Once upon a time, in a town just across the border, on an unmarked street, in an unnamed bar,
I met a man.
Wait!
It's not that kind of story. Down in Mexico, in a bar just north of La Fonda HG and I DID in fact meet a guy and he told a very outlandish story, and that's what I want to re-tell, to you, now.
The subject within said unnamed bar, not surprisingly, was pizza. What's the best place? What's the best style? Why is the word "best" stupid (that was mainly my participation), toppings, crust, blah blah blah. I naturally offered up a YourPieMyMouth card and presented myself as the resident expert, of which most took no notice, standard. Then, out of nowhere, some dude at the end of the bar said that Lefty's was the best pizza in San Diego. Uhmmmm, WHAT?!?!?!? I immediately corrected him and said "the best Chicago style deep dish pizza in San Diego was Berkeley". To which he responded with "I didn't say deep dish". Wait, what just happened? You mean that you would go to Lefty's and get NOT the deep dish? It's a Chicago restaurant, but don't get that? Ridiculous. Borderline insane.
Mr. Dude said "trust me, try it. Order the thin crust but you have to get it well done".
More crazy shit. Thin and well done?!?!?!? La cuenta por favor, we are outta here. A crazy bar filled with idiots. So we left.
And it's been eating at me ever since.
The following is a tribute to my new favorite pizza, the Lefty's Thin Crust Well Done......
Turns out the Dude was right.
This is one of those rare occasions when the anticipation, the obsession, the endless analysis actually pays off.
This is pepperoni, sausage, onion.
I love their use of red onion and the portion of pepperoni is endless. You can't see the sausage but it's under the cheese, the mountains of cheese.
This is a loaded down pie. It physically weights a lot, enough for 6 people easy. It's also cut into small squares, which may be OG Chicago style, but I don't know. I know that for this pie having small squares works. It's definitely not a gimmick, this evolved out of necessity and I like it.
Another thing I like, besides everything, is the sauce. It's big and bold, tangy and delicious with strong flavors of oregano and basil and tomato. It's not overpowered by the cheese, etc.. It's just great.
Who likes cornmeal on the bottom?
ME!!!!!
The crust is firm and rigid and very much able to hold up to the ingredients up top. It's not dense and thick and tough though. It's easily chewable and is the right dough for this pie. There is crunch and pull and a subtle yeasty component that adds more depth to the overall eating experience.
Hands down this is my current favorite pie and I can't wait to have another (and I'm stoked that there's half of it still leftover in the fridge....)
Finishing this meal off with homemade gingerbread cake makes this one of the best days EVER!
Moist and light yet very big gingerbready flavor. Clearly a pastry chef made this.
Am I at a restaurant? Some new place still unforeseen?
Nope. Just happily at home.
DVA
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