Do you remember your Top Five Meals of 2023? I can't swear that I could name mine, but I can put together the Top Five Breakout Pizzas of 2023. To be clear, these are not the "Five Best Pizzas in the World" (although they all belong on the ballot), but simply the five best pizzas that I tried for the first time in 2023.
Let's count them down!
5. Dovetail Pizza & Bar, Austin TX. Dovetail occupies a friendly, hip, casual spot in the Bouldin Creek section of Austin. They are crafting lovely ovals in a Neapolitan/New York hybrid style.
We said in our review:
The pizza at Dovetail is hands-down terrific. A brilliant hybrid crust that embraces much of the best features of Neapolitan and New York styles; it stands toe to toe with the best of such pizzas, like those at Pizza Brain in Philadelphia. Crisp, pliant, tasty, and up to the task of supporting the excellent payload of top-end ingredients. The space is modern, open, and inviting.
4. Il Forno, San Antonio, TX. This place got onto our radar after an Italian website called it one of the 50 best pizzas in America. It's a very friendly and casual spot in the SoFlo district. The pies are straight-up authentic Neapolitans.
We enjoyed all four types we tried, but especially the Carbonara. We noted:
All of the pizzas are genuine Neapolitans, baked less than 2 minutes at a very high temperature in a dome oven. That wood-burning oven (using local oak) was hand-built by chef and owner Michael Sohocki. The theme here is "local" with house-made meats and local vegetables, but the spirit is true to Naples in the crafting of the pizzas.
The pizza that was truly next-level was the Carbonara. I love the concept of a fried egg on a Neapolitan pizza, and it rarely disappoints. The blend of Fontina and Pecorino cheeses was creamy and rich, while the exotic mushrooms added a blast of umami. The garlic sauce, applied in ideal proportion, was yet another layer of flavor. The roasted onions and pancetta and parsley all made their own contributions to the swirl of flavors and textures that blended harmoniously.
This Carbonara pizza was one of the best Neapolitan pizzas I've had anywhere, and the one pie on the menu that can help justify Il Forno's high national ranking.
3. Pedroso's Pizza - Austin, TX. Pedroso's operates out of a trailer on Burnet Road in Austin. From that small space, Pedroso's is crafting top-rank New York style and Grandma style pizzas. I loved them both!
Regarding the New York slice, we said:
The Margherita slice sported excellent fresh mozzarella that wasn't wet or soupy, a brilliant and vibrant red sauce, a crackling crisp crust, and a lovely topping of shredded fresh basil. It was an ideal balance of ingredients, textures, and flavors. A perfect slice, as good or better than 99% of actual NYC pizza joints. It's not a complicated pizza, but it exemplifies the pinnacle of the craft.
For the Grandma pie, we noted:
A grandma pizza is baked in a rectangular pan like a Sicilian pizza, but its crust is thinner (but still thicker than a conventional round pizza). This crust had a nicely chewy center and a crispy oiled bottom. Like a Detroit pizza, a generous amount of red sauce is applied to the pizza in stripes after it has baked. Pedroso's has nailed it; the grandma pizza is legit, authentic, and delicious.
Read our detailed write-up here: https://mainlinepizzaquest.blogspot.com/2023/04/review-pedrosos-pizza-austin-tx.html
2. Oakwood Pizza Box, Raleigh NC. A trip to Raleigh afforded me the chance to research the top pizzas in the region. I expected great pizza and my expectations were exceeded! Bonus, I met the owner who was delighted to see my "DeLorenzo's Tomato Pies" t-shirt.
Like Pedroso's, Oakwood is offering two kinds of pizza, albeit in a restaurant setting instead of a trailer. One is a traditional (but large 18") round in a New York style, and the other is a pan-baked rectangle described only as a "square" pie.
The square pizza is pan-fried and lives somewhere between a Grandma and a thicker Sicilian style pizza. We wrote:
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 ... brilliant crust, abundant rich red sauce, top grade cheese in the right proportion, cooked to perfection, and ideally balanced in textures and flavors.
The New York pie was equally fabulous. Whisper-thin but rigid enough to support its wonderful toppings.
We reported:
With the same sauce and cheese [as the square pizza], 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.
1.) TIE! I refuse to put either of these gems above the other, and I present them alphabetically. I can't believe these world-class pizza makers are just minutes from my home. New York, Detroit, Neapolitan, and Midwestern party-cut pies!
1a) Brack's Backyard, Spicewood TX. When I moved from the Philly suburbs to the Austin suburbs in 2019, I left my dreams of great pizza behind, hoping to fill the void with Tex-Mex and BBQ. I could never have imagined that by 2023, I'd find this world class pizza in my own backyard.
Brack's began by offering two styles of pizza (see a trend here?) -- New York and Detroit. They have since expanded to a third style, what I would call a midwestern party cut pizza or perhaps a bar pie; Brack's labels it "Cracker Thin" style.
Owner Robert studied under pizza guru Tony Gemignani, and it shows. His Detroit pizza is better than the previous standard-bearer for the region, Austin's Via 313. His New York pizza is sneaky good, with an ideal crust topped by the same wonderful sauce that goes on the Detroit pie. And now the trifecta, with a superb execution of that Midwestern cracker-crust party-cut pie.
About that thin pizza, we said:
The iconic versions of this style can be found at Vito and Nick's on the south side of Chicago, Lee's Tavern in Staten Island, Rubino's in Columbus Ohio, and Lucca Grill in Bloomington Illinois. Well, the "Cracker Thin" at Brack's beats them all. Robert worked hard to perfect the dough, and it shows. That thin crust has a perfect texture and a wonderful buttery flavor.
Regarding the New York style pie, we noted:
At the cornicione, the artistry behind this pie became more obvious. It was crackly crispy on top and bottom, but the outer edges revealed a beautiful hole structure that is the hallmark of great dough. We ate half this pizza one night and then finished it a few nights later, and it was still great. Conventional construction, but made with terrific dough and high grade mozzarella.
For their sublime Detroit pizza, our reaction was:
The crust of this pizza was a pillowy dream. It was thick and dense yet light, soft but substantial. And just brilliantly crisp on the bottom, and off-the-chart crispy/crunchy along the edges where (as with all Detroit pizza), the cheese gets caramelized in the blue steel pan used for baking a Detroit pizza ... the twin racing stripes of red sauce on top were astounding. It was thick, dense, and jam-packed full of tomato flavor. I rarely get excited about the sauce on any pizza, but this was other-worldly.
Not only is this at the top of my 2023 Pizza Discoveries, but also quickly became my "Best Pizza (I've Had) in Texas." All three of these pies can stand with their peers in Detroit, across the Midwest, and in New York City.
1b) Winston's, Lakeway TX. If my 2023 discoveries had ended with Brack's, that alone would have made me happy. New York, Detroit, and thin party-cut pizza! What else could I ask for?
Well, how about Neapolitan pizza cooked in a 900 degree dome oven, gas and wood fired, with a rotating oven floor so that the pies cook evenly? Yep, that is what Winston's brought to our region in 2023.
Just like Robert and Tracy at Brack's, Winston's is owned and operated by a lovely couple (Sally and Aaron Creamer) with a passion for crafting great pizza. While these are "Neapolitan" to any normal pizza eater, they technically don't qualify due the upgraded features of the dome oven and the occasional use of the poolish technique for the dough. But I sure don't care about that; delicious well-crafted pizza is the only thing that matters.
Winston's is smartly configured as a dual-purpose space, a coffee shop in the AM hours, transistioning into a pizza shop around lunchtime. There are a few salads and other menu items, but the pizza is the main draw. We said:
While nearly everything except the oven turntable made these pizzas qualify as legitimate Neapolitans, the results were a bit different. The crust was somehow very tender yet more crisp and sturdy; no droop, no wet spots. The low gluten Caputo Italian 00 flour yielded a cornicione that was less puffy and denser than the typical Neapolitan.
It's a stretch to say that this is Neapolitan/NY style hybrid pizza, but it's in that zone. Bottom line, this crust was damn near perfect. I loved its flavor and its texture and how well it was mated to the other ingredients.
As the menu notes, the tomato sauce is made with imported San Marzano DOP tomatoes. Co-owner and London native Aaron Creamer shared with us that the mozzarella is Grande from Wisconsin. From the flour to the tomatoes to the cheese and the toppings, all of the ingredients are top-shelf and thoughtfully chosen.
Winston's is not just the New King of Spicewood-Lakeway-Bee Cave Neapolitan Pizzas, it can go toe-to-toe with the best Neapolitans of Austin. It's better than the acclaimed Bufalina Due, better than Pieous, and better than Jester King in Dripping Springs.
You can't go wrong at any of our 2023 Top Discoveries. I remain astounded by all of the talented pizzaioli across Texas and America making pies that are miles better than what you could find in most places just 15-20 years ago. The Pizza Renaissance continues!
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