Old World Pizza Taste, New World Technology

One of the most important ingredients to any pizza isn’t at all obvious. No, it’s not the dough or even the cheeses — it’s the oven. If you’ve ever tried to make pizza at home you know what I’m talking about. All the pizza stones in the world can’t hold a candle to a pizza fire-roasted in a brick oven.

So even before I loved the taste of their pizza, I loved the sight and smells of Red Brick Pizza’s traditionally-inspired, 1,000-degree screaming hot brick ovens. The result of brick oven baking is a chewy pizza crust with just a hint of smoke and cheeses that have a sweet caramelized flavor all in about three minutes.

“We combine centuries-old Italian tradition with new world technology to create the world’s finest, fresh fire-roasted gourmet pizzas,” says Mona Pal, co-owner with her husband Shaun Trivedi of the Red Brick Pizza located near Trader Joe’s on South Lake Avenue.

As for toppings, Red Brick covers all the bases, from the traditional like pepperoni and Italian sausage, to the exotic like kalamata olives, artichoke hearts and cashews. Red Brick also has a number of sauces you can choose from, like Thai, chipotle or roasted red pepper. And wait—there are also six different crusts to choose from. I did the math: You could go every day for a year and never have to order the same pizza twice!

But the real question here is “how do their pizzas taste?”  I selected a Margherita pizza ($6, $10, $14) and one of their gourmet favorites, the Pizza Giardino ($7, 11, 17), and I thought they both were delicious, unusual and well-priced.

The Margherita sported four cheeses (mozzarella, provolone, white cheddar and Parmesan) with a traditional red sauce, basil and garlic, all topped with fresh slices of tomato. I found it to be light and delicious. The crust was thin and slightly crisp and beautifully bubbled. I would have loved to have encountered tomatos sliced a bit thinner, but I’m quibbling: I enjoyed every morsel as much as Queen Margherita of Savoy must have when she was served the very first Margherita pizza in Naples in 1889.

Red Brick’s Pizza Giardino is a vegetarian pizza normally served with a red sauce, but we customized ours with a pesto sauce that packs a lip-smacking kick. And what a tasty “garden” of flavors I found it to be: mine was topped with a sea of veggie goodness, including mushrooms, red onions, red bell pepper, black olives, artichoke hearts, garlic, and tomatoes. All this deliciousness was rolled out in abundance on the snappy crust. I’m not a card-carrying vegetarian, but I certainly wouldn’t mind becoming one if this is all I have to eat. I didn’t miss the meat one bit.

I also sampled one of Red Brick’s chopped salads: the chopped Greek. This salad was chock-a-block full of crisp romaine, cucumbers, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, red onions, feta, ham, croutons and Greek dressing. I loved the addition of the ham, it added a smoky complexity to the basic salad. These salads are big and well priced at $8, $5, and $4. I love Greek salads but am usually disappointed with the lack of kalamata olives, this salad boasted plenty and then some.

If you’re still a little hungry after one of their pizzas give their gelato a try — or for the truly sinful among us, pair up the gelato with a fire roasted brownie, a little bit of heaven the Red Brick folks like to call the Bhrazani.

Red Brick presents an upscale feeling befitting its South Lake Avenue location, yet it’s very kid-friendly. Each booth conveniently has cable TV built-in with your choice of cartoon channels; all the ingredients to the making of a peaceful family dinner. Fortunately they serve beer and wine (for you who are not kids).

Red Brick Pizza is located on the second floor of the Macy’s shopping area on South Lake across from Trader Joes at 345 S. Lake Avenue, Suite 205, Pasadena. Their hours are Monday – Sunday: 11:30 a.m. – 8:30 p.m.. Call (626) 396-9767 to place a to go order or for more questions.