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ryan.rutherford
The name of this place refers to how Chef Renato Viola came to immigrate from Italy to Miami on an “O1 Visa,” given to those with “extraordinary artistic ability of internationally acclaimed fame.” This location is hidden pretty well in an office building and is 1 of 12 current Mister O1 franchises. Serving both traditional and specialty pies, all of their pizza is rather fancy, particularly the “star” pizzas. With such critical acclaim, I decided to try both styles. Starting with the Bella Margherita pictured up top: it’s razor thin, soft in the middle and crispier near the crust. The cheese is a creamy mix of shredded mozzarella and Fior di latte that melts in your mouth. The sauce is very light, a tad watery, not as flavorful as I expected. With zero grease and some fresh basil, the flavors of the sauce and cheese can be drawn out and maximized. This is like a fancier bar pie with more oozy flow to the cheese and way less crunch; but the super thin dough is very tasty and the crust is terrific. This pie is a solid 8.1 overall. As for the specialty pie, I ordered a “Star Luca,” which is like an open-faced calzone combined with pizza, consisting of delectably creamy ricotta cheese tucked in the corners of the star. This particular pie features spicy salami calabrese with plenty of kick. The sauce is heartier than the kind on the traditional pizza and packs a lot more punch. The cheese a bit more standard and loaded with grease from the salami, similar to that orange artery-clogging oil you get from generic pepperoni. The dough is the perfect balance of soft and crispy, a little thicker but not overly thick and incredibly tasty. This pie is a spicy flavor explosion with all kinds of fiery pizzazz and is definitely better than the traditional style pizza, coming in at an 8.7 rating, giving this location a more than respectable 8.4 overall score. This is absolutely worth a try if you can find it; and if not, more franchises will be coming soon, but this is terrific pizza for Florida.
