Monday, October 4, 2010

Pizzology - Revisit


Sometimes you just have to go back to places you like so you don’t go totally insane you know? So it was a Saturday night, and we had just finished my son’s birthday party with like twelve 4 and 5 year olds running wild. We needed wine. Fast. Luckily, I had planned ahead and realized by the end of this day, we would certainly need some adult time, so I had wisely planned for a babysitter. We were so brain dead we couldn’t decide where to go but we knew we wanted something causal and good. We decided Pizzology sounded like a plan.

I really enjoy the wine list at Pizzology. I know I don’t usually talk about the wine, but Pizzology has a great menu of Italian wines that you don’t often see in restaurants (thanks mainly, I think, to Neal Brown's wife Lindy who is a Certified Sommelier). We knew we would be happy in this regard and we weren’t disappointed. We quickly ordered a bottle and began the debate over what to eat.

We started with “Tony’s Fritters.” These were something that, up to now, we hadn’t tried, but always meant to. They are zucchini fritters with fresh parmesan grated over the top and served swimming in a little bath of truffle oil. These were superb. We really liked them. The zucchini flavor was delicate and nicely highlighted by the truffle oil. There wasn’t so much of the oil that you were annoyed by it overtaking the other flavors and the fritters had just the right amount of crispness on the edges, but were still moist and light in the middle. These little fritters would be hard to pass up in the future.
We also shared a large chop salad (we were informed you get much more “bang for your buck” sharing one large ($8) rather than getting two smalls (at $4 each)). So I really enjoy the acidity in this salad mixed with the ingredients that come together to make what is essentially an ideal chop in my mind (because I really like the ingredients). There is chopped romaine, prosciutto, blue cheese, shallot, olives, and roasted tomatoes with a citrus vinaigrette with a nice kick. I will say though, this salad is not always super consistent. While 75% of the time, this salad is dead on, I have had one that was so acidic I couldn’t finish it and I have also noticed a change in the proportion of other ingredients to lettuce. It used to be that there was almost too much of the other ingredients as compared to the lettuce. Now, there is a lot less of everything else (other than maybe the blue cheese) and much more of the well dressed leaves. I don’t necessarily think this is a bad thing; I am just still trying to figure out exactly where the salad is going to end up.

Anyhow, it was also a tribute night to Jimi Hendrix at Pizzology. Certainly something I can get behind, so we went with the special pizza created in his honor. It included Purple Haze goat cheese with lavender and fennel pollen, purple basil, and two kinds of mushrooms... roasted trumpet and portobello I believe. It sounded interesting so we went for it since it was only offered that night. It was good. Maybe not my favorite pizza toppings ever, but quite tasty. I liked the way you got a kick of the goat cheese along with the mellow richness of the mushrooms. The purple basil added a super fresh herby crunch. But really, the real star of this show is the crust. The freshly baked, slightly irregular and a little charred crust is what makes this pizza for me. It is chewy and crunchy at the same time. The pizza is consistently good at Pizzology.

So the place was quite busy, although we got a table as soon as we walked in (one of the last though). The service was a little stressed, but ours did not suffer too much. But like I said, sitting with our bottle of wine, we were perfectly content after the day we had. As we sat there though, we discussed the fact that hubby had not yet been to Napolese (the other Neapolitan style pizza place in Indy) and that I really needed to do a revisit there as well. So guess what? That is exactly what we decided to do. Look for my revisit to Napolese next week. But in the meantime, what are your favorite Pizzology menu items or pizza toppings? I was so glad I expanded my horizons on this visit, I want to try something else new next time.

Pizzology
13190 Hazel Dell Parkway
Carmel, IN 46032
317-844-2554


Pizzology on Urbanspoon

14 comments:

  1. We ate at Pizzology Saturday night too, and had a terrific mushroom pizza. I love the fritters, but lost the appetizer round to my husband. (Breadsticks - which are great too!)

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  2. of the 4-5 pizzas we've had, I actually enjoy the margherita the best. Though I must say I've consistently found their pies to be a bit salty (and have never heard mention of that in a review)... this coming from a salt-lover, btw.

    The citronette dressing on the chop is something I'm trying to emulate at home - I haven't quite nailed it.

    I was very disappointed in the one pasta dish I've tried (cappellini pomodoro - far from al dente, and in hindsight I wish I'd spoken up about it). I'm eager to give them another shot!

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  3. I love Pizzology but can't seem to convince my husband that it's worth the effort to drive to Carmel very often, especially since we live within walking distance of Napolese. We always stick with a plain pepperoni and sausage pizza but the main reason I go is for the breadsticks! I've heard that Pizzology is opening a new location in the future - anyone know where that might be?

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  4. My two favorites are the Lombardy and Margherita. I enjoy the crust immensely and haven't ever found it too salty (although it is noticeably more salty than other pizzas). The tomato sauce is one item that I can't get over. It is amazing and I normally don't eat red sauce of any kind since the acidity isn't great for my stomach. There is only one other pizza with red sauce that I loved as much as this and it was just outside of the ruins of Pompeii. The trip to Carmel is much quicker.

    I had the risotto a few weeks back and it was more firm than I prefer, but the flavor was great. On top of everything else, they serve @sunkingbrewing and usually get special kegs not found on their "traditional" brew list. I'll keep going back for amazing pizza, local beer and a great atmosphere. Follow them on twitter for updates on special pies, events, and new beer being tapped: @pizzology

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  5. you know, I do think the pies are slightly salty as well, but I acutally like it that way myself. Nice to hear you all like the margherita so much--I was thinking the margherita with an egg on this trip but was convinced by the special. Next time.

    Have not yet tried the breadsticks, will have to add to my list for next time also.

    Don't know about the new location...maybe someone else does?

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  6. Broad Ripple - I 1st saw mention of a 2nd location here:

    http://onegastrognome.blogspot.com/2010/09/reruns.html

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  7. Both my wife and I like The Old Kentucky Rome best - the figs and prosciutto are delicious. A close second for me is the Homemade Sausage with the fresh fennel shaved on top.

    I would also highly recommend the pasta bolognese. It's easily some of the best pasta I've had in town, although I would have real difficulty ordering it instead of a pizza. :D

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  8. Jessica in NoblesvilleOctober 4, 2010 at 7:31 PM

    I often get Pizzology to go, it's on the way home from work. I usually order the 4 cheese pizza and ask them to add pepperoni ... it's just perfect! I've had many of their risottos, but these are like the three little bears ... some were good, some were great, and one or two were just plain terrible. I also recommend the pasta bolognese, it's wide noodles with a shredded meat, almost like an italian pot roast with pasta.

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  9. thanks to all of you for the great suggestions...

    anyone else?

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  10. Re: Neal Brown's supposed new place: What I heard from one of the staff at Recess was that it was supposed to be directly across from them. My understanding is also that it isn't intended to be a "second Pizzology"/pizza place.

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  11. I'd heard via staff @ Pizzology that Neal is opening a taqueria at 49th and College, across from Recess (presumably in the empty space that used to be a quick mart/Sam's Gyros years ago?).

    Then again he was saying a while back he was gonna do a hot dog stand downtown, but that didn't pan out.

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  12. The four cheese and the eggplant pizza (a topping I'm not normally a huge fan of) are my favorites.

    The grilled romaine salad is fabulous and led to me grilling heads of romaine on the grill all summer long.

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  13. I am with Nick on both of his suggestions. Plus, anyone that is named Nick must have a killer palate.

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  14. There was never any plan for a Hot Dog concept, but there was some interest in a Taco Cart (made from a Hot Dog cart). MCHD wouldn't allow it siting that the only things that can be served from a hot dog cart are dogs. Don't ask me. Tiger and Taco is still something I want to do. We'll see if the stars align. P2 will most likely not be in Broad Ripple, though stranger things have happened. Cheers.

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