Way Out West

Posted by Adam Kuban, July 7, 2004 at 2:05 PM

Seems Slice is making a virtual road trip west. Here's yet more out-of-state New York–style-pizza news, this time from the Contra Costa Times out in Bay Area's Contra Costa County.

Sierra Filucci, a correspondent for the paper, profiles Berkeley, California, newcomer Gioia Pizzeria, a shop she says blends the best of the New York School with West Coast sensibilities. On first read, we at Slice were like, "That's an oxymoron." I mean, do West Coasters have any sense when it comes to pizza?

But it sounds like Berkeleyites are in good hands: Will Gioia, the proprietor, is Brooklyn-raised. Moreover, Filucci claims that the California pedigree brings fresh ingredients to the pie and compares Gioia's use of fresh, organic cremini mushrooms to the canned "yellowish-beige," "briny," and "cold" mushrooms of Gotham slices. So it's not the use of Thai shrimp on an otherwise New York slice she's talking about—it's just the Californian attention to high-quality ingredients. Sure, California chefs have a reputation for such persnicketiness, but we could point to several Big Apple pizzerias that use only the finest ingredients.

Anyway, we'll stop picking nits here and cut to the meat of the article. Here's what she says about Gioia:

The mushroom pizza I'm devouring in my car is the perfect blend of New York and Bay Area. The crust is thin and crisp, the sauce is red and sweet-tangy, the cheese is modestly distributed -- so far the perfect New York slice, and then the mushrooms are fresh, organic, woodsy creminis. In New York, pizza mushrooms come out of a can; they're yellowish-beige; they taste briny; and they're often still a little cold when you bite into your slice.

Will Gioia wouldn't serve cold, briny mushrooms in his pizzeria, even though he's probably eaten his share while growing up in Brooklyn. At his pizzeria, Gioia merges his sweetest food memories -- walking down the block with a slice and a Coke -- with his Culinary Institute of America training and his Oliveto, Zuni Cafe and Mazzini Trattoria experience.

The Hopkins Street location is tiny -- just enough room to squeeze in, order your slice or pick up your pie and duck out. Or you could sit at one of the handful of stools and scarf down your slice, or order from the sidewalk through the takeout window -- just like in Brooklyn.

There's the plain cheese ($2.50 slice, $10 pie), with homemade sauce (Gioia says he uses canned tomatoes in his sauce, but when the season really hits, he'll start using fresh tomatoes). [ continue reading >> ]

A bit pricey for slices, but it is the Bay Area. Slice wonders if prices there match the public-transport fares, as they're rumored to do here. If so, BART's a rip-off.

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Tags: Bay Area, Berkeley, California, Northern California, reviews, U.S.