Dish of the Day: Tony's Coal Fired Tomato Basil Pizza

September 15, 2010 3:50 pm

Dish of the Day: Tony's Coal Fired Tomato Basil Pizza

$Behind the Burner: Dish of the Day: Tony\'s Coal Fired Tomato Basil Pizza$

Tony Gemigani is a nine-time world pizza champion. So I guess it wasn't such a bad idea to taste a pizza made by the same hands that created the Best Pizza Margherita at the 2007 World Pizza Cup (yes, this exists). And he was also the only American to do so. Nevertheless, I am always a bit biased when it comes to New York brick oven pizza (even when comparing it to Italy). There truly is nothing else like a New York slice in the world. But one dish on the exact opposite side of the country, may come close.

The grand opening of Tony's Coal Fired Pizza and Slice House steered clear of both New York and Italian territory. Instead, it graced its doughy presence in San Francisco, the only pizza house in Northern California with a coal fired oven (we already knew this was the slow coast of the country, but at least it came to its senses). Despite the variety of dishes, which include Chicago Style Italian Beef sandwiches and New York Deli Sandwiches, this slice house bears its culinary pride upon originality with The Original Tomato Basil Pizza.

This 15-inch pizza is cooked to perfection in the city's first 1,000 degree coal-fire oven. A cross between thin crusted Florentine pies and New York grease-your-heart-out slices, you wonder how such a saucy beauty ended up on the West Coast. Yet all jokes aside, the fresh basil atop a slightly charred melted mozzarella balanced by what seems to be home grown tomatoes crushed by someone's Nonna is definitely worth any pizza lover's money.

Tip: Check out Pizza Napoletana, Tony's other restaurant next door for even more variations on Napolean pizza.

Tony may save you the trip to Naples, and even made me think twice about my New York pizza. Now, that's some saucy present.

Tony's Coal Fired Pizza and Slice House
1556 Stockton Street,
San Francisco CA 94133
415.835.9888