Bonobo Pizza!

A sick Nancy was stuck at home with a sudden hankering for pizza.  Or a sudden hankering to get things done and take one step forward on her pizza crusade because she is crazy.  Or a hankering to walk down Pine Street in the West End.  I certainly hankered for one of those things, I’m sure. 

Smell : Bonobo itself smelled great, but the smell was very weak by the time I opened the box.  I love when the smell is sneaking out, increasing anticipation to open the box, and then when you do you get this beautiful wave of cheesy greasy yum hitting your nostrils.  But that didn’t happen today.  So, 2/5.

Appearance : Hmm.  It was a little small, it didn’t look like the perfect pizza, there wasn’t a sharp contrast between cheese and sauce, but rather they just blended together in similar color, which wasn’t appetizing.  Again, lackluster.  When I opened the box, I went “wah wah waaah” as opposed to “Awwww yeaaaah!”.  1.5/5

Cheese: A similar situation with Pizza Joint.  Bonobo uses exclusively mozzarella, so I expected it to be stringier.  It did not have the cheese flap situation, but it did not have a satisfying cheese bite, with a delicious and thick stringiness.   I think this may be because Bonobo is a classier joint, and the base cheese is seen as secondary to a stellar sauce, perfect crust and fun toppings, and even more interesting cheeses like talleggio and feta or goat or whatever.  But guys?  Cheese is really important.  2.5/5

Crust:  Crust was damn close!  The base crust was thin, but had a lovely consistency and bite, as opposed to thin crust pizzas where the crust is a) too floppy or b) too burnt and crunchy.  Damn good crust.  The outer crust was a little too crunchy for my taste, but the flavor of the dough was hearty and earthy.  Overall, I loved it.  4/5

Sauce: Eek!  Perfect amount of sauce!  Perfect taste!  God, such strong oregano and tomato-y flavors.  I was sitting in front of my computer watching movies and saying Oh My God out loud to myself.  There is no question.  Perfect sauce by Bonobo.  5/5

Overall experience: Bonobo, as a whole, will get a bump up in overall experience.  The atmosphere of the place is great, and the sheer variety on the menu…even though I’m only allowed to consider cheese…is great.  I will say that I’ve had these Greek pizza made with no cheese, and it was to die for.  And the second this study is over, I am running back to get their Talleggio with smoked tomato sauce and leeks.  THAT BEING SAID – you can’t just fancy up your pizzas with special ingrediants.  If your base isn’t down to *such an extent* that you can create a beautiful, olfactory-satisfying pizza on the structure of just cheese, sauce and crust, then you are missing something when it comes to pizza!  

Still, almost perfect crust and perfect sauce?  Plus variety, killer atmosphere and the restaurant itself is named after a kind of monkey, and there’s a link on the front page to the Bonobo Conservation Institute.  3.6 for overall experience.

Time for math, folks.  A solid three for all of the factors combined, plus our 4.1 for overall experience brings us to a solid 6.6.  This feels right.  Bonobo is good pizza, folks, but it’s good pizza when you want to pay sixteen bucks for some fucking arugula or pancetta or talleggio or joepesci or whatever.  When it comes to the basics, Pizza Joint wins.  Although they have structural challenges…that cheese just tasted better, and the overall pizza experience was better (I just had a moment of realization about how impassioned I’ve been getting about all of this.  I’d say “Man, do I need to get a life!” but I want to make clear that I have been saying “No, sorry guys.  Can’t go out.  Gotta write about pizza.”)