Sow" that has thinly sliced pear, Canadian bacon, and fresh basil, while the other side was the "Shrooms to the Moon" with sautéed mushrooms, caramelized onions, and house made spicy sausage.

Scarlett and Izak Rock, from tinyurl.com/QuixoteBackdraft

Our pie took about 10 minutes for assembly and cooking as we waited at a picnic table on this warm day in February. The chef/owners, Scarlett and Izak Rock, are using a brick oven that reaches 800 degrees, but this is not a Neapolitan pie, as it has been mischaracterized. 

Neapolitan pizza has a soft, droopy, charred crust and a puffy cornicione. The crust here was thin, rigid, and crisp. I love a good Neapolitan pie, but I prefer a slice that doesn't droop.

A slice from the Sweet Sow side

The crust is the key to every pizza, and this one was superb. It had a wonderful toasty flavor, a good snap to the crunch, and yet a bit of tender chewiness inside. The toppings were of a like quality. With so many bold flavors from the bacon and the sausage, the red sauce was still shining through. It was remarkably bold and rich without dominating the other elements.

Shrooms to the Moon

The "Sweet Sow" was inspired by the sweet fruit with salty pork of a Hawaiian pizza, but this was far superior. Thinly sliced and crisped Canadian bacon is a serious upgrade to the square chunks of ham applied to most Hawaiian pies, and thinly sliced delicate fresh pears are a much better complement than cloyingly sweet wet chunks of canned pineapple. Wonderful stuff.

The "Shrooms to the Moon" side was also bursting with flavors, but a much bolder mix. The fresh mushrooms set a rich and earthy tone, while the pepperoni and sausage lent a savory note and a serious touch of heat. The best experience was to alternate slices of this fiery side with slices from the delicate pear/bacon side.

Thin, crisp, and tasty

I loved this pizza; it was easily the best thing I ate during a week in the region. It may be a dream, but Roberta's Pizza was a pioneer in Bushwick, transforming that industrial part of Brooklyn into hipster central. Could Backdraft be the Roberta's of Bee Cave?  I'll let you know after I try the neighboring BBQ and Chicago hot dogs.

Review: Enzo's (Arthur Avenue) - The Bronx, NY

February 28, 2019, 7:07 am

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Many American cities have a Chinatown and a Little Italy, dating back a hundred years or more. While Chinatowns are often growing, evolving, and expanding due to the regular influx of new Chinese immigrants, any waves of Italian immigrants ended 75 or more years ago.

As a result, many Italian and Little Italy neighborhoods are dramatically different. In Trenton, NJ, home of the tomato pie, the Chambersburg section held the concentration of Italian immigrants, then their children and grandchildren, in remarkable numbers up through the 1990s. But since then, every Italian restaurant and tomato pie maker like DeLorenzo's and Papa's has either closed its doors or moved out to the suburbs, as did the descendants of the original Italian immigrants.

San Diego has a lovely Little Italy, but it's essentially a tourist area containing many fine restaurants but no real community of Italian immigrants. Little Italy in Manhattan is much the same. 

In Philly, new visitors to "The Italian Market" where Rocky ran through the streets will wonder how it got its name, because only a handful of Italian storefronts remain. The market is better than it's ever been, but it is Vietnamese, Mexican, Chinese, and a great blend of the modern fabric of America.

Arthur Avenue

Meanwhile, Chinatown in Manhattan is robust, filled with both new immigrants and native-born people who speak little to no English. There are new Chinatowns bustling and growing on 8th Avenue in Brooklyn and in Flushing. 

Is there still a thriving Little Italy left in any American city? By my observation, yes - and it's centered on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. Sure, there are tour buses bringing in groups to visit the shops and restaurants, and other immigrant populations (Albanians, for one) are getting a foothold on adjoining streets, but Arthur Avenue remains largely authentic.

Pork Brasciole

In just two blocks from where I parked my car, I passed three Italian bakeries en route to our destination restaurant, Enzo's. Just a few doors down is Zero Otto Nove, where I had superb Neapolitan pizza years before it became widely popular in America.

Pizza al tonno

What made this visit special is that I was accompanied by two Bronx natives (Ken and Sue), both of Italian heritage; Sue has lived her entire life near this neighborhood. As we were seated in Enzo's on a Saturday afternoon, the bartender and the maitre d' called out greetings to each of my friends. The wine steward turned out to be a childhood friend of Sue.

Beyond the widespread congeniality in the room, what struck me was that the conversation at most tables and with the staff was conducted in Italian. Most or all of these people are born and educated in America, speaking English, yet they are fully engulfed in Italian heritage in this restaurant. I felt like an extra in a Scorsese or Coppola movie, and every moment was a delight.

Ideal crispness and char

We ordered a 12" Neapolitan style pizza to share as an appetizer. We also ate, family style, an octopus appetizer, and three entrees: pork brasciole, red snapper, and chicken Scarpariello. All of this was expertly rendered in a traditional red-gravy fashion.

This is a pizza blog, so how was the pizza?  Ken persuaded us to order pizza al tonno - a pie with canned tuna, topped with arugula. I'm always skeptical of seafood on a pizza (unless clams in New Haven), but I was willing to experiment with our appetizer.

The pie arrived looking like a typical Neapolitan, perhaps with a less-than-normal puffiness to the cornicione. It was covered entirely with fresh arugula, such that the tuna was not visible. I don't think that Enzo's has a 1000 degree dome oven, so the pizza was a bit of a hybrid, cooked in a more conventional oven, yielding a crisper, sturdier crust.

Much like the hearty bread served with our meal, this pizza crust had its own terrific flavor and texture. This thin and crisp crust was somewhere between a New York slice and a Neapolitan, but more on the New York end.

While the cheese was applied in perfect proportion, it was a role player to marry the sauce and tuna to the crust. The red sauce was rich and very old-world, and that made it stand up well to the tuna.

If you eat canned tuna, you perhaps know that the Italian variety has a much better flavor than the Three Diamonds or Starkist stuff that most Americans eat. That rich taste came through here and - to my surprise - was fully compatible with the cheese and red sauce. It was one of the very few experiences I've had that add umami to pizza without depending on cured meats. This pie was a hit with all of us, and rapidly demolished.

From https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/december-2014/mangiamo-tutti-arthur-avenue-in-the-bronx

I was shocked by how rapidly - over a period of about ten years - the "Little Italy" in the Chambersburg section of Trenton NJ was completely transformed, leaving no trace of its heritage. If you're anywhere nearby or simply a visitor to New York City, I encourage you to visit Arthur Avenue and experience one of the last remaining Little Italy enclaves.

Review: Labriola - Chicago IL

April 23, 2019, 4:57 am

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Over several visits to Chicago, I've come to understand one factor that might contribute to fiercely held opinions of "love it or hate it" regarding Chicago deep-dish pizza. It's not just Chicago vs. The World here, but there is a sentiment (outside of Chicago) that deep-dish pies are pretty much all the same.  Try one, hate it, done.

That's not the real truth, of course. Just like NYC offers world-class thin crust but 25 lousy pizza places for each good one, Chicago deep dish is very uneven as well. It pays to seek out the good stuff.

Winners I've tried include my favorite, Louisa's in Crestwood (10 miles south of Chicago), the mini-chain Pizano's, and the surprisingly wonderful pies at an Irish Pub in the Loop, Exchequer.

Less impressive was Giordano's and Peaquod's. I had better deep dish in San Diego than either of those dry and bland calorie bombs. But the good pies keep me poised to try more.

Massive slice of thin crust pizza at Labriola

In the "Magnificent Mile" part of downtown, there are plenty of worthy dining choices; outposts of Shake Shack and Eataly, the flagship Pizzeria Uno and one block away, Pizzeria Due, founded in 1946. But I was drawn to a smaller, non-chain Italian restaurant, Labriola.

Labriola offers both deep dish and thin crust pizzas. There is a large but cozy dining room, but you can only get pizza by the slice for takeout. Dining solo, I chose that option. There, I had three choices; I didn't get a slice of the sausage deep dish pie, opting instead for a "hand held" mini deep-dish pie ($6.99) baked in a rectangle and an enormous triangle of a thin crust white pizza ($5.99) featuring sausage, peppers, and onions. 

Under side of the thin crust slice

The deep dish pizza had a beautiful caramelized cheese edge, much in the style of Detroit pizza. It had a generous amount of mild mozzarella, but it's signature feature was the bright and lively red sauce, applied in perfect proportion. The crust was almost an inch thick, a bit grainy, and a bit dry. It had a good flavor, but it needed more moisture. I enjoyed this little belly bomb, but it was not as good as Louisa's, Pizano's, or Exchequer.

Under the hand-held deep dish pie

The triangle was big and heavy. All of the "toppings" were riding under a thick layer of mild mozzarella. The flavor was dominated by the barely-cooked green peppers and the dusting of herbs on top. The crust itself and the peppers and the onions all contributed to a very crunchy slice. I felt the onions were under-cooked, and the sausage was denied oven browning and crisping by hiding under the cheese. I dubbed it the "thin crust casserole."

Payload toppings under the cheese blanket

There were plenty of good elements to this pie, including a sturdy-enough thin crust to support the cheese and toppings. But if the peppers and onions and sausage had been applied on top, it would go to another level. In fact, the next day I enjoyed a thin crust pizza at Pizzeria Due, overloaded with sausage, pepperoni, peppers, and onions. But all were applied on top, and the slice was superior in a thousand ways.

I was impressed with the friendliness of Chicagoans every where I went during this visit, but none were nicer than the staff at Labriola. The cozy atmosphere and friendly service make Labriola an attractive destination. Given how good the mini-deep dish pie was even upon re-heating, I imagine the regular deep dish is pretty special. If you want to stay out of the tourist traps, Labriola should be on your short list; I wish I had time to try the non-pizza menu items.

Review: Pizzeria Due (Thin Crust) - Chicago IL

April 26, 2019, 4:00 am

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In 1943, the very first Pizzeria Uno was opened in Chicago; in 1955 the owners added another deep-dish restaurant one block away and named it Pizzeria Due. Those two restaurants remain icons in the Magnificent Mile of downtown Chicago, and they do not share menu items with the franchise version of Uno Chicago Grill, which now has over 100 locations.

This particular part of Chicago is oozing with architectural charm, including both Pizzeria Uno and Pizzeria Due. Also nearby is the historic (1925) Cass Hotel now operating as a Holiday Inn Express, and the Medinah Shriners Temple, a Moorish Revival style building built in 1912 and currently serving as a Bloomingdale's department store.

Our group of four stopped in to Pizzeria Due for lunch, thinking we'd get some of this authentically original deep dish pizza. However, we learned that it takes 45 minutes, and so instead we chose a "thin crust" 16" pizza topped with pepperoni, sausage, peppers, mushrooms, and onions.

Our pizza was ready in less than 15 minutes, and it came with the Midwestern "party cut" instead of being sliced into triangles. Each square of this pizza had a substantial heft due to its relatively thin but dense and sturdy crust, and the huge payload of cheese and toppings.

The two keys to successful pizza are the crust and the balance. The crust must have the appropriate texture for its style, be able to support the toppings, and be without wet or soggy spots. The toppings and sauce and cheese must be balanced for flavors, textures, and in a way that the pie holds together. The more toppings, the more the challenge to achieve balance.

Inside Pizzeria Due

I'm delighted to report that this pie succeeded on both of these essential qualities. This Chicago thin crust was very different than a New York thin crust; a little thicker and much more rigid. Importantly, beyond its service as the ideal vehicle for the toppings, it had its own good flavor and a nice mix of toothy crunch and then chewiness.

Despite the very generous amount of toppings, the crust wasn't overwhelmed or soggy anywhere. That's a particular challenge for any pie with a substantial amount of vegetable toppings like this one. I think the sauce was applied judiciously - just enough to add that tangy tomato flavor but not contribute too much moisture.

Crunchy underside of the crust

Beyond the crust, everything just tasted good. Nothing stood out as the prime element - but each bite yielded an ideal balance of textures and well-blended flavors. I've had a lot of undercooked or overcooked peppers and onions on pizzas - these were just right. I didn't find any flaws in this pie.

Importantly, our hungry group could not finish the pizza, and I took home two slices that traveled successfully back to Pennsylvania for leftovers the next day. We had great pizza in a charming, authentic, original location, with excellent service. I'd surely come back to try the deep dish next time.

I often fear "tourist trap" when I visit iconic pizzerias, but Pizzeria Due is making pie good enough for the locals.

Review: SkyKing Pizza - Kingston TN

May 7, 2019, 4:51 am

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Here at Pizza Quixote, one recurring theme is the ongoing Pizza Renaissance in America. Just fifteen years ago, it was a struggle to find legitimate pizza outside of the remaining old-school pizza joints in New York, Trenton, New Haven, and a small handful of other places. 

Not sure what has propelled this delightful turn of events, but in 2004, Ed Levine in the New York Times suggested that Chris Bianco was making the best pizza in America in Phoenix, Arizona. That was surely a watershed moment, and it launched the "artisinal Neapolitan" movement still driving the Pizza Renaissance.

There's no shortage of "Best Pizzas in America" lists, but any pizziaolo would be glad to qualify on any such list. In March 2019 Eat This Not That published its rundown of the most popular pizza in each state, and the top Tennessee pizzeria was SkyKing Pizza, in Kingston Springs, west of Nashville just off Interstate 40.

From facebook.com/skykingpizza/

We were passing through, and spending the night in a hotel just off the highway. In these truckstop type of locations, there's usually an assortment of fast food and convenience stores and not much fine dining. I didn't plan on visiting SkyKing, but when my Google search for nearby pizza found it, it looked like our best dining choice, by far.

SkyKing's Facebook site says "Locally owned and operated, we serve all organic, fair trade coffee and espresso from 7am to 11am. You can also grab a fresh muffin or quiche, made from scratch, in house.  Authentic wood-fired pizza, coffee bar & great beers on tap from 5pm-9pm.  Dough made daily."

Their pies are 14", and by phone I ordered one with pepperoni (about $14). It was perhaps a mile and a half from our highway hotel. When I arrived, I found SkyKing located in a street-front store, adjacent to other hangouts for hipster foodies. The interior was decorated in attractive wood accents and was populated with locals, much unlike the fast food places out by the interstate.

Wood-burning dome oven at SkyKing

I didn't spend much time, wanting to get our pizza back to our room as quickly as possible to enjoy it at maximum oven-freshness. But I did notice a large Neapolitan-style wood burning oven, always a good sign of a serious pizza operation.

Visually, this pie was beautiful. Good color on the cornicione, and milky white clouds of fresh mozzarella floating on bright red sauce, dotted with ideally crisped rounds of thin pepperoni.

Golden underside with a little char

The crust - always the most important element - had good flavor all on its own, proper leopard spots, and an optimal puffy/chewy texture. The only negative note is that it was a bit soggy in the center of the pie, which may have resulted from the time it spent sweating in the cardboard takeout box. Every pizza is best direct from the oven, but especially true with Neapolitans.

Above the crust, the red sauce was super bright, a little chunky, with hints of sweetness. The mozzarella was applied in the right proportion, and the pepperoni was well above standard grade as evidenced by its crisping and curling during its short time in the dome oven. Each bite was superbly tasty, and two of us easily demolished it.

This blog was launched in 2011 when I couldn't find a local pizza better than frozen pies, in a suburb only 40 minutes from Philly and an hour from Trenton NJ. Eight short years later, you can find "pizza worth the trip" (or worth the calories) almost anywhere in America. SkyKing is great pizza and it was a delight to find it on our path westward.

Review: Jersey Giant Pizza - Austin (Bee Cave) TX

May 10, 2019, 4:28 am

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While I'm pretty certain that no one is marketing "Texas style" pizza or hoagies in New York or New Jersey, the opposite is often true. For example, Jersey Mike's Subs are sold in over 1500 locations across the U.S. Pizzerias all over America tout their "New York style" pizza as much as they claim to make "Neapolitan" pizza; both claims are usually wildly inaccurate. 

Naturally, I was intrigued to see a small strip mall pizzeria named "Jersey Giant" in Bee Cave, Texas, about a half hour from downtown Austin. The owner is from Jackson NJ (home to Great Adventure park).

The Jersey Giant Facebook page notes"our mission is to share the classic old-world flavor... dough made fresh daily from scratch and hand tossed ... fresh baked meatballs, fennel infused Italian sausage, Wisconsin mozzarella, all natural, vegetarian fed, hormone free products ... veggies are organic and delivered fresh from local farms ... four deck custom crafted brick oven capable of cooking fourteen giant pizzas at 650 degrees."

I called ahead to order a pie for takeout, and the online menu showed that "Giant" refers more to the size of the pizza than to the football team that plays in the Jersey Meadowlands and loses to the Eagles two times each year. The smallest pizza is 18", which would be the largest pie at most places, and sizes range up to 28".

Huge 20" pie from Jersey Giant

I generally resist an excess of toppings, but I decided to go all in on this "giant" concept and chose a 20" specialty pie, "Da Meat Trio" that features sausage, pepperoni, and meatballs. Keeping with the Jersey theme, the strip mall hosting Jersey Giant sits behind a Shell gas station, and the inside is a typical east coast pizza shop - small, a few tables, nothing fancy.

A quick aside: What I've noticed out in the Austin suburbs is an easy way to distinguish the real Texans from the imported Texans. Painting with a broad brush here, I noticed that all the shops and restaurants designed to lure new residents have Japanese and European cars in the parking lots. 

But at Rosie's Tamale House in Bee Cave, a roadside Mexican restaurant in business since the early 80s (before Austin was cool), the parking lot is filled with American-made trucks and few Buicks. Insider tip on finding where the true locals eat. I'm going to pay attention to the cars at Jersey Giant on my next trip.

Inside Rosie's Tamale House (highly recommended!)

The only Jersey Boy inside is the owner, but the staff was friendly and my pie was ready for takeout. I didn't re-heat it when I got home, about 10 minutes away, but the pie was still pretty fresh.

The pie was beautiful to look at, and even though it was topped with three meats, it was not overloaded. The crust - baked on a screen - was soft and pliant, but it held up under the payload of sauce, cheese, and meats. It had good flavor, but almost no crispness. It was very faithful to a typical strip mall pizza crust anywhere in Jersey. Not old school pizza or tomato pie, but the kind of slices most Jerseyans grew up eating in the 80s and 90s.

And, consistent with that genre, the sauce and cheese were role players. Neither stood out, but they were in proper proportion and adhered nicely to the crust, and contributed to a very satisfying flavor.

The pepperoni was standard grade, but the meatballs were particularly tasty. The sausage was also high quality, and could be improved only by being applied raw so that it cooks on the pie. The total effect was a slightly dense and chewy crust topped by a well-balanced and salty mix of meats, cheese, and sauce.  Pretty classic.

Screen marks on the underside of the crust

Other than the huge size of these pies, Jersey Giant isn't breaking any new ground. But if you're longing for a perfectly executed east coast strip mall pizza shop slice or pie, Jersey Giant has nailed it.  It won't change your life, but it will make your belly happy.  We'll be back often.

 

Review: Santucci's Original Square Pizza - Philadelphia

May 13, 2019, 12:22 pm

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Way back in 2012 when this blog was in its infancy, I attended the South Philly Pizza Olympics where, not surprisingly, the fresh pies coming out of the Nomad Pizza truck smoked all the competition that had been baked off site and sitting around in cardboard boxes.

A slice of Santucci's square pie

I did get to try several Philly-style square tomato pies, and I was left wanting to get some Santucci's slices, fresh from the oven. It took 7 years, but on Mother's Day 2019 (Mother's Day is always a great time to visit a popular pizzeria, nobody takes mom out for pizza on Mother's Day) we visited the flagship, original location on 10th Street in South Philly.

We arrived mid-afternoon, so it was quiet but not empty. We got prompt and friendly service, and were surprised to see a full menu, including appetizers, sandwiches, and pastas.  But we had come for the square pie, and we ordered a large 17" rectangular pizza ($18) topped with spinach ($2) and sausage ($3).

Inside the dining room

As I always do, I confirmed that the sausage goes on the pie uncooked (when a pizzeria uses pre-cooked sausage, I opt for pepperoni or other salumi). 

The pie arrived relatively soon and it was beautiful. This is a "red sauce on top" pie and it was a strikingly red canvas in a golden frame, dotted with swaths of deep green and textured with lumps of sausage.

Nicely browned underside

I usually flip over the first slice to photograph the bottom, but I could see this was unusually thin sauce, which would run off if I did. Although this pie was gorgeous to look at, it proved messy to eat.

The medium-thick crust was somewhere between a typical Sicilian crust and a Philly tomato pie bakery-style crust, but lighter, sturdier, and crisper. It was an excellent vehicle to support the cheese, sauce, and toppings, but it was still difficult to take a bite without getting a faceful of that generously applied red sauce. Hence, I ate most of it with a knife and fork.

The upside of sauce on top is that it becomes the star of the pie, and this sauce was good enough for that premiere role. Despite its thin consistency, it packed a solid old-world red gravy flavor. The downside is that the cheese is deprived of oven browning.

All the elements were in harmony here, and each bite had a satisfying mix of crunch, chew, tang, and savory goodness from the excellent sausage.

Santucci's has proved its Philly mettle so much that are now five locations in PA and NJ; it was the only pizza that former Eagle Connor Barwin would eat. 

From Phillymag.com

I'm still learning to appreciate pies with the sauce on top; the oven browning and caramelization is a key pizza feature for me. But that didn't stop me from enjoying this South Philly tradition. We caught some glimpses of the other menu items, and I imagine you won't last long in South Philly if you can't make a decent hoagie and cheesesteak on good bread.

Santucci's is a great story -- an old-school piemaker, expanding into new territory, without any artisanal pretense. Go get some. 

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Review: The Bakehouse at Chelsea - Norfolk, VA

May 17, 2019, 5:59 am

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Norfolk sits at the southern end of the Chesapeake Bay, where it meets the Atlantic Ocean. Home to a large military base, Norfolk is the second largest city in Virginia, trailing only its neighbor, Virginia Beach. Until my visit there, I had known only the northern parts of the state, such as Arlington and Alexandria, the suburbs of Washington DC.

In a quiet part of town I found The Bakehouse at Chelsea, purveyor of breads and pizzas made in a wood-fired oven.  While the breads and breakfast items looked wonderful, their website notes that pizza is the main attraction: "Each pizza begins with organic flour & naturally leavened dough,  baked in a wood burning oven specifically designed and built by hand to give our pizzas a crispy, charred crust." 

The Birch (L) and The Bakehouse at Chelsea (R)

Adjacent to The Bakehouse is The Birch, a hipster hangout with "21 craft beer drafts, 5 cider & mead taps, and a curated menu of artisan cheeses, beer inspired grilled cheese, and brewer inspired bratwursts." I learned that you can order a pizza at Bakehouse and have it delivered to you at The Birch for a pizza-and-beer experience.

Open-air taproom at The Birch

Pizzas come in small, medium, and large sizes. Among several intriguing specialty pies, I gambled on the Bacon Gouda pizza ($15.75 for the 12" medium), featuring tomato Sauce, Mozzarella, smoked Gouda, bacon, and caramelized onion.

The Bacon Gouda Pizza (12")

After making my order, I ambled over to The Birch, and I loved how the beer menu was organized by styles like "Light and Crisp" or "Sour and Funky" or "Hoppy."  I ordered a flight to sample four different beers, and all were terrific. Here are the current offerings: http://thebirchbar.com/draftlist.

Messy to eat, lots of cheese

I regret that I didn't have sufficient appetite to order some more food from the menu at The Birch. The pizza set-up service was, basically, here's a box with your pizza. No plates, no silverware, no napkins; the bartender did get some napkins for me after I asked.

The wood-fired oven (from https://www.bakehouse757.com/)

The lack of plates and silverware looked to be a potential messy problem, because on first inspection, this was a very soupy pie, loaded with cheese.  Indeed it was - for the first slice, I was able to eat it only by the terrible New York habit of folding. Afterward, as the pie cooled a bit, the cheese congealed sufficiently to make it easier to eat.

Despite the cheese overload and the lack of utensils, the rest of the experience was revelatory. This was outstanding Neapolitan-hybrid pizza. When I saw the volume of cheese on top, I expected the crust to be soggy in the middle - but it wasn't. 

Al fresco dining available

The crust was crisp, chewy, pliable but sturdy, and had a superbly yeasty flavor. It was darkly charred underneath, but didn't have a "burned" taste at all. Its overall texture was just about perfect, as good as it gets for a thin crust round pizza.

The big gamble had been the Gouda cheese; I worried that its smoky flavor would overwhelm the other ingredients. It was indeed a big flavor, but not that artificial smokiness found in some inexpensive versions. It did dominate but it played nicely with the crust, sauce, and bacon. Despite giving off a lot of grease in the baking process, it had an excellent texture, too.

Delectable char underneath

The sauce seemed to be good quality, and it added the right acid balance to the cheese. I might have liked a bit more sauce, but that also may have put the pie over the top in terms of how much moisture that crust could carry.

Even with all the smoky Gouda, the bacon didn't get lost. It was applied in thick chewy chunks that got an ideal oven crisping. All the ingredients were in flavor and textural harmony. My habit is to add salt to pizza, but there was so much flavor here, none was necessary.

This was my best pizza of 2019, made all the better by devouring it at The Birch with a flight of excellent craft beer on a warm spring evening in Southern Virginia. Great pizza, great experience, don't miss it if you're any place nearby.

Review: Sorellina Pizzeria, Spicewood, TX

June 17, 2019, 7:36 am

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Spicewood, TX is a town along Highway 71 about 40 minutes west of Austin. Perhaps best known as the home of Willie Nelson, it boasts shoreline on Lake Travis, cypress trees, and the Krause Springs swimming hole.

You'd expect to find some good smoked brisket or Texas-style burgers at places like Opie's BBQ and Poodie's Hilltop Roadhouse. But this is 2019 - can you get a great pizza out here in Texas Hill Country?

Bucolic Spicewood, Texas

A local alerted us to Sorellina Pizzeria, which is an offshoot of upscale Apis Restaurant and Apiary. The two restaurants share an unpaved parking lot on a six-acre property overlooking the Pedernales River. Chef and owner Taylor Hall has roots in Texas, San Francisco, and New Orleans.

Sorellina's website says:

"We focus on milling our own grains, shaping and stretching our own cheeses, cultivating and processing, curing, and aging all of our own wild boar salumi on site. Our pizza is a made with sourdough crust utilizing a 10-year old starter culture and a mixture of house milled red wheat, rye, and traditional Italian pizza flours. The dough has no added yeast and takes 2-3 days to develop into the pizza it becomes when it meets our custom wood fired oven."

View of the kitchen from bar seating

The interior has a stone and light wood theme; it's open and airy with community tables and a short bar. We opted to sit at the bar, which afforded a view of the kitchen operation and pizza oven. 

Insalata di Anguria

We came for the pizza, of course, but the salads and appetizers were especially intriguing. We chose the Insalata di Anguria ($8), made with compressed watermelon, watermelon radish, spiced coconut foam, brined blueberries, habanero oil, macadamia nut crumb, and snippings of basil flowers. It was incredibly creative mix of flavors and textures.

All the pizzas are 12" personal size, cut into 6 pieces. We ordered two pies:

• N’duja sausage pie ($18) with Calabrian chili, cherry tomato, sausage and other pepperoni-ish salumi, and stracciatella cheese
• Verde ($12) with pea and walnut pesto, arrowleaf spinach, ricotta salata, and lemon (we added speck ham, $3, as a topping)

N'duja sausage pie

Sorellina has beer, wine, and a small cocktail selection; we enjoyed a nice pecan porter and the "Bee, Please!" made with vodka, aperol, lime, grapefruit, & lychee.

The pizzas arrived simultaneously and made an instant visual impression. These Neapolitan hybrid pies sported a nice golden cornicione with a bit of leopard spotting. Underneath, the crust took on a cooked-but-not-charred tone that seemed to contain a hint of that red wheat.

Verde pizza

For every pizza, and especially Neapolitan types, the crust is key. Here, it was exceptional. Uniformly thin and crisp right to the edge, where the crumb expanded a bit into idea handles. There was a depth of flavor to that crust, more than the usual bready goodness of well-made dough.

The toppings of each pie matched the quality of that impeccable crust. I've had a lot of pies where the Calabrian chiles burn too hotly and overwhelm the other flavors, but on the N'duja pie, all the flavor were in harmony, and there was a warm zing from the peppers. The presence of two cured meats seemed like a lot, but they worked well together.

Underside of the crust

The Verde, too, was a revelation. The pea & walnut pesto gave each slice a deep and rich flavor. It was a very different experience from the N'duja pizza, but equally delicious; they were a perfect pairing.

Wood oven roasted cauliflower

Nine days later (Father's Day, in fact) we returned for a late dinner. For appetizer, we got the wood oven roasted cauliflower ($8), with cashew yogurt, Moorish spices, and torn herbs. Not surprisingly, it was scrumptious. Like everything else coming out of that oven, it was ideal in taste and texture.

Margherita pizza

We tried two more kinds of pizza: 

• Margherita, with Italian tomato, yesterday’s mozzarella, and Thai basil (we added bacon)
• Oyster mushroom, with fermented and dried shiitake, taleggio cream, garlic roasted oyster mushroom, speck ham, and fried rosemary

Oyster mushroom pizza

The truest test of any Neapolitan pizzaiolo is the Margherita, and this was spot-on. Superb, deeply flavorful yet fresh-tasting sauce, creamy pillows of mozzarella, all riding on that delicate crust. 

The crust had a different character than on our prior visit; it was a little softer, thicker, and puffier. This may be due to natural variation in the dough, or the oven temp, or simply the style of the pizzaiolo. It was different, but equally delicious.

Of the four pies we tried on two visits, the mushroom pizza was the most remarkable. Due to the dull grayish brown of the mushrooms, it had the least visual appeal. But the mushrooms were layered deeply and had a meaty depth, yielding a distinctly savory note on each bite. Magical stuff.

Sometimes, when I discover a pizzeria this good, I hesitate to share the news so that I'm not helping it become so insanely popular that I can't get a table, like Beddiain Philly or DeLorenzo's in Trenton or DiFara in Brooklyn. Pizzeria Sorellina stands with those giants, and you should be eating this pizza.

On a Friday night, the kitchen was busy with takeout orders, and the dining room was about half full when we arrived around 6:30. In Philly, in New York, in downtown Austin there would be lines out the door for pizza (and appetizers) this good. On Father's Day, we walked right in and sat down to enjoy a fabulous meal.

Austin and Hill Country people, whatever pizza you are eating is not this good (unless it's Via 313). I moved from the Philly burbs to the Austin burbs expecting great BBQ and Mexican food, but not good pizza. This is not only great pizza, it's world class. I'll be there often - and I can't wait to try its sister restaurant, Apis.

Review: East Side Pies - Austin TX (Airport Location)

July 2, 2019, 5:44 am

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Austin, TX has become a destination for pizza. I've enjoyed the thin crust Trenton/New Haven style pies at Salvation Pizza, the New York-ish slices at Home Slice, the impeccable Neapolitans from the Backdraft trailer, the farm-to-pizza hybrid pies at Pizzeria Sorellina in Spicewood, Neapolitans out in Dripping Springs at Pieous, and the game-changing Detroit style pizza at Via 313.

Regardless of the region, however, I never have high expectations for airport pizza, even though there are some worthy pies like those at Wolfgang Puck Express located in the airport at Indianapolis, and Sauce Pizza & Wine at Phoenix Sky Harbor. Needing some lunch on the way out of Austin-Bergstrom Airport, we saw East Side Pies as one of the more promising options.

East Side Pies is a mini-chain in Austin, known and appreciated for its thin-crust pizza. Their website notes that their pizzas are made with produce from central Texas farms in addition to "classic tomato sauce, whole-milk mozzarella, and Texas-sourced meats."

Gas deck oven at East Side Pies

Behind the counter, you can see stacks of pre-made pies. There appears to be no pizza-making taking place at this location - the pies are simply heated/cooked in a conventional gas deck oven.

We ordered the Frankie, a 10" red sauce pizza with Italian sausage, ham, and mushrooms. It took quite a long time to be ready. While we waited, we chose a "Lemon Berry Acai" fountain soda from an excellent set of beverage choices.

The pie was cut into 6 small slices. The crust was thin - just about as thin as a pizza crust might possibly be. It delivered a satisfying crunch at the cornicione, but it was not sufficiently rigid to support its toppings, especially the large amount of cheese. The first few bites of each slice were, accordingly, pretty messy.

The dough itself had a nice bready flavor, but seemed a bit undercooked. The red sauce, mostly hidden beneath that generous layer of cheese, was surprisingly robust, with little hint of sweetness. The cheese was quite mild, a stretchy mozzarella type. There was an ample application of the three toppings - ham, sausage, and mushrooms. All were good quality, but none were exceptional. Despite the cheese overload, the flavors were well balanced.

Some leopard spotting underneath

This pie was enough for lunch for two people, and we both felt it was good pizza - especially considering the setting. A fairer test of East Side Pies would be a visit to one of their full service locations (four in the Austin area). I'd give East Side a definite thumbs-up when you're choosing a meal at this airport, but it's not up to the level of Wolfgang Puck Express or the fire-baked pies at the Phoenix Sky Harbor airport.

Review: CraigO's Pizza & Pastaria - Austin TX

August 29, 2019, 3:53 pm

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As a transplanted east coast pizza snob, I had modest expectations for pizza in the suburbs of Austin. While the pizza renaissance has brought some superb pizza (mostly Neapolitan) to almost every metropolis in America, the suburbs are still largely the domain of Pizza Hut, Domino's, or mom-and-pop shops cutting corners by using cheap mass-sourced ingredients so that they can compete on price with the mega-chains.

For the record, downtown Austin has plenty of spectacular pizza, with Via 313 at the head of the pack. Way out in Spicewood (home to Willie Nelson), Sorellina Pizzeria is turning out artisanal Neapolitans that stand toe-to-toe with any being made in the hippest parts of Brooklyn. But these, I suspected, were the exceptions.

Photo from facebook.com/pg/craigositalian

After three months in the suburbs of Austin, I hadn't yet tried CraigO's. This local mini-chain (four locations) looked to be the kind of place where Texans interpret pizza the way a Philadelphian might attempt to do BBQ or Tex-Mex. It wasn't high on the list of pizza places I had targeted, but when we were near the southwest Austin location at lunchtime, we decided to try it.

Photo from facebook.com/pg/craigositalian

This location is in a conventional strip mall. We entered to find a fairly large counter and dining area. Like so many of my Texan experiences, I was surprised at the genuinely friendly demeanor of the folks behind the counter. In other parts of America, I would have braced myself for impatient grimaces from the staff as I tried to survey the menu and make selections; I would expect curt answers and little interest in helping us choose well. Here, we were made to feel at home right away.

We chose to split a lunch special that offers two slices, a salad, and a drink; we added one more slice a la carte. Slices were big, prices were modest. I was glad that we split the salad, because it was huge. 

While there are many kinds of specialty pies on the menu, the only kinds available for slices were pepperoni and plain cheese. However, it was only 30 cents to add a topping to a plain slice, so we ordered two pepperoni slices and one with meatballs.

The slices arrived (you order at the counter, then they bring the food to you) just as we finished the salad. They had the appearance of a typical New York slice - big, foldable (if you have that bad habit), and sporting a golden brown crust.

The crust, as always, is the key to good pizza. CraigO's makes everything from scratch, and it shows. The crust had an excellent flavor, a crisp bottom, and a good chew.  The first few bites were pretty soft due to the significant payload of cheese and sauce.  The cheese was a good standard mozzarella or mozzarella mix, and the sauce was a bit of a role player here, lending some acidic tang.

Overall, a very well balanced slice and a lot more "New York" than you'd expect to find in a Texas strip mall. The pepperoni was big and thin circles with a nice curl to the edge. The meatballs were a great surprise; a huge pile of sliced spicy meatballs that somehow adhered nicely to a slice as an add-on. This is not life-changing pizza, it's just damn tasty and we wolfed it down happily.

Perfect browning underneath

I've come to appreciate just about every type of pizza. There's a place and time for a 90-second Neapolitan from a 900 degree oven, a deep dish Chicago style that takes 45 minutes, or a Trenton tomato pie where the gravy goes on last. But there is always a place and time for a well-executed New York slice - crisp yet chewy, crust and cheese and sauce and toppings in harmony - simple yet elegant and timeless.

CraigO's is making that New York pizza. And serving it up at modest prices in what was truly the friendliest pizzeria atmosphere I can recall. We'll be back often.

Review: Cane Rosso - Austin TX

August 31, 2019, 1:36 pm

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Cane Rosso ("red dog") is a Dallas-based mini-chain of Neapolitan pizzerias, which began when owner Jay Jerrier was inspired to recreate in Texas the wonderful pizza he had eaten in Italy in 1995. The Cane Rosso website notes that the "dough is made in-house every day, using OO flour from Italy while the sauce is made from hand-crushed San Marzano tomatoes, and our mozzarella is pulled fresh in-house daily."

There are six Dallas-Fort Worth locations, one in Houston, and one in Austin. We had occasion for a lunchtime visit to the Austin location, just off Route 290 in Sunset Valley.

This particular location is located in a small commercial strip featuring other attractive hipster hangouts - a coffee house and an ice cream joint. We were immediately struck by the amount of attention paid to the eclectic decor, inside and out. There was a large attractive outdoor patio, but on this 100 degree August day we opted for inside seating.

The lunch special, available Monday thru Friday, was a compelling value. For $13, you get a 10" personal Neapolitan pizza (Margherita, pepperoni, or sausage) with a choice of house salad, Caesar salad, or rosemary parm tater tots. We got one pepperoni, one sausage, one house salad, and one Caesar.

Sausage pizza with the house salad

The salads were right-sized, fresh, and appetizing. Service was friendly and attentive, and our pies arrived swiftly. One glance at the leopard spotting, the puffy cornicione, and the curled spicy cup pepperoni told us that this was an authentic Neapolitan; the dome ovens confirmed it.

Pepperoni pizza with the Caesar salad

Should a Neapolitan be wet in the center, as many claim a genuine Neapolitan pizza should be? I'm acclimated to the idea that with such pies, the first few bites will be moist and floppy because the delicate Neapolitan crust generally cannot support the kind of toppings payload that Americans expect.

Sausage slice close-up

Here, the first bite of each slice was indeed soft (but not soggy) and the texture improved with each bite closer to the cornicione. The crust was full of its own character and good bready flavor, soft yet chewy, yielding to a crunchy chew at the cornicione.

Twin Neapolitan dome wood-fired ovens

The fresh mozzarella, white and creamy, blended well with the bright red sauce as it helped adhere the meat toppings. White the crumbled sausage was very good, the spicy cup pepperoni was spectacular. Just about any cured meat adds an essential umami element to pizza, but spicy cup is several measures better than standard thin flat pepperoni.

Interior decor

The ingredients, the textures, and the flavors were all in harmony. This well-made and well balanced pizza is not breaking any new ground, but Cane Rosso is executing a classic Neapolitan pizza in excellent style. 

Lovely char underneath

Given the quality of this simple lunch special, I'm keen to go back and sample the spunto (appetizers/snacks) as well as the pastas. There is also a creative brunch menu with three breakfast pizzas and six other items like poutine, chicken & waffles, and a biscuit sandwich. Great stuff and great value in a hip atmosphere.

Need another reason to visit? Owner Jay Jerrier founded and funds Cane Rosso Rescue, whose mission is to find homes for dogs that have been abandoned at shelters or whose owners can no longer care for them.  Good pizza, good works.