Camacho Watcho

For the long 4th of July weekend, we headed out to Oregon. The first couple of days were spent on the coast and then we headed inland to Portland to visit our friends Jeff and Lisa. A beautiful coastline, great weather (it was unseasonably hot) and plenty of great food and drink made the trip a fantastic getaway.

The trip started on the central coast where we stayed in the small town of Manzanita. I loved this little town – great shopping, expansive beach – but the food in the area was a bit lacking. Actually, we struggled to find good food on this leg of the trip at all. It seemed every restaurant we had previously researched and heard great reviews about was closed, so we were left winging it. We drove up to Cannon Beach one evening and ate at the Wayfarer. It had a perfect sunset view but, besides some tasty clam chowder, the food was pretty standard. We also ate at a new Mexican restaurant in Manzanita (not worth even mentioning the name here) and the Manzanita Seafood and Chowder House, which served up a decent order of fish and chips.

The highlight of our coastal eating was actually a breakfast spot in Nehalem called Wanda’s Cafe. We actually ate there twice and I got the same breakfast both times (my usual order of two eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast). I did try a bite of the French toast and the breakfast quesadilla as well, which were very good. The best part of my breakfast was the thick-sliced, pepper-crusted bacon. Crispy goodness!

We also found some good eats at the Tillamook cheese factory. After taking the self-guided tour, which allows you to look down into the huge facility where the cheese is shaped and packaged, we tried a few small samples of cheese (fantastic cheese curds and extra sharp cheddar) and then headed down to get some ice cream.

Overall the ice cream was extremely creamy and very good. We enjoyed our cones, but it definitely seemed that these kids, who were there for a birthday party, were enjoying theirs much more.

On to Portland…

The first place we ate at in Portland was a neighborhood spot called Meat Cheese Bread (1406 SE Stark Street). Locally sourced ingredients are featured in creative salads and sandwiches like the popular BLB (bacon, lettuce and beets) sandwich and the flank steak with pickled red onions and blue cheese. My favorite, however, was the sandwich I ordered – asparagus, hard boiled egg and bacon relish (yes, you heard me right…bacon relish) on a chewy baguette.

Next up in Portland was to hit The Waffle Window in the Hawthorne neighborhood. After walking around the neighborhood’s cute shops, Jeff led us around a corner to the small window opening at the end of a long brick wall where these treats are made. Although there are many sweet and savory waffle variations, we decided on two sweet flavors – one with strawberries and another with blueberries and lime curd. The toppings were fantastic and the waffles were also very good, although more cakey than the typical fluffy breakfast variety.

A strong contender for the best pizza I’ve ever eaten (I struggle giving it this full title given my love for Wig and Pen pizza in Iowa City) can be found at Apizza Scholls. This gem of a pizza place makes their dough fresh daily, then opens up for business at 5:30pm. The masses patiently wait their turn to be seated, as they know what is to come…beautifully chewy, yet crisp-crusted pizza pies.

We ordered two pizzas – one pie with pickled red peppers and sausage and the other pie with half ‘Margo’rita (their version of the margherita with red sauce, two types of mozzarella, pecorino romano, garlic and basil) and half Tartufo bianco (mozzarella, pecorino romano, truffle oil and sea salt). The pickled peppers on the sausage pie and the truffle oil on the bianco were absolutely delicious! This place is a must. And if do want to try it out, be sure to get there early. When the fresh dough runs out, they simply close up shop for the day.

Saturday morning of our trip was perhaps the craziest breakfast morning ever. The day started with Voodoo Doughnuts. Awhile back I had seen an episode of Man v. Food on the Travel Channel where Adam visited this doughnut shop – home to the voodoo doll doughnut and the bacon/maple doughnut. I didn’t get the chance to visit the shop, but Jeff was kind enough to go pick up a box of doughnuts for us to sample while we got ready for the day. He chose the following flavors: Tang, voodoo doll, bacon/maple, and Butterfinger.

The bacon/maple (oh, that crispy bacon and super sweet maple frosting!) and voodoo doll (with raspberry filling) doughnuts were the favorites. As for the Tang and Butterfinger varieties? We could have done without them – the toppings were too powdery. The overall consensus was that for novelty, Voodoo Doughnuts is a must…but a high quality doughnut should not be the expectation.

After our light breakfast, we headed to the Portland Farmers Market. This busy market is chock full of beautiful produce vendors. Ranier and bing cherries were in season – $3.75/pound! The artichokes and berry boxes were my favorite displays. But we were on a hunt for hot food – biscuits and tamales.

Pine State Biscuits has a restaurant in Portland and, recently added a vendor booth to the farmers market. Fluffy buttermilk biscuits with rich toppings make up the menu – I couldn’t resist ordering the Reggie topped with fried chicken, bacon, cheese and gravy. We also got a plain biscuit that we topped with their marionberry jam. Absolutely amazing!

We also ordered tamales at a Mexican stand in the market. Huge tamales stuffed (and I mean stuffed!) with either chicken or vegetarian options like artichokes and cojita cheese. A surprise to me, I preferred the vegetarian tamale – the creamy cheese with the artichokes was a winning combination.

Our last meal in Portland was another extremely decadent breakfast at the Screen Door. Sunday mornings, this neighborhood restaurant opens its doors at 9:00am to a lengthy line of people in need of coffee and some Southern food. By 9:15, all the seats are filled (indoor and out), yet the line continues down the sidewalk. We were lucky to be in the first seating and put in our order right away. An obvious choice for a breakfast appetizer (yes, we ordered an appetizer, much to the confusion of our waiter) was the praline bacon. Three crispy slices of bacon with a crunchy topping of brown sugar and pecans – oh my god! Yes, it was that good.

As for our main course? At first, we thought of going the more subtle route; perhaps just an egg scramble and toast for me and french toast for Kyle. But, when the waiter approached, we changed the plan. Our order? The Fried Chicken and Waffle – a fluffly sweet potato waffle topped with three boneless pieces buttermilk-battered fried chicken. The order was quite large, but a great bargain for $12.95 (we split it and still had a piece of fried chicken left). I don’t know that I would need to order it again (it is a bit of an absurd breakfast entree), but it was certainly a great meal.

And that was how we ate our way through Oregon. Yes, it did make us thirsty (thank goodness for Portland breweries!), but that is for another post.

Friday night was pizza night at my house. We made the overnight pizza dough recipe and a variety of toppings to try it all out.

But first, we started the night with the Braeburn Apple and Walnut Haroseth. Bon Appetit’s version of this Passover Seder dish is made with honey, lemon, apples, walnuts and fresh mint. While all the ingredients I like individually, overall this dish was not my favorite together. It felt like something was missing – maybe adding cinnamon, which is traditionally in the dish, would have helped.

The Overnight Pizza Dough recipe was pretty easy, but very time consuming. It starts with a sponge that sits overnight, then you add flour in the morning and chill 6 hours and then you knead it out, separate it into smaller portions and let rise for 1 1/2 hours. I almost gave up just making the sponge – not that it was hard but that doughs just don’t like me. They refuse to cooperate and won’t rise for me – I don’t get it. I pushed through, using a heating pad under the dough for the last 1 1/2 hour to make sure they would rise. Lo and behold – they did and the dough turned out great! I don’t know that this would be a go-to dough recipe for me, though…I’ll have to keep searching for a less time consuming recipe.

The toppings that we used were:
Arugula Salad with Lemon-Parmesan Dressing: This was a recipe for a salad that suggested piling it on top of a cooked pizza dough. It looked and tasted fantastic and was a great way of eating a salad course.

Roasted-Tomato Sauce, Sausage, Kalamata Olives and Mozzarella: The tomato sauce recipe was just ‘ok’. There is a quicker and much tastier recipe for tomato sauce in the magazine for the Steak Pizzaola. Next time – I’ll use that one. Otherwise, this was a really great combo – yum!

Arugula-Pistachio Pesto, Grilled Asparagus and Mozzarella: Although the pesto recipe is really good – you got to love tangy arugula! – you could just as easily use the ramp or citrus pesto recipes that are also in the magazine (this would be an easy way to use up leftovers from previous recipes). We grilled the asparagus for just a minute or two with a brush of olive oil and then piled it on the pizza.

Caramelized-Onion, Rosemary, and Pine Nut Topping with Blue Cheese: This was my favorite pizza. Of course, with caramelized onions and blue cheese, how could you go wrong? The onions were sweet and the blue cheese was salty – perfect combination!

I spent a couple days in Chicago last week and I got to eat some of my favorite kinds of foods – Chicago style. My original plan was to do a tour of Chicago style hot dogs (four hot dog places in one afternoon). Unfortunately the plan didn’t work out – I definitely must do it next time in town. Regardless, I did get the chance to eat at three great places – casual, classic, tasty food.

The first place is called Bari, an Italian deli and grocery store on West Grand. My sister wrote about it on her blog, that I’ve linked to here. (She’s much more familiar with Chicago than me, so check her site out.) The only option for eating Bari’s food is to order and take it to go – so we grabbed sandwiches and headed back to my sister’s place.

I ordered the nine inch Italian sub – capicollo, genova salami, mortadella, provolone, and Bari hot giardiniera. The bread is crispy and the toppings are a lovely blend of Italian flavors and seasonings. I wished I could have eaten it all, but I could only do justice to half…in fact, I think my other half is still in my sister’s fridge. Wish I would have had those leftovers for lunch today!

The second place we hit was Hot Doug’s. Although the tour de dogs didn’t work out as planned, I still had my mind set on a Chicago style hot dog, so we headed out to experience the dogs that Anthony Bourdain had visited. Although it was 2pm on a Thursday afternoon, the line was out the door and wrapped around the sidewalk. But, we weren’t to be deterred – we took our place in line.

Hot Doug’s menu is extensive – traditional and gourmet dogs featured every day along with their crispy fries (which are cooked in duck fat on Fridays and Saturdays). I decided on The Dog and the Keira Knightly, both with Chicago style fixin’s (electric green relish, pickle spear, tomato, mustard, onion and celery salt). Although both were fantastic – soft, poppy seed bun and fresh toppings, I preferred the Keira Knightly (pictured above on the right) because of the subtley spicy meat. I’ll definitely be back to Hot Doug’s – who wouldn’t love a place whose tagline reads “The Sausage Superstore and Encased Meat Emporium”!

Our final treat in Chicago was the delicious pizza of Pequod’s, in Lincoln Park (I think). Located in a small, dark bar with exposed brick and cozy booths, Pequod’s pizza is the ultimate in deep dish pizza enjoyment. It’s thick and doughy with a crispy, fried cheese crust and a fresh, chunky tomato sauce. And if you go, you must try the sausage – huge chunks of seasoned sausage make for the perfect pizza topping.

My first thought was “coal fired…really?” But I was willing to go for it since it was a place I hadn’t tried and we were meeting some friends for dinner who had picked the place. These friends are Warehouse District lovers through and through and I don’t blame them. With markets, restaurants and coffee shops continuing to open, the Warehouse District has dramatically changed in the four years that I’ve lived downtown.

But back to pizza. Black Sheep Coal Fired Pizza just recently opened on the October 20th on the 600 block of Washington Avenue. Walking in the building, you turn directly to right and then enter the restaurant down a short flight of stairs. My first impression was great. There were plenty of dark wood tables and booths in the two good sized eating spaces. The selection of tap beer looked plentiful (Surly on tap, for you Surly lovers) and the kitchen was bustling.

We sat down and studied the menu. There were appetizers (meatballs, roasted veggies and salads) in the $6-$7 range and two sizes of pizza (12″ or 16″). There is a short list of pizzas with pre-determined toppings and there is the option to choose your own toppings from an extensive list of ingredients (from Kalamata olives to fennel to clams). We decided to go with two salads, one large pizza and one small pizza for four people. This was a good size order, as I was definitely hungry. In the future for a light appetite for two, I might go with one salad and one 12″ pizza.

While we waited for our pizza I took in our surroundings. My initial impression remained in tact with the exception of one thing – the kitchen. It just lacked personality. It was just white and, well, blah. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t need a colorfully tiled pizza oven to do it for me but I would prefer not to look over and see a white drop-ceiling with a couple tiles punched up and the duct work showing (not artfully showing like you see in lofts). And unfortunately from the booths in the side room, you don’t get much of an impression of the kitchen except for the tops of the cooks’ heads and ceiling. On the plus side, it was definitely bustling and the food coming out of it looked great.

Back to the food…Our spinach salad with blue cheese arrived and we dug in. This was definitely a great salad – fresh spinach leaves, cherry tomatoes, creamy blue cheese and good sized blue cheese crumbles. (The Kalamata olives in the picture are from our friends’ house salad…how can you not like olives?) We didn’t try the house salad, but it looked like Andy and Sarah enjoyed it as well.

Pizza was up next. Unfortunately there was some confusion with our order (first we got someone else’s order and then one of our pizzas was wrong), but we weren’t in a hurry, so it wasn’t really an issue to wait 7 minutes for the pizza to be remade. Our first pizza arrived and it looked good. This was a 12″ oyster mushroom, smoked mozzarella and rosemary pizza. I was very happy with this pizza, especially the fresh rosemary! The next pizza was a 16″ cheese and sausage pizza, again another good tasting pizza. We were very pleased.

So, you might be wondering about the crust, sauce and cheese – I know that’s what I like to hear about when I read about pizza. I’ll start with the crust. It’s crisp but chewy in the center with the slightest hint of a sweet, sourdough flavor – a flavor that is definitely alright by me. There is one choice of sauce, which is crushed tomatoes. Again, another great choice, although I would have liked to have had a slight bit more. The cheese? This was my least favorite. It tasted pretty good, but it managed to congeal a bit even though we ate the pizza quickly. I prefer the fresh, gooey mozzarella that stretches into a steaming string as you try to separate your slice from the rest of the pizza. But, overall Black Sheep’s pizza is nicely done and the bill for the four of us (because I know you’re curious) for two pizzas, two salads, two glasses of wine and two beers was $52 before tip – not too bad.

As we were leaving, Jordan (the owner) asked us if we’d like to see the oven. He took the time to explain why he chose coal, rather than wood, to fire the oven (it has to do with the consistency of heat and even cooking temperatures, rather than the taste it produces) and gave us a short history of coal-fired pizza ovens in New York. I love that he took the time for us, even as he and his cooks were juggling pizzas in and out of the oven.

Overall I enjoyed Black Sheep Coal Fired Pizza. Pizza Nea is still #1 in my downtown pizza ranking, but Black Sheep has secured a solid #2 spot for me.

Black Sheep Coal Fired Pizza
600 Washington Ave. N
Minneapolis, MN
612.342.2625

I thought I would do a little catch up on a couple meals that I ate out this summer but have not had a chance to write about.

Muffuletta
The first was a brunch at Muffuletta that happened, admittedly, awhile back. On a beautiful early summer day a few friends and I had plans to try out Muffuletta for brunch. I loved their dinner so much that I had had there and was anxious to go back. We sat outside on their patio, a large sitting area with wide umbrellas to minimize the heat of the sun and actually allow you to enjoy an AM cup of coffee with your meal. Something I loved was the initial treat they presented us upon sitting. It was as if they knew that if they didn’t give me food I would get grumpy. This beautiful blueberry treat just appeared before us. Crumbly and warm, it hit the spot.

I ordered the omelette with mushrooms, bacon and herbs and a side of potatoes. I did like my breakfast, but I do recall thinking that the eggs were on the verge of being a little too dry. My friends really liked their meals, including this order of breakfast pizza. All in all, I would definitely give them another go for brunch.

Muffuletta
Milton Square 2260
Como Avenue
St. Paul, MN
651.644.9116

Sunsets – Woodbury
I also recently had lunch with a friend at Sunsets in Woodbury. Now, I don’t make it over to Woodbury very often and when I do, it usually is not in search of fine cuisine. But I was surprised by the menu variety for both food and drink (I was told they have 26 beers on tap) and I thought I would share in case anyone is out that way.

As with their Wayzata location, Sunsets patio is great. Although it doesn’t provide the same great sunset view as their other location, it was a great oasis for a weekday lunch on a hot, sunny day. We sat back with glasses of ice cold iced tea and relaxed. For lunch, I had a flatbread pizza with pesto, chicken, veggies and chevre. It had a crispy cracker-like crust and a lot of flavor – I really enjoyed it. My friend ordered their salmon special, which was very good except for the suspicious looking pastry it was served on. We both tried it and couldn’t figure out what it was, so we asked the waitress. She explained that it was mashed potatoes wrapped in a pastry. Hmmm…I’m still not convinced on that one. Nevertheless, we did enjoy ourselves with a good meal on a fine day.

Sunsets
700 Commons Drive
Woodbury, MN
651.735.1997

I know, I know, I know…The A to Z Produce Pizza Farm has been written about a lot lately. But I had plans to go there to see what all the fuss was about and I am glad that I did. So in the spirit of sharing experiences, I decided to go ahead and write about it from my point of view.

Last night we headed to in Stockholm, WI for some pizza made at the home of A to Z Produce. We had heard about this originally from S4xton, who went to the farm a few months ago and then returned again recently. This is a working farm that opens to the public for brick oven pizza production on Tuesdays. Since it is located an hour and a half outside of Minneapolis we needed to plan ahead. We picked a random Tuesday a month or so out and set a date. We were a little disappointed by the rain that fell on the morning of our outing, but then decided to continue with our plans anyway. Our thought was that perhaps the rain would keep away a lot of the crowd. In hindsight, this did not happen and I’m glad for it. The crowd is simply fantastic; but I will get to that later.

We left Minneapolis around 3:30pm loaded down with picnic baskets of wine, blankets, plates, cups, napkins, forks, etc. (you have to bring everything in and you take it out with you as well). A quick drive on 94 into Wisconsin and then several miles winding through Wisconsin farmland and we were there. We arrived a little after 5:00pm and, thankfully, beat most of the crowd. Staring up at the menu board and knowing that most of the ingredients were raised or produced on the very farm upon which we were standing was a great feeling. We chose two pizzas – one with sausage (happy pigs!), Kalamata and green olives, tomatoes, red onion and fresh mozzarella and the other with Kalamata olives, tomato, garlic, basil and Bulgarian feta. They told us it would be 15-20 minutes, but to come back 5 minutes early.

We took the time to wander the farm and to set up our picnic area. Actually, I wandered the farm while I let my friends set up the picnic. Around the farm are several buildings, including a small barn that is empty but for a picnic table in the middle. I could just imagine having a soiree there on a cool fall evening with a big group of friends…that sounds pretty good, actually. There was also abandoned farm equipment and wagon and a shelter with cows and chickens.

I also took some time to watch the pizza magic happen. The basic production was for the order to be taken outside and run into the kitchen where the pizza would be prepped. It was brought out to one of two brick ovens, where it was fired for a few minutes, turned and fired again. When it was ready, one of the workers would go out and yell the person’s name, who would then rush over to pay and retrieve their pizza. They have this down to a science, including the part where they ask the person if they want to take a picture of their pizza before they slice it. Very nice touch!

Returning back to the main lawn, I found our picnic area set and my friends working through a bottle of rosé. I plopped down, poured some wine and continued snapping some photos of my friends, other tables and the cats that were wandering around the area. It was all so perfect and, oh, so relaxing. We watched as more and more cars arrived and people unloaded their picnic supplies to set up. There were definitely newcomers like us to arrive with a couple of chairs and a blanket. Then there were those who could make a living of pizza farm picnicking. These were the groups with tables, tablecloths, small picnic tables for their kids…the works. My favorite was a group of ten ladies with a table, chairs, chandelabras, and large floral arrangements. When I went over to ask if I could take their picture, they agreed and told me that they were celebrating a couple birthdays (one was the cute lady in the front with the white hat). I hope when I’m older that my girlfriends and I can come back and celebrate life like these ladies were.

After a few minutes, Carly and I decided to go up to the ovens to wait for our pizzas (we are both very punctual and really didn’t want to make them shout our name above the noise). We arrived with a few minutes to spare and were rewarded with the opportunity to see our pizzas come fresh out of the oven and into our pizza boxes. Wow.

Back at the picnic blanket, we dug into our treasures. Overall this pizza was good…how could it not be when the ingredients are the freshest around and it was made not even 2 minutes ago? A surprise to us was the wheat crust, which was tasty but not consistently cooked (a little overdone on the edges and a little soft in the middle from the tomatoes). The toppings, however, were fantastic. Salty olives, crumbly feta, and sausage that was sweet and flavorful…delicious! It didn’t take long for us devour almost all of the two pizzas and then sit back, full and satisfied. (As a note, Kyle and I discussed that next time we would bring some small appetizers like cheese or olives to eat while we wait and split just one pizza…next time).

We packed up and left, noting how many cars there were lining both sides of the road outside the farm. We took a different route home and cut directly over to the river and drove along it on the Wisconsin side. It did take us a little longer to get home, due to a stop in Maiden Rock for a beer and a stop in Hastings for DQ, but that route is definitely the better way to go.

The Pizza Farm experience is definitely worth the trip and our goal is to make it an annual affair. Fresh food, good wine and great friends…that is something to celebrate.

A to Z Produce (Pizza Farm)
N2956 Anker Lane
Stockholm, WI

There is something about brick oven pizza…I love how the crust is so crisp and a little blackened and how the cheese is meltingly rich. The toppings with a brick oven pizza stay crisp, allowing each flavor to come through and stand out among the crust and cheese. That is, of course, only if the brick oven pizza is made well.

When I think of brick oven pizza, I think of Pizza Nea. Located in NE Minneapolis, Pizza Nea is such a gem. In the small space located across Hennepin from Surdyk’s, Pizza Nea serves up salads, pizzas, and calzones that are guaranteed to exceed expectations.

Kyle and I visited Pizza Nea recently, sitting at the bar to watch the pizzas being made. The two men tending to the oven moved like a duet. It seemed effortless that they made the pizzas, moved them around in the oven and then took them out at the perfect moment to allow for the crispy crust with a little blackening.

We ordered our standard…caesar salad and a Diavola pizza to share. The caesar salad is fantastic, as I’m not an anchovy fan and this is one of the few caesar salads in the city that doesn’t use anchovy in their dressing. The Diavola is a fantastic pizza with salami, kalamata olives, peperonchinis and basil. The blend of ingredients on this pizza is a salty, sweet, spicy combination that I just can’t get enough of.

Last Saturday night Kyle and I decided to stay in. A good meal, a bottle of wine and a few games of Cribbage was on order for the night. Okay, I’ll admit it…I lost a few games to Kyle. I don’t like to admit it, but I did. However, this is highly unusual to “beat a Camacho girl at a game”, as Kyle put it, so he better relish in the victory…for now. Next time, I’m bringing my A-game.

The purpose of our night, however, was not for me to lose in Cribbage. Rather, we had stayed home to try some new recipes and to relax with a chilled glass of wine. I had picked up some Columbia Crest Riesling at Surdyk’s a few days earlier and decided to try it. I’m not usually a fan of Rieslings, but I have to say that I enjoyed this one. It was sweet (of course) but it was light enough that I didn’t feel like I was drinking a fermented piece of fruit like some Rieslings can taste. Overall I would definitely buy it again. It’s cheap ($8) and it’s a great wine to keep chilled for a hot summer afternoon.

We paired the wine with an appetizer of a quick oven pizza. I love these quick pizzas because you can make them so quickly and it’s easy to keep ingredients on hand. For this pizza, I took a tortilla (a wonderful cheater way of doing a thin crust) and topped it with sliced pear, blue cheese crumbles, fresh rosemary and raw walnut pieces. I baked it for 10 minutes at 375 and then drizzed honey on top before serving. Delicious!

I did a second appetizer course of sliced mushrooms with buffalo mozzarella, olive oil and herbs. This was broiled and then served with crusty bread to mop up the goodness. I had read about this recipe, but I didn’t have the oven proof platter necessary for broiling it correctly. I did like this dish, especially the olive oily mushroom residue at the bottom that we soaked up with the bread, and I’ll definitely have to try it again after I purchase a platter.

Our main course was halibut topped with basil-shallot butter. This is a recipe that I adapted from Bon Appetit. Instead of grilling the fish, however, I pan seared the fillets for a few minutes to get a wonderful brown crust on top and then finished them in a 450 oven to bake them through. I loved the crispiness of the fish and thought the basil-shallot butter added a lot of flavor. That being said I have had better versions of herbed butter than this particular recipe. I would consider trying this again substituting the basil-shallot butter for a different herbed butter topper, as I overall liked this dish, particularly the combination of textures with the crisp, flaky fish and the cool, rich butter.

I didn’t have my game on for the Cribbage, but that was after a good performance on the dinner. Staying in on Saturday night is sometimes just the needed thing.

There is a time and a place in this world for Pizza Luce. That time happens after a long night of drinking and the place is off 1st Avenue in downtown Minneapolis.

I love pizza, but I’m not in love with Pizza Luce pizza. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll eat it. But, it’s not the pizza I crave when I need my pizza fix. On a regular “I’m craving pizza for dinner” evening, I would rather hit Pizza Nea in NE.

But as mentioned, there is a place in this world for Pizza Luce and that is for their late night satisfyingly greasy pizza. This past Friday night after a work party at the Graves 601, we followed the crowd to Bootleggers. Believe me, I’m still questioning that decision. The upside of Bootleggers was my pleasant surprise that they had a beer garden. The downside was the $4 Miller Light I purchased from the beer girl wearing what can loosely be described as a black dress. But, regardless, we were there so we stayed and put down a few.

After Bootleggers, we headed to Pizza Luce. This was truly the only logical thing to do at that point in the evening. Hot, greasy pepperoni pizza for the bargain price of $3.50 per slice. Yes, that should read as sarcasm. Regardless, at that point in the evening, I was willing to pay. It hit the spot.

And what could be better than the greasy pizza? Oh yes, what was even better was the fact that the leftover grease on our plate was in the shape of Africa. Late night observations by my friend The Freets. Well done.

This is a bold statement, but I’m a bold kind of person…I believe there is no pizza better than the Flying Tomato at the Wig and Pen in Iowa City, IA.

Last weekend took Kyle and I to our alma mater, the University of Iowa. When in school, we could not get enough Wig and Pen pizza and when we get back there on the rare weekend, we make it our first stop. This British-style pizza joint brings back memories of celebrating birthdays, Ultimate frisbee wins, and of course…the “just because I’m craving it” occasions of being in college.

After arriving this past weekend, we quickly put in our order, and as we awaited this delicious dish to arrive we pondered what makes the crust of the Flying Tomato so fantastically good. It’s flakey, it’s rich, it’s salty…we decided the secret ingredient has to be butter. It’s almost as if it is half pastry and half phyllo in the guise of a pizza crust. Could it be? Perhaps we’ll never know. I’m not sure I’m okay with that suspense. What I am okay with is knowing that, although I can’t eat Wig and Pen all the time, that it is there, in Iowa City, waiting for me to return.