Where have I been? What am I up to? What’s happened to me? Where are the restaurant reviews? Those are probably some of the questions that inquiring minds have been asking about my disappearance. Well, the long answer short is “changes”. The holidays last year brought about a hiatus from restaurant reviews but my planned return in January was interrupted by a condo purchase. Yes, I am the proud owner of my own domicile on Capitol Hill. But that wasn’t to be the only change. Shortly after closing on my new home, I was laid-off from my job. That was a little bit less of a surprise but still a wrench in my ointment; mixaphorically speaking. Less than a week after being told to hit the street by my ex-employer I was able to secure gainful employment with a firm that was within walking distance of my new home. With all that crises and stress cleansed from system I felt emptiness. An emptiness that could only be filled with food; what better way to fill that space then by including it in a review. So as I strolled around my new neighborhood today I remembered a new restaurant opening I’d heard about back around New Year’s Day - Volunteer Park Cafe & Marketplace.

While a bit more of a walk than I expected from my home near Denny and Olive, it was enough to get the blood flowing and really stoke the appetite. Once at the cafe I was reminded of the Fremont location of Essential Baking Company. Open and airy with cramped crew quarters behind the counter. The counter itself made up of a cash register and the pastry case; behind which was the Panini grill and chef’s work station. A line had formed before I arrived but was quickly dispersed by the quick order taking of the staff. Once I had my order placed I sought out somewhere to sit. While seating was plentiful the choice spots on the banquettes near the windows were at a premium. I instead had to opt for a more public spot in the middle of the dining area. While my order was quick to be taken, it took a while for my food to come up once it was done. If you are looking for a quick meal stick with a salad or something from the pastry case. But soon my name was called and grabbed my two plates. I told you I had a void to fill.

My first plate was a Roast Beef and Caramelized Onion Panini ($7.95). The large slices of peasant bread were pressed thin and crunchy with golden brown grill marks. Inside, the sandwich was packed with extremely thin slices of tender roast beef. My first bite was filled with beefy juiciness and gooey Gorgonzola cheese. Salty and meaty the sandwich had an undertone of brininess from an olive tapenade that spiked the filling of my Panini. In addition to meat, cheese and olives the sandwich as made more complex with the addition of caramelized onions sweetened by slow cooking in sherry. For a simple Panini sandwich there was a lot going on between these two slices of bread.

The second part of my lunch was a Phyllo Mushroom Tart ($6.95) and like its sandwich compatriot it was complex in its make-up. At first I was a little concerned with the pile of greens that obscured most of the tart. I ordered a savory pastry of mushrooms and here I have something in front of me that resembles a bowl of salad. Though I would later come to appreciate the fresh, wild complement of these well dressed greens, I rather would have preferred having half as much served to me. The mushrooms themselves, once I’d excavated them, were somewhat unremarkable. Shitake and, perhaps, cremini mushrooms they’d been cooked with various herbs and were quite substantial and meaty but not cooked near long enough to break them down into the intensely flavor morsels they could be. No, most of the flavor came from the combination of the warm, fresh chevre, caramelized onions and buttery, yet like and crispy phyllo. This foundation proved to be very rich and almost too much but, as I mentioned above, there was the lovely green arugula salad. With their fresh-picked, wild countenance lightening the overall experience of the tart I welcomed each forkful, dotted with onion, cheese and mushroom.

Is the Volunteer Park Cafe & Marketplace a destination restaurant? In my opinion, no. I say this because I feel that you can get similar quality and menu items at many cafes around the Seattle area. I will, however, recommend that if you are out for a sunny (or even cloudy) stroll in Volunteer Park that you take a short side trip to the cafe to imbibe in a soda, coffee, tea or even a beer or wine along with a little something to nosh from their menu.

Looking back on my past few reviews I seem to have taken an easier road in reviewing sandwiches and quick lunchtime fare. While lunch is an important meal my hope is to bring you all more reviews; especially dinner reviews. So with so much behind me I look forward to spending more quality time eating out and at the keyboard of my computer.

Of all the things that can make or break the success of a restaurant the biggest, and most apparent to potential diners, are photos of the food served within said restaurant’s walls. Think back to the last time you were walking past a sketchy Chinese restaurant that had faded pictures of menu items pasted to their street facing windows. The flaking, sun-baked images of beef, chicken and vegetables, turned slightly moldy from the effects of condensation forming between glass and paper. None of this screams, “Delicious cuisine inside”. More times than not I turn away from those places. So it was with Cocorico Patisserie in Kirkland. Before my first visit, a couple of weeks ago, I always shied away because the pictures that hung in the window of the sandwiches they served were poorly lit, off-colored and old looking. Again, not something one equates with quality eats. Of course what’s the saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover”?

It took a co-worker’s weeklong Cocorico binge to wise me up to the potential in this strip mall lunch spot. Every day he would come down and ask if anyone wanted to join him. A few people agreed but my bias, based upon the photos in the window, kept me from agreeing. “Not today”, I’d say; while deep inside I was saying, “Or ever, yuck”. But one day I found myself, crippled by hunger pains, standing outside their doors. Once inside I was confronted with a blend of deli/pastry counter sandwich shop and French tea room: with claret colored curtains, wrought iron patio furniture, upholstered seating and plastic statuary. Behind the counter, pasted to the wall, are more of the same poorly photographed sandwich imagery; this time serving as the menu. One thing is for sure, Cocorico serves a wide variety of International sandwiches. If you are looking for something sandwich-like from a particular country, it is likely that you’ll find it in picture form on the menu of this restaurant’s back wall.

My choice for lunch I decided would be something less than exotic, something that would be hard to get wrong - Southern Pot Roast Sandwich ($4.99). While I’m not exactly sure what makes a pot roast from the south different from say, its Northern cousin. I can say that my sandwich contained the definitive essence of what a pot roast should be - tender, moist pieces of beef that have been cooked to the point where it literally falls apart in strands. Loaded with great beefy flavor it was also rich, tasting as if it had been bathing in gravy for an hour. Each pot roast sandwich comes with one’s choice of sauce: barbeque, teriyaki or horseradish. I’m of the belief that no beef dish is complete without the addition of horseradish, so that was my choice. The sandwich came dressed with lettuce, tomato and pickle. This last little bit, the pickle, is something which I wouldn’t normally request on a sandwich of this sort. But somehow it works, the brininess mixes with the richness of the meat and the spark of horseradish. I’d like to say it makes something of a tartar sauce but that’s not quite right. All of this was stuffed inside a freshly made demi-French roll of decent size. Unfortunately all you get with your sandwich order is a sandwich only; no chips or drink or dessert. There is dessert available in their large pastry case but the availability and variety can be spotty at times.

All-in-all Cocorico makes a good lunch and I look forward to trying many of the other sandwiches offered via faded photos. Of course lunch is the only time you can stop in as they are only open from 10:30 to 3:00, Monday through Friday. While this makes for significantly reduced opportunities for most people’s repast, if you work in the Totem Lake area, it adds one more selection to my list of nearby “out of the office” lunch spots. I may even offer some of my own sandwich shots to be used in the place of their current imagery.

While some may not think that three restaurants qualify as an in-depth review of pizza delivery for my so-called Delivery Pizza Week, I challenge anyone to eat five pizzas over a six day time period and not get tired of cheese and sauce. I’m sure there are some people here in Seattle who could easily eat pizza every day of the week but dear reader; I’m not one of them. So I decided upon one more restaurant that was within my zone of delivery, Pudge Bros. Pizza. For an overall ranking of all three pizza places; scroll down the page.

I called in for the New York, New York ($10.99/Small [10″], $13.99/Medium [12″], $17.99/Large [14″], $21.99/Xtra-Large [18″]) to keep this tasting simple. With a short list of just four toppings I was reminded of a sausage grinder when I placed my order. In fact, when the pizza arrived, the sausage consisted of sliced link Italian sausage. Mild in pork flavor but juicy and bursting with fennel and spices the meat could easily have stood on its own. The vegetables were julienne thin, retained their crunch and were amply provided. An extra cheesy pie, the thick layer of creamy, mild mozzarella tended to not want to separate from other slices, pulling cheese and toppings away from its neighbors. Sauced liberally, the tomato base tasted of canned tomato paste. Though zesty and slightly spicy it was overly thick and a little off-putting. As for the crust, it suffered from Jekyll & Hyde syndrome. Near the center it was soggy and doughy while out closer to the edge it was lightly crispy with a slightly chewy, pillow-like interior - close to perfect for me. It was just a shame the whole crust couldn’t have had that texture.

So what have I learned during Delivery Pizza Week (Our “Delivery Pizza Week and a Half” if you will)? Here is my breakdown of the three local pizza deliveries I sampled, in recommended order:

1) Pudge Bros. Pizza, Pagliacci Pizza (Tie)
This was a tough one as both places had positives and negatives. Pudge brothers had soggy crust closer to the center of the pie while the “butt-end” had what I consider to be very good crust - crunchy exterior, pillow-y interior and a slight chew to it without my feeling as though I’m chewy bubble gum. The toppings were plentiful and fresh while the sauce tasted canned. The cheese was creamy and slightly sweet as what I’d expect mozzarella to be though it was a tad stringy. Pagliacci’s cheese on the other hand, to me, was a negative. With a splotchy texture and overly nutty flavor it just wasn’t what I think of when I imagine pizza cheese. But on the plus side, the crust was pretty good and I think it could easily stand up against shops like Via Tribunali and Tutta Bella. Likewise the sauce was fresh, a little sweet, a little tart, like I’d expect from restaurant pizza. Between these two I think an individual can find something that they’d enjoy in the way of delivery pizza. In the end, I felt they both came in neck-and-neck.

2) Zeeks Pizza
The pizza from Zeeks has been re-classified in my book as a good stand-by. From pale, meek dough to ho-hum toppings and an expensive price tag, this is a spot that I would call if the delivery times are long for one of the above two.

There are a lot of options when it comes to pizza delivery in Seattle. From national and local chains to mom and pops, everyone has their favorites that they are loyal to. Hopefully this past week has been helpful in making a decision on where to turn for a pizza, delivered to one’s home, which straddles the line between artisan-style pizzeria and fast food chain. The truest answer to what to order, pizza-wise, is to ask yourself what you are looking for. Is it great, crisp crust, complex sauce or mild, fresh mozzarella? If the answer is that all three need to be perfect, you may need to go to a sit-down restaurant. But if you’ve open to two out of three, and you want the convenience of eating your pie in track pants and a ratty t-shirt, then there are delivery options awaiting you.

There are so many different ways, styles if you will, of making pizza; from Neapolitan, Sicilian, New York, California and even French, with their pissaladiere. I personally grew up eating two styles, New York(ish) and, when visiting my dad’s side of the family, Chef Boyardee box pizza. Don’t get me wrong, that branch of my family can cook. Grandpa was one inventive cook and made many a family dinner worth making a reservation for today. But one thing none of my family could ever quite master was bread making; so pizza dough was resigned to what could be made from a mix. The reason for this history lesson about my family has to do with the recent pizza delivery I had from Pagliacci Pizza. No, the dough didn’t taste as though it came from a box but the cheese, well, the cheese hit a definite note in my memory of pizza from a time long since passed.

I ordered two pizzas from Pagliacci, The Original ($8.99/Small [11″], $12.49/Medium [13″], $14.99/Large [17″]) and a Salumi’s Spicy Pepperoni ($12.99/Small [11″], $16.49/Medium [13″], $18.99/Large [17″]). I was reminded, upon opening both boxes, of the cheese pizzas that my family would produce from their Chef Boyardee boxes. The mottled texture, the slightly orange, butter fat layer of grease that comes from a finely grated, drier texture cheese. I bit into The Original first, the crust a nice contrast between chewy (Not rubbery) and crunchy. While, again, not a wood oven fired crust this pizza had that combination of crispness and pliability for folding which is most often found in New York style pizzas. The sauce was plentiful, fresh tasting, sweet and just a little tangy with hints of basil here and there. The cheese though was not what I was expecting; it tasted like the cheese that used to come in the boxed pizza kits. While I was hoping for a mild, smooth and slightly sweet mozzarella what I actually got was drier with a nutty flavor. While I don’t think Pagliacci uses powdered boxed cheese they definitely are using a cheese blend that includes something other than mozzarella. If I had to venture a guess I’d say it is a heavy dose of Parmesan or Pecorino.

The Salumi’s Spicy Pepperoni was virtually the same pizza with the exception of thinly sliced (Shaved) rounds of fresh pepperoni scattered across the small surface area of the pizza. The meat topping was rich with pork flavor and hints of fresh spice and a slightly vinegary undertone that just flitted on the tip of the tongue. After getting through a bite or two though is when one experiences the heat. Not heavy-handed but spicy and piquant enough to let you know that you are indeed eating spicy sausage.

If I had to sum up Pagliacci Pizza in one word it would be unique, much like the city of Seattle itself. While many of the elements of the pizzas I tried from Pagliacci can be found in other cities, in other forms and in different venues; Pagliacci has found a way to bring them together as a whole. I won’t say that I disliked my recent pizza experience with them but for me, when it comes to pizza, they just don’t have what I’m looking for. Though if I’m looking to reminisce about my childhood, and I need something to kick start my memories, then Pagliacci might be the place for me to turn to.

November is an unusual month for me. The time changes, light fades, the birthday rolls around and, of course, there’s Thanksgiving. With so many changes in one thirty day time period I find myself neglecting things that normally are a major part of my day-to-day routine, like eating out (And updating this website). As I downshift into “Winter Mode” and begin to plan for happenings during the holiday months I tend to crave easily made, home cooked meals and whatever I can have delivered to my house. As Thanksgiving faded away the last thing I wanted to think about was cooking, and with shopping, college and professional football playoffs and winter get-togethers on the horizon, I felt I should put together reviews of a delivery food that is near and dear to most people’s hearts - pizza. So welcome to delivery pizza week.

Pizza week, most likely, will be broken into several different review weeks over the next year but for now, we’ll look at three or four of the most common Seattle pizza delivery institutions. As for national chain pizza places, well, they have their own marketing departments and I’m sure you all know what to expect from them so they won’t be included here. The first review on the block is Zeeks Pizza. Zeeks has come to be my delivery pizza standard, primarily since it was the first place I ordered a pizza from when I moved to Seattle. Much of my loyalty to Zeeks has to do with the fact that I can place an order completely online. No waiting for someone to answer a phone, no misheard order and no being placed on hold. One can go to their website, design your own pizza, order salads or request one of their specialty pies.

So it was I decided to place an order for a Puget Pounder ($18.25/Medium [12″], $20.95/Large [16″]) and a Grand Salami ($18.25/Medium [12″], $20.95/Large [16″]). The pizzas arrived within thirty minutes and after spending a few minutes taking some glamour shots I dove into the Grand Salami. The first thing I noticed was the slightly tart, vinegar-y, piquant-ness of the pepperoncini slices which gave a nice counterpoint to the slightly sweet mozzarella cheese. The salami was mild in flavor and a bit drier than I would have liked. Perhaps it could be placed beneath the cheese to allow the butter fats to give it some moisture. As for the roasted red peppers, either the slices need to be larger or they should just be omitted altogether as they lent nothing to the overall pizza. As for the standard elements of the pizza, the crust and sauce: the crust was chewy and rubber-like with little in the way of golden-brown deliciousness and the sauce was meek. This is definitely cooked-in-a-metal-pan, delivery pizza.

For the Puget Pounder the crust had the same deficiencies but the sauce had a bit more bite, a little bit spicier. This may have also been due to the pepperoni topping; plentiful, moist and meaty tasting. The Canadian bacon left much to be desired though, the texture was rubbery and fake with little flavor present. Italian sausage also made an appearance on the pizza with sweet, fennel-spiced bits dotting the each slice here and there. Of additional mention were mushrooms and olives. Worth mentioning as they were larger pieces than one gets from most pizza places yet not flavorful enough to rate any further review than just a mention.

As I sit here writing this and reviewing my impression I wonder, as I’m sure you do dear reader, why I’ve stayed with Zeeks for so long. Well, I recognize that the pizza is not Via Tribunali nor is it a Tutta Bella. But for a delivery pie it’s not bad (Though it is quite expensive for the level of quality). Hosting a group for a big game? Having a few beers while playing poker? In the middle of scary-movie-thon? Then this would be good pizza for those events. Just remember to choose toppings wisely and stick with the traditional ones for the best flavors.