Pizza 'n Bagels in Wicker Park

Craft Pizza's Menu Board

Last week I got a sneak peek of a new pizzeria that opened in Wicker Park, near Division and Damen. Craft Pizza is the second pizzeria from Scott Toth, owner of Pizzeria Serio in Lakeview. Craft Pizza is serving up fresh pizzas with dough made from a 12 hour starter, and a 12 hour warm rise. What's the result? A crust that is chewy and crispy at the same time. Other components of Craft's pizza pies also are made with great care. The sauce is made from hand-crushed tomatoes imported from Italy, and the blend of cheeses, including mozzarella, also are from Italy.

House pizzas include options without sauce, such as The Devil in the White City, with mozzarella, grana padano, garlic, herbs, olive oil, capicola, hot cherry peppers, pepperoncinis, and red onion. This pie was hot and spicy, so, if you can take the heat--this pie is for you! There are other cleverly-named pies including the Wicker Pork with mozzarella, pecorino romano, Canadian bacon, onions, and pineapple.

The Devil in the White City

I was fortunate enough to get to taste test a few pizzas and immediately fell in love with the crust. The love poured into the crust really shows. I would have been happy enough just eating the dough and dipping it in the fresh tomato sauce!

The Craft Margherita really showcased the hand-crushed tomato sauce.

Craft Margherita

While I loved the tomato sauce on the Margherita, and the heat of The Devil in the White City, the White Truffle Pie was THE BEST. This perfect pizza has mozzarella, pecorino romano, truffle oil, and sea salt. If you put truffle oil on anything, it's bound to taste good, but add cheeses and sea salt, and you've got gold! This pizza doesn't have any sauce, but you'd never miss it because there is so much flavor.

White Truffle Pie

In addition to handmade pizzas, Craft Pizza also offers bagels each morning made from its dough which are boiled and then baked in the pizza oven. To pair with the bagels, Craft offers coffee from Chicago's own Sparrow Coffee Roasters which just happens to be one of my favorite coffee roasters ever! Sparrow is unique in that they customize a blend for every one of its clients, which also include top restaurants including Alinea.

Check out Craft Pizza the next time you're in the Wicker Park 'hood. Maybe you'll see me there grabbing a coffee and bagel!

Note: My meal at Craft Pizza was complimentary, however, the opinions expressed herein are my own.

Craft Pizza
www.craftpizzachicago.com
1252 N. Damen
Chicago, IL 60622
773.442.7238