In search for the perfect pizza...

Searching for the finest pizza joint is a difficult mission. There are soo many pizza places around these days, it's quite the challenge to find an unrivaled favourite.

When trying a new pizza place I usually test the waters first and opt for a margarita. This will give you a general idea of what standard of pizza you're dealing with.

I listed the characteristics a pizza needs to possess in order to leave a lasting impression. For quality assurance I put together a systematic checklist on how to evaluate which pizza is right for me.

Pizza Checklist
1. Dough - melt in your mouth?
2. Tomato paste - flavoursome and evenly spread?
3. Cheese - stretchy and not too oily?
4. Crust - barely visible due to generous topping?
5. Toppings - only the freshest of the fresh utilised?

If the answers to these questions are yes yesitty yes yes yes then bingo! Pizza suitability is high.

The margarita pizza I ate from New York Pizza Deli on Fitzroy st was smashed in seconds. It fulfilled all of my pizza needs. Granted it was fresh out of the oven so it already had a major advantage. But it was everything I dreamed a pizza would be and more. The dough was light and fluffy like a cloud sitting in my stomach cuddling me from the inside out. The tomato paste was tasty and evenly spread as not to bar the surrounding flavours. The cheese stretched from my bite to a full arms length. The crust is usually not my favourite part of the pizza but when it's covered in crispy cheese my opinions veer to the contrary.

Pizza must be fresh. Beware...Some restaraunts that don't specialise in pizza actually have frozen pizzas that they just heat up and serve. That is not on, you hear me! You know who you are. Anyhow in these circumstances to ensure you're getting a freshy, you may have to go out on a limb and throw them a curve ball to check their pizza sincerity. To check if they make it fresh you need to be a little bit sneaky. Here's what you do...Ask for a random topping combo for example 'can i have a pizza with just olives and pineapple?' If they say no, respond with "ah ha! your pizza's are frozen, shame on you!' If they look at you weird and politely say 'sure we can make that happen' you know they make it fresh then you can quaintly change your order and let them know what pizza toppings you really want.

Sometimes on the hunt it's a hit and miss situation. You find a fave local pizza place and it's ace every time. You feel so strongly about the pizza you want to share it with others. You invite a friend over, hype up the pizza's greatness and introduce them to the pizza (assuming your local pizza will be awesome, which in turn makes you awesome). Then of course, on this one-off occasion the pizza isn't up to its optimum standards. Sigh. You should not have to bear the brunt of embarrassment for choosing an unreliable pizza place, you should reign in the glory of chosing a location close by an amazing pizza place.

Mapping out your pizza goal is a lengthy process, but once you understand what you're searching for, it becomes much easier to find.

Olives x