Toma's Focaccia Pizza in Lawrence Hall Review
An Italian restaurant in the newly opened Lawrence Hall offers up squares of focaccia pizza. Let's see how it is!
Food halls are the greatest invention in food delivery vehicles since the advent of the food truck. The fervor around a new food hall reminds me of a time years ago when Pittsburgh got a legit taco truck: Pittsburgh Taco Truck. This taco truck was a novel arrive in this region that was light years behind cities like New York City and Austin. Austin had dedicated parking lots of space to food trucks and we finally got one that served tacos. Pittsburgh is proud of any microscopic piece of progress.
As breweries developed more food trucks sprang up and the two business lived symbiotically together for years. A brewery is only as good as the food truck supporting it and many of my trips out for a drink hinged on the food truck dishing food. That’s why I often head to Dancing Gnome on Fridays because they have two tucks serving pizza.
There’s a number of variables with that relationship. The the excitement of wondering what food truck might end up where can turn to anxiety or disappointment. Some days you want to plan an outing and not have to check three different instagram account to see what food and drink options are pairing together. In comes the food hall.
The Food hall solves this problem by creating a stellar bar program, fueled by local brews and cocktails that’s surrounded by a selection of boutique restaurants. These restaurants resemble food truck culture in that the menu is limited and highly specialized, but they are stationary stalls that you can depend on. Find one you like and you’ll be dining at that food hall for the tenure of that restaurant.
Lawrence Hall opened in Lawrenceville which brought the food hall concept right to my neighborhood. I dreamed about this space opening for years. As they announced the restaurants I imagined all the fun foods my family would dine on. Leona’s ice cream for Charlie, tacos for Christa and assorted Italian food for myself. We’d walk down the hill, hit up Leslie park to ride the swings and do some slides, then head to Lawrence Hall for some grub. Within the paradise of Lawrence Hall the family would laugh, dine and play the interview game where we ask questions like “What’s your favorite aspect of a rainbow” or “If you could be paw creature which one would you be.”
I got to live out this fantasy on April 23, 2024 after voting in the Pennsylvania Primary.
It was a perfect spring day and the family was riding high on patriotism. We briefly visited Leslie Park then ducked into Lawrence Hall for an assortment of bites. I tried to play it cool, but inside I was bubbling with excitement. This would be our new life. Not just during an Election Day, but maybe twice a week. I could become a regular at the bar. I’d get to know everyone, this was going so well.
We grabbed a table, scanned the QR code and ordered a smattering of food. Charlie opted for French fries, Christa ordered pasta and I got a corndog to start. Vibes were high, the drinks were quenching our thirst of food hall life.
Browsing the menu I saw my two favorite words next to one another, like best friends playing holding hands and going down a dual-slide on a playground: Focaccia Pizza. Two amazing creations that come together to form a combination greater than the sum of their parts. Focaccia is so thick, yet soft. Beautiful and delicious pockets of airs, heavily seasoned and oily. The sauce and cheese bubble on the surface hypnotizing you into chomping down on the square. I ordered a slice of Margarita Pizza Slice from Toma.
Toma is an Italian concept that describes themselves as:
With recipes dating back to the early 1900s, heritage is at the core of every dish. Fresh pasta and polenta, house-made sausage and scratch sauces set the stage for a modern Italian menu that bridges past, present and future. Coupled with Italian-inspired craft sandwiches, fresh salads and focaccia pizzas by the slice, TOMA delivers an irresistible experience.
Very much a classic handmade vibe. Maybe I’ve spent too much time enjoying modern focaccia and pizza, but the slice that I got from Toma was not what I envisioned.
The focaccia was dense. Where are the air pockets? The bubbles and structure I’m so used to? Instead of a hearty crunch followed by soft, fluffy, dough, I struggled to bite through it. It seemed like the body of this focaccia was formed by crushing together a bucket of bread crumbs to create a foccacia-esque brick structure. A creation that did not hold up under scrutiny.
I will say I enjoyed the sauce on the slice of pizza. It was solid, classic and a little zesty. In my old age I’m appreciating sauce more and more on pizza. The cheese on this pizza seemed like an after thought. Were the globs tossed on at the last minute? They cheese puddles were easily removed as if the slice of pizza rejected them.
The focaccia pizza at Toma felt like a rushed homework assignment. Maybe the dough was put together that day, maybe they’ll let the dough ferment longer or maybe the yeast was taking the day off. Hard to say at this point. I’ll be interested to see if they improve their focaccia from here as they grow their program.
Ultimately pizza that is eaten is good pizza. This family rarely spares a crumb of pizza and at the end of a meal I’m ensuring we all make it into the clean plate club one way or another. This outing no one could find the will to finish the final square.
My food hall dreams have been dashed. This is early on in the life of Lawrence Hall life, I suspect I’ll end up there again in the near future to see how it’s all progressing. Maybe long ago focaccia was dense and smooth. Missing from this focaccia are the dimples you press into the bread to degass the bread before baking. Quite the focaccia mystery!
Okay thanks for reading! They can’t all be pizza bangers. Pizza ya later.
-Dan Tallarico, Pizza Journalist