Portland...pizza...beer

Apizza Scholls.

Maybe you've seen it on the travel channel...Anthony Bourdain so eloquently chewing and spewing out obscenities about hippies and the such.

No Travel Channel television show...or guidebook could ever prepare you for the outrageously humbling experience that my girlfriend S. and I would literally label as pizza NIRVANA.

That's right my friends, you've heard it here first....and yes I DID consider the absolute unctuous deliciousness of the previously championed pizza joint...the so-called Tutta Bella....well you know what peeps? Everything ain't beautiful in Seattle...anymore.

You would think I'd get past the hype...beyond the tie-dyed clad, birkenstock wearing, mambo-sock laden hippy folk of the metropolitan oregon....oh no...did I ever get by them.

From lackadaisical servers...to overly-long waits for pizza, never had we ever experienced such a turnaround..such a difference in mentality as we did when we reached Portland, Oregon.

You could not possibly attend enough Lilith-fares, Bumbershoots, nor Vegan-pride rallies to prepare you for the onslaught and ominous invasion of the hippy nation that we call Portland.

So strap on your tevas, pull-down your Goodwill shorts and neon pink and green socks, spit in your hand a few times and really wipe it into your greasy hair....and don't forget to fart on yourself a few times for good measure.

We're going to Portland Baby.


Apizza Scholls

What is a great pizza really?

How many have you had in your life...honestly, how many times could you possibly say that you've had the utmost perfect pizza in your entire life???

Maybe once or twice? and I would be damned if you had even said that.

Great pizza is different to everyone.......on the other hand...amazing pizza is a thing of beauty...and Apizza Scholls in Portland, Oregon...has definitely found something good.

My once-met aquaintance Anthony Bourdain thought that it was "really high-end New York Pizza..." and I as a non-native New Yorker would have to disagree.

You see....New York Pizza was meant to be eaten by the slice....dripping hot with oil and orange colored grease, coming with the obligatory $4 coke...as you trip down the street with a flimsy grease laden white paper plate and overstocked white paper napkins...evidently left there since the last customers...back in WW1.

Imagine a flakily-crispy crust...ultra thin on the bottom with just enough pull and chew to keep your arms and mouth busy. They limit their toppings to three for good reason...it would utterly disturb the balance between good crust and cheese.

But really though....upon further inspection one can find that the crust and dough layer is reminiscent of incredibly lean and airy baguettes....that's right...the elastic chewiness of the french bread interior...yet a flakily crisp exterior (most likely brought on by the addition of a swipe of olive oil or two).

I really could cheat and use a pizza pan with holes drilled into the bottom...to create that delicious charred and almost black spotting on the underside of the pizza....not only does it make it crispy and interesting...but it makes it look quite sexy as well.

Best pizza in the world ever? yes I think so.

In the Name of....

Just wanted to let everyone know....

This is not really Walter Jr. the stuffed wombat, but of course you could probably figure that out since he doesn't know how to type.

This is really Jody...and Jody's new food & beer/brewing blog.

Enjoy.