i heart ... pizzeria bianco

i finally went to pizzeria bianco.

i know, i know ... what took me so long?!

it's not easy to get in, ya know.

that's what took so long.

and my dear sweet friends were not keen on the idea of
going down there and waiting for 2+ hours to get in.

so i had to make a reservation which is no easy task.

it's like calling for concert tickets!

you have to call at a certain time on a certain day
and hope that your call gets through when all the other people in the world
are calling at the same time for a reservation...

when i finally got through the only spot left was
5pm on a thursday night in one month.

i took it!

but hello! who can make it to dinner at 5pm on a thursday night?

but if you have a reservation for pizzeria bianco
you do what you have to do to be there.
and somehow we made it!

so what's the big deal about pizzeria bianco?

here's the big deal about pizzeria bianco:

#1 chris bianco won the james beard award for "best chef of the southwest"
(the "oscars" of the food world)

#2 the new york times named pizzeria bianco "the best pizza in the nation".

#3 vogue magazine named pizzeria bianco "the best pizza in the world".

#4 pizzeria bianco has a zagat rating of 29
(the highest rating possible is 30,
and for a little more perspective,
nyc doesn't have a restaurant rated higher than 28)

#5 gayle - oprah's gayle! - went there for the oprah show
and you can watch video of it here.
her review was, ""... unlike anything I've ever tasted. … it had me at hello."
and when oprah announced her search for the best pizza in america
pizzeria bianco was the most recommended pizza by oprah's viewers.

(gayle with chris bianco)

#6 martha stewart has eaten at pizzeria bianco herself,
and has had chris bianco on her show
and chris bianco has an 8 page spread in her
may 2009 issue of martha stewart living!

(martha with chris bianco)

#7 chris bianco makes every pizza himself.
(and even makes his own mozzarella!
i mean, come on! who does that?)

so what did i think?
was it all that?

yeah. it was.

i ordered the "biancoverde"
(fresh mozzarella, parmigiano reggiano, ricotta, fresh arugula).

it was great,

however,

i should have known better and ordered

the "wiseguy"
(wood roasted onion, house smoked mozzarella, fennel sausage).

the "wiseguy" is what pizzeria bianco is famous for.

but i don't like sausage.

shows what i know.

of course we all shared each other's pizzas

and with my first bite of the "wiseguy"

i knew that this is the pizza that sets pizzeria bianco apart.

it was so good.

so was it worth all the effort?

definitely.

p.s. - i cannot wait to go back and have a "wiseguy" of my very own!!!

p.p.s. - read this article from the arizona republic's jaimee rose.