pizza and beer.
woodfiredpizza and beer.
woodfiredpizza and 12 craft draft beers.
have i got your attention yet? if not, then don’t bother reading any further.
i’ve been to bacchus maybe two or three times over the past ten or more years. i don’t know why i haven’t been there more frequently. it’s quite convenient to the troy music hall directly across the street so you can stop in before a performance or even after a show if it’s on a friday or saturday when they are open until midnight. i know i’ve suggested it to my wife numerous times even when we weren’t going to the music hall. finally, last week i convinced her to return after recently having had the opportunity to try woodfiredpizza at some other places.
the atmosphere at bacchus reminds me of some of the old montreal places we’ve come across. you enter from the street into the basement of an old stone building that i believe may have once been a church. heavy stone support walls separate the small rooms in the restaurant, you almost feel like you are in the catacombs of some cult where you see a fire burning in the mouth of the sculpture of the god bacchus. that’s where your pizzas will come from.
the pizzas are available in two sizes – 8” ($6.95) and 12” ($10.95). there are all the standard toppings available in addition to some less offered options, e.g., artichokes, feta cheese, pepperoncinis, and fig. you can design your own pizza by upgrading your sauce ($1/$2) from choices of pesto sauce, roasted garlic alfredo, or garlic infused olive oil before choosing your toppings ($.90/$1.75, although meatballs, sausage, chicken, and shrimp have slightly higher costs for each size). we decided to take the easy way out by choosing two of the small pre-designed specialty pizzas. we went with the ambustus and the mozza bella ($10.95 each/ small).
the ambustus came with blackened chicken, mushrooms, jalapeños, red onions, and topped with a spicy tomato sauce. a light hand was used in applying the chicken and tomato sauce, but there were plenty of jalapeño slices, red onion slices, and mushrooms, and a reasonable amount of fresh mozzarella. the dough had a very nice flavor, was enjoyably chewy, and had some nice brown and char spots along the edge of the crust. if i wanted to change anything, i think i would ask for more char on the edges and crispness on the bottom if possible.
the mozza bella came with meatballs, fresh mozzarella, spinach, fresh minced garlic, and the standard red sauce. we also opted to add their homemade italian sausage ($1.75) so we could sample it. the blend of flavors for the mozza bella were totally different from the ambustus but just as enjoyable. the crust was similarly charred and i have to wonder if we had arrived at a later hour (more than 30 minutes after they had opened) whether the oven would have been hotter and the dough more crisped.
not to overlook the craft draft beers, i was quickly drawn to the left hand nitro milk stout ($6/pt), not only because of the sign hanging on the wall above our table, but also because it was the darkest of the dozen offered and a favorite of mine. my wife had the brooklyn insulated dark lager ($5/pt) and was pleased with her selection. and while i didn’t say anything about it, they also serve seven different varieties of pasta and they also serve wine.
service by kimberly was prompt, friendly and efficient. i’m hoping there won’t be as long between visits in the future.