1424 E. Pine St. (at 15th)
~
434 Yale Ave. N. (at Republican)
(BlatherMunch is our Sunday foodish respite from political bias, media dish, snotty intenuendo, and liberal glee. For more essays on food & dining click here or 'BlatherMunch' in Categories).
In another life, I was the executive chef at the lavish and exclusive UW private club, Sigma Chi.
That's really an attempt at irony: It was a McJob I had once as a cook in a frat house. There's a distinct and carefully-tendered Greek hierarchy; Sigma Chi is a big, gnarly fraternity, but a frat house is a frat house.
(The denizens of that freakish, vomit-strewn environment are no better, no worse than any clot of young men of that cursed age living in communal collegiate situations. Dormies and the vermin of lesser fraternities have the same low morals; high decibel levels; preference for filth; alcohol thirst, and hornitude as these young gentlemen. Frats take the hit for all the beer-swilling, gang-banging barbaric behavior when actually it's the entire demographic which should be bound and gagged during those years of alleged development).
This is a belabored lead into the word "zaw," the slang in the frat house for pizza, a dish I was required by contract to cook for at least one dinner a week despite that the bretheren ate it take-out around the clock on every day of the week.
This doesn't make the fraternal barbarians weird: Pizza is perhaps the single most popular dish in America, perhaps the world, and pizza joints are the most competitive type of restaurant.
(photo: half Arizawna/half Savory Savary, BEFORE)
'Zaw is attempting the bake-at-home pizza, a great concept that's had mixed results over the centuries with Papa Murphy's seemingly doing OK in a field that's distinctly uncrowded.
The difference is 'Zaw is so-called artisan pizza and has a thin, crispy-edged, Roman-style crust, uses all manner of grrrr-met ingredients like arugula and portabellas and prosciutto and does beer and wine pairings with West coast wines which they'll sell you on the spot.
'Zaw doesn't smell like a pizza joint: You know: the pall of re-baked cured meat, burnt oregano and cheese-grease that realtors say -- like the smell of the rotting corpse in the T-Bird of urban legend -- can never be removed from a commercial space.
The place smells like yeasty raw dough. The deal is: you take the pies home and pop 'em in a 425 degree oven for 12 minutes. The home-baking suits the thin crusts which wouldn't be so good if long out of the oven. Obviously, everything is fresher about these pizzas.
The owners vow never to serve product in "a grease-bottomed box that lifelessly implies, “'You’ll regret this in the morning.'”
(There's a lot of cute menu copy excusable only because we liked the food. If this had been bad pizza, we would demand the copywriter be laid on an "olive-oil painted crust" topped with "'shroom enhancers asiago and mozzarella" and flopped onto a "grill in Montlake on Saturday, and in SoDo on Sunday.")
We took some of these pizzas home and here's how they ate:
We loved The Savory Savary (what the hell is a 'Savary'???) with hot Italian sausage, maple syrup carmelized red onions, fresh sage, and asiago, and parm. But the Arizawna sounded more interesting than it actually was with smoked chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, red sweet peppers, and scoops of fresh ricotta. The Chicago Deli has deli meats: prosciutto, salami, and best of all. thick bacon. Not sure why this is "a classic ode to Wrigleyville" but it was great.
(photo: half Arizawna/half Savory Savary, AFTER)
The only pie I really had a problem with was The Cowardly Apricot with its roast chicken two types of apricot, maple syrup-carmelized red onions and gorgonzola. It's too sweet, like one of the kinds of apricots is marmalade. There's not enough tang, just a rather overbearing sweetness. The gorgonzola could have balanced that, I suppose, but there was hardly enough of that to taste.
I've been picky, here, but I really like this place, love the idea of take & bake and plan to return. We especially like that they didn't argue about putting two kinds of pizza on one crust, that there's no pineapple to be found on the menu, and that they're opening a shop in Ballard -- a neighborhood that desperately needs another restaurant.
Speaking of 'pizza'...there's a place on the E/Side (Queensgate area) called Pizza Bank and they have a pizza called the Roadhouse Special that is simply out of this world. Something to do with the way they cook the peprocinos (sp?) within, with all of the other ingredients...along the Greek line? I get cravings for it once in a while and just have to have the fix...ha.
Posted by: Duffman | November 09, 2008 at 09:16 AM
I tried Papa Johns and didn't care for it. I prefer a thin crust. Perhaps I'll give Zaw a try.
My current favorite is the Margherita from Pagliacci with an olive oil base as opposed to a tomato base. Very light. Zeeks offers it as well but uses a tomato base and feta cheese. I like the feta cheese a lot but prefer the lighter Pagliacci.
They featured another with pears and gorgonzola that I liked as well but wasn't offered regularly. When I've ordered it as a custom-made pie, the quality is erratic. So, I don't order it anymore.
Does anybody else think they tend to undercook pizzas? I do not like doughy pizzas!
Posted by: joanie | November 09, 2008 at 10:52 AM
Bla'm, we are surprised you like italian sausage with maple syrup, but not pineapple on your pizza? Sweet and Salty--our favorite combination..so that sausage, maple s., onion and cheese sounds wonderful to me. But we like Peppperoni and Pineapple, as well. What can we say. On a visit to England, we went to a Pizza Hut and we did not recoginze much on the menu, and found the peach pizza to be a bit unnerving.
Papa Murphy's has interesting combos of meats and such vegetables as artichoke. We haven't had the nerve to try one of those yet.
Take and bake is the way to go..that way we dont have to listen to country music while we eat.
Posted by: sparky | November 09, 2008 at 11:46 AM
Michael, this is a wonderful food blog. I'm a hearty eater - esp. of pizza and salmon!
Here's a link that will enable parents to "feed" their kids academic achievement as well. Both Sparky and I can attest to the success of this ingredient. Not only in school but in life. I think even chucks would agree.
Posted by: joanie | November 09, 2008 at 12:57 PM
Well, moderation in all things, I say. I had a student who was "gifted" and his parents had told him how smart he was. He was 7 years old. He refused to do any work, deeming it "beneath" him, and claimed he was smarter than any adult. Lovely child to be around..not. I think it is a good thing to stress effort over talent, but for a kid whose efforts never seem to achieve success, there is no harm in assuring a student he is capable of reaching a goal. Kids have to have some kudos along the way for the effort part as well. I would hate for someone to read this article and misunderstand that praise is harmful. Just keep it in perspective, and proportional to encouragement always to try his or her best. I know too many adults who ALWAYS insert the "but" into the conversation.."Yes that is nice, BUT you can do even better." Always a good idea to encourge a child to keep improving, but if the kid assumes there will always be a caveat, it can, in some cases, become all that they hear.
Posted by: sparky | November 09, 2008 at 01:12 PM
Did this article stress "buts?" I agree that "buts" is a poor tool in any conversation even though I forget that and use it from time to time. I'm pretty careful about the use of but - at least I try to be - even with adults.
Moderation in achievement. Naw. Be the best you can be!
Okay, Sparky. Did you get my gift to you on the other thread? Your birthday present?
Posted by: joanie | November 09, 2008 at 01:31 PM
Not moderation in achievement..I agree on that. I meant moderation on the adult habit of always looking for something that is wrong and needs fixing. I just know parents who are NEVER satisfied. It is as much a motivation killer as heaping on un-earned praise.
I will go look at my present!
Posted by: sparky | November 09, 2008 at 03:51 PM
Joanie
The timing of that link is interesting. We just had parent-teacher conferences Friday. Jaz came with all A's, except a B+ for computers.
My comment to her was "I new you were working hard this year. It shows, good job. Let's get a pizza on the way home and watch Ghost Whisperer together.
We didn't talk about it any more, but she could tell I was proud. While we watched that TV show, I held her report card on my lap.
I do not feel that telling her how smart I think she is. Acknowledging the rewards and results of her hard work seems to be enough for this child.
So, yes, I do agree with that article. To stay on topic was easy. We had pizza, really crappy pizza, but pizza none the less.
Posted by: chucks | November 09, 2008 at 04:47 PM
I was never much of a fan of the traditional pizza; gloppy greasiness on a limp dough. Since eating pizza baked in a wood fired oven - Mamma Mia - I am addicted. Go to Luca's in Lake Stevens, yes, Lake Stevens.
As far as Savery goes, the only Savery I am familiar with is Savery Hall @ University of Washington. Just a guess.
Posted by: AprilMayJune | November 09, 2008 at 06:24 PM
UPDATE: Nix on the Savery - my eyes play tricks on me. Savery does not equal Savary.
Posted by: AprilMayJune | November 09, 2008 at 07:07 PM
that apricot pizza is too gay for me. Whatever happend to Shakey's?
Posted by: Santos | November 09, 2008 at 09:01 PM
I rmember that story about the corpse in the T-birdexcept I heard it was an El Dorado. The guy supposedly committed suicide in it wasn't found for weeks or months, and the smell could be never gotten out of it even though they detailed the hell out of it. My ex-brother-in-law claimed the bank offered it to him for a $100 (it was worth 1000s) but he refused after getting a whiff. I thought it was bullshit back when I heard it and then years later read it in one of those urban legend collections. Hadn't thought about it for years. Thanks Mike for the memory. I like Domino's.
Posted by: Last Mango | November 09, 2008 at 09:16 PM
Sparky! Did you click on my gift to you "in living black and white?" Did anyone?
It is Streisand and Garland FCS!!! They were great together - not even you, chucks? My one usually dependable music amigo?
I give up.
That'll be the day...
Posted by: joanie | November 09, 2008 at 11:52 PM
My plans to take Friday and Monday off went awry.
I had to come back early from Birch Bay to care for my sick cat and I see that damn
ph(J)oanie has been posting steadily over the weekend. I wish he/she would stop playing games. Grow up. You are making me look bad.
I am very sorry Sparky if the 'education link' was a little off. That wasn't me and YES I agree with you about moderation. As an educator I have also seen the destructive aspect of "but you can do better."
Posted by: Joanie | November 10, 2008 at 02:44 PM
Thought so.
Didnt find the link...I thought your "present" was my having to take on all comers..hah!
I will have to go find it.
Posted by: sparky | November 10, 2008 at 05:15 PM
The link was "in living black and white." Doesn't matter. If you click on it, hope you enjoy it. It works - I just clicked on it.
Posted by: joanie | November 10, 2008 at 06:08 PM
Thought so.
???????????????
I usually mean what I post. You should know that by now.
Posted by: joanie | November 10, 2008 at 07:18 PM