the pizza before…

So Aziza’s on Main has been open for a while and their brick oven has been in place for a pretty long time too. So long that I blogged about it opening and never actually went to check it out.  I moved away, moved back and finally connected with a couple of friends that are slingin’ pies there now.  Brett and Chris I knew were quite some kind of foodies, but I didn’t realize they were pizzaiolos too!  They invited Andy and I to come check it out on a rainy Wednesday evening and we were served up three pies and a dessert.

I’m sick of carrying a real camera around so these shitty iPhone pictures are all that we got.  Above you’ll see a traditional white pizza adorned with some fresh arugula and parmesan cheese.  This pie was incredible but note that it does not normally come with arugula.  That’s a dollar or two extra but Andy (or maybe his girlfriend Sarah) made the great recommendation.  Do it!  Every aspect of this pie was nailed to perfection and the server even mentioned how good Brett’s white pies were so don’t be afraid.  I normally shun white pie but this was easily the top of the tables.

Next to the white pie you’ll see some shit I ordered.  8 1/2 has me spoiled with an anchovy dream but that just doesn’t translate everywhere you go.  Anyways, this is a typical red pizza with mozzarella and anchovy and it didn’t turn out so well.  The whole thing ended up kind of messy and the anchovy distribution was a bit overkill, though I may be one of those assholes that likes anchovies but doesn’t.  I enjoy a tiny bite of them here and there, but as soon as they make the whole table smell like fishing bait, I’m checking out.  My bad!

Here is your de facto Margherita pizza pie.  Basil, mozz, you know the deal.  The only thing I wasn’t crazy about with this pie (and the fishy faggoni) was the sauce.  I noticed on the menu there is an option to use San Marzano tomatoes for an extra $2 but hey, we’re idiots and we didn’t pick up on it.

All that aside, these guys can cook a really great naples style pie that kicks the shit out of the other crap you’ll get in this town (aside from Pizza Tonight!) and the service is fucking fantastic here.  We also had a cream puff and that shit was too good.

So what have you learned today?  The pies here can be great, just choose your toppings wisely.  Stay away from fish, get a white pizza and tip your fucking waitress.  If you’re looking for brick oven pizza in the bottom you can be sure of a quality pie here and not from that other place a few blocks down…

Delfina Pizza, San Francisco

Certainly not last on the list, but easily one of the most memorable of my recent San Francisco pizza adventures, Delfina Pizza came with great hype from the local help and delivered on all its promises.

Tucked neatly along a sidewalk near Dolores Park, a sort of utopian grassy paradise for sunbathing, court sports, dog walking and substance consumption, Delfina shared a full italian restaurant with its tidy pizza operation next door. Tables of patrons and their furry canine friends litter some of the Mission District’s best spots and Delfina stands out all the same. The lines are usually worth the wait at these places.

We took the takeout option on a day of amazing weather, placing our orders for a Panna pie, tomato sauce, cream, basil, shaved parmigiano - and a Prosciutto pie topped with arugula and caciocavallo. We planned on a full picnic experience so we stopped next door at Bi-Rite market and grabbed a few bottles of wine. Pro tip – you can get plastic cups for $.50 at the counter.

The pizzas are packed up nicely with the cold prosciutto pie toppings separated for the walk. With our spot picked out at the park we were ready to dig in. The Panna was loaded with flavor. You could really taste the cream working in with the sauce, it had a special zing to it. The saltiness was just right and the basil was present without taking the spotlight away from the cheese and cream flavors. The crust was airy with enough firmness to hold up the creamy tomato sauce and had fantastic flavor for a gas oven.

The prosciutto pie, with its ingredients separated from the pie so the arugula and prosciutto didn’t steam in the box with the pizza, was actually pretty fun to assemble. The toppings were accompanied by some olive oil and a tiny bit of crushed red pepper flakes. Be warned these red paper flakes are quite a bit stronger than your usual stuff and have a ton more flavor. A pinch is all you need for a whole pie. A few flakes per slice are more than enough. There was a ton of flavors going on and I really enjoyed this pizza. Chewy crust and creamy cheeses, light and fresh arugula, salty prosciutto, spicy red pepper flakes and delicious olive oil to work it all together. These pies come with varied price tags, the Panna around $10 and the Prosciutto at $17, but it was worth it to the last bite.

Delfina is located on 18th in the Mission District of San Francisco.

Cybelles, Late Night San Francisco

One of my many San Francisco adventures included a trip to The Warfield Theatre to see The Bronx and The Hives open up for the recently reunited Refused. While I’d love to expand on how fucking awesome this was, I’d rather you do yourself the favor and check all three bands and thank me later.

It’s rare that I go to a rock and roll show without having a drink or two and this was a night for celebration so we hit up Zeitgeist Beer Garden beforehand. A huge selection of awesome beer, cheap mixed drinks and a huge outdoor drinking area made for the perfect dive bar to stop at before the show.

I would love to post some pictures of the show,  but I was too busy enjoying it. A few more beers at the venue and we left on a high, our ears ringing and our late night winding down. There was only one way to end this night and that was with some cheap drunken pizza and a bad movie.

We fired up the iPhone and called Cybelles Pizza. Most pizzas you can order through a cellpone are pretty haggard and this was no exception. Sacrificing convenience and portions for quality is nothing new to the Pamparius crew. This was no exception. This overly cheesed pizza was rampant with volcanic chef boyardee quality sauce. Cut in a way that was almost offensive, you had the choice of picking between tiny narrow slices you could swallow in a single bite, or to indulge in something closer to a third of the pie. I would like to state for the record the dough wasn’t actually half bad. It held up this slop and the crust actually had some decent flavor and fluff to it. If you’re in San Francisco and you catch yourself couchsurfing with a pizza crave, slug a few beers, put ‘Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead’ on your laptop and call up Cybelles. It will be there in 15 minutes piping hot.

Fresh from S.F.

Direct from Mangieri’s wickedly famous restaurant in the SoMa neighborhood, Una Pizza Napoletana.  Andy should have a few pictures and a thousand words about his trip there soon.  I am more than a little jealous, but this pair from Sock Guy should wane my jealousy and little…

Pizza Crawl IV: A New Slice

Carytown Bikes and Pamparius spent the night with each other, and about 80 other kiddos who braved some unusually cold weather to eat a few slices on the sidewalk.

All in all it was a great turnout.  We got to hang with our friends at RideRichmond, Lawrence from 8 1/2, Ellen from Tarrant’s and a lot of other great folk.  Slices were crushed, beers were slammed and tires were shredded and you fuckers missed out!

The Lineup:

Belly Timber:  As always, great bar pizza with a vegan option to boot.  One lucky vegan girl got her hands on two whole vegan pies after the  remaining 79 riders pawed at the first 8 pies like zombies.  Definitely a lot of hungry hangs pulling apart the slices before most could get their hands on em.  We had to step up our game and order more at the remaining stops.

Next up was a slummin’ favorite of Pamparius; Valentino’s.  This little pit stop on 3rd and Grace is a great shithole to grab a slice on the run without having to visit one of those Piccola’s/Mary Angela’s dumps.  Once again, the zombies devoured the 7 large pizzas and we had to order an extra to appease those who were left out.

Next up were our friends at Tarrant’s Cafe.  Always one of our favorites in the city and in my opinion the best pizza you can get in a traditional size.  They’ve got their own flavor and whoever’s in charge of the dough there has had it nailed down for the better part of two years.  Everyone at this point deemed it the best of the ride so far, and they were even kind enough to throw in two extra pies so the little jerks had plenty to eat.

Finally we made our way up to 8 1/2 pizza, where they had our pizzas waiting for us.  No delays in getting that shit into everyones gullet.  Slices were devoured and at this point people were turning down seconds which is the benchmark for a successful crawl in our opinion.  Timing wasn’t perfect as we arrived later than we planned so the slices weren’t up to their potential, but several people mentioned how great the spices are on these plain cheese slices.  Imagine how they are with hot and fresh.  Well, I don’t have to imagine, I’ve had 100 of these pies in the last 3 years, but open your minds and wallets and go get some 8 1/2.  It’s hands down the best and most original pie in town.  Thanks for hooking us up guys.

And now we come to the grand finale and new addition to the Pizza Crawl: Pizza Tonight!  These guys have been around for a while but I’ve only recently been able to properly try their beautifully neapolitan styled brick oven pizza.  And if you think you’ve had neapolitan style pizza in Richmond before, I pity the fool.  You ain’t had shit until you’ve had this.  Flavor, style, execution, fucking nailed down to perfection.  These guys pull off one of the best, if not the best pies in town on the hitch of a pick-up truck.  All you brick oven queens take notes because you don’t have shit on these guys.

The new Carytown Bikes spot accommodates this kind of thing perfectly.  I’d like to see this happen more often!

Thanks to these guys for partying with us:

RVA Bike Commuter

Ride Richmond

Carytown Bikes

Belly Timber, Valentino’s, Tarrant’s, 8 1/2 and Pizza Tonight!

Ellen Bucher for fighting the bird flu and taking pictures for us!

Anyone I missed can stuff it.

NY $1 slices

Some things cannot be beat.  NYC’s multitude of $1 slice places become more apparent every time I come back for a visit.  Two blocks out of the bus station and I have two of these places on the same street corner.  They’re all pretty much great, but they have never been a suitable replacement for a real working man’s lunch.  It’s not the size, no.  The slices are plenty big, easily hanging over the thin papery ledge of the plate, but I’ve found myself pounding out 4 slices while running around on lunch break.

But most every one of these $1 slice places kill a slice joint in most suburban neighborhoods.  Unfortunately, due to the lack of volume that a slice joint may be pushing out here in Richmond, we’ll likely never see such a cheap eat.  $3+ for one of these things and you can fuggedabahdit!  I’m walkin’.

Arinell Pizza – San Francisco

I recently returned from a week long travel extravaganza in San Francisco. An amazing week of exploring the city left some time for pizza and I made the best of the opportunities. I flew in on a Saturday and had a few hours to get settled before heading out for the night. I needed a quick, filling bite to eat before a night of drinks and my buddies directed me to Arinell Pizza.

This Mission district hole in the wall was exactly what I needed on the fly. Nothing fancy. Just cheap, big NY style slices. The place is dirty in a good way, metal playing on the stereo and some long haired dudes behind the counter serving up slices. I grabbed two slices of cheese for a few bucks each. They sell their own swag and have a cool deal on trucker hats. $6 bucks get you a choice of a few different colors and a large soda.

The pizza is what you’d expect for a few bucks a slice. Utility pie that immediately conjured up memories of NY street corners and late night slices. The crust was the highlight of the pie, nice and crispy and held up the larger portions with ease. It was airy and chewy at the end and made a good base for a thin layer of sauce and your basic mozarella. This pizza was no frills, just solid pizza by the slice that every city should have. Lucky for me, San Francisco had much more. Check back for write ups on Escape from NY, Delfina, a DIY pizza night, drunk delivery grub and a trip to Una Pizza Napoletana.

Fig & Pig from Pizza Tonight

I need to eat this more often, as the Fig & Pig pizza from Pizza Tonight absolutely fucking kills it.  It’s the classic flavors of the sweet and savory joining forces on your tongue and confusing your tastebuds for just a second just before your brainwaves snap together and realize what a delicious treat this is.

You will not find a better Neapolitan style pie in Richmond, so make sure you find them on Facebook or Twitter and keep up with where they’re setting up, because you want this.

Pizza Crawl IV

April 23 – 6:30pm at Carytown Bicycle Company – View The Event on Facebook

show up…