Such Crust!

WHEN IT COMES to dining, pizza grabs a major share of the pie. How much dough do we spend on pizza every year? According to Pizza Today magazine, annual sales in the United States are an estimated $35 billion—and growing.

Ninety-three percent of us eat at least one pizza a month. Industry experts figure the average American man, woman and child each consumes more than 23 pounds of pizza annually.

And over the past five years, pizza sales have increased more than 10 percent each year, making pizza the number-two item in food service, after hamburgers.

So what’s behind our ongoing love affair with these deceptively simple combos of flour, cheese and sauce? What makes a great pizza, and why are people so passionate about their preferred pies? We asked some of San Diego’s finest pizza makers to clue us in.

“It’s the cheese!” says Lauren Hodson, of Lefty’s Chicago Pizzeria, with a laugh. “It’s such an easy food to eat, with all your food ingredients in one bite. You’ve got grain; you’ve got dairy; you’ve got some vegetables in your tomato sauce.”

And at Lefty’s, you’ve also got authentic Chicago-style pizzas, created by former Windy City residents Lauren and husband Brendan to fill their craving for real deep-dish pies. The Hodsons, who practiced making pizza for friends and family for four years before opening in June 2004, actually sell three Chicago varieties at their North Park shop: classic deep dish, double-crusted stuffed pizza and a thin, crisp-crust variety. The stuffed version —which takes more than an hour to bake—features 3 pounds of mozzarella cheese.

But it’s the deep dish—aromatic, boldly sauced, with a wonderfully chewy, yeasty crust—that inspires the lines out the door. “We have a lot of friends from Chicago out here,” says Lauren. “And many people think our pizza has surpassed the Chicago versions.”

Over at Bronx Pizza in Hillcrest, the pizza couldn’t be more different—but the passion for it is equally strong. This classic New York pizza, with a thin, flexible crust you can fold over to eat with your hands, has won loads of “Best Pizza” awards since the eatery opened in 1997.

Owner Matt Gardner, himself a Bronx native, is modest about his success. “All I was really doing was replicating what I grew up with,” he says, referring to his hometown’s storied pizzerias. “Where I’m from, there’s four or five on every block!”

Gardner uses only filtered water for making his 18-inch pies, and believes it’s one of the keys to his success. “New York is famous for having really good water. I think that’s why their dough and their pastries and bagels are so good.” Also, he handtosses the dough, chooses top-quality ingredients (“I’ve had guys digging through my trash, looking for wrappers to see what brands I use!”) and uses a treasured sauce recipe developed by his pizza-making mentor, the late Nicky Cotrona.

WHILE GARDNER STRUCK culinary gold with an East Coast formula, Sami Ladeki found his inspiration just up the road. When the entrepreneur decided to open a restaurant in San Diego, he followed the example of a successful Los Angeles chef.

“I didn’t see anyone here doing what Wolfgang Puck was doing at Spago,” says Ladeki, referring to that restaurant’s groundbreaking gourmet pizzas. ”I looked around and thought, ‘Maybe I should do pizza…’ It’s so versatile; it’s like a sandwich. You can do anything with it.”

And so, in 1989, Sammy’s Woodfired Pizza was born. With input from Spago’s pizza specialist, Ed LaDou, Ladeki launched an award-winning empire based on slim-crusted pies topped with barbecued chicken, duck sausage, goat cheese and even potatoes.

While he now counts a number of high-end eateries among his many restaurant holdings and has added tapas and other items to the original Sammy’s menu, some things will never change, says Ladeki. “We’ll always keep the pizzas because we’re a pizza place: a place for all reasons and all seasons.”

Much as San Diego pizza lovers enjoy innovative toppings, the traditional varieties are still wildly popular. At the original Filippi’s in Little Italy, general manager Danny Moceri offers the same kind of pizza his immigrant grandparents did back in the early 1950s: with beefy meatballs, homemade sausage and lots of mozzarella cheese.

“We use the same recipes my grandmother started with,” said Moceri, who’s seated multiple generations of San Diegans, as well as the occasional celebrity, at his tables. “We cook homestyle, everything’s made fresh, and there’s always leftovers.” With 12 locations now (including branches in Napa and Bremerton, Washington), Moceri emphasizes that you’ll find members of the original family in each kitchen, and always will.

It’s the same story at the Venetian in Point Loma, where multiple generations continue the pizza-making traditions started by patriarch Vince Giacalone in 1965. Sons Joey and Frank man the pizza ovens these days, with able assistance from Frank’s children, numerous nephews, nieces, cousins and family friends. Vince, 76, still arrives at 5 in the morning to bake bread.

“We still use the same six spices my father did, and the same recipes. We even use the same ovens,” says Frank. And the family still makes fresh sausage, trimming and grinding pork shoulder from Siesel’s.

With so many foods under the sun, what is it about a big pizza pie that says amore? Frank says, “It’s the ultimate comfort food.”

We couldn’t agree more.

Do you like what you read? Subscribe to San Diego Magazine »