An important question we ask when traveling is: “What is a great restaurant you can only find here?”
We’re always hoping to find the elsewhere equivalents of Little Rock gems like Café Bossa Nova, Lilly’s Dim Sum Then Some, or Chang in Sherwood. Independent, one-of-a-kind, often ethnic, these are the holes in the wall we consider destinations in themselves. Food Network shows have helped shed light on such places, but then again the restaurants above have never been featured, so they don't know everything.
Of course you can just search “top ten restaurants Baton Rouge,” or wherever you are, and get an idea of what's out there, but it's often too wide a net. It's like googling “top ten movies” when you're standing in Blockbuster.
(We'll use that analogy while there are still people who understand it.)
So we pose our question to friends and local strangers. We usually know when to ignore an answer, like when it includes Applebee's. We look for the light in the hotel clerk's eyes as she/he says, “Oh! You should try _____.” A slight licking of the lips is also a good sign.
When we asked about St Louis, several responses included a pizza place called “Imo’s.”
I will admit we were warned as much as encouraged - Imo's is a St Louis institution that may be best enjoyed by people raised on it. Kelly and Samuel, recent transplants, told us it wasn't their favorite. Still, we've rarely met a pizza we didn't like.
So in that sense Imo’s is rare.
It looks good on paper and even in the box: round, thin crust cut into rectangles, sauce that has a touch of sweetness. (Incidentally this same description fits one of our very favorite pizzas, Texas chain “Palio’s," but flavor wise they couldn't be more different.)
The love it or hate it element to Imo’s is its patented cheese, Provel. Even as I type it, my spell-checker tells me Provel is not a word. The name was invented as a cross between Provolone and Mozzarella. Which is misleading, as Provel is a processed cheese closer to American. But honestly its own thing.
You know the tackiness some cheeses get when you warm up leftover pizza? That’s how Provel comes out of the oven. More gluey than gooey. It has an aftertaste that reminds us of powdered Parmesan.
And hey, we've seen diners at Pizza Hut dump powdered Parmesan all over their food. That's just not something we do.
The revelation for our tastes is a pizzeria called “Pi.” (The sign just shows the mathematical symbol.) The pizza is deep and delicious, with the right amount of crunch and a slightly crumbly crust similar to polenta in texture.
It reminds us of Damgoode Pies back home, but we like it a little better, and plan to eat here again the next time we're in St Louis.
We'll leave Imo’s to the natives.
(A Note: Jacob's laptop died a month into our trip, and some of his pictures are still trapped on his hard drive, so we pulled these pizza pics from a google search.)
No comments:
Post a Comment