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| - There are very few restaurants that can avoid making a two hour wait in to a chore. Pizzeria Bianco is one of these places.
Pizzeria Bianco and Bar Bianco's property is very charming. We spent our two hour wait on one of the many benches, admiring the historic buildings, looking at Chris' gardens, watching kids play and generally enjoying the great weather. We also had a couple of good glasses of white, some excellent salami and crutons and a nice variety of green olives all from the bar.
The hostesses at PB were impressive in their attention and professionalism. I don't know if they have great memories or hidden crib notes, but they immediately remembered our names, where we were waiting, how many were in our party (which changed during our wait) and what we were eating and drinking from the bar. I assume they also did this with all the other guests dispersed across the premises, which had to be at least 50 other people.
When we finally did get in to the restaurant (at almost exactly the time predicted when we got on the list) we were greeted by Chris, who thanked us for waiting and were immediately given menus. After a couple of minutes our very personable waiter gave us some details and got us going. It was a very efficient process that made us feel attended to and gave us a sense of progress after the long wait.
Pizzeria Bianco's food was excellent. Their version of spiedini, with prosciutto wrapped around fontana was served on a bed of greens that was dressed with a tasty vinaigrette. The tomato/mozzarella/basil was good-- although the tomato was not the best I've ever had. Then again, we were the dumb asses ordering a tomato in March in Phoenix. Had we been keeping true to our principles we would have gone with the market greens salad, but we were so taken in by the thought of the mozzarella we couldn't help ourselves. And the mozzarella, really, was worth tolerating the average tomato.
The pizza was unlike any I've had before. The dough was extremely thin, and the crust was so light it reminded me of a well executed popover. It was unique, flavorful and appealing. The topping combinations were very enticing. While we both wanted to try the margherita, we ended up being draw in by two pies that didn't have tomato sauce. The Rosa, which had an autumnal, nutty flavor from ground pistachios, rosemary and onion was fantastic. The Wiseguy, which I had read about on numerous occasions because of the house-smoked mozzarella and fennel sausage was spicy, smoky and lived up to the hype.
All in all, our evening at Pizzeria Bianco was wonderful. I have a great admiration for Chris Bianco's dedication to his craft and his insistence on making pizzas one at a time with superior ingredients. He has created a charming, relaxed setting with his restaurant and bar, and employs individuals who work at making your time at their establishment a memorable one. Sure, two hours is a long time to wait for pizza. But if you approach the wait as just one part of the whole evening and allow yourself to be taken in by the small corner of the world Chris Bianco has created, you'll have an opportunity to experience food created by people who truly care about their craft. And isn't that worth a bit of a wait?
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