They cook their pies in an 1100° coal oven, a rare style for South Jersey & the Jersey Shore area. A very fancy looking pizza with some snazzy aesthetics, atypical of standard football pies that dominate this part of the Garden State. Despite a significantly charred undercarriage & crust, the dough doesn’t have any coal-oven crisp whatsoever; in fact, the texture is strikingly similar to a softer wood-fired consistency. However, the blackened bottom has a very tasty & smokey coal oven flavor. Fairly firm with mostly minimal flop, the dough isn’t flimsy despite the lack of true crisp. The crust is also on the softer side with just a hint of crunch, despite the deliciously charred taste. Supposedly just shredded mozzarella, the cheese has an odd, funky flavor & unusual consistency, not in a bad way, just different, leaning more towards a Margherita style. Maybe the imported olive oil atop the pie alters the taste of the cheese a touch; or perhaps some sprinkles of Parmesan distract from the mozzarella flavor just a bit. San Marzano tomatoes account for the sauce instead of a purée. They’re sweet, but not too sweet, lacking tang & zip. The crushed tomatoes are smattered atop the pie instead of mixed in a sauce blend underneath the cheese. Feels like it’s missing some oomph, in need of spices & seasoning; the tomatoes are too simple. Some slight confetti strips of basil add a splash of color but don’t provide much additional flavor. In summation, this is a nice attempt at a classier, fancier, coal-fired football pie; but the absence of crisp defeats the purpose of the coal oven, creating a glaring need for a crispier pizza. Overall, this pie is still pretty tasty but not spectacular; much better than average for South Jersey/Jersey Shore pizza though.
