I first visited Raleigh in 1980. At the time, it seemed like a distant ugly cousin to the two gems anchoring the other corners of the burgeoning Research Triangle: Durham and Chapel Hill. Likewise, North Carolina State University was a plain and functional school lacking the lovely campus views and amenities of Duke and the University of North Carolina. I was delighted to see that so much has changed since then.
Raleigh today is a lovely city with abundant green spaces and a charming downtown full of great shops and restaurants. The N.C. State campus is vibrant. During six sunny days in November, we visited lovely (and free) state and county parks and ate in some spectacular restaurants (shoutout to Poole's Diner, Boulted Bread, The Pit barbecue, 42nd Street Oyster House, Brewery Bhavana, and MOFU Shoppe). Best of all, I had a list of some fine looking pizza joints to choose from.
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| Street view of Oakwood Pizza Box |
I was intrigued by the rectangular pizza at Oakwood Pizza Box,which I had found in a list of "12 best Raleigh area pizzas" published by Eater Carolinas. It rose to the top of my list when I saw a picture of their 18" round pizza; its magnificent cornicione told me that there was some excellent dough going into these pizzas.
We arrived around 6pm on a Wednesday evening. Oakwood Pizza Box is located on a street bustling with restaurants and take-out joints. It would be easy to miss from its street-front appearance; in the dim light, I couldn't even see any signage. The restaurant is configured as a long narrow space with a counter and a few tables in the rear; our party of four was able to be seated without a wait.
The menu is short and simple; I've rarely seen fewer options in a pizza joint. Choices include an 18" round red pie (they call it "cheese"), an 18" round white pie, or an 18" x 12" rectangular red pie. We chose a round red with pepperoni and a square pie without extras. The square pie comes with the admonition that it requires a 20 minute bake.
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| The full menu |
Oakwood Pizza box offers a nice variety of wines by the bottle or the glass and even champagne! I chose a $6 Narragansett pilsner from the two draft beer options, and it was both crisp and ice cold. We shared a "large" salad that was more than enough for our party of four, and it featured very fresh greens, olives, salami, red onion, and pecorino with a tangy oil and vinegar dressing.
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The square pizza arrived first. As much as I had been impressed by the appearance of the crust in pictures I had seen, what struck me first was the brilliant deep red sauce. Much like the classic Trenton tomato pies at Papa's and DeLorenzo's, the sauce is applied amply and unevenly, so that some slices will be cheesier and others more full of red sauce. All of it was topped post-bake with huge leaves of fresh basil and a generous sprinkle of Grana Padano cheese (as is done at Di Fara in Brooklyn).
Much like the special take on Old Forge style pizza served in places like Pizza Perfect in Trucksville PA, this rectangular pie is sort of pan fried; it is baked in a pan with oil underneath the crust. I couldn't discern if the oil here was peanut or olive oil or something else, but it enabled a lovely crunch on the underside of the crust.
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| Crispy oiled bottom of the square pie |
This pizza was thicker than a conventional round pizza, perhaps thicker than a Grandma pizza, but not as thick as a Sicilian pie. While the bottom was uniformly crisp, the interior was al dente soft, and never wet or soggy (will explain why later). And crucially, the crust was full of its own rich flavor. In spite of that magnificent crust, the "wow" from the first bite was that red sauce - bursting with a fresh and bright tomato flavor.
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| Cheese assembly on the square pan pie |
There are three cheeses on this pie, even though only one is shown on the menu. To provide substance *and* to keep that wonderful sauce from making the crust soggy, a thin layer of sliced low moisture mozzarella is placed across the surface. On the rectangular pizza, dollops of fresh whole milk mozzarella are added before the sauce; on the round pie, the sauce precedes the second round of cheese. And, as mentioned, the third cheese is a sprinkle of Grana Padano after it comes out of the oven. See the process here: Owner Anthony Guerra explains his pizza.
All that top-shelf cheese, though, is a role player to the perfect crust and that rich red sauce. We ordered this pizza without extras and it didn't need any enhancements; a great pizza doesn't need to have fancy or inventive toppings when the foundation is beyond reproach (having said that, I did transfer a few slices of pepperoni from the other pizza to a slice, and it was just one more wonderful layer of flavor).
Bottom line on the square pie: brilliant crust, abundant rich red sauce, top grade cheese in the right proportion, cooked to perfection, and ideally balanced in textures and flavors. My lofty expectations were exceeded.
As noted, it was a photo of the round pizza that was my major clue that there was some dough magic going on at Oakwood Pizza Box, and that pizza arrived as I was finishing my first slice of the square pie. We ordered this one with pepperoni, and it was generously loaded with the perfect style, spicy cup pepperoni that curls up into little cups with crispy edges.
The cornicione in person looked even better than the pictures, with an uneven shape and color variations that are the hallmark of a great loaf of rustic bread. This was a very thin pizza, but each slice was almost magically rigid, such that you could hold it by the edge with no droop. This can only happen when the cheese and sauce are applied in proportion to what the crust can support; and, of course, the slices of low-moisture mozzarella prevent the sauce from making the crust soggy.
I suspect that this dough is the same (or similar, perhaps a different rise time?) to that used in the square pie; it surely shared the same rich flavor. Without the oil underneath, it was drier but still brilliantly crisp and just a bit chewy in the best ways. The corniciones were a delight, enough to persuade almost any fussy pizza eater to eat the full slice, including the edges.
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| Amazingly crisp and rigid, no flop |
With the same sauce and cheese, this pie was another grand success. The pepperoni did elevate it by adding a huge umami punch. This is a pretty bold declaration, but I can't think of a better conventional round pizza; everything was perfect on this pie. Our group was split on whether the square pie or the round pie was better; my advice is to eat both, and eat them often if you get the chance.
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| Beautiful char underneath |
There are a few hoary myths about the secret to great pizza. So often I've heard that "it's the water," especially in New York. Others focus on the oven -- "brick oven" pizza or "wood-fired" pizza. Both of those myths have been disproved countless times, and this was just more evidence. I have had world-class pizza in Spicewood Texas (near my home, where the water is terrible), Sedona Arizona, Boca Raton Florida, Boston Massachusetts, Portland Oregon, Seattle Washington, Charleston South Carolina, and now Raleigh North Carolina. It's not the water.
Likewise, it's not the ovens. Some great pizzas come from fancy ovens, but most (like the pizzas at Oakwood Pizza box) come out of conventional gas deck ovens. Destination pizza comes from great ingredients and the skill of the pizzaiolo. It's not complicated or mysterious. Oakwood Pizza Box is fabulous for these basic reasons.
Serendipitously, I was wearing my DeLorenzo's Tomato Pies t-shirt during our visit. A gentleman working there noticed and was astounded to see it in his Raleigh pizza shop (he didn't announce it, but I later learned that it was owner Anthony Guerra). He was wearing a t-shirt featuring Brooklyn's Best Pizza, and we traded notes on both legendary pie joints.
He has created something very special here; he's making two kinds of pizza, keeping it simple, and nailing it on both styles. The restaurant has a fun vibe, service was superb, prices were fair, and it's hard to imagine a more satisfying meal than the one we had. Ten out of ten for Oakwood Pizza Box.
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