The 12 Breakout Pizzas of 2012

I began this pizza blog in 2011 to chronicle my quest to find "destination" pizza anywhere in the western suburbs of Philadelphia -- on the Main Line or near my home in West Chester. I found lots of top-rank pizza, but mostly because I was travelling to Brooklyn once or twice a week. I was able to sample legendary pizza like John's in Manhattan, Denino's in Staten Island, and Totonno's in Brooklyn. But the west-of-Philly offerings weren't strong.

2012 turned that around in a big way. The 2012 highlights include TWO newcomers on the Main Line (still nothing special in West Chester). Let's take a quick look at the breakout pies -- new and old -- of 2012.

12. Brick Oven Pizza 33 (Manhattan). I had the great fortune to attend a New York summer party where the owner of Pizza 33 brought some pies. Saucy, square, simple, sumptuous. Brick Oven Pizza 33 Review

Brick Oven Pizza 33 at the summer party

11. Pizza Quixote Carbonara Square Pie (West Chester PA). From eating great pie and perhaps more so from reading about pizza techniques on Slice (www.seriouseats.com), I made some pretty decent pies at home. I'm not yet a dough maker, but I can buy some good frozen pizza dough at the Franca Bakery stand in the Trenton Farmer's Market. I steal a little bit of technique from a bunch of sources, such as putting on ingredients (fresh basil, grated cheese) after the bake, in the Dominic DeMarco (Di Fara) style. My Own Pizza Carbonara (review/recap)

Pizza Quixote home creation

10. La Montecarlo (Rome). Just a whisper-thin crust that managed to be crisp but not cracker-like, with a smear of tomato sauce and garlic chunks. Simple and delicious for 5.50 Euros. American pie slingers could learn so much here. La Montecarlo Review

Pizzeria La Montecarlo

9. 2Amy's (Washington DC). This place has a big reputation for great Neapolitan pizza and for crowds of faux hipsters who let their children run through the place screaming while ignoring them. Our visit there pretty much confirmed that. Despite the hipster wannabes and their unsupervised offspring, this was the best Neapolitan pie I've had. I'm not keen on Neapolitan in comparison to a slice of Trenton or New Haven pie; it's softer and frequently too damn wet. But the execution here was superb; no soggy bottoms. 2Amys Review

2Amys

8. Wiseguy NY Style Pizza (Washington DC). Another DC entry! This was a separate trip; we went there for the preview party and discovered the NY slice. He's doing so well, the phone is off the hook. The NY slice is not my preferred style -- it ranks after Trenton style and Neapolitan, but I did gain a fuller appreciation. Still, folding a slice is just wrong!  Pizza is not a sangwitch. Wiseguy NY Pizza Review

NY Slice, executed flawlessly

7. Santarpio's (Boston). Classic family joint near Logan Airport. Thin, crisp crust, salty sauce, reminds me of Denino's in Staten Island. I love finding a neighborhood joint where the staff doesn't regard your suspiciously. With an appetizer of grilled meats, how can you go wrong? Beautiful classic pie. Santarpio's Review

Santarpio's Pizza, Boston

6. Nick's New Haven Pizza (Boca Raton, FL). This coal-fired monster proudly backs up its New Haven heritage, and stands alongside Modern Apizza and Pepe's as the real deal. Nicks New Haven Pizzeria Review

The awesome char at Nick's

5. Papa's Tomato Pies (Trenton NJ). It took the closure of the Trenton DeLo to push me to Papa's, and I'm so sorry I missed it all those years I lived nearby. It's a vanishing style in a vanishing neighborhood. Get there soon. Papa's Tomato Pies Review

Throwback pies at Papa's

4. Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza (Boca Raton FL, Wayne PA, and other locations). Like Nick's, I discovered this gem in Boca Raton; after a long wait on a summer night, we were rewarded with astonishing coal-fired pie. To my further amazement, it's a 30-store chain with a Wayne, PA location just minutes from my home. Consistently awesome. Anthonys Coal Fired Pizza Review

A coal-fired slice at Anthony's

3. La Porta (Media PA). Famed Philly chef Peter McAndrews opened up this pie-and-small-plates place out in Philly's Main Line (Rt 352, Gradyville) and cranks out artisan pies of great taste and modest prices. With La Porta and Anthony's, the western burbs of Philly phinally have destination pie. And if the killer pie was not enough, the "Dutch Fries" are an exotic delight. La Porta Review

La Porta knows how to cook a pie

2. Forno Marco Roscioli (Rome). Giant rectangle pies, hacked into smaller rectangles sold wrapped in wax paper. An astonishing introduction to Roman pizza. Everywhere in Italy, I found crust and sauce SO DAMN GOOD that the cheese was a distraction. Forno Marco Roscioli Review

Forno Marco Roscioli - pizza as pretty as the Mona Lisa

1. DeLorenzo's (Hudson St, Trenton NJ). This has been my favorite pizza since 1980. There have been strong challengers -- Di Fara in Brooklyn, and Papa's Tomato Pies on Chambers Street in Trenton, but the original DeLorenzo's remains #1. It was a mecca-like trip to return there for one last visit before that original location closed forever. Happily, the family is still making that same pie in their Robbinsville location. DeLorenzos Tomato Pies Review

DeLorenzo's - Still The Best

2012 Honorable Mentions: 
Comet Ping Pong, Washington DC

Bar Foscarini, Venice

Ricca Pizza, San Gimignano, Italy

Zavino, Philadelphia

Nomad Pizza and more at the S.Philly Pizza Olympics

  

Review: Mama Cozzi's Pizza

Prompted by a $5.00 coupon that came in the mail, I visited the newly-opened Aldi Supermarket on Lincoln Highway in Exton, PA.  Aldi is a is a global discount supermarket chain based in Germany, offering a limited selection and deep discounts, mostly on house brands. 

Aldi is big in Europe; a new store opens every week in the U.K.  The discounts are significant, but they come at the cost of convenience.  You have to put in a quarter to release a chained-up shopping cart, they don’t provide shopping bags (or even empty boxes, as Costco does), and they don’t accept credit cards.

Wikipedia says that “Aldi's and Costco spend an extraordinary effort to ensure that their private label products are viewed by consumers as equal to, if not better than, leading name-brand products.” So how did they do on take-and-bake pizza?

Aldi stocks an attractive array of frozen pizzas, in varying sizes and styles.  I had one picked out for a quick dinner when I discovered the larger (16 inch) pies in the refrigerated section. Both the fresh and the frozen carried the “Mama Cozzi’s Pizza Kitchen” brand. The box promised “premium Italian sausage and pepperoni” as well as five “Italian-style” cheeses on this 29 ounce thin-crust pie. I’ve been pleased with the refrigerated take-and-bake at Costco and even from Acme, and the thin crust sealed the deal.

Like most cook-at-home pies, this one was cooked directly on the center rack for 12-14 minutes. I usually go to the high end of cooking time, to minimize the chance for soggy pie. I also give it 2 minutes under the broiler to get browning on the top. Despite its thin crust, it did not become stiff or cracker-like, but it was generally sturdy enough to eat without a knife and fork.

The thin crust was tasty, if a tad generic in quality. It had a pleasing texture with a good chew but I’d have liked it crisper. The ingredients were exceptionally well proportioned. The five cheeses were not distinctive, but they were in harmony with the salty and tangy sauce. Neither was overloaded in a way to overwhelm the thin crust. The meats were in big satisfying chunks. No sausage pellets here, but the pepperoni more resembled the actual stuff than did the sausage. Both were tasty, and again in balance with the pie. The pie also won approval from EPBAC (eats pizza but avoids cheese) and VACK (vegetable-avoiding college kid). The three of us ate the entire pie.

The underside of the crust

Once again, I found that you can get a better pre-fab pie (refrigerated or frozen) at the supermarket than you can from any major chain, or from most local pizza joints. Let’s give the crust a 5, the sauce a 7, the cheese a 5, the meats a 6.  Overall, a “6” rating for a well-balanced pie that costs just six bucks.  

First Taste: Via Veneto, Norristown PA

After a comment on this blog in which the writer suggested we try the pizza at Via Veneto in Norristown, I asked some colleagues (who live nearby) if they had tried it.  None had, but one who drives by it daily had taken note that it is always crowded. Recently, she stopped in for a Sicilian pie and was thoughtful enough to bring me two leftover slices.

Click on any pic to see full size image

Eating leftover slices is hardly a fair or accurate way to review a pizza purveyor, so this first taste will be for sharing of impressions.  Here they are:

• The pie was not properly cooked, or assembled, or both. You can tell by the shot of the entire pie as it came from the oven. The ghostly whiteness of the cheese and the raw green peppers indicate that the top is woefully undercooked.
• The crust, on the other hand, was pretty good, especially at the edges. Part of the magic of the best square pies is the crispy bottom, the fluffy center, and the somewhat denser top  layer where the moisture from the sauce seeps in. That kind of balance is tough to preserve when eating the slices as leftovers, but the golden bottom was crisp and the center still had a nice doughy tenderness.
• The sauce was good, slightly sweet, and judiciously applied.
• The cheese was the major failing. There was about double the amount that would be used for a balanced pie, it was the blandest mozzarella, and even after the benefit of browning under the broiler, it had little flavor and almost no inclination to adhere to the crust. It was a floating blob; I never remove cheese from a pizza, but here I was tempted. This would have been much better as a tomato pie.
• The peppers, as noted, seemed added as an afterthought.
• The sausage, cut in thin discs like pepperoni, were a mild upgrade from the rabbit pellets used by some places, but it seemed like it came from a mass commercial supplier. It added little more than calories.

Top-notch crust

Bland, gloppy cheese overload

Undercooked on top

The crust and the sauce were both good enough that I can understand why Via Veneto has a loyal customer base, and it has enough promise that I'd like to go there and try it in person.  Let's call it worthy of investigation.

Review: Bar Foscarini (Accademia Foscarini), Venice, Italy

On our twelve day trip through Europe, we anticipated and found wonderful food (pizza and otherwise) in Rome and Tuscany. We had so little knowledge of the Italian Alps that we came with no expectations, and left delighted with the few meals we had there in the South Tyrol, the best of which I’d describe as German food prepared with Italian passion.

Click any pic to enlarge

The next stop on our trip was Venice, and I expected it to be a little like the New York City theatre district – expensive food, prepared without much care, for throngs of tourists who likely will never return. Happily, we never had a bad meal in Italy, and our two dinners in Venice proved to be spectacular. On our second and last night, we had done a lot of touring on foot. It’s fun to navigate the tiny streets, canals, and bridges, but it’s easy to get lost, even with a map. We gave up trying to find any particular restaurant and we just began searching for a spot that didn’t look too touristy.

Bar Foscarini, from the Accademia Bridge

We crossed the Accademia Bridge into Dorsoduro, adjacent to the spot along the Grand Canal where the Gondoliers tie up their boats. At the base of the bridge, we saw Bar Foscarini (aka Accademia Foscarini), a small bar/dining room with canal-side al fresco café seating. It looked lovely, but it seemed like such an obvious tourist spot that we kept going. We were also somewhat put off by the, ummm, “aroma” wafting off the canal.

Cafe seating behind the small flower boxes

However, we wandered further and found no better choices, so we returned to settle for a meal at Bar Foscarini. Happily, the wind had shifted and we no longer sensed any low tide fragrance from the canal. It was a lovely night, so we chose a waterside table outside.  After glancing at the menu, we discovered that Bar Foscarini is more of a grand snack place – Italian tapas, perhaps – than a full service restaurant. So we selected some panini (sandwiches) and appetizers, only to learn from our server that at this late hour, the choices were simply pizza and appetizers.

We really did not expect decent pie, but we needed dinner so we ordered a salumi plate (assorted cured meats with artichoke and pickle garnishes) and a marinara pizza – simply crust, tomato sauce, garlic. We also ordered a carafe of the house red wine. The food arrived quickly. The artichokes were the small, canned variety, but with the pickles added a little bit of variety to the plate of cured meats, which included soppressata, prosciutto, and two other thinly shaved meats that I cannot precisely identify other than to say it seemed like three types of prosciutto. All quite delicious, and we enjoyed it with the excellent fresh bread and breadsticks.

When the pizza arrived, we were delighted to see that it was the thin Roman style, much like the astonishing pie we had at Le Montecarlo (reviewed here) in Rome. The crust was cracker-thin, with a delicate external crunch, yet somehow with an internal chewiness. Sturdy enough to support the thin topping of sauce and garlic. 

It was not quite as ethereal as the pizza in Rome, but it exceeded our expectations by a lot. A beautiful night in Venice, casual dining on the edge of the Grand Canal, authentic Roman pizza, plate of smoked meats, and a litre of red wine?  It really doesn’t get much better than that.

The staff saw us taking pictures and were glad to give us some more info, and the chef (owner?) gladly chatted and posed for a pic with us.  We’re giving ambiance an 11 (scale of 1 to 10), the smoked meats an 8, the wine an 8, the pizza a 9. This was consistent with our entire Italian experience; no matter how tourist-y an area is, the food is still good-to-great and the locals care about quality, even if they will never see you again. 

Jupiter must have smiled on Bar Foscarini, because we finished our meal in the beautiful night air, and as we stepped away to walk home, we encountered a torrential rain that would have ruined the al fresco experience (there are no outdoor umbrellas at Foscarini). Getting lost again trying to find our way back to the hotel, we arrived drenched, but exhilarated by the unforgettable meal at the base of the Accademia Bridge.

Review: Ricca Pizza, San Gimignano (Tuscany), Italy

In early autumn, EPBAC (Eats Pizza But Avoids Cheese) and I had 12 days in Italy. The trip included beautiful sights, perfect weather, and the fabulous food we had anticipated. It is true, though, that many of Italy’s most beautiful (and hence popular) destinations have become tourist towns. One might expect that in Venice, but it’s also true in the walled towns of Tuscany. 

EPBAC and a slice. Click any pic to enlarge.

These ancient cities look much like they did centuries ago, with narrow cobblestone streets and stone buildings both modest and grand. But just about every first floor has been turned into some sort of shop to cater to tourists. Happily, it’s not (yet) GAP, Starbucks, and McDonald’s. A lot of local flavor remains. Still, we had modest expectations for our brief visit to San Gimignano when we sought out lunch.

Mostly because we didn’t have a lot of time, we looked for a quick lunch rather than a sit-down meal with table service. On Via San Matteo, we stumbled upon a small storefront window selling pizza “al taglio” – by the slice. A quick glance at the large slices indicated that they would be, at least, better than typical by-the-slice American pizza. I discovered that the counter girl did not speak English as I attempted to buy one plain slice and one with sausage or pepperoni. There were no slices visible that had any meat toppings, but after a few false starts I was able to get a plain sliced enhanced “con prosciutto” as she simply added some thin shavings of cured ham to the cooked slice.

The slices were very large triangles, with a very thin, crisp, rigid crust. They were served on a triangle of cardboard that was a much more effective support than the round paper plate you might expect. We strolled to a nearby piazza to eat them on this warm, summerlike day in Tuscany. At the very first bite, I was amazed and delighted to get such terrific pizza in a tourist destination. The crust had a delightful crunch, crispy but not cracker-like, and the flavor of great Italian bread. The crust had a lovely char underneath. The bright red sauce was lively and perfectly proportioned, while the cheese was mostly a role player.

By the second bite, I knew I was going back for another slice, and I ordered one with mushrooms. The mushrooms were tasty – more likely fresh than canned – but the overall experience was not much different than the plain slice. Each big slice was €2.80, which I regard as a great value in a tourist spot. Over twelve days and six cities, Italy offered up one delight after another, and finding destination pie in a tourist town was certainly one of them.

Review: DiGiorno Rising Crust Pizza

As a pizza blogger, DiGiorno has been particularly useful to me, even though it's likely been three years or more since I last ate a DiGiorno pie. It’s been my barometer, my baseline for judging fresh pies. In my experience, DiGiorno is the best of the mass-produced widely-distributed frozen pies. 

Intuitively, you would think that ANY freshly made pizza should be better. But in fact, most pizza shop pizzas are not better than DiGiorno. They fail by being made from bland Sysco or Sysco-like ingredients; they fail by being badly undercooked; they fail by being over-sauced and soggy; they fail by being piled with toppings to distract from the faulty foundation. It’s shameful how many pizzerias cannot turn out a pie that is better than DiGiorno.

The "meatball marinara" pie. Click any pic to enlarge.

The two pies I purchased ($5.38 each, at Bottom Dollar Foods) were the “Meatball Marinara” and the “Meat Trio,” both from the “Italian Style Favorites” collection.  Italian style, what? Is there another style? Peruvian Pizza? Pakistani Pizza? I actually debated between the DiGiorno pies and the $3.99 house brand “rising crust” pizza that probably duplicated the DiGiorno approach, but in the end decided to shell out the extra $1.39 per pie for the name brand.  

Even at $5.38, the pies were a bargain meal, at least until I recalled that I purchased a fresh margherita pizza of similar size during happy hour at Media PA’s wonderful La Porta (reviewed HERE and HERE) for only six bucks.  I didn’t measure the DiGiorno pies, but they were the size of a big personal pizza, and I cut them into 6 medium-small slices. The total weight was 28.7 ounces per pie, and calories are 370 per slice.

The meat trio pie was generously topped with slices of pepperoni, sticks of Genoa salami, and surprising chunks of sausage. I say surprising because even though they were not the huge irregular chunks of fresh Italian sausage you’d find on a Trenton tomato pie from DeLorenzo’s or Papa’s, they were of decent size with an authentic texture. Most frozen pizza and a distressing percentage of freshly-made pizzas have rabbit-dropping shaped sausage pellets that bear little resemblance to actual sausage.

Meatball pie with added jalapeno

Meat Trio pie

The meatball marinara had smallish half-globes of meatballs, with so much white cheese that I would have thought it was a “white” pie absent the “marinara” in the name. In fact, there was a generous amount of sauce hidden under the cheese. I struggle to resist improving frozen pizza, and therefore I sliced a jalapeno pepper over this one. That actually showed some restraint, because I often add onion, garlic, or other cured meats pre-bake and then fresh basil and grated Italian cheese post-bake.

As with many frozen pies, the instructions were to bake at 400 degrees, on a sheet for softer crust or directly on the oven rack for crisp crust. I always prefer a crisp crust, so I baked both pies together directly on the rack. The instructions called for 22-25 minutes of baking. I bake most frozen pies for the max time or sometimes longer in that quest for a crispy crust, but these were clearly done at 22 or 23 minutes. I removed them and allowed them to cool for a minute before slicing.

Crisp and brown, but not charred or spotted

These are thick pies. You would not mistake them for that wretched Chicago casserole called deep-dish “pizza” or even for Sicilian pie, but each bite was pretty “bready” in the words of my dining companion VACK (Vegetable-Avoiding College Kid). My usual complaint with 95% of pizza crusts is that they are too soft or, even worse, wet. So the long bake at high temps directly on the rack was a legitimate attempt to avoid those foundation pitfalls. 

But to my surprise, I found that the crust was crisp on the bottom and chewy above (good thing), but actually drier than ideal. If I baked another DiGiorno tonight, I wouldn't place it on a conventional baking pan to retain moisture, but perhaps on a pizza stone or a perforated pizza pan to get a better compromise of crisp without becoming dry.

How did it taste? The crust reminded me, in flavor and texture, of Costco pizza (reviewed HERE), and that’s not a bad thing. The cheese was pretty bland, and the pie would have benefitted by addition of some aged provolone pre-bake or something like grana padano after the bake. The meat toppings, so different in appearance, were similarly good in that salty and greasy way.

The dominant flavor, though, was the sauce. It was not particularly sweet or salty or herbal or tasty, but it had a distinct flavor that mostly recalled Ragu and other mass-market jarred tomato sauce. The jalapeno was a terrific addition and I’d endorse that for anyone who appreciates some spicy heat.

The DiGiorno pies mostly met my expectations as pizza that beats 99% of the frozen competition and probably 85% of “fresh” pizza. That doesn’t make it great, but it makes it pretty good, mostly on account of the crust. We’ll give 7 stars to the crust, 6 to the meat toppings, 5 to the sauce, and 4 to the cheese. Overall, DiGiorno earns a 6. It is a boatload of calories, but worth the occasional indulgence. Papa John's could just stop making pizzas and instead heat up a DiGiorno for you -- it would be a substantial improvement.

DiGiorno also makes a thin crust pie, which I haven't tried. If you have, please leave a comment below and let us know your evaluation.