Polpo Pizza Co. in action at Darwin Brewing Co. / COOPER LEVEY-BAKER
Polpo Pizza Co.
Location varies; visit website for full calendar
993-5263 or polpopizzaco.com
This is the umpteenth entry in a weekly column dedicated to eats that are cheap. If you have an idea for a place to feature in Cheap Eats, comment below, email me at cheapeatssrq@gmail.com or hit me up on Twitter:@LeveyBaker.
The secret to great pizza is pretty simple: killer crust. Prepared and cooked right, pizza dough can elevate even the most generic ingredients into something special. Done wrong, no crust can be saved by even the most creative and delicious of toppings.
Polpo Pizza Co. comes correct when it comes to crust.
The brainchild of Danni Bleil and Tom Baril, Polpo bakes up its wonderful pies in a 1951 farm truck that's been outfitted with an Italian wood-burning oven, slinging 'za at private parties and fun spots like the Shamrock and Perq. Tonight, the cream-colored truck has hauled its kiln up to Bradenton's Darwin Brewing Co. to take part in the brewery's first Local Evolution Craft Market, part of a collabo between Darwin and Geraldson Community Farm.
The fire's already blazing when my wife, Rachel, and our friends, Justin and Alejandra, pull up, kiddos in tow. While Polpo's website advertises a full menu of options, including tempting goodies like wood-fired artichoke dip and a BLT bruschetta, the truck is solely whipping out 12-inch pizzas tonight, with which we are all A-OK.
Polpo Pizza Co.'s Bee Sting pizza / COOPER LEVEY-BAKER
While we wait, those of us who are not pregnant sip some of Darwin's award-winning beers and munch on organic popcorn—excuse me, "peacecorn." The folks at Geraldson are here, along with a wide range of other cool vendors. I stock up on locally raised rabbit meat from Grove Ladder Farm and sweet and briny pickles from Sunshine Canning while yogis made more pliable by beer pose in the grass and an electric blues trio starts roaring.
When our pizzas arrive, we tear into them, which is when we discover Polpo's amazing way with crust. The bread is highly irregular, puffy and black in spots and riddled with air pockets both tiny and big. Like the best crusts, it blends a crispy exterior with a snappy, chewy inside. The flavor combines toasted wheat with char, and a surprising touch of sweetness. "Dat dough tho," says Justin, his eyes rolling back in his head.
The crust is so tasty I don't really care what's on top, but what's on top is awfully good, too. My favorite combo is the Bee Sting ($15). Garlic, chilies, oregano, basil, mozzarella and spicy Calabrese salumi are baked with the dough. To finish it off, Polpo grates fresh pecorino on top and drizzles the whole thing with honey. The mix of sweet and spicy and lactic and fatty knocks me out.
Polpo Pizza Co. in action at Darwin Brewing Co. / COOPER LEVEY-BAKER
Also quite tasty is the Delicioso ($15), a white pizza topped with garlic, mozzarella, provolone, cherry tomatoes, arugula, Parmigiano-Reggiano and more honey. The Pig & Goat ($15), meanwhile, is loaded with tomatoes, scamorza, bacon, goat cheese, garlic and onions. Very good.
Polpo is just getting started, which may explain the only hiccup of the night: the wait time. It took maybe an hour to get three pizzas. And since there were no seats near the truck, and since the blues band was cranking, we couldn't hear when the staff called our name. The confusion was straightened out, and the slices were worth the wait, but the snafu exemplifies the challenges food trucks face that sit-down spots don't. It's impossible for Polpo's small staff to service an area as large as the brewery, but the setup didn't make it comfortable to wait near the truck for as long as the pizzas took.
I'm confident Polpo will work out the kinks. With crust like that, it better.
