Google Places will tell you there are dozens of pizza restaurants within blocks of the Roosevelt Hotel, but trying to get 30 people to agree on pizza and managing some of those hills is not so easy. It was only on Tuesday night, when everyone else had departed, that we decided it was truly pizza time. Actually, we had walked a quarter mile on Sunday afternoon only to find that MOD Pizza by Union Square is closed that day.
We were having a martini in Von’s when I overheard a couple at the next table talking pizza. We had planned on Sbarro which was just down Pine and they warned us that it was no bueno. They were serious. They recommended Serious Pie.
I don’t know if TomDouglas is a person or a company or both, but if any of the other 11 restaurants listed on the website are as good as this one is, they’ve got it going on. It’s a small place and it gets packed quickly on a weeknight. We had a five minute wait at 6:00pm and the place stayed full. It was very hot in the front (due to the large wood-fired brick oven in the open kitchen) but they seated us in the back and it was quite comfortable there.
Our waiter Scot was very precise and informative, describing the pizzas and suggesting beverages. I had a pint of Schooner Exact Regrade Pale Ale ($6) which is a local brew, and tasty, too. Santi had a glass of Viottolo Sangiovese Toscano 2007 ($7) and it was really good, but very acidic, too. I only smelled it. The Spaniard in me craves red wine but once it’s down the hatch it’s nothing but bad news. Le Sigh.
Pizza is good news, though at Serious Pie. Scot explained that the pizzas were all about 9” by 14” oval. They cut them lengthwise then cross, so you get eight roughly-square pieces per pie. Two were enough to really fill us up (and we do not eat like birds, trust me.) Now would be a good time to mention that although the name and my descriptions may conjure up images of a deep-dish, Chicago-style creation, these are the flat, wood-fired varieties and are not cooked in a pan.
The menu is simple. Five starters, seven pizzas, five desserts, and then the drinks. No option for additional toppings (and I don’t blame them) but I’m sure they would accommodate reasonable requests.
The sweet fennel sausage, roasted peppers, provolone pizza ($18) was what I’d call a traditional flavor. Santi thought the fennel sausage was a little too sweet but I didn’t mind it a bit. This one was really hot and some of my toppings slid off the first piece but at least I didn’t burn the roof of my mouth (my dentist even recognized pizza burn in little piggy’s mouth once.) Also, the crust was a bit floppy at first so this was a good candidate for the East Coast folding technique. It firmed up after a few minutes. The toppings really blended well into a nice, familiar taste without so much going on that you didn’t get around to tasting everything before swallow time.
The chanterelle and crimini mushroom, truffle cheese pizza ($17) was an altogether different-tasting offer, but no less pleasing. If you are a true mushroom lover, this is the pie for you. All that you see are small mushrooms and cheese, but there was something else there that gave it a mysterious sweetness. Was it more fennel? A hint of cinnamon? I never figured it out before we polished it off. The mushrooms, especially the long ones that defied the heat, stood proudly and had a firm texture that was very delicious to chew on. Ever thought of taking a vocation vacation, where you go to work for some place for a week to learn something new, like how to cut meat or repair cracked glass? This pizza made me want to do that. It was that good.
I highly recommend this little pizza palace the next time you go to Seattle. If you love pizza like I do, you’ll thank me for it. And in advance, you’re welcome.
No comments:
Post a Comment