I had dinner last night at Pizza by Elizabeth with my friends Mimi, Miles and Kara. It's pretty much a Greenville, Delaware institution. I think it's been open over 15 years and recently relocated to a huge space on Route 52 next to Jansen's. That space is really nice! Great decor aside from the tacky Betty Boop statue that greets you (but I suppose she's in keeping with the "Elizabeth" theme.) And in keeping with all things Greenville, I find this place pretty pricey. My feeling is they elevate pizza on this "gourmet" pedestal, not unlike what the Melting Pot does with FUCKING FONDUE. This connection I've made kind of makes me uncomfortable! Although I do love gorgeous "artisinal"/traditional looking Neopolitan pies, like the kind you might find at Sovana Bistro or in, you know, Italy, Elizabeth's prices just seem kinda steep and the legitimacy of some of their pies (one's featuring barbeque sauce, bacon, cheddar cheese) hurts their cred.
(It should be noted I am perfectly fine with your run of the mill corner pizza shop's BBQ pizza.)
So how steep? An eight-inch pie will run you 9.25-11 dollars and a ten-inch from 13-15 dollars. Maybe I shouldn't let price and cred get in the way here though. Does the pie justify? I'm kind of on the edge, but leaning closer to yes. I had a very good eight-inch pizza with a mushroom duxelle sauce, parmesan cheese and roasted chicken. The chicken was juicy, the parmesan salty and the sauce was actually out of this world. The crust, while a nice blend of chewy and crispy, was huge, hindering its value. We had a waitress and she was super nice. For a nice Valentine's Day dinner I guess it was a good idea to shake things up a bit with our pizza intake and instead of a perfectly fine delivery pie, we wanted to shell out for something special. You're definitely buying the atmosphere at Elizabeth's but I imagine it's going to be hard to find that mushroom duxelle sauce at, say, Plaza Pizza anytime soon.
It led me to this question, reader. Do you find this pizza/fondue correlation similarly disturbing? And by that I mean, taking a simple, tasty, often-sexy pizza from the floury hands of the common man/dough tosser and putting it into those of a money-hungry Delaware restaurateur? Not unlike the Melting Pot's elevating fondue from a dinner party novelty to expensive franchise spectacle? Leave thoughts in the comments.
Monday, February 15, 2010
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the feelings i had sitting in elizabeth's were not the feelings i usually have when in DE. cuz i did not feel like i was in DE. when thinking about E's i think you gotta separate it from all previous notions of greenville DE. i dont think the restaurant reflects the usual negatives that we associate with greenville. i've never been to the melting pot but it seems to be a staple to all citizens of DE and only citizens of DE. E's takes a step beyond that stereotypical delaware weirdness and doesnt scare away people from other states by weird clique/cult-like sensations. i can wrap my head around elizabeth's. maybe their owner is from PA.
ReplyDeleteanyways the pizza is good. i didnt mind spending that money.
The gourmet quality of pizza always seemed to elude me since a very young age. Since my father is a pizza man by all forms of the word, and having been to Italy and tasted home-made, brick-oven delicious ITALIAN pizza, as well as being to fine Italian establishments where their pizza is quite different from what you would find in the US, I would have to say that they're just too different to compare so closely. The "gourmet" style of pizza originating from I assume what would be known as real, Italian pizza, is only worth the extra bucks for the presentation and the fact that you can't just go to the corner and order a pizza from a wood-burning, brick-oven with fresh and exotic ingredients.
ReplyDeleteThe fascination with "gourmet" Italian pizza just doesn't work on me. I've had it too many times and realized that it's never going to be as good (as snobby as it fucking sounds) as what it tastes like when it's made in Italy. So I just have to stick to my roots and eat that Americanized tasty treat we call by the very same name. GOURMET just means that the guy who owns the restaurant is out for your dollars and probably not your love of his pizza. At least that's my take on it.
Gourmet pizza is alright when your parents are paying for it and you're feeling classy or something. A lot like the way you would eat a salad before your meal in a fancy restaurant even though you would never do that otherwise. Who the hell eats a salad before their meal these days?
People love the Melting Pot all over the country. This is because its delicious. Have you HAD the duck at the Melting Pot? It's fantastic, just like everything else at the Melting Pot.
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