Pizza My Heart

While spending the weekend in San Jose, we stopped into Pizza My Heart. Truthfully, we didn't expect much from our west coast friends because we are eternally east coast pizza snobs. (Don't even get us started on Chicago -- that's a whole other story).
But the place was super friendly and the staff were amiable and ready to put on a show. They were egging each other on to toss their pizza dough higher and higher. Several of them ended up on the floor (and subsequently, the trash) so we asked them to stop before we felt responsible for the place going out of business.

What goes up, must come down.

We then witnessed one of the most interesting preparation tools ever seen behind a pizza counter: the turkey baster. The sauce was squirted onto the pizza in widening circles as if being done with a spirograph.

Turkey baster pizza prep.

And after baking for quite some time in the oven, the pizza finally arrived. How was it? Eh, pretty good. Basic pizza, nothing extraordinary. A little too cheesy for our tastes, with a floppy crust. But we certainly enjoyed the visit.

A good time was had by all.

Brigantessa

Along with friends visiting from Germany, we stopped in South Philly for a taste of Brigantessa's Stella Pizza. Stella (meaning star) Pizza is unusual in its 6 points of dough, each thoughtfully containing a dollop of fresh ricotta. Yup, it was delicious. The pizza part was a little too thin, making it a bit floppy. But the taste was lovely -- a great sauce and fresh cheese. Worth trying if you're in the area. Brigantessa also has delicious non-pizza options. The eggplant polpetti are particularly delicious.

Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza

We're typically reluctant to recommend a chain restaurant like Anthony's (60 locations as of this post), but it is extremely reliable, affordable, and darn good pizza — if you like your crust "well done" as they say.

While the pizza may not be life-altering, it's consistently good with a very crispy crust. Because the crust is so "well done" this is a pizza that makes for great left-overs. The toppings don't seep into the crust and it reheats well.

We've tried a few varieties: pepperoni, meatball, eggplant. They're all well-prepared and flavorful.

If you're in the mood for something a little different, the roasted cauliflower pizza is not to be missed. The hot coal oven chars the cauliflower, mellowing any bitterness so that it becomes a creamy ingredient, meshing well with the olive oil and cheese. The sturdy crust helps it maintain crispiness — it's a great choice for a non-tomato based pie.

Porta

We wouldn't typically think of the Jersey shore for anything but your most basic boardwalk pizza, but during a recent conference, we visited Porta in Asbury Park. The ambiance is hip and funky, with long biergarten style tables and steampunk industrial interior. The ovens are wood-burning and beautiful so we were cautiously optimistic that they might be able to serve up a good tasting pizza. It also doesn't hurt that the building is an old garage with large doors opening to outside seating one block away from the ocean.

Our server assured us she could eat an entire Margherita herself, so we took the plunge and ordered two pizzas. While we waited, a beautiful dough emerged from the oven and we observed as it was carefully divided, top from the bottom, and thoroughly spread with Nutella before the top was replaced. So, yeah — looks promising.

Larger than expected, our pizzas arrived — one plain, one meatball. The crust is the star with the fresh mozzarella a close second. The dough was more chewy than crispy, but did not sink under the spare toppings. It has an extremely pleasant texture and was a joy to eat. The fresh cheese was mild and had just the right elasticity. The San Marzano tomato sauce was almost a non-factor, serving simply as a palette for other flavors. This is a pizza that demands some spice.

The meatball version was dreamy — light and fluffy meatballs provided all the flavor needed for the simplicity of the pizza. There were other fascinating options on the menu (with several vegan, vegetarian, and meat selections) so a return trip is definitely in order! But neither of us was able to devour and entire pizza, so make sure you plan accordingly.

Paris is not for Pizza Lovers

While we freely admit that pizza is not the cuisine you typically think of when visiting Paris, we harbored a hope that a culture that can work marvels with dough in many forms, might just surprise us withe some fabulous pizza. While our search was not exhaustive, we tried three well-known and highly-rated pizza locations, only to be sorely disappointed. Our final stop was Pink Flamingo which was amusing if not the greatest pizza.

Kitschy decor and thumping reggae music greeted us and we were optimistic. Yet again, we ended up with a pizza which resembled our others -- it seems that the Parisian approach is "more is more" with too much sauce and cheese, rendering the crust a soggy mess.

Granted, Pink Flamingo provided the best flavor of all our attempts, but just didn't quite get the pizza to where it should be. So in the end, we believe pizza is for croissants, crepes, fougasse, brioche ... etc. etc. Some bread baker might want to consider bringing their expertise to the pizza arena -- they'd have an open field.

Da Vito & Amici Miei

While enjoying a long weekend in Paris, we decided that we should probably weigh in on a few of the highly rated pizza spots in the City of Light. Our first stop in the Bastille area was DaVito. A tiny spot serving only pizza (for the most part) is known for housing a speakeasy behind an ordinary storeroom door. We strolled up at noon (because the sign said midi) only to be told pizzas wouldn't be ready for 30 minutes. We dutifully grabbed a coffee up the street and returned at 12:30 to find the staff frantically finishing up desserts and not ready to make pizza.  

We finally ordered our Margherita pizza ... Electric oven at 700 degrees, so it didn't take long. We were optimistic when it arrived, although Stef was initially dismayed by the amount of cheese. We both held up a first slice. Despite the super thin crust, it was sturdy and smelled promising. But in the end, there wasn't much to say about the pizza except that it was rather bland. All the elements were in place, but it was fairly ordinary. Perhaps DaVito is known more for its speakeasy and the pizza is just a front. Undaunted, we decided to stop at AmiciMiei in the Marais. A lovely and lively Italian restaurant, we were encouraged by the beautiful pasta dishes and spirited conversation emanating from the kitchen. We ordered our Margherita and it arrived in minutes, smelling far more interesting than our last pizza.

But we were disappointed. The pizza was overloaded with cheese and had a strong dried herb flavor that overpowered any other taste. After the first slice, the cheese became gluey and slid off the crust, leaving a mess behind. We left the rest, sadly uneaten. We won't give up! We believe there is good pizza in Paris and it's up to us to find it.

Pizzeria Vetri

When you walk into Pizzeria Vetri and see that there is a bar area where you can sit with nose pressed right up to the glass to watch the pizzas being made, you realize that this a special pizza experience. That and the sign over the wood-burning oven that reads: EVERYBODY LOVES PIZZA.

The star at Vetri is the dough. It's super thin, just enough crisp so that it doesn't droop, great chewy texture on the crust. The pizzas are made with a light touch -- a little oil, a little sauce (salty and a little tangy, not too sweet), and a few slices of mozzarella. The pizzas are in the oven for mere minutes and topped with fresh basil.

The pizza is light and delicious. So good, we needed another one for Gary. Truth be told, Stef tried the Rotolo because it was heralded as "the best thing in this city." What arrived was a savory version of a cinnamon bun, with the lovely pizza dough wrapped around mortadella, ricotta, and oozing pistachio pesto. Rather magnificent.

Vetri pizza may not be life-changing or transcendent. But it is truly delicious pizza that you could eat on a regular basis if you were so inclined.

Pizzeria Beddia

Bon Appétit Magazine went out on a limb and claimed this is the best pizza in America. It certainly better be ... we waited outside Pizzeria Beddia for 2-/12 hours to order our pizza, then 20 minutes more for it to be prepared and cooked.

Yes, we've eaten a lot of pizza in our lives, but this one managed to live up to much of the hype. A super complex pizza with a lot of flavors, impeccably fresh ingredients, a flawless crust. What the experience lacks in charm (and seating) is made up by a truly spectacular experience.

Our baseline test is always a traditional tomato and cheese pie, but we gave the white a try as well. The seasonal variety today was a corn cream, cherry tomato, and pesto combination. Truly marvelous.

But is it worth the hassle? As we waited for our pizza to come out of the oven and be served about about 5:45 (2 full hours after we lined up outside the door), folks were ordering their pizzas and expecting to return at 8, 8:30, and 9PM. And if you get there after the 40 pizzas per day are spoken for, you're out of luck -- even if you were willing to wait until after 10PM for your pizza.

So, perfection? Perhaps not ...