Opened in Maplewood about 18 months ago by two Washington University professors (one in biology, the other in marketing) who discovered a common passion for pizza, A Pizza Story offers wood-fired Neapolitan pizzas and other Italian specialties. They created a warm setting, with some walls a beautiful shade of claret—appropriate since this place is also a wine bar and lists wine pairings for every dish. The tables are a warm wood, and the overall aura has that cozy feeling you’d expect of a century storefront building with molded tin ceilings.
Food-wise, most of the variety is in the starters and the pizzas. There are salads and dips, soups and calamari. Only three pastas are offered, but 11 different and creative pizzas. The kitchen experiments with toppings like pulled duck and lamb sausage and uses cheese not traditionally found on pizza, like fontina, manchego and gruyere. The atypical pairings don’t always work well together, or with classic pizza ingredients like tomato sauce and oregano.
A prime example is the ‘Thriller’ ($15), which has chorizo in place of the classic pepperoni. It’s simply too spicy-hot, and its heavy Spanish flavors fight the oregano that is so indigenous to pizza. A better matchup was the Space Opera ($15), which was something like a bagel and lox with cream cheese, but on a pizza crust. A generous amount of smoked salmon topped a layer of ricotta cheese, capers and fresh dill on the pie. Another successful pairing came on the Folklore ($14), which had tomato sauce, mozzarella, basil, eggplant, garlic and lemon zest. Had the eggplant been roasted and firmer, this would have been a real standout.
The pizza crusts are stellar. A large, wood-fired pizza oven dominates the back area and when those pizzas come out nice and hot, the Neapolitan crusts are simply delicious: chewy and crusty where the heat made the dough bubble up.
In the starters department, we tried a couple of classic Italian dishes: Fried Calamari ($9) and Tuscan Soup ($4). The soup was delicious, with a hearty flavor from cannelloni beans, pancetta, elbow pasta and herbs. Don’t pass it up. The calamari, alas, was too regular in shape and breading to be ‘house-made,’ which was a disappointment. The accompanying dipping sauce also could have been improved on, as it was served cold, which prevented the flavors from being realized.
Another winner, however, was the Artichoke & Eggplant Dip ($9), served with what appeared to be bread made from the pizza dough—and it was outstanding. The dip was impressive as a warm mash of roasted eggplant blended with tender artichoke hearts reminiscent of baba ganoush.
An order of Farfalle and Kale ($13) was pleasant, with lightly sautéed kale and a ‘sauce’ of crushed sundried tomatoes, which imparted good flavor—acidic and slightly tart. An undertone of wine added its distinctive flavor, and the topping of walnuts and goat cheese provided some interest in both texture and taste.
The standout dish was the Panna Cotta ($4), a loose custard topped with a very pleasant fruit reduction made with berries and balsamic vinegar. It was a dish with interest and intrigue, combining cream and vinegar to yield a flavor your mouth simply doesn’t expect. It was topped with pistachios, another nice touch, to cut the cream a bit and give you something to chomp on. Also nice is the coffee service, which comes to the table in a French press.
amuse bouche
the scene | Attractive, casual pizza restaurant
the chef/co-owner | Muhammad Alhawagri
the prices | Starters, $4 to $9; pizzas, $12 to $16
the favorites | Tuscan Soup, Panna Cotta, Artichoke & Eggplant Dip
chef chat» muhammad alhawagri
pedigree | I’m self-taught; on a trip to Italy, I became fascinated with pizza.
favorite ingredients | Flour and basil
favorite local restaurant | Little Saigon
favorite cookbook | Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi
most memorable dining experience | At Il Tartufa in Italy, where I ate black truffle soup baked inside an onion.
guilty pleasure food | Ho Hos
7278 manchester road | 314.899.0011
Photos: Bill Barrett
