Postcards from the Crust: Pizza Boat Rides Again, Golden Age's Glistening Pizza
Plus a visit from the pizza doctor. Be warned, you may see pizza in here that you cannot unsee...
Hi there!
This has been a little bit of a week for me, so I wanted to share more photos of the pizza adventure I’ve been on the past week.
Golden Age Brewery Pizza Paired with Pilsners
Christa, Charlie and I were invited to Golden Age Brewing last week for a birthday party. Before I get to a venue I devour the menu, meticulously planning my dining adventure. I was surprised to see Golden Age now had pizza, news to me. The same group handles both Golden Age and Lorelei / Woodfired. I’m guessing that the pizza exploits in Woodfired inspired Golden Age’s pizza venture. That’s purely speculation, but I’ll ask around.
For a pizza that pairs perfect with a housemate Italian Pilsner, you can’t do much better. Completely in a vacuum this pizza isn’t much to write home about. In fact, it has more in common with the pizza from the Blue Sparrow Food Truck than Woodfired. Needless to say, it’s a great time to be eating pizza at breweries.
I found it a little under cooked, slightly chewier than I’d like. But if you like it floppy this is the place for you. Luckily, the crispness of the ice cold pilsner more than make up for the floppy pizza.
Pizza Boat Sets Sail at Spirit’s Summer Recess
Spirit is the backbone of a new era of Lawrenceville, bringing life to 51st street and beyond. The connector between upper and lower Lawrenceville, it’s a venue that welcomes to all types into its hallowed halls for music, food, drinks and bingo. It’s one of my favorite places to hang.
Summer Recess is their big end of summer blowout. A free event full of some of the best food, art and music you can find in the city. Really makes you hopeful for the future of Pittsburgh.
This year, the Pizza Boat pizza oven setup shop to deliver pizza to the masses. They’re under immense pressure to pump out pizza for hundreds of hungry and hot visitors. Our pal Mark grabbed four pies for our group and the results were mixed.
Throughout the day I was asking Mark’s eight year old daughter, Evie, what she thought about the Ship of Theseus. If you replace even a single piece of a ship, is it the same ship? What about a boat that makes pizza? If the oven, staff, and recipe are different, is it the same pizza boat? Or do these parts merely make up a new form of Pizza Boat?
The pizzas coming out of this Pizza Boat weren’t as satisfying as the pizza made at Pizza Dojo…but those were different circumstances. We were all different then. Am I even capable of judging a pizza over time? As I change surely my palate is adapting, my sensibilities shifting? Am I still the same pizza journalist I was back then?
Evie did not like this pizza, but she has also changed a lot since she had Pizza Boat last. Should we expect our favorite pizzas to keep up with our changing perspective or find comfort in knowing we are changing, hopefully for the better.
The pizza served from this iteration of Pizza Boat were eclectic and far from normal. Sauce was at a minimum and one of our group members compared it to eating flatbread or naan with pizza toppings. Really lacked that rise.
This is Mark with stacks of pizza eager to chomp them.
Our pizza spread, complete with kids climbing the wall and jumping off begging to defy gravity.
This is the most “normal” pizza on the menu. It was fun for the time and place of Summer Recess.
The Pizza Doctor is In - Content Warning: Augmented Pizza
My dad likes to take leftover pizza home with him back to his “lab.” I shouldn’t put that in quotes because he is augmenting and distorting food beyond recognition. It’s a true lab run by the Dr. Frankenstein of food.
He doctors up pizza to make it even better. This is pizza that is already very good to begin. Some say it’s pure pizza perfection. But he isn’t willing to settle for the perception of perfection. No, limits and boundaries exist to be exceeded, to be pushed to the point of bursting. Things can always improve.
So he does his duty to improve them. Adds exotic toppings, palate be damned. Reheats on his loyal pan that has been by his side through hundreds of “improvements.”
You may think that his obsession with continuous improvement is relegated to the kitchen, but you’d be wrong. It’s his full-time. He helps companies improve their process. The man can’t stop improving things. But at a certain point can you improve things beyond being better? You be the judge. And if you can identify the origin of those pizzas in the photo above please do not tell the pizza shops what happened to them.
Hope you enjoyed this pizza recap. Been a good week for pizza and, heck, I’m gonna try making more pizza on the Ooni this weekend. I made the dough and it already feels way better. I do think the humidity a few weeks ago jacked up the pizza. It’s important to consider all elements when making pizza.
If you enjoyed this please consider sharing with a pizza pal!
Pizza ya later!
-Dan Tallarico, Pizza Journalist