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The best pizza I ever had in my life was in Naples, Italy. There is something spectacular about the dough there. Airy, smoky, Fluffy yet lightly dense, a hint sourdough, and the perfect amount of salt with a melt in your mouth finish. They say in Naples that their water is what makes the dough. One time, I actually tried visiting all the Italian specialty shops in Seattle looking for Neapolitan bottled water for a pizza recipe. It is that convincing.
Italy is known for its pizza, especially Naples. And if I know any country, it’s Italy. Not to say i’m an expert but to myself i’m an expert in my own rite. And this is the exact reason that, ever since I literally cried over how artisan and delicious my Neapolitan pizza experience was, I have shunned America for its pizza mockery. This however, has changed since a recent visit to Serious Pie in Downtown Seattle. I prepared myself mentally (and physically) for this venture, asking my fellow foodie-ittes what their take on S.P. was, and the second I dropped the name so did the drooling. Multiple people shook me and said “you have to try the wild mushroom and truffled cheese!!” So what did I order? The cherry bomb peppers and fennel sausage. Why would I order the one thing I could bet on being good? How could ANY pizza place screw up a truffled cheese pizza? Remember friend, my goal is a cynical one, and it’s to really see if the restaurant is worth our money. Luckily, I was in a party of 3 so the truffled cheese was ordered, as well as the buffalo mozz meyer lemon and saracena olive chili pepper pie.
The atmosphere was very chill, almost too sceney for me. Sceney as in exclusive and exclusive as in schmoozy Seattlites or tourists with money. Me? Not so much. I’m way too quirky to fit in with this crowd. Anyways…
The pizza. Taken with an android. Next time, I get the iPhone. Or a real camera.
The dough. amazing. perfectly densed, a tease of sourdough, and rubbed with olive oil. Melt in your mouth dough that would make any celiac want to live on the edge. The cheese? Meh, nothing to write tremendously about. It was fresh mozz that paired quite well with the punchy savory marinara. No mozz will compare to the mozz I had freshly made in a Pugliese dairy farm in Italy. Im sorry. Its the cliche’ truth. But the sausage was quite the spectacle. Not heavy and greasy. A little greasy but just right. Full of spice herb and yes sweet fennel. Great meaty hearty texture that went down quite buttery. All the texture and spice of the meat paired with the herbacious marinara and the cooling mozz was a perfect protagonist for the dough. This pizza was worth it. Via Tribunali (THE so-called Italian pizza place) is a pretty pathetic overpriced attempt at delivering a serious pie. Their pizza is authentically Italian, by which I mean the kind of pizza in Italy that is anti-climatic and last resort.
Dessert however was a total waste of 8 dollars. Cannoli. The shells were STALE, the ricotta was a little watery and worst of all the cannoli were stale. And they tried to cover it up with a mound of powdered sugar and rancid hazelnuts. Tisk tisk, Tom. Stick to pies or make your cannoli shells a little fresher (and bigger, a diameter of my thumb is not a traditional cannoli) and any New Yorker or Sicilian will shame you for life if you served that pathetic lump to them. Regardless of how much of a sweetheart pizzaman you are.
For serious.
Please share any Serious Pie experience you have had!