[Second Helping] Domino's Pizza

Domino's Pizza
Located approximately everywhere

Over the weekend, at the Flourish afterparty, I was served Domino's pizza, and curiosity got the better of me. So, I tried a few slices. It's possible that I haven't had Domino's in over 15 years, so I don't know what it tasted like before the recent, supposed overhaul. My boyfriend, who dined with me and has had Domino's in recent years, noticed that there was a new garlic flavor that hadn't been there before, although he said that the difference wasn't great. I did notice the garlic as well, but more on the nose than on the palate -- garlic-scented pizza! Most of the dough wasn't offensive to me -- I thought the thickness was fine; however, when I got to the crust, my mouth collided with the nasty, fake butter, (think bad movie theater "butter" juice), that was slathered on the ends. Yuck! I noticed the sauce, but only because I could see it. And, the cheese was SQUISHY. Yep. Lastly, I realized that the pizza had a bizarre aftertaste. I'm not sure if it was the butter sauce or garlic scent, but it might best be described as acrid. Next time, I'm turning down the Domino's; but, I guess the experience was educational.

This is what it looked like:

Frasca Pizzeria & Wine Bar [Meeting #86]

Frasca Pizzeria & Wine Bar [Google Maps]
3358 N. Paulina St.
Chicago, IL 60657
(773) 248-5222

CPC invaded Frasca Pizzeria & Wine Bar on 10/07/09.

Frasca Pizzeria and Wine Bar is a self-described "contemporary Italian" restaurant, located in Roscoe Village just a block off the Paulina Brown Line stop. It is brought to us by the same people who gave us Dunlays and Smoke Daddy, but both the menu and the ambiance of the restaurant differ greatly from both. Although the word "pizzeria" is in the name of this establishment, the menu contains a variety of Italian-inspired dinner items beyond pizza, along with brunch on Saturday and Sunday. Frasca takes great pride in its wines, with a long list offering by the bottle, glass or flight; it is also worth taking note that on Tuesdays they offer 1/2-price bottles.

For the Chicago Pizza Club Meeting #86, we chose to go to Frasca on a Wednesday, to take advantage of their 2-for-1 pizza deal.

The following are the pizza combinations we tried -- all were from the menu except for the sausage & goat cheese:

• prosciutto - olive oil, mozzarella, arugula, prosciutto
• capone - tomato sauce, wood roasted onions, fennel sausage, fresh mozzarella
• caponata - tomato sauce, eggplant, goat cheese, mozzarella, red peppers, mushrooms, artichokes
• rustica - diced prosciutto, oven dried tomatoes, mozzarella, basil pesto
• shrimp + bacon - bechamel sauce with mozzarella, wood fired onions, evoo
• margherita - tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, sliced tomatoes basil
• soprano - hot capicola, sausage, pepperoni, sopressata, mozzarella and red peppers
• pepperoni - tomato sauce, oregano, mozzarella
• quattro formaggi - mozzarella, gorgonzola,ricotta, provolone
• sausage and goat cheese

Having never patronized Frasca's 2-for-1 night, it was a surprise for me to see the restaurant as busy as it was, and I am glad that we made reservations for our large group. But while it was busy, our pizzas started coming out in a timely manner, about 20 minutes after we'd sat down. And the temperature was perfect on all the pies -- I didn't have a cold slice the entire night, and no one scorched the roof of their mouth.

As is often the case, my favorite pizzas were the ones with sausage. The sausage itself had an abundance of flavor without being overly fatty, and I especially loved it paired with the sweet wood-roasted onions of the Capone. What really stood out for me, though, were those pizzas whose ingredients I otherwise usually dislike on pizza. Until having it at Frasca, I had never had an arugula pizza I liked. It's just personal preference, but I think salad greens should stay in salad, and away from pizza. However, Frasca did an excellent job with the combination of prosciutto and arugula. There was just the right amount of prosciutto to not be overwhelmed by the arugula, and the arugula was sauteed, which I think took a lot of the harshness out of its flavor, and helped it to complement the other ingredients. The other unexpected delight of the night for me was the Rustica, most notably its pesto. Other pizzerias could learn a lot from the use of pesto at Frasca. It was fresh, bursting with flavor -- (you can really taste the sharpness of the basil and get a good crunch from the nuts) -- and it was distributed in delicious dollops, without making the pizza a greasy mess.

As mentioned in the reviews (see comments), the pizzas' biggest let-down was the crust. In Chicago we are spoiled with our wood-fired thin crusts, and have come to expect some high quality dough when we see an oven like the one at Frasca. Most people didn't like how chewy it was, but what most disappointed me was the inconsistency of the crust from pizza to pizza. Some of the pizzas had the nice dough bubbles that delight me, but some were over-cooked. The pepperoni especially had been in the oven for too long. I like a little bit of burn on the crust, but at a certain point you are just eating burned pizza and that's not really a good thing.

Overall, Frasca offers decent pizza, especially when it's 1/2-price. Besides the crust, I enjoyed all of their ingredients, notably how fresh they were and how well thought-out were the combinations.

Traverso's [Meeting #80]

Traverso's [GoogleMaps]
15601 S Harlem Ave
Orland Park, IL 60660
773-465-1616

CPC invaded Traverso's on 5/13/09.

Review submitted by Jen

The Traverso brothers, John and George, have been Chicago suburb restaurant owners since 1962 when they purchased a tavern in Roseland. Within the next few years they opened two pizza restaurants in Mount Greenwood, the second in response to overwhelming demand for their pizza. With the opening of the restaurants, they also employed their mother, Mama T, a veteran to the food industry and holder of Traverso's “famous homemade recipes” from Italy (where she grew up). AND, only a few years after that, they opened their first Travero's in Orland park, eventually closing the Mount Greenwood restaurants in order to focus their attention on it. It seems to have paid off. They had to expand it to meet demand and in 1993 George's sons Mike and Paul carried on the family tradition and opened a location in Naperville.

We had a small group, so ordered only 2 of the pizzas, both large and thin crust. It was plenty for four people and leftovers. We ordered:

• Bacon and Mushroom
• Sausage, Onion and Green Pepper

There was an option for double crust, but since it appeared to be an afterthought -- (it was itemized along with the extra cheese charge) -- we opted to just do both as single, thin crusts. Both pizzas came out about 20 minutes after ordering, piping (mouth singeing) hot -- but a good temperature after a few minutes. Overall, I think the pizzas went over really well. The first thing we all noticed was the crust, which was very thin, but held up well under the toppings. The sauce was thick and plentiful, and tasted heavily of oregano and thyme. The sausage was made at the restaurant, with good quality meat; it had a great texture and none of the chewy weirdness you sometimes encounter with lower grades. The cheese was standard, and a few of us thought that it might have been the source of saltiness in the slices, (although I think it was mostly the bacon that was responsible for that). The toppings were in good proportions; almost every bite had all ingredients and the right amount of cheese.

One thing that should be mentioned is that we went on a Wednesday night, which has karaoke starting at 8pm. This has to be the best karaoke night I've ever been to -- all of the performers were obviously regulars, (we were told that they would show up even during a tornado watch, and it turns out that there was one that night), and they sang wonderfully. They were an older crowd and sang mostly standards while some couples danced and others mingled at the bar. Also of note, the service was impeccable, truly outstanding.

As a group, we seemed to have similar opinions about the pizza. We liked the crispiness of the thin crust and the quality of the meat but thought that the cheese and mushrooms were mediocre and would have liked the pizza to be less salty.

Overall, I think Traverso's is a gem in the southwest suburbs, and it is certainly worth going to for the pizza, (and the overall experience), if you are in the area and have a car.

Chicago Pizza Club gives Traverso's a 6.2

[Meet the Members] Jennifer

Screen Name: Jen

Real Name: Jennifer

Came out of the Oven: Born in Grand Rapids, MI, but Wisconsin is tattooed on my head. That probably comes off like I'm joking.

Favorite toppings: Jalapeños, giardiniera, garlic. Pizza sauce. MEAT. Most of all, MEAT. Pepperoni (and not that tasteless wax paper that comes on Pizza Hut), sausage, cow. I hope to someday see lamb on a pizza, and that it's as amazing as it is in my dreams.

First Pizza Club Meeting: December 11th, 2008 at Palermo's

Favorite Deep Dish Pizza: Pequod's. So far.

Favorite Thin Crust Pizza: I'm not really sure, but I probably made it.

Favorite Pizza outside of Chicago: Fetalicious from Glass Nickel in Madison, WI. Dipped in ranch. Word on the street is that their pizza isn't as great now that they are franchising, so this might be null.

Had Pizza in the Motherland? I wish!

What Do You Do When Not Eating Pizza? Program computers and play with dolls.

Personal Pizza Statement: Eating pizza is an important extension to my ongoing celebration of food and all the amazing things it has done for me. After a 13 year hiatus, I have resumed eating meat, and the Pizza Club has helped along that process gloriously. Joining has also helped me sharpen my palate for fine sausages and stuff cooked in fire, along with learning how to judge, sometimes harshly, all things pizza.