Christian's

subject: Christian's Pizza
take-out vehicle: 12"x12" box
cost: $6

Having not worked farther than 3 blocks away from there since 2002, I've had my fair share of Christian's pizza. In fact, Christian has been feeding me since he first opened under the "Sylvia's" banner back in '95 (I think). In all, it's probably best not to guess how much I've had, but I think it's safe to say that my share has been a wee more than just fair. Though his pizza (SPOILER ALERT!) continues to be good, I have to say that I miss the man himself.

For years, there was a certain excitement to ordering from Christian. The long single-file line usually obscured the oft-changing selection of pies, and over the surrounding chit-chat there was the very regular, and often quite loud, call for "Next!" (I wouldn't be the first to liken him to Seinfeld's soup nazi). Customers had but seconds to decide before being singled out and subjected to the stressed-out stares those around them. It was fun.

Unfortunately, I haven't seen christian shout "Next!" in quite some time. Though the faces are friendly and familiar, the experience just isn't the same.

Anyway, on this visit, I opted for two slices: one pepperoni and one with spinach, feta, tomato, and mushrooms.

The pepperoni slice was great. It was greasy, cheesy, droopy, foldable, and the pepperoni had a wonderful, spiced flavor. (Sigh) If only there were more. Still, the grease distributed the pepperoni's flavor across the slice well, and the tastes of the ingredients (crust, sauce, cheese, meat) were perfectly balanced.

Ihe other slice, while still good, was definitely the lesser of the two. With no grease to speak of, the texture came mostly from the crunch of the crust and the creaminess of the melted feta. The tomatoes added a slight bit of much-needed acidity, but the mushrooms, I was sad to realize, seemed to have come from a can. They were wet, off-puttingly smooth and shiny, and just incongruous with the other fresh ingredients beside them. And the spinach, though colorful, seemed perfunctory. Decent food, to be sure, but with wasted potential. Were it up to me, I would ditch the mushrooms all together, add a haphazard drizzle of aged balsamic, and perhaps some roasted carrot slices.

Will I go back? Of course, though I'll be hesitant to order the spinach/feta slice. It's just not worth it when compared to other, much tastier options.

I guess that's it for my inaugural post...next!