Daily Slice gives a quick snapshot each weekday of a different slice or pie that the folks at the Serious Eats empire have enjoyed lately.
[Photograph: Meredith Smith]
Despite being a fairly regular customer, I only recently learned that Flour makes pizza other than their brioche-like breakfast variety. Unless the snaking order line is long enough to double-back by the register, chances are you will be lured in by a sandwich listed up on the big board before glimpsing the daily pizza scrawled up on the specials board where you pay.
The daily 5-inch round pies are available for lunch beginning at 11 each morning. Granted, for what isn't much more substantial than a NY slice, $5.50 is a little high. However, in the context of a high-end bakery where $7.95 is the standard for sandwiches, it's a deal. With these pies, it's more about the artistry of the toppings, as exemplified by this pea tendril pesto, shredded mozzarella, and fresh chive variety. Pea tendrils chopped, salted, and whirled together with oil, make for a spinach-like version of pesto. The assertive portion of the equation comes from the chopped chives on top. The blistered crust has the crunch of a crusty baguette and absorbs the excess oil from the pesto, giving the dough more heft than it might otherwise have. A pass through the deck ovens for a reheat returns the mozzarella to its melted state, unifying all the flavors into a satisfying afternoon meal.
Flour Bakery & Cafe
1595 Washington Street, Boston, MA (map)
617-267-4300; flourbakery.com
About the author: Meredith Smith is the Slice editor. You can follow her on Twitter: @mertsmith.