316 Virginia Street, Seattle WA 98101 (map); 206-838-7388; website Pizza Style: Artisanal Oven Type: Wood-fired The Skinny: The crust is soft and incredibly airy but takes most of its crispness from a dusting of cornmeal. The Margherita is good, but the real thing to get here is the sausage-and-cherry-bomb-pepper pie. It's amazing. Price: $14 to $16. Happy hour half-pies are $5 M–F, 3–5 p.m.
After 48 hours of reminiscing, hanging out with old friends, and eating aboatloadofpizzainPortland, my next stop was Seattle, aka Jet City, aka the Emerald City, aka the place that, as I saw it, would begin to kick my pizza-eating ass on what I had taken to calling "Pizza Madness 2009."
I viewed Portland as the calm before the storm. The place to ease into what would soon become a whirlwind of pizza-sampling on the West Coast. The City of Roses is pretty damn easy to get around via public transit. Plus, I had friends there who I'd assumed I could hitch rides with as long as I Tom Sawyered them into the pizza madness themselves. So I had a fairly relaxing visit and did some memory-lane sightseeing in the morning hours before my destination pizzerias opened for the day.
But I only had one day in Seattle.
One day for four pizzerias, some of them seemingly far-flung, and I was using a public-transportation system I was unfamiliar with. Luckily, the first lunchtime option, Serious Pie, was half a block from my hotel.
I arrived shortly after the place opened and was surprised to find a fairly quiet restaurant, especially given what Daniel Zemans said about the place--that it was packed with a 20-person wait at 4:30 p.m. when he visited.
Still, the communal tables started to fill up shortly after I was seated (lucky enough, at my own two-top table right next to a window providing beautiful shooting light).
I ordered what would become my MO for the trip, a Margherita pie and then some sort of house specialty or sausage pie. Here, the house specialty and sausage pie seemed to be one and the same: Cherry Bomb Peppers and Sweet Fennel Sausage.
Serious Pie's Margherita pizza, with buffalo mozzarella and San Marzano tomatoes. [Photograph: Adam Kuban]
The pizzas at Serious Pie are ovals about 12 inches long and seven inches at their widest. They've got an insanely puffy end crust, charred in places and dotted with pizza bubbles and pizza-bubble blowouts. The dough is extremely soft, which means that where the crust is topped, the additional ingredients seem to weigh it down enough that there's not much rise in the center. But that same soft elasticity gives those outer edges an airiness the likes of which I would not see again on this journey until Pizzeria Mozza in L.A. Here's the hole-structure shot:
As for flavor in the Margherita, there's not a whole lot. It's very subtle, especially with the use of buffalo mozzarella. Most of the flavor in this round seemed to come from the cornmeal dusting on the crust and from the sauce, which was well-seasoned when I had it (although it left my friend Adam Lindsley unenthused when he visited almost a week later). The addition of olive oil also enhanced the overall taste of the pie.
I know I said that Marherita pizzas are boring, and this one hasn't really haunted my dreams the way its sister pizza (below) still does, but it did have a bit more savoriness and bready flavor than many of the more traditional Neapolitan Margherita pies I sampled on this journey.
My server told me that his favorite was the Margherita but that the most popular pizza was the Cherry Bomb and Sweet Fennel Sausage pie. As the joint filled up, I heard diner after diner order it. And it really is the thing to get here. The hot peppers and house-made sausage are a perfect combination, all distributed in a perfect Goldilocks ratio — not too much, not too little. The same could be said of the balance overall.
I carried the leftovers around with me for a while, sneaking another piece of the pepper-sausage pizza long after it had grown cold. And the crust held up remarkably well, probably due to the airiness and lift. It was still soft and pliant. I'm guessing this would make a great morning-after pizza.
Although I wouldn't know, since I ended up giving my leftovers to a street person, who then in turn offered to sell me crack for $2. And who then opened the box and yelled to me as I crossed the street, "WHAT'S THIS? I'M NOT GONNA EAT THIS. THIS IS GROSS!"
Adam, the shots you took of your pizzas and the ones I took of mine are like night and day! There was only a single spot of char between the two pies I had (Margherita and Sausage/Cherry Bomb), but yours are brimming with tasty blackened domes. The Margherita I had was also almost completely unseasoned, whereas yours was well-seasoned. The peppers on my sausage pie, while very delicious, weren't hot whatsoever, whereas you say yours were. You also report that your crust was bready and flavorful, while mine was exceedingly bland.
Maybe it was the time of day I went, but I think it's clear the head pizzaiolo didn't make my pies. There's no way anyone with standards would have let that Margherita be served to anyone.
You have me second-guessing myself now. I'll admit that the peppers were perhaps "spicy" and not "HOT." They reminded me a bit of pickled pepperoncinos minus a little of the heat and, of course, the pickledness. The crust was "bready" in that it was puffy, but it wasn't super flavorful. As I said, and maybe I'm being too subtle above, it had more flavor than a lot of the Naples-style Caputo-this, Tipo "00"–that places that I tried. But that's not saying much. The thing that really put this pizza over the edge for me, as I think it did for you, were sausage and peppers. Something about how all that stuff came together has stuck with me in a way the plain pie here just didn't.
@Pizzablogger/@Big Guy: It does look burned, but it didn't taste burned. How? It's hard to explain, but maybe this will help ... If you look at the upskirt and the hole-structure/crumb shot, you'll see. The bottom of that pie is far from super charred or burned and is probably more indicative of the doneness of the crust.
Now look at the hole-structure shot. See how airy that dough is? And that huge bubble? The end crust is not dense at all, so what I think is going on is that these bubbles are forming and have a very thin "skin" that burns and blackens easily. When I touched those things, they sort of flaked away from the crust. So, A) there's not much heft to the burnt part and B) it breaks away.
Ah, exactly like when there is an occassional monster blister on the cornicione of a neapolitan influenced pizza......the blackend dough on the bubble is almost the consistency of flaked fish food that nearly floats on air when broken.......undesrtood.
@Adam Kuban: Yeah, the combination of the sausage and peppers on that pie was dynamite. All the flavor that was missing in my Margherita was more than compensated for by those two additions. So good.
My experience was much the same as WikiAdam's. Wish I could find my photos. However, I did find my brief comments on my meal there (from two years ago):
Hit Douglas's Serious Pie after that, his wood oven pizzeria next to Dahlia and Lola. Ho-hum. Tasteless crust that was doughy in the center and never charred or that crusty. Crust tasted like it had oil in it and the crumb was pretty tight and springy. Toppings were better than the crust. Not as good as any of the best places in Portland. About like a good Pizzicatto, I'd say. However, the peach appetizer with fresh mozz and balsamic was tasty. Better than the pizza. Could have used some more balsamic and better or reduced balsamic.
If you're interested in cherry pepper/sausage combos, I recommend taking a daytrip to the Fairfield train station in CT (Metro-North), where Nauti (as in Nautical) Dolphin first introduced me to this underrated topping scenario via their Spicy Sow pie.
I would also like to take this time to warn you and other slice readers about the underwhelming Hellfire pie at Hell's Kitchen Pizza. This great potential equals great letdown.
We recently tried Serious Pie with a group of friends. Upon arriving at 7 on a Sat night we were given a 2 hour wait time. No prob - we hit up Icon Grill for drinks. I have to say the pizza was absolutely worth the wait. We tried 4 different ones, and loved them all, but the cherry bomb/sausage was the star of the night. We went back a week later with a different set of friends and had the same excellent experience. Sorry to hear about the bad nights for you other few.
Thanks for commenting! Your comment has been accepted and will appear in a moment.
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it pleasant. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
Print
15 Comments:
hahaha The PC police strikes! Cherry bomb pizza sounds great.
Burger365 at 1:59PM on 11/12/09
Pretty sick crumb shot there Adam!
Is it just the photos, or was the one pizza closest to the lens in the third photo burnt on the top of the cornicione?
The Gimli reference is too good!
Really enjoying your excellent ongoing recap of the West Coast Madness! --K
Pizzablogger at 2:13PM on 11/12/09
Adam, the shots you took of your pizzas and the ones I took of mine are like night and day! There was only a single spot of char between the two pies I had (Margherita and Sausage/Cherry Bomb), but yours are brimming with tasty blackened domes. The Margherita I had was also almost completely unseasoned, whereas yours was well-seasoned. The peppers on my sausage pie, while very delicious, weren't hot whatsoever, whereas you say yours were. You also report that your crust was bready and flavorful, while mine was exceedingly bland.
Maybe it was the time of day I went, but I think it's clear the head pizzaiolo didn't make my pies. There's no way anyone with standards would have let that Margherita be served to anyone.
I'm so pissed!
WikiAdam at 3:02PM on 11/12/09
You have me second-guessing myself now. I'll admit that the peppers were perhaps "spicy" and not "HOT." They reminded me a bit of pickled pepperoncinos minus a little of the heat and, of course, the pickledness. The crust was "bready" in that it was puffy, but it wasn't super flavorful. As I said, and maybe I'm being too subtle above, it had more flavor than a lot of the Naples-style Caputo-this, Tipo "00"–that places that I tried. But that's not saying much. The thing that really put this pizza over the edge for me, as I think it did for you, were sausage and peppers. Something about how all that stuff came together has stuck with me in a way the plain pie here just didn't.
Adam Kuban at 3:20PM on 11/12/09
I don't understand the burned crust thing.
Big Guy at 3:27PM on 11/12/09
@Pizzablogger/@Big Guy: It does look burned, but it didn't taste burned. How? It's hard to explain, but maybe this will help ... If you look at the upskirt and the hole-structure/crumb shot, you'll see. The bottom of that pie is far from super charred or burned and is probably more indicative of the doneness of the crust.
Now look at the hole-structure shot. See how airy that dough is? And that huge bubble? The end crust is not dense at all, so what I think is going on is that these bubbles are forming and have a very thin "skin" that burns and blackens easily. When I touched those things, they sort of flaked away from the crust. So, A) there's not much heft to the burnt part and B) it breaks away.
Adam Kuban at 3:34PM on 11/12/09
Ah, exactly like when there is an occassional monster blister on the cornicione of a neapolitan influenced pizza......the blackend dough on the bubble is almost the consistency of flaked fish food that nearly floats on air when broken.......undesrtood.
Nice pics of those pies BTW.
Pizzablogger at 4:09PM on 11/12/09
"almost the consistency of flaked fish food that nearly floats on air when broken"
EXACTLY.
Adam Kuban at 4:33PM on 11/12/09
@Adam Kuban: Yeah, the combination of the sausage and peppers on that pie was dynamite. All the flavor that was missing in my Margherita was more than compensated for by those two additions. So good.
WikiAdam at 5:54PM on 11/12/09
cks56 sounds like some kind of retard.
ratbuddy at 9:07PM on 11/12/09
So how was the Seattle crack compared to NYC?
Raoul Duke at 10:16PM on 11/12/09
Thanks for the explanation, Adam. It looks like it was tasty.
Big Guy at 12:43PM on 11/13/09
My experience was much the same as WikiAdam's. Wish I could find my photos. However, I did find my brief comments on my meal there (from two years ago):
extramsg at 2:59PM on 11/14/09
If you're interested in cherry pepper/sausage combos, I recommend taking a daytrip to the Fairfield train station in CT (Metro-North), where Nauti (as in Nautical) Dolphin first introduced me to this underrated topping scenario via their Spicy Sow pie.
I would also like to take this time to warn you and other slice readers about the underwhelming Hellfire pie at Hell's Kitchen Pizza. This great potential equals great letdown.
LikesToEatJunk at 3:17PM on 11/14/09
We recently tried Serious Pie with a group of friends. Upon arriving at 7 on a Sat night we were given a 2 hour wait time. No prob - we hit up Icon Grill for drinks. I have to say the pizza was absolutely worth the wait. We tried 4 different ones, and loved them all, but the cherry bomb/sausage was the star of the night. We went back a week later with a different set of friends and had the same excellent experience. Sorry to hear about the bad nights for you other few.
biankat at 4:08PM on 12/10/09