Gioia Pizzeria

Let the Pizza Battle begin.

Gioia

1586 Hopkins Street

Berkeley, CA

Up the street from Monterey Market

http://www.gioiapizzeria.com/

I love pizza.  As has been quoted by me in a few too many awkward situations, pizza is like sex.  When it's good, it's really good.  When it's bad, it's still kind of good.  Gioia is really, really good.  I can't attest to its New York authenticity, having only had the real stuff twice.  What I can say is that the crust is thin, crisp and really chewy, without a hint of char, and I find myself enjoying the plain, bready, bubbled, end piece as much as the middle.

And the middle is good, too.  My boyfriend, Jesse, loves anchovies, a culinary adventure catalyzed by an episode of Futurama ("A Fishful of Dollars"), and doomed to end with a trip to Porky's Pizza Palace in San Leandro.  There, the anchovies were one per slice and still so salty that I picked mine out, resenting the silvery residue left on the cheese.  Not so at Gioia.  Here, the anchovies are soaked, or rinsed, or something, to make them mild.  The bones are unnoticeable, and each creepy, elongated silver bite can be mistaken for a creamy cheese.  Ever the pizza purist, Jesse asked why the anchovies weren't baked into the pizza, but laid out, ever so carefully, after the oven.  Art Kinsey answered that putting them on later made the flavor milder.  Accompanied with chiles and less-than-pungent fresh oregano, the Acciughe has a little bite, a little salt and that eat-the-first-piece-on-the-bench-outside-even-though-you'll-be-home-in-twenty quality.

My only complaint?  A little too much cheese.  Heresy?  Maybe.  But I grew up on a faux-New York pizza that showed its tomatoes through the cheese, and the thick, greasy layer at Gioia is unpleasantly chewy.  It hides the chile spice and produces an unpleasant fount of orange grease.  Eat over a table or the pavement, not your lap.

 The seasonal Pomegranate Lemonade is a spritzer of fountain Sprite and hot pink liquid from an agua fresca jar, and it is delicious.  Almost tasted a little too tart  on the first sip, but as I ate my pizza, and the ice mellowed the drink, it became the perfect accompaniment.  Like champagne and fried chicken.

Next Time: Maybe I'll mix it up and get something other than the Acciughe.  But that's not likely.  I'll also try the cannoli.