San Francisco sure has its panties in a bunch about pizza right now. First Michael Bauer comes out with his (albeit subjective) list of the Bay Area’s six best pizzas. Then San Francisco Bay Guardian editor Tim Redmond — not normally a big food writer — snaps at Bauer in a blog entry:
You want the world’s best pizza? Here it is. I grew up eating it, I still know the phone number by heart, the guy who made me pizza when I was a kid still owns the place and there are no goddam squash or truffles or fontina (whatever the hell that is) in the place. I wish he delivered to Bernal Heights.
Funny thing is, Redmond totally proves a point Bauer makes in his lede, referring to Ed Levine’s Pizza: A Slice of Heaven: “Most people crave what they grew up with, and anything else isn’t “real” pizza.” It’s pretty unlikely anybody older than about 18 grew up eating pizza with fontina and truffles (it was sausage and green pepper in the Martin household. Probably something equally as adventurous in most).
This is not to say that Bauer is right with his recommendations. You need to figure that stuff out for yourself. If pizza is the comfort food to you that it obviously is to Redmond, you’re probably better off at Serrano’s Pizza than anywhere else, but if you’re the adventurous type and see truffles, fontina, and arugula as potential enhancements rather than transgressions, well, Bauer’s got you covered with Oakland’s Pizzaiolo. The list might be subjective and debatable, but even if you disagree, picking those underwear out of your crack over a dynamite slice can be part of the fun of being a true pizza connoisseur.
Six of a Kind: Pizza / Slice of Heaven [SF Gate]
The best pizza? Yagottabekiddin. [SFBG San Francisco Blog]
Serrano’s Pizza [MenuPages]
Serrano’s Pizza [Official Site]
Pizzaiolo [Official Site]
[Photo: via rick/flickr
