Pizzeria Bianco, Phoeniz AZ

“There’s at least a three hour wait,” Tourist Tree said to me as I walked through the door. She looked at me in bewilderment, I looked at the hostess, the hostess looked at her. “Put the name down,” I said to both of them as I was thinking to myself, “Are you freaking kidding me? It’s 9:00 at night and there is a 3 hour wait!”

I was in a pretty good mood. We just came from the happy hour at Four Peaks Brewery. A few good brews and a nice plate of wings flavored with a smoky oatmeal stout BBQ sauce were sitting happily in our stomachs. The night was beautiful, low 70’s, dry, with a slight breeze. We could wait, at least for a bit until my patience runs out.

Pizzeria Bianco is located in the Historic Heritage Square. It is in the old Baird Machine Shop building which was one of the remaining original houses that lined the open courtyard in the Square The Square was the site of the original early settlement in Phoenix. Several of the buildings have been preserved and served as museums while some were turned into other uses. The Arizona Science Museum, Phoenix Museum of History, and a movie theater complex are also part of the Historic Heritage Square development.

We strolled through the courtyard and headed straight to Bar Bianco next door. The bar was busy with people waiting for their turn as an audience with what some have considered as the best pizza in the country next door. We took a seat on the front patio and started our turn at the end of this long pizza line with a glass of ’06 J. Hofstatter Lagrein. Although this Italian winery is more famous for its Gewurztraminer, I found this Lagrein from the Alto Adige vineyard to be delightful. Full body, spicy, but not heavy. It definitely helped in our long wait for our table and had made people watching much more interesting. This bar also carried ’06 Dutton Goldfield “Devil’s Gulch” for $100 a bottle and ’07 Turley “Dragon” for $95 a bottle. In retrospect, we should have bought one of these bottles for our wait since they had not been readily available outside the wineries and the prices were quite reasonable.

Bar Bianco is housed in the original Thomas House next door to the Pizzeria. It only serves wine, beer, and a handful of appetizers. Plenty of sitting space in the courtyard…for the people waiting for the restaurant?


“Your table is ready,” our waitress came to fetch us at 11:20PM, exactly 2 hours and 20 minutes after we have put our name down on the list. We hurried across the courtyard toward the pizza promised land.

A whiff of fresh wood burning brick oven pizza greeted us as we walked through the front door. Tourist Tree and I looked at each other and said, “It smells so good,” together. We were surprised that the place quite small, may be sitting 40 people at most.

It was still packed solid with people waiting outside at almost 11:30 at night.

Our waiter put down a plate of oven fresh bread as we looked over the menu which consisted of 2 small plates, 3 salads, 6 basic pizzas, and 14 toppings that could go on top.

The bread smelled so good. We had to exercise extreme constrain not to wolf down the plate.

After a 30 seconds deliberation, we settled on an appetizer and 2 pizzas.

We were seated at the bar by the oven with a direct line of sight of the pies coming in and out of the oven.

Yes, Aiiyah was enjoying another glass of wine while waiting for the meal.

Our hunger pangs grew as each pie was passed in front of us heading to another table

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The oven is fueled by hot burning white oak and pecan woods.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Antipasto

 

Soppressata, eggplant, onion, green bean, mushroom, pepper, sweet potato, olive and cheese were plated then put in the oven for a few moments and served warmed.

 

I had never tasted soppressata like this! It tasted fresh with a hint of sweetness and it was tender and soft. It was unlike any of the salted cured hard varieties I have had grown accustom to. This was just wonderful. The eggplant was parmigiana-ed and came with the roasted onion on the side. All the other vegetables on the plate were wood roasted: The green bean was tender but with a bit of crunchiness to the bite. The pepper was done perfectly. We like the roasted Trump Royal mushroom very much but we were completely surprised by the perfectly prepared sweet potato that had a sprinkle of salt on top to bring out the sweetness. It was soft but not mushy and most importantly, it was not overly sweet. The pecorino cheese was firm and had a bit of nuttiness. It was very delightful when served warm.

 

 

The Margherita with Prosciutto di Parma and Sicilian Anchovies

 

The Margherita was made with mozzarella that was made fresh in-house every morning. It was topped with fresh basil. Never satisfied with anything “basic”, I elected to put Prosciutto on half of the pie and anchovies on the other half.

 

The pizza arrived piping hot from the oven only a few feet away with the basil and prosciutto put on just before hitting our table. The wonderful smell of a slightly smoky rustic wood oven baked pie, melted cheese and warm meat immediately hit my face. We’ve been watching the pizzas in the oven. They only spent minutes in the high heat before they were done. This was evidence with the burnt blisters on the dough in our pie.

 

As soon I attempted to pick up a slice, I knew immediately that the pie was baked wonderfully. I could feel the firmness of the baked dough from touching the absolutely crispy bottom of the pie with my fingers. Yet, the thicker part of the pie resisted my pulling slightly with a definite strength from the dough.

 

“Wow, that’s really good!” We said to each other as we took our first bite. The crust was thin, extremely thin; crispy, yet strong enough to hold the sauce, cheese, and the topping without sagging. This was a crust with Viagra! It made a crackling sound every time we sank our teeth into it; much like biting into a piece of cracker. Although crispy on the outside, the crust was chewy inside at the thicker part of the edge and gave the mouth a wonderfully feeling of satisfaction. The combination of the tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, and the Prosciutto was magnificent. I want to make a note that the quality of the Prosciutto was exceptional! Lots of true meat taste with a hint of sweetness and no over-salted feel.

 

Since Tourist Tree has an aversion to anchovy, I got to enjoy the other half of the pie all by myself. Those little fishes they put on the pie were excellent. First, it did not have that crappy over-salted canned and processed taste. It was salty alright, but not overwhelmingly. Second, they were not puny like those you had in your 2:00AM cold pizza in your college dorm days. They were big and sort of meaty in an anchovy way. Third, being in melted mozzarella with a crispy crust underneath had made it taste real good!

 

 

The Wiseguy

 

 The Wiseguy is a white pizza with wood roasted onion, house smoked mozzarella, and fennel sausage. This pie arrived in front of us just like our other pizza, piping hot with the cheese still bubbling. The onion was the same as those we had in our Antipasto earlier. Delicious! We really like the fennel sausage. It was tender and had a hint of sweetness with a nice earthy but subtle fennel flavor. I have read that the owner, Chris Bianco, buys free range pigs then takes them to a sausage place to have it custom made according to his recipe. We were impressed that even with the heavier toppings, the crust was able to maintain its stiffness and hold the weight of all its ingredients. The sausage, the sweet onion, the smoked mozzarella all made a nice wonderful combination with the expertly prepared pie underneath.

Ten minutes. We were curious to find out how long the crust would hold its crispiness. With the heavier and juicier ingredients, the Wiseguy was holding up pretty well for about ten minutes or so before the moisture started to soak thought the bottom. Even when Tourist Tree started to eat her slice the New York way (rolled up), the Viagra-ed crust was still holding pretty firm at this stage!

Is this the best pizza in the country as a lot of people has proclaimed? I cannot answer that. I am not a pizza aficionado. I have not read Ed Levine’s book on pizza. I have not eaten my way around the country. Heck, I have not even eaten that many pizzas in New York yet. Both Tourist Tree and I can confidently say that those were really really good pizzas that we had! Wait! Strike that. Those were AWESOME pizzas that we had! I am still not sure if the were the best pizzas in this country but I have not had any Neapolitan style pizza better than those yet. I can also confidently say that the pizzas were that good has a lot to do with the top notch ingredients that Chris Bianco used and the care that went into the making of each pie. The mozzarella that’s made daily; the Prosciutto; the vegetables that were use in both the antipasto and the pizza; and even the anchovy that most people stay away from. I am sure they have also spent a lot of time in developing the right dough and getting the fire burning right in the oven!

I am glad that we decided to give this place a try. It was not even on my original list of restaurants to go in Phoenix. Sure, I have heard of Pizzeria Bianco before. Stephen Starr even made a pilgrimage to the restaurant with his culinary team before opening his own pizza place in Philly. I must admit that this was not on my radar until the girl behind the ice cream counter at Sweet Republic would not stop raving about this place (long story). Plus, I did need a break from dining on serious food and just wanted something simple that night. Yet, these pizzas were anything but simple.

At the end of the night, we were stuffed and ready to go home. Our waiter packed up our leftover neatly for us and even offered a nice loaf of bread from the oven for us to take.

I would definitely love to have the pizzas again but I am not sure whether the 2 hour 20 minutes wait or any lengthy wait is something that I would want to go through again. However, this 2 hours 2 minutes with a glass of wine in our hands was not totally wasted. It instead had given us some thoughts about this place: Did Chris Bianco purposely create a wait for his restaurant to drive up the hype and the demand (the Cheesecake Factory Syndrome)? How much more hype does a place need after being showcased in Gourmet, Food + Wine, and Martha Stewart (yike!) all within the span of a few months in the spring? Did he make people wait so they would go to his bar next door? Why close down the service for the outdoor sitting while there were still plenty of people waiting? I looked around when they closed the outside sitting at 10:30’ish. All those tables would accommodate everybody on the waiting list. Why no take out? Are they such a sticker of quality that no one can have the pies unless it is piping hot inside the restaurant? The pizzas come out of the oven in no time. Theoretically, one can sit down have dinner and be out in 20 minutes. However, a lot of the people seemed to savor their time in the restaurant with no hurry to leave. I guess they were trying to make up for the lost time from waiting.

Looking at the bright side, at least we did not have to wait the 5 ½ hours that someone had done! If I were to go back again next time, I will make sure that I have at least 6 people so I can make a reservation!

The Whiskey King

For a city that has its share of exceptional burgers, how does one make his new entry stand out? For an Iron Chef Kitchen Stadium winner with several successful restaurants, how is he launching a new eatery in the ever more crowded Philly dining scene?

You do something over the top.

The Whiskey King burger at the Village Whiskey is a 10 ounce blend of sirloin, chuck eye roll, and chuck sustainable beef from Wolfe's Neck at Pineland Farms in Maine, sitting on a pile of maple bourbon glazed Cipollini onions, two pieces of Applewood bacon, lettuce, a nice thick slice of tomato, and the Guinness potato roll, baked in-house. The burger is topped with smoked blue cheese from Rogue Creamery, and a slice of sautéed foie gras!

If you don’t think that’s over the top already, the price tag will push you over the edge. At $24.00, it is currently the most expensive burger in the city.

Jose Garce opened his newest place next to his Tinto restaurant as a neighborhood corner bar that features a nice selection of whiskeys with a small menu of homey comfort food. The selection of 51 whiskeys on the opening menu, however, has been overwhelmed by this Whiskey King burger. Everybody has been talking about it since the publicity picture was released in July, two months before the opening of the restaurant. The Garce PR machine successfully generated another round of buzz when it released the restaurant menu a week or so before the opening with the burger priced at a staggering $24.00.

Never turn down an opportunity to try something outrageous.

A few early reports prompted me to break my own rule of not visiting new restaurants within months of its opening. Given that the food was coming out of the Tinto kitchen and Garce runs a very tight operation, and my own weakness to resist the temptation; it was a justifiable move.

Drinking a Founders Dirty Bastard with the bar behind.

The restaurant is pretty, much like an old fashioned bar from years ago. It is rather small; smaller than the bar section in a lot of the multi-million restaurants around town. There was not much standing space and the hostess tried pretty hard to keep people out unless there was a confirmed seat.

The juice bomb.

The burger was bigger in real life than what it appeared in photos. It stood a good 4 plus inches with the bun. It only had one piece of foie topping instead of the two pieces that were in the promo photo from July; but it was also a 12 oz patty in the picture vs the 10 oz clearly stated in the current menu.

It smelled really good. After a few seconds of staring while composing a plan of attack, I went for it. I had been warned by a few who already had the burger that it was very juicy; so I held it far away from me over the plate with both hands before diving in.

My first bite hit the patty and the bottom half of the burger. I was rewarded with the tenderness of the meat seasoned just right, the sweetness of the onions, the freshness of the tomato and lettuce, and the softness of the potato roll. My second bit hit the top half. I liked the taste of the blue cheese tremendously. It went so well with the meat. The burger was charbroiled perfectly to medium rare as I had requested. I loved the smoky taste of the slightly brunt outside edge meat with the sweetness of the perfectly grilled Cipollini onions, and the taste of the blue cheese all together. It was a match made in heaven.

Look at the first picture on top. Now look at the picture above taken a minute after the first one with the juice already accumulating. Left: The juice kept coming out even halfway though the burger.

After a few more bites, I realized that I wasn’t tasting the foie gras. It was lost in the meat and the cheese! May be they should have put that extra piece of foie back? May be it was masked by the strong blue cheese which sat directly underneath? May be the soft delicate texture of the foie just couldn’t resist the meatiness of the beef? By this time, my hands were drenched with the juice and the plate was also having a nice amount of liquid swimming in it. This burger was a juice bomb! I decided to take the remaining foie off the burger, put it on the bun, then dip the whole thing in the juice, French Dip style. My eyes bulged out of their sockets. My mouth left open and speechless. My mind had gone to heaven for a few seconds. That was SO GOOD!!!

Duck fat

Everything tastes good fried. Everything tastes better fried in duck fat. I couldn’t resist but get the fries fried in duck fat. What is a burger without fries? Being a man of excess, I had to get the one with the cheese, although I did ask for it to be on the side. I was so intrigued by the fact that this cheddar cheese was made with Sly Fox beer. I did want to get the cheese fries with the short ribs but that might just be a bit too overkill with the burger, even for me.

 The fries came in a nifty little silver container. There was some sort of herb seasoning on them which was nice. But, excuse me…, I couldn’t quite discriminate that slight different flavor from the duck fat. Were my taste buds getting numb from the burger juice or was the Founders Dirty Bastard I was drinking starting to affect me already? There were a few very crispy pieces but the majority was just OK. They were not soggy but definitely could use a bit more time in the fryer. It was a slight letdown from Garce after he delivered such an outstanding burger….until I dipped the fries in the cheese.

O…M…! That cheese was unbelievably heavenly! An intense cheddar tang followed by that slight hint of bitterness you would expected from a beer in just the right creamy smooth consistency. The fries might have not been what I had expected but it served a great purpose as a vehicle to scoop the cheese into my mouth. I never found out which Sly Fox beer was used in the making of this cheese. Nor did I find out if the cheese would solidify when it cooled down. We were eating it so fast and furious that it never had the opportunity to give me the answer.

Don’t get me wrong, the fries were good. I just think that there is room for improvement to make it a “Wow!” Since the chemical composition for duck fat is closer to olive oil than butter or lard*, I at least feel less guilty about eating them.

So was this juice bomb of a burger worth its $24.00 price tag? That depends on your perspective. Tourist Tree had the regular Village burger with an 8oz patty for $9.00, plus the a la carte $3.00 Jasper Hill Cheddar and the 50 cents caramelized onion. It’s the same blend of meat, minus 2 oz; a smaller bun; less the $2.00 bacons and a piece of foie gras; but with everything else pretty much the same for almost a $10.00 difference. I did notice that there were much more juice coming out of my burger than hers. Yes, there were a few things that could be improved. Both the bacons and the fries could be crisper; the pickles were nothing special(don’t think it was made in-house); and I could use that extra piece of foie gras. My bun was huge but I did use the excess bread to mop up the juice on the plate. Some people may say that this burger is an exorbitant consumption and is not worth the premium, but I enjoyed eating this hunk of meat with all its trimmings in my hands and the bragging right that comes with this debauchery (OK, I didn’t get the fried egg on top of it). If God were to have a burger, this might very well be the one.

* “Fatty Acids in Food and Their health Implications” Ching Kuang Chow, Editor. Marcel Deekar, Publisher New York, 1992.

* Tourist Tree had Ommegang Hennepin with her burger.