Since we dined at Tom Douglas‘ first restaurant, Dahlia Lounge, on our first night in the city, it was fitting that we visited his latest venture, Serious Pie, for our final dinner in town. Opened in 2006, Serious Pie is seriously popular. Just like our local darling Pizzeria Mozza, this forty-seater is packed at all hours of the day.  Whether it was morning, noon, or night, every time I peered through the restaurant’s subterranean windows there were always smiling pizza eaters staring right back.

Reservations aren’t taken for smaller parties, so The Astronomer, Rosalind, and I stopped by 40 minutes before we wanted to eat and had our names added to the lengthy list. When our table was ready, the hostess tickled us on the telly.

With delicious memories of Delancey still dancing in our heads, we couldn’t help but compare the pizzerias course by course. To start, we shared a black kale salad with pine nuts, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and Calabria peppers ($8). Kale rarely fails to please, and in this case it was fresh and evenly dressed. The tart vinaigrette was countered by the sweet peppers and salty cheese. While the salad was well-composed, it wasn’t as fist-pumpingly awesome as Delancey’s frisee with bacon and Dijon dressing from the night before. Team Pettit took the greenery round, but the main attraction was still to come.

All of Serious Pie’s pies are made in a 600 degree, stone-encased, applewood burning oven. The crusts come out of the fire mostly golden with a few blackened bumps. The texture is crispier and heavier than Neapolitan-style pies, and as a lover of all things bready, I completely approved.

Our slightly tipsy, birthday-celebrating neighbor convinced me to order the chanterelle mushroom pizza ($16). When it arrived at our  table, the distinct aroma of truffles filled the air. The rectangular pie was presented on a slate and studded with chanterelles galore, gooey pools of truffle cheese, and a sprinkling of fresh parsley. Topping it all off was a dousing of olive oil and Murray River salt. Truly, it was a beautiful and fragrant sight. Whereas Delancey’s pies were light and understated, the ones here brought an avalanche of flavor in the form of fat and salt. Pitting ‘shroom against ‘shroom, Serious Pie took this round.

The Astronomer’s sweet fennel sausage pizza with cherry bomb peppers ($16) was our least favorite pizza of the evening. The crust, cheese, and herbs were all outstanding, but the meat’s flavor was subdued. Delancey’s housemade pork fennel sausage was the clear winner in the “charcuterie topped pie” category.

Rosalind’s Penn Cove clams pizza with house pancetta and lemon thyme ($16) was phenomenal. After tasting disappointing renditions at Bottega Louie and Pizzeria Mozza, I was finally convinced that a proper clam pie can be executed on the west coast. The pizza’s intensely clammy flavor left me happy as a clam. The wild card round went to Serious Pie.

And finally, vanilla panna cotta with rhubarb and pistachio ($8) served in an oddly-shaped jar. The dessert was creamy and  refreshing, but Delancey’s rustic fruit desserts were more interesting and satisfying.

While the first and final courses weren’t nearly as winning as the ones from Delancey, the seriously spectacular clam and chanterelle pies more than made up for it. I will forever remember Seattle as the city that opened my eyes to the greatness of pizza and doughnuts.

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Serious Pie
316 Virginia Street
Seattle, WA 98121
Phone: 206-838-7388

A year and some months ago, Molly Wizenberg announced on her lovely food blog Orangette that she and her husband Brandon Pettit were opening a restaurant. I don’t remember where I was when I read the news, but I distinctly recall feeling extraordinarily excited for the both of them even though we were complete strangers. I followed the trials and tribulations of building and running a pizzeria from the ground up through Ms.Wizenberg’s sporadic and thoughtful posts. She painted a more intimate and heartfelt picture of restaurant life than any book I’ve ever read on the topic. Needless to say, I was routing for Delancey long before I queued up outside the restaurant.

Located in the Seattle neighborhood of Ballard, Delancey occupies a sparse and small space. The limited number of tables means that hour-long waits are the norm and the bar across the street receives a lot of business. Our party of three arrived ten minutes before the doors opened for dinner service and were fortunately seated with the first wave of diners.

The restaurant’s interior is so very Orangette. A mix of handmade, vintage, and industrial fittings fill the room. The tables were made by hand by Mr. Pettit, who taught himself how to pour concrete, while old glass jars were converted into proper lighting fixtures. The color scheme is mostly black and white. I liked how diners were called upon to add splashes of color and personality to the space.

The centerpiece of the pizzeria is the woodfired oven. The massive structure was built from scratch by Mr. Pettit, along with a pizza oven pro. According to his better half in an article for Bon Appetit, Mr. Pettit has been working on his dough recipe for more than two years.

We started off with a simple but superbly executed frisee salad ($10) with chunks of hard-boiled egg, crispy bits of bacon, and a well-balanced Dijon vinaigrette. The little tumbleweeds of frisee were sweet and crunchy.

The first pie to arrive was the crimini mushroom ($12) with fresh mozzarella, thyme, and olive oil. The mushrooms were thinly sliced and mostly mellow, while the olive oil and thyme rounded out the flavors. Inspired by the pizzas Mr. Pettit grew up on in New Jersey and New York, the crust was crisp, light, and blistered around the edges. The flavor was subtle, but outstanding—very much like a great loaf of country bread. The char was a bit too intense for me on some slices, but Rosalind seemed to favor those pieces most.

The Astronomer’s favorite pizza featured housemade pork fennel sausage, tomato sauce, fresh and aged mozzarella, and grana ($15). The most glorious bites brought a mouthful of sausage and warm cheese dribbling down our chins.

My favorite was the Romana ($13) with tomato sauce, sliced garlic, anchovies, kalamata olives, chili oil, and oregano. The cheese-less wonder was wet and salty, and I couldn’t get enough. Delancey’s slices went down so easily that I managed to eat seven this evening. That’s a whole pizza and then some!

Even more so than the interior, the desserts at Delancey are a reflection of Orangette. Even though Ms. Wizenberg no longer spends her days in the kitchen, her rustic seasonal fruit desserts remain. The rhubarb compote with shortbread and whipped cream ($8) was a hit with our table. Rosalind adored the buttery shortbread cookies, while the rhubarb compote and whipped cream had my name all over it.

The caramel-poached apple ($8) with gingerbread streusel and chantilly cream was elegant and satisfying. Leaving the stem on the apple was an adorable touch. Come to think of it, the entire restaurant is one big adorable touch.

Dinner at Delancey was the highlight of my delicious tour of Seattle. From beginning to end, the food, service, and ambiance hit all the right notes. I’ve never fancied myself as a pizza lover, but after this experience (and a dinner at Serious Pie the following evening), I am now completely obsessed.

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Delancey
1415 NW 70th Street
Seattle, WA 98117
Phone: 206-838-1960