(delanceyseattle.com) – Ballard/Crown Hill
How I heard of this place: Ashley and I were taking a walk from one friends house to another and came across the delicious smells and large crowds lined up inside and onto the sidewalk of the small “hole in the wall’ pizzeria.
Type of cuisine: Woodfire oven pizza in the neighborhood.
Ambiance: Limited space and seating in the small neighborhood location amidst other small neighborhood establishments along NW 70th Street. Outside seating for about 12 people is available on the wrought-iron fenced sidewalk patio. Small metallic stools at tiny wooden tables are available for dining or patrons waiting to be seated inside; at similar small tables in an intimate setting. Floor to ceiling windows line the front side of the restaurant, with the woodfire oven and kitchen in plain sight.
What I ordered: The limited menu offered three options, including one salad, beef carpaccio and crostini. We skipped the appetizers and went straight for the pizzas! Two of my dining companions opted for the house-made sweet tea and one ordered the Mexican Coke (as they had run out of root beer) to start. For pizzas, we had one order of the sausage ($15) topped with tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, aged mozzarella, Grana (cheese) and housemade pork fennel sausage. To his left, another dining companion ordered the pepperoni ($13.50) with tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, aged mozzarella, Grana and crispy Zoe’s pepperoni. Continuing on to his left was our third dining companion, who chose the simple pizza margherita ($12) lightly coated with tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, olive oil and fresh basil. The last two of us shared one pizza margherita and one Crimini ($12) topped with Crimini mushroom, fresh mozzarella, thyme and a drizzle of olive oil. We asked our server to set aside four of the bittersweet chocolate chip cookies topped with gray salt ($3.50 each) for dessert.
What I loved: Of the two pizzas I sampled, I was torn between the beautiful lightness of the olive oil drizzled over the Crimini mushroom pizza and the summery flavor of the fresh basil atop the smatterings of mozzarella of the margherita. The pizza margherita may have been slightly more to my liking on this venture than the slightly dry Crimini. But the thick, warm, full of large chocolate chunks cookies were to die for! And well worth a take-out trip back to Delancey.
Why I loved it: Despite the limited menu, length of time it took to get our food, forcing us to eat two of our four cookies after over an hour of waiting for our dinner to arrive, and the less than comfortable stool seating, I loved that this small, neighborhood establishment is bustling and alive from the time it opens at five o’clock! When you go, expect a long wait time (about 80 minutes) for your pizza(s) to arrive! Select one of the three or four appetizers to start if you are hungry after a full weekend of activities! If you go prepared to wait, or have the time to wait, the pizza is well worth it.
Cost: Slightly high for a neighborhood pizzeria ($12-$15 per individual pizza).