On the Yahara: A-Z

B.

Basic Pie, Grampa's Pizzeria.

Grampa's on Williamson Street has taken on one of the most difficult culinary challenges in the 'good' food industry: how to separate oneself from the hundreds of others that find a good location and try

 to make the best pizza in the city.  We've visited Grampa's only twice and sampled only three pizzas, but it would be an understatement to say that we might very well have found the best pizza the city will offer.  As we sat down in the small main dining room we knew that we were in a very neat and stylish 'joint.' We could even see from our table the cooks behind the serving wall diligently working toward perfection topping off salads with herbs.

But really there's no way to evaluate the beauty of za until the moment it arrives, is stacked on the table, and sampled.  We ordered one basic pie of cheese and pepperoni, one of a basil and tomato base, and the Puerto, which was supposed to be tomato sauce, pork confit, and gorgonzola.  I asked if the gorgonzola could become the standard house blend of cheese instead so to avoid gonzola overload, and each of these came out looking thin, slightly brown and not overdone in any way.

There was something happening with these pizzas that all the greatest recipes share: something exclusive, something perfect in both taste and texture.  It is written that the new owner of Grampas had loved his own grandfather's pizza recipe growing up and decided to put it to true commercial use.   It works.  The pork confit on the Puerto was perfectly placed and not overdone, the cheese not gushing and broiling over every inch of the crust, and the tomato underneath it all an authentic, nearly decadent, rich paste.  Pizza, when done like this, is as close to dessert as dessert.  It is very difficult to stop eating the best.  When the three pizzas were placed on our table, we pictured multiple boxes necessary for take home, yet we left with only one box of a mere handful of pizza.

The owner and head chef at Grampas is a trained chef whose lineage in family restauranting runs deep.  The care that is put into each piece is obvious indication.  Hundreds of pizzerias try; only one, here and there, become what all the others hope to be.