Pizzeria Bianco
The story behind PB is interesting and you can look it up, but in the early 1990’s the young chef took what he had learned in New York and Italy and opened up in Phoenix. The location is immediately adjacent to Arizona State University (ASU) in a small themed shopping area called Heritage Village. This walking mall had low rise buildings with a lot of architectural detail to simulate being from an earlier time, but obviously was less than 20 years old. Nearby is Chase Field, where the Arizona Diamondbacks play baseball as well as several other large buildings. Together, you could imagine a lot of pedestrian traffic, although this night the area was pretty empty, despite a game being played. The University is obviously on summer session.
PB is located in a 2 story brick building with al fresco dining in front. The interior is very well designed with about 20 tables, a bar that can hold around 10 patrons and the focal point, a large, round wood burning brick oven where the pizzas are made. In front of the oven is a semi circular counter behind which two chefs in white with matching, thick black mustaches are preparing the food. This is their stage and it is hard to keep your eyes off of them.
Seated at the tables were mostly college age guys and girls with a Mom and Dad and an older,dating couple thrown in with us, the tourists, for variety. The menu is more than pizza, but not a lot more. Joan ordered the Farmer’s Salad which consisted of field greens, Gorgonzola cheese, local peaches and walnuts in raspberry vinegarette dressing. She shared some with me and we both thought it was excellent. Classic, thick crust Italian bread, made in the brick oven, accompanied the salad along with a very good olive oil. . I ordered a Cutthroat Porter brown beer made by O’Dell Brewery in Colorado. Joan had sparkling water in a Natura bottle, implying that they were making their own on site from tap with the Natura system.
Farmer's Salad
For the pizza we ordered a Margarita with wood oven roasted mushrooms. There are 6 pizza options including 3 “red” with a tomato sauce base and 3 “white” without red sauce. It is a thin crust style with 6 slices. Some of them come with Italian meats as toppings and there are optional toppings including anchovies and mushrooms.
I think we made a good choice. The crust was fresh and chewy and could be enjoyed even when not topped with the rest. The cheese and tomato sauce was lightly applied, but hot and fresh. The mushrooms were dark in color, fairly big and very tasty with olive oil and seasoned. We ate the “pie”‘ to use the NYC term, quickly and were satisfied and full. I can’t say this was the best pizza I ever had. My preference tends towards a thicker style, but it was very good and I am sure that the mafioso hiding in Arizona in the witness protection program appreciate having a pie made Arthur Avenue style here in the desert.