| rev:text
| - When I saw there was a "Detroit-style" pizza place in town, my inner foley artist set off the screeching brakes. Detroit-style? DETROIT-STYLE?
All of this time I thought my gold standard, the pizza of my youth, was just a skewed memory of childhood. But what if that raised bar had nothing to do with being young and naive and everything to do with being young and naive... in *Michigan*? (Epiphany!)
Okay, but it's been 25 years since I last saw the Wolverine State, and back then my suburban life in Sterling Heights and Romeo was further away from Detroit than the number of miles on a map. "Detroit-style" might have nothing to do with the cushiony yet solid crusts of those tender years spent on the swings in Dodge Park and swimming in the Stevenson High School pool.
Still, cautiously optimistic, we headed to Northside Nathan's.
Right away I was impressed with the decor. NN's isn't a fine dining establishment, but someone still put a lot of thought into celebrating the spirit of the Motor City. I'm no cheerleader for our country's big mitten - like I said, I somehow haven't gotten around to going back in 25 years - but looking around the dining area still made me smile.
(Note: When looking at the menu online and noticing the "Gangster's Choice" pizza, this once-and-still suburbanite was afraid it might be more like "Gangsta's Choice." I mean... Detroit... you know? If you spent the 1970s in the lower peninsula, your mind might stray to ghetto thoughts, too. Thankfully, I'm just woefully stupid about musical theatre. The pizza names are all an homage to "Guys and Dolls." Oh. Which I once saw, starring Lulu, so make that an "Oh" and a smack to the head.)
Nice shopping center at Flamingo and Fort Apache, easy parking, casual yet "attractive enough to eat-in" interior, and the young woman who took our order was as friendly as could be. We ordered a large "Adelaide's Special Supreme" (aka "the works") for Mike and a large "Sister Sarah's Very Veggie" for me. In other words, we ordered way too much pizza, even with a week of lunches in mind, but I suppose that's what freezers are for.
The wait was about 20 pleasant minutes. A family eating at the next table were sharing what looked like a good salad, but then I think all salads served in metal bowl look good. (The leaves staying cool, the dressing lightly coating, never dripping...)
We also peeped at the other family's pizza. Mmmm. *Cross fingers*
My husband staggered a little with the weight of the boxes when the pizzas came up. Talk about heft! After reassuring the staff that we didn't need dried red peppers or Parmesan packets (or plates or napkins, but how nice of them to offer), we drove the ten minutes back home. (Hey, what's this in the plastic bag on top of the pizzas? Tootsie Rolls? Cute!)
I've uploaded a picture of the veggie pizza on the plate at home, which shows some dedication because, believe me, I was ready to inhale it whole. The sight of the thick crust with the crispy corners held so much promise...
...And the taste totally delivered. YUM! (Fist punch to the sky!) YUM!
Crust just a little higher than a man's thumb from end to end? Check. And that crust, does it have non-floppy horizontal hold while not resembling cardboard? Check. Do the ingredients have individual taste and not just texture? Check. Is the cheese mellow and melted, not too sparse, not too heavy, and certainly not congealed or separated from the rest of the pizza, even after an hour? Check. Is the sauce tomato-y without being noticeably sweet? Check! Greasy at all? No!
It's to Northside Nathan's credit that I am this excited when I didn't even order the kind of pizza I like. My ideal pizza is mushroom and onions, or mushrooms and anything, but not too many toppings, and definitely not tomato because I prefer to get my tomato taste from the sauce. But I got the Very Veggie on a whim, and I wish I'd hurry up and finish this review so I can grab another slice. (Too much pizza? I take it back!) The VV either doesn't come with mushrooms or there was some confusion when my husband asked for the mushrooms taken off his, but you know what? Still delicious anyway.
Our pizzas were square, per Northside Nathan's standard, but round pizzas are available. Don't believe everything you read on Wikipedia, though. Wiki says that "Detroit-style" means that the toppings are layered under the sauce, and the pictures in that article back this up, but our pizzas had the toppings on top, somewhat mixed in with the cheese, with the sauce underneath. (That's also the only way I ever had it in Michigan, but again: suburbs, long time ago, etc. Perhaps someone needs to get sub-regional with the pizza codifying.)
I'm really torn: four stars or five? Shouldn't the best pizza I've had in Las Vegas warrant a five? Or should I save my fives for the extraordinary experiences, not just the "damn good" ones? Well, I guess I have all of those future visits to make up my mind.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)