Pizza by the Meter: Tony's vs. PIQ
Categories: Dish Duel
Everyone in the media business knows that the appearance of three similar things makes a trend. Three (more like ten) cooks serving pork-trotter cakes at the same time: trend! Spotting three compressed-watermelon salads in three weeks: trend! But what about when two places open within a few months of one another selling Roman pizza "by the meter"? It's a dish duel.
When you enter Tony Gemigniani's new Tony's Coal-Fired Pizza and Slice House, which added two more pizza ovens to his San Francisco fleet (total count: four), you'll spot the expected Sicilian squares and New York thin-crust pies sold by the slice. But then there are what look like arm-length sheets of parchment above, stacked one on top of one another, glossed with a fine layer of cheese: what Tony calls Roman-style pizzas, or pizza al taglio. Recently, the cooks have been laying sample toppings on top of the previously dry slices to give people some idea of how the finished pizza might look, and it helps. You buy Roman pizza by the quarter- ($8), half-, and whole meter, and pick three toppings from the menu. Once you order, the slice is cut, the pizza's topped and heated.
Near the ovens, college students line up for eight to twelve different pizzas and baked breads, including the all too familiar (foccacia), the somewhat familiar (thick, crusty squares tiled with fresh tomatoes, mozzarella, and arugula leaves ― and sadly unseasoned), and the unfamiliar (half-inch-thick flatbreads stuffed with vegetables and cheese ― PIQ's take on calzone). Point at one of the day's meter-long Roman-style pizzas, and one of the counter staff will slice off a four-inch-wide rectangle ($4.50), throw it in the oven for a few minutes, and then call your name.
How do the pizzas compare? The Tony's slice, with its airy edges, is pliable. It's easy to tear off swaths and roll them up, though the bottom crackles and protests as you do ― a light flatbread that hardly feels filling until you make it about 18 centimeters through your piece. With the cheese maintaining such a discreet presence, the flavor of the pie depends on the toppings, which are laid on top after the pie comes out of the oven ― and while I'd order prosciutto and arugula again, the sweet pickled peppers jarred a bit.
The slightly thicker, single-serving PIQ slice I tried had a fine layer of potatoes baked into it, with fresh tomatoes and shredded arugula showered over top. With no salt or other seasoning on the toppings, and very little bubbling or charring in the crust, it was about as interesting as a slice of unbuttered white bread. Save your money for a Nutella cookie, hazelnut-chocolate spread pressed between two buttery rounds with a smiling face traced into the top.
Tony's for the win ... at least until a third competitor comes along.
Tony's Coal-Fired Pizza and Slice House: 1556 Stockton (at Union), 835-9888.
PIQ: 91 Shattuck Square (at University), Berkeley, 510-540-7700.
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