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FOOD : SIDEDISH |
Margherita
Pizza
Rembrandt's, 741 N. 23rd St. 215.763.2228. www.rembrandts.com
In Rome there's a pizza place called Da Baffetto, hidden in the warren of ancient streets. You'd never find it again by looking at a map, but could make your way there by remembering you start at the church with the one-armed statue of the Virgin Mary, take a left at the end of the piazza, go past the overpriced trattoria where you ate mediocre pasta and double back at the building with the gorgeous carved wood door. Just when you begin to doubt yourself, make a right and you'll see the fluorescent glow of Baffetto.
Inside Baffetto is the best pizza in the world. (I didn't make it to Naples, which claims to have the best pizza in the world, so until my as-yet-unnamed patron wants to send me there, Baffetto is it.) The inside is ugly, the waiters are rude and the wait first for a table and then for your pizza is interminable. But it's worth it. It's even worth buying a plane ticket to Rome for the weekend just to try it.
Every pizza that emerged from Baffetto's oven was a masterpiece. A crust that was crisp and thin yet still able to support the weight of four melted cheeses. Blistered, but never burnt. Never soggy, never not melted enough, never arriving at the table in less than an hour. All made by one scowling little man at the brick oven in the center of the restaurant, and you got them on his time. They were so good you could have waited all night.
There's nothing quite like that in pizza-poor Philadelphia, but the wood-fired pizza at Rembrandt's is as close as you can get. This is a respectable, at times exceptional pie. The crust is thin, just slightly bigger than a tortilla, and irregularly shaped, alternately crispy and filled with unexpected puffs of fluffed-up dough. The classic margherita version, topped with plum tomatoes, shreds of basil and mozzarella is crave-worthy. There are other varieties (including a peanut butter, banana and honey, which seems a little sacrilegious), but this simple preparation shows off this style best. You'll find it in Fairmount, which, fortunately, is very easy to find on a map. (K.H.)