Pursuing the Perfect Pie

My lifelong search for good pizza in the DC area continued today. I found a place in Crystal City through Chow Hound, usually a reliable source. Great recommendations, started by the guy who designed the cafeteria at the American Indian Museum. Perfect, I thought.

I should have known as I saw the first pizza that the crust was not good. But instead we waited at least a half hour for our pizza. There seemed to be no way to get a knife and fork and I don’t do so well NYC-style eating my pizza. The toppings seemed to slide right off the too-thick crust into a pool on the plate. But the real kicker was the dark hair that appeared in my husband’s first slice. We made a hurried exit never to return.

Given we were both more than hungry, we headed to Clarendon to Sette Bello, a place that has good food in general. We had delicious gazpacho while we waited for our pizza. As it turns out, the Neapolitan pizza was a rival to the best pizza we had in Italy. The crust was thin but raised on the edges with little burned places. Everything stayed in place when it was cut. Served with fresh Parmesan and hot peppers. Just the way I like it.

I will definitely go back to Sette Bello to enjoy first-rate pizza. So much for Chow Hound.

Do you have a favorite pizza place?