Deliciously delicious pizza

"The big bubbles of crust that expand right up through the sauce, glistening pools of oil as still and inviting as a mountain lake, the ropey knots of cheese that gather in the center as the slices are pulled apart." - The Sure Thing

I know, I know, my 80's is showing again, but for some reason almost every time I eat pizza, this scene comes to mind. It just happens to eloquently and succinctly describe my love/hate relationship with pizza. Unfortunately, your average American pie ordered from certain fast food chains that will remain nameless are pleasing in the way a Totino's Pizza Roll can be after a night of heavy drinking, but they are always, always regretted later...mainly in the form of heartburn and other gaseous entities that really shouldn't be discussed in any food blog, let alone mine.

Since my "Westernized" experience of pizza has ever jaded my my views on one of our country's favorite pastime, it really stands out to me when a along comes a pizza that oh-so obviously prides itself on fresh, quality ingredients and excellent craft. My first such eye-opening experience was ages ago at a hole-in-the-wall in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco. The second was as Pizza Delicious.

Dani, Posie, John and I made a pilgrimage to Bywater a few weeks ago to try the pop-up, pizza sensation that finally got its own digs. I had heard the rave reviews about Pizza Delicious, but was all the way across town and I never failed to miss out on their previous, Sunday special appearances.

We placed our order at the counter and sat down. Everyone was smiling and friendly, from the other patrons in the clean, modern dining area to the guy tossing dough in front of the ovens. Before long, our first orders were up, two different types of pizza rolls - broccoli and spinach- that we decided to try in addition to our pie. Both were flaky, cheesy and just down right "gobbable" which we proved by scarfing them down in nano-seconds. I especially enjoyed the spinach version because it reminded me of one of my absolute favorite Mediterranean dishes, spanakopita (something I have been known to whip up on special occasions) only with pizza dough instead of phyllo.  

Before we could take a breath, our Margherita pizza arrived hot and fresh out of the oven. All I can say is when a restaurant is using quality ingredients like their creamy, slightly salty and fresh mozzarella, tomato sauce that tastes like a burst of summer on your tongue and basil that could have been picked right before they put it on the pie, you just know they care. Not to mention the perfect, crispy thin crust that wasn't soggy in the slightest. Fresh ingredients, people who care, attention to detail and seriously delicious pizza. That is Pizza Delicious.