465 N McClurg Ct (Map)
Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 265-1328
CPC's biggest group in ages invaded Robert's Pizza and Dough Co. on Saturday, July 17, 2021.
Anyhow, Robert's reopened in 2019. CPC started meeting again in 2020. Then things happened. Now the CPC is fully back and the city is mostly back and restaurants are open. And with former Chicagoans Andrew and Jen in town to visit, the rejuvenated CPC headed down to the edge of the Chicago River to chow down on some of what former Tribune food critic and Alinea/Next fanboy Phil Vettel said was his favorite pizza crust in town.
10 CPC members and one baby showed up for the meeting, which is our biggest in-person gathering since who knows when. And we did it without the CPC's first couple, El Presidente and Kate. Apparently they prioritized seeing Kate's family in from out of town. Sad to see their commitment wane like that. I kid. Kind of. I'm in a bad mood. Want to know why? Read on.
 |
| Caramelized Onion: caramelized onions, fresh mozz, tomato sauce |
 |
| Roasted Vegetables: roasted cherry tomato, red pepper, calabrian chile, mushroom, caramelized onions, sauteed spinach, garlic, fontina cheese, evoo |
 |
| The Funghi: wild mushrooms, thyme, driftless ricotta cheese |
 |
| Fennel: braised fennel, fennel fronds, fennel salami & pollen, fresh mozz, honey |
 |
| Cup & Char Pepperoni: classic pepperoni, calabrian peppers, fresh mozzarella, tomato sauce |
Let's start with the crust, which is really good. I can see why Vettel described it as reminiscent of a French baguette. It's got good flavor and crackles a bit when you bite into it. I wouldn't call it the best in town or even in the top few, but it was very good; definitely the best part of the pizzas. Good flavor, good hole structure, good crunch, good chew.
The toppings were all solid to very good. I did think that a few of them - the caramelized onion, the roasted vegetable, and the funghi all would have been improved tremendously with some extra flavor - a kick of spice for the first two and maybe some balsamic for the funghi. I was also expecting a lot more fennel flavor from the "Fennel." I love fennel and was really excited about this one, but honestly if they had just called this a salami pizza, I wouldn't have thought "hey, this salami pizza has a nice amount of fennel."
But maybe Robert is so proud of his crust that he doesn't want powerful toppings to get in the way. Who knows. Not a major critique either way. The pizza is good. I just had high expectations and I didn't walk away wowed.
I did walk away thirsty.
Posts
2 comments:
For the reasons stated in the review, I give this a solid 6.4. Would eat it again if someone wanted to go there. But lots of better options in our fine city.
I was pretty irritated by their water shenanigans...I’m trying not to let that jade my opinion of their food. The pizza was pretty decent...as Dan points out, the crust was very well put together and the clear highlight. The toppings were generally in balance with the crust for a cogent, appropriate whole. But this was not extraordinary pizza. 6.5. Also, stop with this stupid water nonsense Robert’s....sheesh.
Post a Comment