Go for the Dough

Sometimes you just love part of something. Not the whole thing, not the whole experience. You just love one little thing about it, and that is enough to make you come back for more.

I have had two of those experiences in the last 2 days. One was music, one was pizza.

I will share the music part tomorrow.

Today, we will discuss the pizza.

I determined that, after all the hype, I needed to try Delancey, the pizzeria darling of Seattle these days. (Rachael Ray even included it on her list of best pizza joints in the nation, and she claims to know her pizza.) I have perused the owners' blog, Orangette, for years and have made their "Big Bad Banana Bread" a few delicious times. This restaurant is the baby of a creative couple in love with food; why not try it?

Friends and I didn't go there for banana bread, though. We went for pizza - and pizza we had. Three of them.

I don't remember their names; something with mushrooms, something with house-made sausage, and something with pepperoni. I don't remember their names because none of the pizzas were unforgettable (which means they were forgettable, so I forgot). The sweetness of the tomato sauce on each did make me dream of summer, though.

What did strike me, with every bite, was the dough. Sensational dough! (I think the old advertising word, "sensational," needs a comeback, don't you?)

It was somehow crunchy and stretchy and light and dense all at the same time.

It retained it's texture from the outer regions to the center of its universe.

You know a restaurant by its basics, and if pizzas were to have a "basic" I think we can all agree it would be the dough. Delancey has that complex "basic" down pat. It is memorable, like a run-in with Lauryn Hill on the street is memorable.

So, you may not go here for the meats, the exquisite herbs or pungent cheeses, but go for the dough.

*On a side note, who can't help but love a restaurant that serves beverages in tiny bottles?