Get Over It

I’D LIKE TO TAKE this opportunity to speak to a certain brand
of East Coast pizza snob. I understand back in New York you had some
great pizza. Okay, maybe even transcendent pizza. Good for you. Now you
live in Portland and, I hate to tell you, you’re in the worst kind of
long-distance relationship. You may be roaming our streets thinking
fondly of your favorite slice back in your old neighborhood, but right
now, that pizza is having a grand old time with someone else. It’s
never going to return your phone calls. It’s never going to
visit—even if it did, it’d be cold, different.

Sure, you can go back, spend a blissful evening, just you and the
pie, behind the fogged windows of the pizzeria. But you’re never going
to find that same pizza in this town. It’s not just the flavor, it’s
the smell, the look, and the accent of the guy tossing the
dough—there’s so much informing your pizza love.

Let me give you some advice. Cherish the memory of that pizza, but
get over it. Frankly, all of your whining is getting tiresome. I might
understand if Portland didn’t have a robust pizza scene, but it
does. So, when you say something along the lines of, “There’s no such
thing as good pizza in Portland,” that’s just memory making you an
idiot. Snap out of it! Go out and enjoy a local slice for what it is:
amazing pizza… in Portland.

Why not try Al Forno Ferruzza? Since opening their NE Alberta shop
earlier this year they’ve received a reputation as one of the better,
and stonier, pizza joints in the city. Believe it. The first time I
encountered their magic pizza bus, they had just run into the side of a
building at about one mile an hour. In another instance, they’d
forgotten I’d paid less than a minute after handing them my money.

So, there’s a small chance your pie will arrive with toppings
different than what you’d ordered from the regularly changing roster of
fresh, seasonal ingredients, and though the flakiness of the fully
baked staff can be annoying, they bring consistently outstanding pizza
to the table.

First, their sauce is bright and fresh, with a lush tomato tang,
just enough fragrant garlic, and lovely oregano herbaceousness. Second,
the dough is superb. It’s a good thing that the ceiling of Al Forno’s
Alberta shop is so lofty. These guys toss their dough to great heights
until it’s impossibly thin—the glutinous elasticity creating a
pie with a just-chewy-enough center and a light, crisp outer crust
yielding a pleasant crackle between the teeth.

While the pizza is outstanding (try the classic, basic pizza
margherita), other options are just as good. Among them is the calzone.
The crisped sleeve of dough has that crusty crackle, but inside are
creamy pockets of slightly sweet ricotta melding with gooey mozzarella.
It’s completely satisfying with your choice of two additional
ingredients.

Al Forno Ferruzza is a necessary stop in the Portland pizza scene,
but if that isn’t enough (along with all the other fine pizza in town)
to stop you from pining, there’s a humble pizza cart in Southeast
Portland on the rise.

Wy’east has a five-pie menu (each 12 inches) and a small gas-powered
brick and adobe oven that can reach up to 800 degrees. Created in the
humble trailer painted to resemble the alpine slopes of Mt. Hood (the
Native American name for which is Wy’east), the pies are baked fast and
hot. In fact, at times maybe too hot, too fast—one recent pie had
a portion of the crust over-charred for my taste. However, that’s a
small quibble, and one I suspect will be solved after they dial it in a
bit more. As it stands, just shy of three months after opening, Wy’east
is making a fantastic pepperoni pie.

It doesn’t hurt they’re using pepperoni from Otto’s Sausage Kitchen,
blending the artisanal sausage funk of the meat with pungent Pecorino
Romano and mozzarella. The result is a salty, gooey pie, both familiar
but startlingly skewed with tangy tones.

The dough at Wy’east is very good (though not as good as Al Forno),
with a chewy center and a crisp but resilient crust. If you prefer a
crust with less give, this is your place.

I expect the future is bright for Wy’east, as they already have a
pack of rabid regulars and tend to sell out of pies.

Could these two Portland pizza joints garner the support of all you
transplanted New York pizza snobs? I believe it’s possible. But first,
you’ll have to have a good cry, mourn the loss of your East Coast
favorite, pick yourself up, and get back out in the game. I assure you
there’s pizza to love in this town, and it’ll love you right back.