Talking Sweet About Nothing

I must admit, Bertucci's was never even on my pizza radar, as it is a chain. And I'll admit, I was off in my pre-judgement. I had assumed that because it was a chain that they didn't use fresh ingredients or make a quality pie. I was talking pizza at work with my friend Keith. We were chatting about the lack of serious pizza in Baltimore and sharing our local faves. Teaching is a second career for Keith as he spent many years as a chef in Little Italy, so I tend to really listen to and respect what he has to say about food (especially Italian). Keith told me that Bertucci's has a wood-fired brick oven and I couldn't believe it. A chain restaurant not built upon standardization and cutting costs? I had to see it to believe it.

Jim and I had tickets to see the Capitals vs. NJ Devils last weekend, so I figured it was a good opportunity to convene an emergency meeting of the Pizza Club. We shared a large Margherita and you know what? The thin crust was pretty darn good. It held up nicely and had a decent char. I ripped off an edge of the crust to taste it by itself. It wasn't a world-class pizza crust, but it was certainly way better than any chain pizza I had ever tasted. The dots of white cheese on the pizza were obviously fresh mozzarella, another pleasant surprise. The sauce was a deep red and a little chunky. The menu said "crushed roma tomatoes," could it possibly be true? I gotta give 'em credit, this was a pretty great pizza, and the only other place besides Iggie's making an authentic Neapolitan pie. Their pizza tasted better than Iggie's, cost the same, but was a few inches larger in diameter, so definitely a better deal. I'm still pretty sour on most restaurant chains, but Bertucci's gets a pass.