Bliss posted on it today, and I pretty much agree with her on all counts (so read her post).

I tried the Margherita and the Sorrentina, the latter having smoked mozzarella and cherry tomatoes.

The pies are more visibly appealing, the sauce is stellar, and the cheese was “real” and flavorful. The smoked mozzarella flavor was a nice touch, it wasn’t too strong, and was a welcome change from the classic Margherita pie.

The dough is soft, with better texture and much better flavor then before, but it doesn’t quite have that end crust texture or char you will see on Varasano’s pie. I like a bit more crunch. Also, the endcrust still had a fairly thick layer of flour on it, which dried my mouth and masks the flavor of the dough a bit.

I’ve yet to eat at Varasano’s actual restaurant, so I can’t wait to see how they measure up. Regardless, the reemergence of Fritti is quite welcome…there’s nothing like good old fashioned competition to get someone to step up their game, while we reap the benefits.

I had hoped that the Tuesday open would stay under the radar and I could get a table, but now that every blog in town, Creative Loafing, and Slice has picked this up, it’s sure to be mayhem. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) it won’t even matter for me because I’m out of town on Wednesday. :-(

Maybe I will get to go on Friday or Saturday, when they’ve had a few days to figure out how the hell they’re going to serve 500 pizzas a day.

If and when you go, be sure to use all of you new snazzy knowledge from the Atlanta Pizza Days whilst devouring the ‘za. With all the hype I’m sure that some people may be expecting to double over on the first bite from instant mouthgasm. But pahleeze, just go in there with a level head, dig into this amazing crust, and try to appreciate the artistry and care that Jeff puts into his pie.

Oh and get the white clam pizza (my favorite, pictured below).

That is all. Enjoy.

There is significant buzz surrounding the impending opening of Varasano’s Pizzeria. I don’t think I ever mentioned it, but Jeff Varasano’s pizza was the impetus behind the Atlanta Pizza Days.

I was lucky enough to be invited to a tasting and the first slice I ate (pictured above) is the single greatest slice of pizza I’ve ever eaten. The endcrust was perfection. The next day is when I decided I needed to scour Atlanta to see what Jeff was up against. It turns out there is nothing like it in Atlanta, which makes me wonder, will everyone appreciate what he is doing? If you love Mellow Mushroom, maybe his pie won’t be your thing?

Or maybe you can enjoy them both as a seperate experience? I am an unabashed fan of both the Mickey D’s Quarter Pounder w/ Cheese as well as the Holeman & Finch burger.

When Varasano’s Pizzeria is officially open, you won’t have to wait to hear about it on this site. Every food magazine/blog/paper will be talking about it. I just hope we don’t end up with 3 hour waits like at Pizzeria Bianco in Arizona.

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Cathy on Live to Nibble just talked about her dining experience at Fritti, which has a new pizzaiolo in Enrico  Liberato. I need to give Fritti another look after this addition. More info on his hire here.

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Here’s an article on pizza in North Korea, commissioned by none other than Kim Jong-il.

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Last up…in a desperate attempt to catch up with the US’s obesity, Italy now has pizza vending machines.

Drum roll please! The 18th post in the Atlanta Pizza Days is here, and it’s also the last post in the series. We’re finishing up with yet another pizza destination that is new to me – Maddio’s Pizza Joint (menu here).

It’s been a fun and calorie-filled ride, and I was excited to wrap this all up with a fun new spot that’s only been open for a few months. Created by one of the co-founders of Moe’s, Maddio’s is billed as a pizza “concept” restaurant, though I wasn’t really aware of this before my visit. Similar to Moe’s, Maddio’s is a made-to-order restaurant, where similar to the California burrito concept, you are in full control of your pizza from start to finish. You pick your crust, then your pizza moves on down the line where you select the sauce and toppings of your choosing.

This is definitely an interesting concept and I was eager to see the results. The made-to-order in front of your eyes concept has proven to be successful in other genres (salads, sandwiches, burritos), but how would the pie turn out?

We ordered one medium cheese, as well as a small pizza with tofu, blue cheese, and onions. We paid, then settled in on the spacious patio on this warm night. About 5 minutes later, the pizzas were delivered to our table. Scores below!

Dough (score – 2/5)

• “overcooked, thin, crispy, not much flavor, endcrust was weak, no structure”
• “it was ok.  pretty standard.  you could see all the dough out and already in little pans, waiting to be put in the conveyor cooker-which also didn’t allow for char or any of that fun stuff.  But, it wasn’t too thick or gummy which was nice.  Could have a little more flava.”
• Blind Taster’s comments - “had no flavor, no endcrust”

Sauce (score – 3/5)

• “liked the sauce, good amount, nice sharp flavor”
• “sauce was good.  Nice amount.”
• Blind Taster’s Comments – “sauce was non-existent”

Cheese (score – 2.5/5)

• “better than average, a lot of cheese, nice color and flavorful”
• “Normal pizza cheese, nothing out of the ordinary, but good.”
• Blind Taster’s Comments – “cheese was good – liked the actual flavor”

Overall (score – 2.5/5)

• “Not bad, but very cookie-cutter on the whole. Tasted like a good thin boxed pizza. Crust was weak, everything else was decent enough”
• “The pizza was good overall, though everything was consistently standard.  But, it’s nice to sometimes have a no surprises, typical, pizza.  The pizza conveyor cooker didn’t get near hot enough to get the pizza nice and crispy though. ”
• Blind Taster’s Comments – “good flavor overall, tasted like a boxed pizza or lunchroom pizza“

Final Thoughts: As you may have surmised, this pizza was very generic on the whole; to me it’s more about the concept than it is about creating great pizza. The Moe’s concept is in full effect, and I can see why people like it. It’s kind of fun picking and choosing the ingredients, and the small pizzas start at a price ($6.49 with three toppings) such that each person in a family could order their own pie to their liking.

That being said, I just don’t think it’s possible to use pre-rolled dough that’s been sitting out, then throw it on a conveyer and expect fantastic pie. The dough was overcooked to my liking, and there is no way to check for doneness on a conveyer. The dough has little flavor and it didn’t rise much, the endcrust being particularly weak. The high point of the meal was the small pie we got – the blue cheese + tofu pizza was very tasty. I’m going to classify their pie as being topping driven, which fits into the concept. There were a handful of families there having a good time, and I can see kids loving this kind of spot as they get to create their own special pizza with exactly what they want. Me….I was sorry I didn’t head on over to Shorty’s across the street for some real dough.

Additional photos can be viewed in the gallery below

Maddio’s on Yelp / Maddio’s Website

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It’s the home stretch of the Atlanta Pizza Days, and I’m finishing up with a couple of real posts, none of that unplanned, no-blind-tasting garbage.

Today’s post is yet another new place to me. Who knew there were so many pizza places in Atlanta? Despite over a month of what feels like non-stop pizza eating, it doesn’t look like I’ll make it to Verra Zanno’s, Athens Pizza, Johnny’s, Elwood’s, Mojo, and Grant Central Pizza. Most of these places I heard about via reader’s emails, and I’m discovering that people get passionate, nostalgic, and even sometimes territorial about where they eat pie. What’s great is with so many places to try, it’s a non-stop opinion forming, pizza eating adventure. Hopefully you have learned about some new places, you have some level of expectation of a particular location’s pizza style, and you can go decide for yourself!

With that, today’s post is on Pizzeria Venti (Atlanta specific website here).

Located on Lenox Rd, in the same development as the Roaster’s, their tagline is “America’s Only Authentic Sliceria”. I wasn’t quite sure what that meant, as there are plenty of places that predominantly sell pizza by the slice. I may be reading into that slogan wrong, maybe it’s not that they are the only authentic sliceria, but that they are the only sliceria that serves authentic pie? Their website claims their superior pie is due to “exciting” ingredients, traditional toppings, and Italian water.

The marketing of a particular type of water is interesting. I’ve heard the “NYC water” argument, but never anything regarding Italian water. I have a hard time believing that there are different results from any filtered water. Show me some data on that and I will put my foot in my mouth. I’m quite flexible, I can do that.

Pizzeria Venti earned a solid review from Jennifer Zyman on Creative Loafing, so I was looking forward to this excursion and the promise of authentic pie.

While pizza slices are their thing, I have resolved to only order whole pies. So I ordered a large pan – half basil/tomato and half meatball and peppers. The basil/tomato for “official judging” and the meatball to satisfy my personal craving. I was told it would take 20 minutes so I ordered up three of their bocce balls, which had been recommended to me by the extremely friendly server. You order at the counter, but there are servers who bring your food and even refill your drinks.

Anyways, the bocce balls are meatballs wrapped in dough, which they warm up and top with marinara. These were actually pretty good, not amazing, but better than expected for something that isn’t cooked to order. The meatballs were rather large, soft, not grainy, and had good flavor. I would say these are worth a go if you like meatballs.

But you aint’ here for meatballs, at least not today, so the pizza scores are below.

• “Pan style, but not too thick, a slightly gummy layer with no endcrust, but some crusty cheese from where the side of the pizza touched the pan”
• Taster’s comments – “Crust was doughy and gummy. Didn’t like it. No endcrust at all.”
• Taster’s comments - “The pizza was a little heavier on the dough than I normally prefer.  But, I’m used to a different pizza style so that could be my problem.  The dough could benefit from a little more flavor.”

Sauce (score – 2.5/5)

• “very little sauce on the outside slices, ok amount, didn’t have the acidic twang I like from pizza sauce”
• Taster’s Comments – “Tomato chunks!  Decent flavor, could use some additional seasoning.  Nice consistency, though (love the chunks). ”

Cheese (score – 3.0/5)

• “Plenty of cheese, on par, the standard cheese you expect from a normal pizza place”
• Taster’s Comments – “Cheese was flavorful and addition of (what I thought was) fresh mozzarella was good”
• Taster’s Comments – “Cheese was a tad bland, but not distractingly so.  Good amount.”

Overall (score – 2.75/5)

• “Not exactly the kind of pie I love, but it is a welcome change of pace. If the sauce had been very good I would have liked this pizza better overall. Plenty of cheese and good sized pie, quite filling”
• Taster’s Comments – “The pizza seemed to reheat well (though, the dough did get a bit soggy).  The pizza reminded me of the pizza you get by the slice in Italy.  While I normally like a different pizza style, I understand where they were going with this and I think it’s good.  Not great, but good.”
• Taster’s Comments – “Overall a good tasting pizza but very irregular (crust & cut)“

Final Thoughts:

Pizzeria Venti is definitely one of the most different pies I’ve had during the series. It was the first pan pizza, and I was really looking forward to it. When I walked in and saw all the slices sitting out in the pan, I immediately thought of my visit to Rome, where the pizza spots in the piazzas stayed open late to cater to the bar crowd and sold large square slices of pan pizza, which they would reheat to order, then I would subsequently  devour. I thought it was interested that they sold the pizza by weight.

The crust on this pie made me think of a thinner Everybody’s Pizza, and a lot of people like that style. To me, those places are more about toppings than the dough, but hey, if that’s what you like, more power to you. I actually liked the sides of the pizza that had a crispy, chewy crust of cheese from the sides of the pan, but my dining cohort did not.

The cheese was pretty standard, a little bit grainy, but I don’t think it’s that off from many places around town. The toppings of basil + tomato (which are the only toppings I have been judging) really helped with the sauce, which is my biggest gripe. If this pizza had some tangy, yummy sauce I would be more into this pie. Also, the dough needed salt, so the lack acid from the sauce means the overall pie wasn’t balanced. I wonder if they can address this considering this is a franchise.

The pie wasn’t cheap (around $22 bucks for a full pan with toppings), but it was quite a bit of food. Two or three slices is more than enough for one person, and I had four or five slices to take home. It is worth noting that I liked the reheated slices better. The slices were a bit crunchier, not quite as gummy.

The location is convenient, but it can get slammed in that parking lot. My first attempt to go to Pizzeria Venti was on a Friday; we circled the lot for about 15 minutes looking for a spot, then had to leave. So keep in mind that you may want to go during the early or late lunch hours. The service was outstanding, and I love to see a busy restaurant during this kind of economy, so my recommendation is to give this place a try and judge for yourself. If you like Everybody’s, which a lot of people do, I think this will be right up your alley.

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10% of the voters named Everybody’s as one of their favorite pizza spots in the ATL, and if you head over to the Virginia-Highlands location on a weekend night you’ll see that the general population agrees. I myself had only eaten there once prior to this tasting, and has been the case with so many of these pizza destinations, I didn’t have much of a recollection of their style or recall what my sentiment was towards their pizza. 

The other night I headed over to Everybody’s with Foodie Buddha to give it a go. If you read FB’s blog (which you should) you will know that he is a tough critic and I was looking forward to having his opinion as part of this series. It wasn’t hard to grab a table, in fact, I was surprised to see how empty it was, though it was a weeknight. 

Everybody’s has two sections of pizzas – the regular and the “Pizza Crisps”, which are their very thin 13″ pizzas. While the latter option sounded intriguing we ended up going with two medium regular pizzas – one cheese and one “Everybody’s” (aka supreme). This was plenty of food, so I ended up having a lot of leftovers, thus we have 3 blind tasters for Everybody’s. Scores below. 

Dough (average score -2.7/5) 

• “thick, cake-like, undercooked for my tastes”
• Blind Taste - “end crust was great but crust underneath was too thick”
• Blind Taste - “thicker than I like, good though”
• Blind Taste - “nice and crispy/thick”

Sauce (average score – 1.9/5)

• “non-descript, there wasn’t much of it”
• Blind Taste - “bland but good amount”
• Blind Taste - “sauce is good but not very much”
• Blind Taste - “needed more flavor”

Cheese (average score – 2.5/5)

• “more cheese than I usually like, but this amount worked with a thicker slice like this, nice color”
• Blind Taste - “bland, a little too thick, evenly distributed”
• Blind Taste - “cheesy, good flavor overpowers sauce though”
• Blind Taste - “bland taste”

Overall (average score – 2.4/5)

• “too thick and doughy for my tastes, reheated slice was better, toppings were just meh”
• Blind Taste - “pretty bland flavor but good endcrust”
• Blind Taste - “no overall comments – 2.5″
• Blind Taste - “no overall comments – 3″

Final Thoughts: Before I give my thoughts,  you will notice there are only one set of tasting notes that are non-blind, which is because I am forgetful and didn’t bring the score sheet with me so I didn’t get the official scores in each category from Foodie Buddha. He did email me later however, and true to form, he brought some serious candor. 

My official comments are the first set of notes in each category above. While I don’t have an extremely positive opinion of the pizza I tried that night, I must say that an affinity to this pizza may be purely stylistic. One of the blind tasters was actually a big fan of this style of dough, but the dough was the largest complaint from two others. Also, I tasted one of the reheated slices and I think the dough got a little bit better after some more time in the oven. Besides the dough, the sauce was non-descript and the toppings were unmemorable. The plain cheese was the better of the two pizzas to me. 

One interesting aspect of this experiment was that one of the blind tasters had previously said that Everybody’s was in his top 2 favorite pizza places in Atlanta. However, he didn’t recognize the pizza and he scored it the worst of the 3 blind tasters. He was quite surprised when I told him this pizza’s origin. I think there are two things that can be inferred from this situation. One, you can be influenced by prior experiences, destinations, your environment, and perceptions. And two, pizza quality can very from pie to pie. 

I’m not extremely eager to go back, though I don’t want to paint too ugly of a picture because I think there are plenty of people that could get down on this pie. You just have to like a very thick crust and lots of cheese, and I think there are probably plenty of people that are happy to accommodate that request. For those of you like me that like a thinner, crispier style, maybe the Pizza Crisper is the way to go. Anyone have any comments on those?

Regardless of scores, Everybody’s is a pretty fun atmosphere, is in a great location, our server was very friendly, and I enjoyed the company so I ended up enjoying my visit. 

Pictured above, you can see how I was able to rip the top half of the dough cleanly off from the bottom. 

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Hopefully by now you’ve had a chance to read yesterday’s post on Fellini’s, I didn’t get around to posting it until later than usual. You know I’ve got a real job, right? Sheesh, they actually expect me to do stuff sometimes.

The 11th post in the Atlanta Pizza Days is upon us with Ecco as the destination. Similar to Dynamic Dish, this post is going to be a bit informal in that there are no ratings and blind tasting. I promise I’m not mailing it in, we still have a few destinations to go that will be full blown posts, including a heart-pounding finale.

Also, I hope you appreciate what this has been doing for the economy. I’m spending money like a sailor. Whatever that means.

As is frequently the case, my photos are horrible. It was pretty dark inside of Ecco, and my skillz ain’t great in the dark. 

I’m always pumped to try somewhere new, and I’ve checked out Ecco’s menu a few times and liked what I saw. They say it’s a European menu, but it definitely leans towards the Italian side, featuring lots of pasta and wood fired pizzas. 

As I wasn’t planning on pulling out the ratings score sheets, we ordered only one pizza, the Margherita, and tried a handful of other dishes. The fried goat cheese appetizer (above) was great. It had a soft, thin fried exterior that gave way to warm and yummy goat cheese. It is served in warm honey and topped with lots of cracked pepper. The flavor combo is a definite winner, and it’s easy to see why it is one of their signature dishes. 

For the other appetizer we got the piquillo peppers stuffed with a minced mushroom mixture, sherry, and manchego. It was served bubbling in a clay pot, and I actually enjoyed this most of the two appetizers. I’m not a huge mushroom fan but it just had a lot of great flavors going on and I liked the texture of the mushrooms. 

For entree #1 we got the conchigle with eggplant and san marzano tomatoes. The sauce was very rustic, with bright flavors, a fair amount of heat, and a very soft texture that was pleasant and not mushy. We both loved it, though it was a little too spicy for Katie. The portion above is less than half of what you get, I think one of these could definitely satisfy most people. Ecco was great about splitting our entrees, they actually promoted it, which I love. 

Now to the important part of the meal, the pizza. 

The Margherita was good, but to be honest I would try a different pizza next time. The tomatoes were very bland, which I think really kills a pizza like this. My guess is that they were canned san marzano tomatoes that had been stewed or slightly cooked, so there is no reason for the lack of flavor. If they did happen to be fresh, then the lack of flavor could be seasonal. 

The dough was cooked very nicely, and unlike many flatbread style pizzas I’ve had lately, there wasn’t an overpowering amount of flour on the bottom. It had a nice char on the end and the upskirt. My one comment there is that I think the dough itself needed a little more salt. I tasted the cheese on its own and it was definitely above average with a nice fresh mozzarella flavor. If you got a bite with some of the olive oil they had drizzled on top, that definitely enhanced the experience. 

I do think this pizza has a lot of potential. The dough did a great job of supporting the toppings despite being a flat bread. It wasn’t overcooked but had good charring. Any margherita dish is all about fantastic quality and if one topping fails, the dish can’t be called great, so that’s why I am not gushing about it. 

The portion was of good size, and at a fair price, so really I have no major complaints and I look forward to going back and trying another pizza. However, I don’t know that Ecco will be just a pizza destination for me, as the other dishes I had were better and the prices for the other entrees are comparable or just slightly higher than the pizzas. I think ordering one pizza and one other entree to split is a good bet. 

With our dinner we drank a wine that was new to me, the 2007 Terredora di Paolo Falanghina Irpinia. We were looking for a white wine, and the offerings by the glass weren’t enticing me. I wanted something dry, with good acidity so it would pair well with the pasta and red sauce. I’ve been going to Gruner’s a lot when I have this need, but when the waiter suggested this particular wine, I thought it would be a good choice. 

Falanghina is a new grape to me, but I have read that many of the Italian white varietals are often dry and meant to pair with Italian foods, so I figured the gamble was worth it. While I don’t have full tasting notes on this wine, it had a floral nose, medium golden color, and was dry, dry, dry. This wine wouldn’t be much fun by itself, and the last few sips with our ice cream dessert were plain awful. But the stone and acid in this wine cut right through the heat of the pasta fantastically, again showing how versatile white wines can be. I think I liked this better than I would have liked any red they could have paired with the pasta. 

On an unrelated note, prior to dinner I opened up a bottle of the 2006 Nulles Tarragona VI de Nulles Blanc. Aaron and I agreed it was probably one of the worst wines we’ve tasted in a long time. Rotten apple water…pure garbage. One of the few wines I plan on pouring down the sink unless it amazingly has changed when I taste it again tonight.

I came across this video on Slice today and just had to post it. Right now you’re either cursing my name or thanking me for the weirdness that is this video. It just goes to show, there are plenty of pizza fans (nuts?) out there! If I haven’t lost you yet, let’s move on to today’s post. 

Fellini’s Pizza is the 10th post in the Atlanta Pizza Days and was voted the most popular in Atlanta when the pizza poll was launched on this site almost a month ago. Mellow Mushroom was a close second, and these two places combined for a staggering 53% of the votes. While Mellow Mushroom isn’t on my personal favorite list, I do happen to go to Fellini’s quite a bit.

Mostly due to convenient location, Fellini’s has been my go-to pizza destination since college, so I have a lot of experience eating their stuff. As my most frequented pizza joint in the ATL, I was eager to see how they would do now that I’ve been eating my way across town and have developed a fairly strong pizza opinion. Also new to my Fellini’s experience, I was ordering a whole pizza. It’s kind of funny to think that I’ve literally eaten at Fellini’s over a hundred times and have never ordered a whole pie. 

Katie and I met up for lunch last week, ordered a large cheese pizza, then patiently waited about 15 minutes for our fresh pie. I don’t have notes from Katie, but I do have comments from three blind tasters as there were plenty of leftovers.

At this point I’ve pretty much decided that the blind tasting notes are of little value when judging pizza. The dough, cheese, and sauce are all adversely affected by the cooling and reheated process. The dough structure changes upon reheating, becoming chewy, gummy, or too crunchy/crispy. The sauce often turns to “paste” and is flavorless. The cheese can become rubbery and it never regains the awesome gooeyness that it first had out of the oven. That being said, the blind tasting is fun, and hell, leftover pizza is a staple in the fridge of many the discerning palate. There have been a few places where the reheated pizza have been pretty bad so maybe we’ll call that knowledge the main benefit of these blind tastings. Just don’t go too hard on these restaurants when reading the blind notes, OK? Please? Aight fine, do what you want. 

Dough (average score -3/5) 

• “Nicely rounded, looked like a great NY style slice. Cooked the right amount of time, the endcrust was to my liking, with nice bubbles, some chewiness, and just a slight amount of gummy center”
• Blind Taste - “Crunchy & good, a little flavorless”
• Blind Taste – “Decent, but nothing special”
• Blind Taste – “Chewy end, mushy in the circle part, reheat doesn’t help”

Sauce (average score – 2.75/5)

• “good amount of sauce, heavy on the endcrust side, lots of oregano, tasty”
• Blind Taste - “Can’t taste, overpowered by the cheese”
• Blind Taste – “Best part, sauce has oregano + other spices”
• Blind Taste - “Thin layer of sauce – pasty sauce – might be a result of reheat, a little bland”

Cheese (average score – 3/5)

• “tons of cheese, browned nicely, a little rubbery but good”
• Blind Taste - “Good. Lots. Little Bland”
• Blind Taste - “Lots of cheese, yummy”
• Blind Taste - “Good color, good amount, reheats hurts the crispyness”

Overall (average score – 3.3/5)

• “very happy with this, I really liked the dough, and the sauce and cheese were tasty. My only complaint was there was almost too much cheese”
• Blind Taste - “Cheesy enough and sauce pretty good”
• Blind Taste – “A little soggy interior crust, could be good right out of oven”

Final Thoughts: There’s no two ways around it, I really enjoyed this pizza. It actually dominated my experience at Rosa’s. I feel like a sellout, I’m really not sure how to gain your trust after this blow, but I promise I’m giving it a fair shake. It’s tough to tell due to the lighting in my pictures, but as soon as the pizza came out I could tell I was going to like it. The color on the crust was perfect. There were fantastic looking bubbles and above average structure I could see on the inside of the endcrust. The cheese was browned to perfection. The right amount of sauce was used and I could taste the spices. It was too hot, but I couldn’t wait as long as I should and I discovered it was the perfect size and thickness for folding, ala a great slice of New York style. The interior dough had a slight gummy texture on top, but it was extremely thin, and I actually enjoyed it a bit. 

For a second my vanity almost allowed me to think maybe the kitchen knew about the pizza series because it was literally the best slice I’ve ever had at Fellini’s. Back down to Earth, the best I can come up with is that ordering a whole pizza is of major significance. Aha! The same reasoning I used when prefacing the blind notes applies!

No matter where you look, pizza is constructed of the same mix of ingredients. Often times the ingredients at different locales are better than one another, but they are frequently of lesser importance. Maybe you like a different style of crust, or a restaurant uses superior cheese than another, but when examining equal styles the difference in quality is more frequently in the care and the cooking.

A whole pizza, just tossed and fresh out of the oven (the first time), is going to dominate the reheat/single slice every time. If the cook takes a little more care, a little more time, that too can make the all important difference in quality. The cook needs to ensure that the dough is stretched to the appropriate thickness, the proper amount of sauce is distributed appropriately across the pie, the right amount of cheese is used, and most importantly, the pie must be cooked the exact right amount of time. What’s the right time? That’s going to change for every restaurant, every dough type, and every pie, and it’s going to take the watchful eye of the kitchen staff.

I happened to enjoy a pie that was cared for, constructed and cooked properly, and I think a whole pie is stacking the odds in your favor when trying to achieve pizza nirvana. Give a whole pie at Fellini’s a shot, I’m eager for you to let me know how it goes.

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Recently named as of one the top 10 modern vegetarian restaurants in the country by Bon Appétit, Dynamic Dish is my new culinary bff (sorry Holeman & Finch). The list of reasons I love this place is long – great location in the Old 4th Ward, intimate setting, friendly staff, no corkage fee, but mainly, the food/ingredients makes me happy. They have holy-crap-this-is-amazing soups, uber simple yet inventive (and lovely) salads, creative and heart-warming flavorful entrees, and as a bonus to yours truly, every Saturday night is pizza night! 

While the regular entrees may pack more of a culinary prowess punch, the pizzas are a lot of fun, having non-traditional and interesting toppings, and they are great for sharing. They are also very reasonably priced.

This past Saturday six of us (Dirty, Running with Tweezers, among others) hit up Dynamic Dish (or as they call it, “Dynamic Dave’s”, so named for their on-another-level owner/chef David Sweeney) and I wasn’t really sure if I should include it in the Atlanta Pizza Days series. Their pizzas aren’t very comparable to other pizza destinations in Atlanta, and it’s very tough to judge the pizza in this style where toppings are the main focus. 

I decided I would do a quick write-up and show you some photos, but there are no scores in this post. Dynamic Dish is not a pizza destination for me. It’s not a “oh I’m craving pizza let’s go here” spot. It something else entirely. It’s an intimate experience with friends, a few bottles of wine, great conversation, and if we’re lucky, some of their famous chocolate cake. The fact that all this happens over a great appetizer liked the most perfect collard greens you’ve ever had, 4-5 unique/tasty/fun pizzas, and a total bill of less than $20 per person is incredible (be sure to tip well!!!). If you haven’t gone yet, grab a group of friends, make a reservation, and go to Dynamic Dish as soon as possible. 

note: sorry for dark blurry photos, it’s kinda tough lighting for a crappy photographer like me

Turkish – Kale, Feta, & Roasted Garlic

Aristotle ~ Kalamata Olives, Shallots & Arugula

Homegrown ~ Sunchokes & Banana Peppers

The Wanderer ~ Thyme Mushrooms & Asparagus

Seoul ~ Korean Pepper & Green Garlic

Thanks Rowdy!

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The 8th pizza destination of the Atlanta Pizza Days is Rosa’s Pizza, yet another pizza joint in this series that I had not previously eaten. I’m not gonna lie, the pizza consumption is starting to get tough. My craving for pizza is a bit diminished and this is most definitely affecting my fitness…I’m pretty sure the standard training for triathlons doesn’t include eating 24-35 slices of pizza per week during peak training season. But we press on, and I’ve heard great things about Rosa’s, so it’s easy to “get up” for the promise of good pie. Rosa’s has earned a 4.5/5 rating on Yelp and almost all of the 50+ Yelpers have given it four or five stars. The Foodie Buddha himself also claims Rosa’s to be his favorite pizza in the ATL. 

I headed on over to downtown Atlanta (who knew ATL had a downtown?) and eventually found a parking spot and walked on over to Rosa’s, which is located in what looks to be a popular area to eat if you work downtown or attend GSU. I was actually quite surprised to see such a quantity of people walking around the streets, and even at 1PM there was a line out the door at Rosa’s…definitely a good sign. My dining cohort and I got in line and had a few moments to scope out the scene. Most people were ordering individual slices, which come from precooked pies that they throw in the oven to warm up.

Pies sitting in racks for all to see was a bit of a turnoff, but in their defense, with the amount of turnover during the busy lunch hour the pizzas couldn’t be sitting there very long by the time you get your slice. I was glad to find out that when ordering a whole pie they don’t just warm up an already made pizza, so we placed our order and enjoyed a cannoli and large salad (plenty for two people) while our large plain cheese order was prepared. Results and pictures below!

Dough (average score -2.75/5) 

• “too thick for NY style, major gummy spots in the endcrust”
• Blind Taste - “good thickness, but a little too crunchy”

Sauce (average score – 3/5)

• “liked the sauce, sharp flavors, oregano, tons of it, caused a cheese slide”
• Blind Taste - “good amount but a little bland”

Cheese (average score – 4/5)

• “lots of gooey, greasy, browned cheese, good stuff”
• Blind Taste - “good coverage and decent flavor”

Overall (average score – 3.5/5)

• “a little bit off of the NY style, but the cheese and sauce were to my liking for this style”
• Blind Taste - “good regular slice – not bad, not exceptional”

Final Thoughts: I wasn’t disappointed in Rosa’s pizza, but after all the hype I was ready for a pizza “destination” and Rosa’s doesn’t earn that type of billing from me. When I first saw their pizzas, they clearly looked like a straight forward New York style pizza, and I looked forward to eating it. Modern New York style has its appeal – thin with large foldable slices, lots of cheese, zippy sauce, and one to two slices is a meal. 

When the pizza arrived, we had to wait a solid 5 minutes to eat as it was so hot the copious amounts of cheese would have easily slid off with the help of the large amount of sauce. We also noticed how thick the endcrust was for New York style. It’s much thicker than any pizza I’ve eaten in New York. If you want a great example of New York style pizza, go try “New York Pizzeria” on Chamblee-Tucker. It’s a tiny restaurant tucked away in a strip mall that actually has a decent thin slice. 

I loved the cheese, I loved the sauce, but I just can’t get away from the crust problems in this pie. As it was so thick, it couldn’t cook properly and when looking at a slice from the side you could easily see the gummy uncooked portion of the dough in the center of the crust. It’s kind of like when you are looking at pasta that has been cooked al dente. Dough like this is going to blow up in your stomach; a couple of my good friends call it the “dough blow”. My dining companion also commented on how this is the kind of pizza that is going to make you feel sickly full after two slices.

The fact that both me and my pizza tasting partner pretty much left the entire endcrust of the first slice uneaten when we moved on to the second slice can summarize my experience at Rosa’s. BUT, it’s a good price, a quick spot for a slice, and it is NOT pizza garbage like some I’ve had during this series. The staff was also extremely friendly. I would eat this any day over Mellow Mushroom. 

Good filling cheesy goodness if you are in the area = YES!!!. Pizza destination worth the trip alone = Not so much, especially when I have to pay $5 to park. 

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