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| - This one was a disappointment. I gave two stars because I felt the caption "Meh. I've experienced better" says it all. I came in here thinking Roman Candle, in the hierarchy of pizzerias in Madison would place below Pizza Bruta but above Glass Nickel. What I found was a mediocre pie, and in fact, not as good as Glass Nickel. I ordered the house salad, it was good, fresh, which is becoming a rarity in Madison. I am finding a lot of brown, slimy lettuce, even at the "so called" better restaurants. The dressing was a house balsamic. Nothing spectacular, standard fare, very common about ten years ago. There were two points of note, I felt the bacon was too much for the salad, and the dressing was thick, too thick for a balsamic vinaigrette. The salad didn't cost Roman Candle any points. My issue is with the pizza.
This is a case where perception met reality with a thud. First, I noticed that fresh basil is a topping at Roman Candle. I highly recommend that one adds this as a topping. This pizza needs basil. It also needs more cheese. I wouldn't say double cheese as the crust is not hearty enough to hold it, but certainly more than what was on mine. The lack of cheese exposes the sauce and its faults. First, for all the little legends on the menu, the fact that the cheese is from Wisconsin still does not point to a creamy, fresh tasting mozzarella. In fact, this was a dry tasteless cheese. The problem is when you have very little cheese and what there is, is tasteless, the sauce has to dominate. In this case, the sauce is exposed as bitter.
There are very few varietals of pizza that allow the sauce to be bitter. Pizza sauce should be sweet. It should be sweet and sassy, like a young playful girl. It should not be bitter. The sauce should peek above the cheese to touch the crust. That part is a pleasure to eat or should be, if it existed. Its where the bare sauce is cooked onto the crust. No such on this pizza.
The biggest let down were the meats. The menu says "artisinal pepperoni." If you say artisinal, I immediately think like Osteria Mozza in LA or Eataly in NYC. In Madison, artisinal clearly means anything not by Oscar Meyer. This is not artisinal. Its not pepperoni where you can taste the fressh pork, and the seasonings. The sausage falls victim to the same inability to impress. I guess if its not Johnson Brothers, it is gourmet.
Roman Candle is an average pizza. Nothing special, not really worth the effort to visit. If you do go, I recommend extra cheese and fresh basil. The rest is in your hands.
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