Tim Barnes was standing in a restaurant supply store staring blankly at rows of pots and pans when it happened.
“I saw cast iron and said ‘I bet I can cook pizza in that,’” he recalled.
OK — as moments of inspiration go, his might not rank among the most consequential. Einstein glimpsed an old tower clock and conjured up the theory of relativity, after all. And pan pizzas have been around for decades. Yet the cast iron pan pizza deserves considerable respect.
What the owner of Cheese’s Main Street Pizza in downtown Lakeport created from that spark of an idea is a fulfilling dish. Tangy marinara sauce redolent of basil rides over crisp peppers and hearty meats. The bite of fresh garlic shears the temporal sensation of herbs. A warm, yeasty crust scored by bittersweet scars provides a calm foundation, while a dusting of cornmeal adds texture.
On most occasions, the team at Cheese’s constructs the pie with a nod to Chicago style, although Barnes backs away from any comparison to the second city’s famed pizza. While notable for its heft, the cast iron pizza seems svelte next to the corpulent Chicago deep dish with all its tonnage. But they share a routine. Ingredients are layered upside down, with the marinara ladled over the top. On a recent visit, however, a coating of cheese bubbled and blackened by the oven, contributed an equally welcome toasty, piquant exclamation.
The pizza is an achievement, a concatenation of style and flavor — or as Barnes puts it, “an exercise of using what’s already in the kitchen to make something new.”
Cheese’s serves the cast iron pizza in three forms: meat lovers, combination and vegetarian (and guests can build their own, of course). They use a house made marinara already popular in other dishes. The only challenge in bringing it to the table was in the pan and the crust.
“We struggled with getting the dough consistent all the way through,” Barnes said. “That was the biggest hurdle. This definitely wasn’t just ‘hey, we do cast iron pizza now.’”
He spent several months perfecting the process, ending up with a crust that is somehow relatively thin, light and breezy throughout, yet also sturdy enough to support the weight of the pie.
It is a filling dish. But it is a compelling one, gorgeous to the eye, rich and alluring on the palate — all from one flash of inspiration in an aisle lined by mundane pots and pans.
Cheese’s newest menu item is a unique experience. Barnes emphasizes that point with a wink.
“Where else can you go where someone will bring a 600 degree cast iron pan to the table?” he asked, laughing.
Dave Faries can be reached at 900-2016
