I know that what I am about to say is crazy, but it is true. When I was a young boy I did not like pizza.
What?! Pizza is the food of the gods, you say, and today I agree with you. But when I was a man of a mere eight years old, my tune was different. I was four of five, in the lineup of children in my family. My mother spent countless hours in front of the stove, as many of you do and have done, to please her children and husband. At an early age, I volunteered to go grocery shopping with her. During our outings she would share her joys and frustrations about cooking for such a large and picky family. It was most assuredly a labor of love, so when my father would offer to take us out for pizza, there was never any argument from her. The only caveat is that we also ordered a big family style salad. Health first.
Now I am going to go out on a limb and say that my palate, even at such a young age, was refined enough to know that the quality of pie that we were getting as a family was . . . well . . . not good. I think that I remember having a bite and just not liking it. To this day I am not an uncooked bell pepper, or any kind of olive fan. Two items that barely got warmed up on the crust at Chuck E’ Cheese or Straw Hat. The only thing that I would eat was the pepperoni. I would ask my parents to order a pepperoni pizza so that I could pick them of and eat them. This obviously demonstrates a predisposition for charcuterie.
And so my life went along, never really enjoying a pie until I met Zachary’s deep dish pizza. My friend DV introduced me to their Pride and Joy with added chicken and pesto. Yum that is a good pizza. More like a meal actually. Once did I try one of their flat breads and, to be honest, did not finish it. Deep dish for me. It was not until the 90’s when flat breads made an appearance in the Bay Area. Now we are talking. Thin crust, crazy cheeses, loads of garlic and buckets of olive oil. No frozen doughs here. Actually Provisions will be slinging some flatbreads this Friday night, tomorrow, for those of you who are interested to see what Nicole can do.
Other than Zachary’s I must say that I am fond of the pizza from Napoli at 124 Tennessee Street. I have studied many techniques for making dough over the years and I do admire the old world care they put into their pies. We enjoyed a simple Margarita, the true test of a pizza maker, and they passed with flying colors. The crust was crisp and fresh, their sauce has that homemade quality and the basil leaves on top were the icing on the cake. A glass of cabernet and my evening was complete. Sorry mom, no salad this time. Napoli offers pasta, pizza and much more. If you do not know it already, well, go on, get you some.
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Until next time,
Eat Well and Smile Often
Tommy Judt
As much as I would love to like a long-time local business, Napoli’s pizza is mediocre at best, and the rest of their food equally so. After all those years in business, you would think they’d have learned to make a really superior pizza. Alas, that is not the case. You can find better pizza in the freezer section of almost any super market.