I’m crazy about pizza! When my best friends, Bob and Kristin asked me where I wanted to go for my belated birthday dinner I suggested the new pizza place just east of the U. City loop, Pi. I was curious to taste their pizza, which was being described as San Francisco style. During the 2 1/2 years I lived in San Francisco I had never heard of this style of pizza.
One of the owners, Chris Sommers, stopped by our table to say hello, so I took the opportunity to ask him about San Francisco style pizza. He explained that there is a pizza restaurant there called Little Star which opened about 3 years ago. They make a unique deep dish pizza using corn meal in the crust. Chris said the corn meal not only gives the crust a great flavor but also makes it sturdy enough to support the weight of the extra ingredients of deep dish pizza. Pi purchased the rights to the dough recipe and introduced it to the St. Louis pizza repertoire.
With my curiosity satisfied, my friends and I proceeded to place our order. We decided to create our own deep dish pizza w/ roasted garlic, mushrooms, campari tomatoes, basil and mozzarella. We also ordered one of the signature thin crust pizzas – The East Loop – which is topped w/ mozzarella, pesto, roasted chicken, mushrooms and onions.
The pizzas were both delicious! I preferred the thin crust, but Bob and Kristin loved the deep dish so much there was a battle over the last piece!! We ordered a bottle of the Renwood Syrah to go with our pies. A great match! To finish off our meal Chris brought out a complimentary piece of apple pie which is also baked w/ the deep dish corn meal crust. The apple pie was exquisito!
The service at Pi was excellent and the atmosphere is laid back and fun!
Deep dish; thin crust; apple pie
Shots of the interior
The side room; the patio out front; Bob and the birthday boy
Thanks Bob and Kristin for treating me to a delicious birthday meal!!
Ciao,
Happy belated birthday! Pizza sounds like a fabulous way to celebrate! :)
Belated Happy Birthday, Bruno!
Ooh, now I have to go and try Pi too. The deep dish looks really deep!! Their pizzas can’t be better than the one you made, though.
Dianne – Thanks for the birthday wishes! If you’re ever in St. Louis I recommend you try this restaurant for pizza. The deep dish crust is unique and delicious!
Nupur – Thanks so much for the birthday greetings and the compliment about my pizza!! I think you’ll love the deep dish and thin crust pizzas at Pi – they’re both yummy!
Bruno,
Great to meet you that night!
Thanks so much for your kind words about Pi.
Chris
Chris – It was nice meeting you too! You’ve created a great restaurant and the praise is well deserved. We had a fantastic time at Pi!
Hi Bruno – I don’t know if cornmeal crust pizza originated in San Francisco but the first time I had cornmeal crust pizza was in the late seventies/early eighties at the original Ruby’s Restaurant which if memory serves was on the corner of 4th and Brannan. Later on there was a place in the Gough/Hayes area called Vicolo that also served cornmeal crust pizza. Ruby’s moved a few blocks from the original location but has closed in the last five years or so and the same goes for Vicolo. There are probably others doing this type of pizza in the city now but Little Star is getting the hype. I’ve been twice but think that both Ruby’s and Violo’s made a better pie. Anyway, I live in Sonoma County now and had a craving for a cornmeal pie so here I am surfing the web trying to find a place in this area, came across your blog and thought you might be interested in a little San Francisco cornmeal crust pizza history. (;>
Brian – Thanks for the S.F. pizza info and thanks for visiting brunosdream! I hope you find the home of cornmeal crust in Sonoma…