Apizza Scholls, Portland Oregon, USA - Pizza Perfection

Apizza Scholls

4741 Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard

Portland, OR 97215

(503) 233-1286

http://www.apizzascholls.com

It is truly only fitting that I start with this place as my flagship food related entry.  

Best pizza I've ever eaten.  Period.  (at least right now...)  And I'll rant about "best'" in the coming days I'm sure, so stay tuned for that.  

So, at this time in my life, on this day, THIS WAS THE BEST F'ING THING EVER!!!!  So well done, perfectly crafted piece of heaven.

As this is pizza, lets start the breakdown with the crust, because obviously this is the foundation, and if it sucks, theres no reason to continue.

Not only does this not suck, it is masterful craftsmanship.  But let's be clear, this is New Haven Style pizza (the specific style is named Apizza).  Similar to New York style except that the crust is a bit crispier, not uniform in shape, more rustic, more porous crust.

Apizza Scholls is amazing.  They not only nail the crust perfectly, and from what I've read the owner is an ex-baker so he sure knows what he's doing with his dough, har har har.  Anyway, he also has the balls to not over sauce and over cheese the fucken thing.  Easy does it so that you dont ruin the texture of the crust, the essence of the pie.  Respect the pie.  True dat.  To take this further there are rules at Apizza Scholls.  No more than 3 toppings and no more than 2 meats.  Balance, respect the balance.  There is a Neapolitan place in San Diego that could be superb but the owner has bowed to what he believes are the american diners demand for more.  He also has a GREAT crust and great oven, but he puts to much on top, and then it turns to a soggy mess, blech.  Pizzeria Bruno on Park Blvd.  Could be great, is not.

Speaking of ovens, the oven at Apizza Scholls is electric.  I know that there are many camps on what type of heat source is the best and imparts the best flavor to the pie, etc., etc.,   But AS (im getting tired of typing the whole name, I think you understand...) thinks, and I agree, that the temperature is what's important, and the higher the better.  I don't think I've ever had a coal or wood fired pizza and thought "this coal or wood tastes great!'  So bravo for the electricity, easier to clean and maintain and more time to focus on the stuff that matters, dough, sauce, cheese, customer experience (but I have to say that seeing a wood oven is cool, me like).

This one is half sausage half peperoni.

 The peperoni was great, the fennel sausage was just OK, but they made it in-house so I thought we should try it.

Oh, by the way, the we is me and my daughter Courtney.  We were on a 10 day road trip (this was day 8) across the country, eating all the way from NC to California.

The top one in the photo just below is the margherita.  Superb.  A bit of crushed garlic and basil added to their basic cheese pie.

This shot explains it all, enjoy, I'll be quite....

Yummm, I miss them already, or still.

The only negative comment I have is that their t-shirts are the WORST EVER!!!  Please get cool shirts, or jackets, or hoodies, or something so that I can spread the word of this amazing culinary experience that I had, and that I hope all can one day share.

DVA