tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22317864.post760408309243296357..comments2023-12-05T12:27:23.605-06:00Comments on Chicago Pizza Club: Macello Ristorante [Meeting #101]Petey Pizzahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17234382580074752985noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22317864.post-75420697527258284312010-11-09T11:23:44.575-06:002010-11-09T11:23:44.575-06:00This establishment pleases me. They do what they ...This establishment pleases me. They do what they do well. It’s a place that I could go to and not feel like I had just ravaged my insides by “American Style” pizza aka, truckloads of heavy meats and cheeses. Don’t get me wrong, the fat girl inside me was slightly disappointed by the thrifty use of toppings, but this pizza would be delectable by anyone’s standards. The toppings were fresh and delightfully unusual, and I was obliged to travel the previously uncharted waters of mortadella sausage and burrata cheese. As Mr. President had referenced, the burrata cheese is in fact a water buffalo mozzarella, blended with cream… mmmm delicious water buffalo. I’m a diehard fan of salty-goodness, so the mortadella sausage was my favorite meat topping of the evening. The Barese sausage was a-ok, but I think it could have used more salt and spices to enhance it’s flavor. My runner-up favorite pizza of the evening was the Pizza Pugliese, which paired the savory, saltiness of the mortadella with the mild burrata and created a glorious contrast. My favorite pizza of the evening was the controversial Pizza Bianca, or as I like to call it “pizza salad”. I enjoyed the interesting texture and nutty flavor that the fresh arugula adds. There is no red sauce on this pie, but a scattering of cherry tomatoes that were either cooked al dente, or raw and warmed by the heat of the crust. Regardless, my taste buds wrote a song about it. I was also fond of both the Macello and the Americana, but not as infatuated as with the aforementioned pies. <br />I’ll tell you what, the crust was wondrous. In my opinion, it was cooked to perfection with just the right amount of crispiness and the edges burned just enough to give a brick oven flava without being overpowering. Best of all, it was impervious to the classic “middle sag” of brick oven pizza. The question is this: has the crust avoided sag because there isn’t a lot of moisture and oils from excess toppings or has Macello solved one of life’s greatest mysteries? <br />Either way, I’ll be repaying a visit to Macello, the rest of the menu intrigued me. The salad and appetizer selection look great and has several appealing options for vegetarians, which I always appreciate.<br />8.9Christian https://www.blogger.com/profile/15516235800239937565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22317864.post-9851643743682660802010-11-09T11:22:55.887-06:002010-11-09T11:22:55.887-06:00This establishment pleases me. They do what they ...This establishment pleases me. They do what they do well. It’s a place that I could go to and not feel like I had just ravaged my insides by “American Style” pizza aka, truckloads of heavy meats and cheeses. Don’t get me wrong, the fat girl inside me was slightly disappointed by the thrifty use of toppings, but this pizza would be delectable by anyone’s standards. The toppings were fresh and delightfully unusual, and I was obliged to travel the previously uncharted waters of mortadella sausage and burrata cheese. As Mr. President had referenced, the burrata cheese is in fact a water buffalo mozzarella, blended with cream… mmmm delicious water buffalo. I’m a diehard fan of salty-goodness, so the mortadella sausage was my favorite meat topping of the evening. The Barese sausage was a-ok, but I think it could have used more salt and spices to enhance it’s flavor. My runner-up favorite pizza of the evening was the Pizza Pugliese, which paired the savory, saltiness of the mortadella with the mild burrata and created a glorious contrast. My favorite pizza of the evening was the controversial Pizza Bianca, or as I like to call it “pizza salad”. I enjoyed the interesting texture and nutty flavor that the fresh arugula adds. There is no red sauce on this pie, but olive oil and a scattering of cherry tomatoes that were either cooked al dente, or raw and warmed by the heat of the crust. Regardless, my taste buds wrote a song about it. I was also fond of both the Macello and the Americana, but not as infatuated as with the aforementioned pies. <br />I’ll tell you what, the crust was wondrous. In my opinion, it was cooked to perfection with just the right amount of crispiness and the edges burned just enough to give a brick oven flava without being overpowering. Best of all, it was impervious to the classic “middle sag” of brick oven pizza. The question is this: has the crust avoided sag because there isn’t a lot of moisture and oils from excess toppings or has Macello solved one of life’s greatest mysteries? <br />Either way, I’ll be repaying a visit to Macello, the rest of the menu intrigued me. The salad and appetizer selection look great and has several appealing options for vegetarians, which I always appreciate.<br />8.9Christian https://www.blogger.com/profile/15516235800239937565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22317864.post-74481045718229988432010-11-07T09:58:49.542-06:002010-11-07T09:58:49.542-06:00Not too bad! My score for Macello's is an 8.5...Not too bad! My score for Macello's is an 8.5. There were a few things I liked here.<br /><br />1. Excessive use of burrata. I'm not sure if this is from buffalo or cow, but it was great and they were generous in their dollops of this creamy goodness.<br /><br />2. Their meats were good. I thought the mortadella was great. I still haven't been lucky enough to have the famed mortadella pizza at another local place, but you can clearly see why it makes for an excellent pizza topping - it's fatty and heats up beautifully. Not sure why more people don't use it as a topping. The sausage was pretty good; mild and crumbly. The sopressata was good, but it was sliced a little thick. I was struggling to chew the spicy sausage and wasn't really getting it in continuity with the rest of the pizza. I'd advise thinner slices to make it easier for the mouth to handle.<br /><br />3. The crust. A nice, wood-fired pizza crust that was excellent at the edge and surprisingly resistant to sag in the middle.<br /><br />A few things that were disappointing...<br /><br />1. The Bianca. Admittedly, I'm no fan of white pizzas in this city (but have had some great ones in New York), but this one had some familiar issues. It was dry, and didn't have a depth of flavor similar to the other pizzas. I appreciated the mozzarella on it and there was nothing to point a finger at to say was bad, but it was missing flavor profiles.<br /><br />2. Our failure to try the calzone. We were a small group and felt it was best to get after the pizzas and not try the calzone. Next time.<br /><br />3. Lack of meat on toppings. I usually complain when places with wood-fired ovens load their pizzas with too many toppings and make them soggy. Macello's stayed away from this, but I felt they could have used a LITTLE more on their pizzas. I'm never satisfied.<br /><br /><br />Overall, I liked it quite a bit. I'm surprised Jeff Ruby felt that the Bianca was the superior pizza here, but I felt the other were very good. It seemed a bit empty in there, and with the Randolph corridor humming along there is a fair bit of competition for the dining monies in this city. However, I hope more people make it out here to try some of the better wood-fired pizza in town.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15343116355899350721noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22317864.post-19891199458524275682010-11-06T23:46:25.795-05:002010-11-06T23:46:25.795-05:00To be honest, I was a little less impressed than A...To be honest, I was a little less impressed than Adam and Andrew were by Macello. Some of that might have to do with the wood-fired pizza overdose I’ve been getting. I do love this style of pizza, but lately have been craving plain Midwestern tavern pizza more and more. While Macello did a good job with its wood-fired pizza, there is a lot of competition in Chicago and I don’t think that they are doing much to set themselves apart from the others.<br /><br />The pizzas we tried ranged from incredible to boring for me. I LOVED the Pizza Macello; the sausage was hearty, flavorful and not too greasy, and Cerignola olives are some of my favorite and were a surprising and welcomed topping. I also liked the mortadella pizza, with its crisp and salty meat. The soppresata on the Americana was also fantastic, but I wasn’t excited by the vegetables on it. And maybe my slice of the Bianca didn’t have the best topping distribution, as I just wasn’t into it. I thought it was boring and lacking the punch that the other pizzas had. The arugula helped out a little, but besides that I couldn’t taste a whole lot.<br /><br />This probably will not become a place that I go when I crave this style of pizza. But will I be here again? Sure – it’s a block away from my gym and I’m lazy and hungry. I’ll stick with the Pizza Macello, though.<br /><br />My score: 7Jenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02314260010695049361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22317864.post-27058862458271251992010-11-04T10:43:10.088-05:002010-11-04T10:43:10.088-05:00I enjoyed all of these pizzas and was suprised by ...I enjoyed all of these pizzas and was suprised by what a nice flavor the aragula added to the Pizza Bianca. All of the meat and cheese toppings were delicious, and the crust held up very well—both literally and in terms of taste. A little burnt at times on the ends but that's to be expected with a wood-burning oven and a small price to pay for such a fine pie. 8.5Andrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14737205162923174034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22317864.post-12828506771778819392010-11-03T13:06:52.885-05:002010-11-03T13:06:52.885-05:00Based on my comments above, I felt Macello earned ...Based on my comments above, I felt Macello earned an 8.4.Adam Younghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06813720922743356851noreply@blogger.com