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.
[Photographs: Jim Bonomo]
When I first spied the Krust Artisan Pizza food cart, emblazoned with 'housemade' and 'artisan', I thought I had made a discovery—a diamond in the rough. But such terms are used loosely and should have raised my suspicions.
I chose the "Margarita" (sic), the ever-popular blank canvas on which all 'artisan' pizzerias may be judged. The crust (or is it krust?) tied with the basil for least disappointing element of this meal. It was one-dimensional in its cracker thinness, but was boldly seasoned with salt, dried herbs, and garlic powder. In the end, the crust represented the smallest percentage of my leftovers. It was the cheese that dragged this pizza in to the territory of failure.
(top) Pizza as presented (bottom) Pizza with top layer of cheese removed
The pie arrived with the top layer of cheese barely melted. I dug deeper and removed this, to find an (unadvertised) shredded cheddar-y blend underneath which was still ice cold. Roma tomatoes atop the pie were sliced so thick that the crackery body crumbled under their weight. The sauce (also mostly cold) was over-salted, over-herbed, and full of more dinosaur-cut tomato pieces. Though a Margherita should be about restrained use of top-quality ingredients, this one was all about amplification.
Artisan? Housemade? Maybe by some definition, but not mine. Krust Artisan Pizza seems to be designed around what someone who has never had 'artisan pizza' imagines it to be, not what it actually is. This one, ladies and gentlemen, belongs on the 'avoid' list.
Krust Artisan Pizza
8145 SE 82nd Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97206 (map)
twitter.com/c_krust
About the author:Jim Bonomo was born and raised in Milford, Connecticut. He is currently eating and drinking his way through Portland, Oregon. Once all the pizza and beer is gone, he promises to go back home. You can follow him on Twitter at @goodbyeohio.