Something To Read...

A recent review in the Salt Lake City Weekly

The Godfather Part 1

It had to happen. It was unavoidable. We had to make the pilgrimage to get the blessing. What am I talking about you ask. Well... This could take a while.

Set your minds eye back a few years. Joseph and I are toiling away up at Sundance. The Pizzeria isn't even a glint in our eye. Our sights are set on opening a bistro and bakery. There we are (the movers and shakers we were) laying down the foundation for this bistro. As fortune would have it my responsibilities as the Tree Room Chef would take me on a business trip to Phoenix, AZ. There is a culinary school there that we were hoping to extract a few unsuspecting souls from. Wanting to make the most of the time there I thought it best we visit this Pizzeria that I had heard and read about, Pizzeria Bianco. We rolled on down there having vaguely remembered hearing there was usually a long wait (2 hours). We put our names down and bided our time getting appetizers at another restaurant. We worked through some descent apps. and made our way back to Bianco's for the main event. For those of you who have never been, it is set in downtown Phoenix on a historic block. Bianco's is housed in a gourgeous old building, the remnants of an old foundry. Beautiful windows on the front. Glowing fire inside. As we ordered and food began coming I felt the excitement of being in the right place at the right time. Truly amazing food came pouring out. So good, you can't even bother with dessert. As we left I began to wonder about our own plans for our restaurant.

Later on down the road I got connected with Dave Tuoumisto of Bajio's fame (Owner of the new Timpanogas Harley Davidson store in Lindon) and he was kind enough to look over our business plan. He let us know that our current ideas and plans needed to be revisited. So we started talking about doing something smaller. As fate would have it, the building we were looking at leasing got sold out from under us and voila. Pizzeria Seven Twelve. Sure, there was the whole building the restaurant, hauling concrete and the like but we've covered that already. So, long story longer, we wanted to go back down and see Bianco's after we had flung some pizzas of our own, and of course pay our respects to Chris. We brought our wives for backup in case things got ugly. I was hesitant to disturb Chris while he was so busy but we went for it anyway and in true form he was willing to talk shop with us. A true gentleman. So if you are ever in Phoenix and feel like waiting for 2 hours outside on a blistering hot sunny day(it's worth it), I recommend you stop in and say hi to Chris. If we're lucky maybe it will remind you of Pizzeria Seven Twelve.



The walk back to the car is much easier with a full stomach.

Better Late Then Never

Sure it has taken a little longer this year to taste the epitomy of summer, so it is difficult not to feel giddy when Joseph walks in the door with just off the vine (as in he helped pick them) tomatoes. Our friends at Jacob's Cove Farm are growing some of the best tomatoes I have ever seen. They are being grown biodynamically to boot(more on that later). One look at their farm and you know something special is going on there. Tomatoes, melons and cukes all growing vertically, reaching for the proverbial sky and looking good doing it.


These beautiful tomatoes are starring nightly in a Caprese salad as well as a lovely Bruschetta with more to come as inspiration prods us. When you come and eat these beautiful plump vessels of stored sunlight and love, don't feel bad for gushing over them. We'll pretend we don't see.

What you can't see in this beautifully captured moment of Americana is the boys (and their wives) from P712 enjoying a soda and a dog at the local Owlz game. Next to enjoying wood fired pizza, this could be as good as it gets.

Play it again Sam...

We're looking for some new tunes to play during service and decided what better way to interact with our community than to have our community decide what to listen to. Upbeat, fun, progressive artists and songs are preferred but we will consider anything. Create a playlist, long or short, and put it on a cd and drop it by the pizzeria, if we like it we'll add it immediately. (Please no gangster rap)

"Will the real Coca Cola please stand up?"

In our ever-increasing efforts to offer higher quality products and after months of discussion, we're offering Coca Cola from the bottle at Pizzeria Seven Twelve. A simple matter of ingredients is at the heart of this decision. Coke from the bottle is made in Mexico and sweetened with cane sugar. Coke made in the US is sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, a derivative of corn which the US government subsidizes, which enables giant US food producers to cash in while offering sub-standard flavor. Now for us it's not so much a political issue as it is a taste issue. In essence, Coca Cola from the bottle tastes better.

dinner

a little something…
orzo pasta, artichoke hearts, bacon, "carbonara" 8.5
braised beef shortrib, anson mills polenta, horseradish cream 9
roasted asparagus, lemon aioli, la quercia prosciutto, breadcrumbs 8.5

greens…
butter lettuce, radish, scallions, blue cheese dressing 8
mixed lettuces, pinenuts, currants, vinaigrette 7.5
house pulled mozzarella, arugula, croutons, lemon oil 7.5

pizza…
tomato sauce, hand pulled mozzarella, basil 10
slab bacon, carmelized onions, potato, rockhill cheese 14
house made sausage, peppers, roasted fennel, tomato sauce, mozzarella 12
mozzarella, grana padano, house made ricotta, garlic 12
la quercia prosciutto, soppressata, garlic, mozzarella, tomato sauce 13
olives, roasted eggplant, onions, chili flakes, goat cheese 13

additions…
caramelized onions 2 house made sausage 3
slab bacon 4 la quercia prosciutto 4
roasted fennel 2 soppressata 3
grated parmesan 2 house made ricotta 2
sweet peppers 3 olives 3
arugula (dressed) 3 mozzarella 3

sweet…
rhubarb crisp, spotted dog ice cream 7.5
winder farms buttermilk panna cotta, roasted apricots 7.5
chocolate pudding, pecan shortbread cookie 8

drink…
soda pop 2 (coke…)
tea service 3.5 (republic of tea)
coffee service 3.5 (mill creek coffee roasters)

This Is More Like It

Nothing like some midnight ping-pong to set your mind right.

All Words, No Play

What is with all these words and no pictures. This is a question I ask myself. Sometimes I forget that to have truly insightful, engaging and otherwise beautiful shots of the Pizzeria in action that they must first be taken. So, I have put my camera inside my shoe as to not forget it tomorrow morning. We will be getting a delivery of plants/trees that we bought last week to get the patio all gussied up and ready. It proves to be exciting.

SATURDAY/REVIEW

We are changing our saturday lunch hours. We will now be serving lunch from 12-3 on saturdays. Hey, who doesn't want to get a little extra sleep before bellying up to a nice hot panini?


We recently were reviewed in the Salt Lake Tribune. Needless to say we were quite excited, take a look.

Questions???

We have many opportunities throughout the day to ask and answer questions. What kind of questions you might ask? Let's discuss. Do you do "take-out"? Hmm, good question. Yes, we are capable to do "take-out" although our food and especially our pizzas do not travel well. What we would like to see is for pizzas to get from our oven to your table in just enough time to slightly burn your hand when you go to pick it up. While some of the other menu items are not in need of so much immediate attention they don't get any better as time goes on. This is not to say that when you take your few slices home after a lovely meal here that they won't still be delicious cold out of the box, they will, but it just isn't the same. We want everyone to be able to experience the immediacy of seeing us, seeing the oven, seeing their food on their table. So you can see why we feel that doing "take-out" doesn't best represent who we are. But wait, you said you are capable of doing it. Yes, that is true. We have boxes, we have pizzas and I love to make them. So where does that leave us... We can do "take-out" when we are not too busy and you are willing to come in and order. We don't take orders over the phone for a few reasons. One, it is not the most accurate and safe way to get what you have in your mind to eat into your belly. Two, we want to make sure that those people who have waited to get into the restaurant get their pizzas as soon as possible and aren't displaced by someone who just calls up to get a pizza(ie. no butting). Third, our oven doesn't get bigger as we get busier. This relates back to number two, those people who are in our restaurant take priority over those who aren't. Now I know there will be people who say, I know how phenomenal your restaurant is and I know I can't get anything like it anywhere else and I am on my way home and I WANT SOME PIZZA! I can understand. I have a baby at home and it is nice to be able to stay home and eat some delicious food without having to cook it. The simple truth is that we will not be able to accommodate everyone in every situation. It is not because we are mean people, we are just people.

Change

What is it they say about change. We are embracing this inevitable beast and turning its power loose on our daily desire to eat something delicious. What a joy it is to see something new on a plate. To watch it make its journey to someone who it tasting it for the first time. We thank you in advance for being a part of this constant evolution and look forward to the continued surprises that lie ahead.

...when are you going to expand?...

We'd be sitting pretty if we had a nickle (sitting on a pile of nickles will not change your physical appearance in any way) for every time someone has repeated this phrase in some fashion or another. Since our opening we've heard it from everybody..."when are you going to expand?" Our answer is simply..."never." And the reason is also simple for those who will hear it. Bigger is not always better. We've taken stock over these last several weeks and renewed our pledge to provide you, our friends, with the most pleasurable dining experience we can offer. We feel the food that we are providing is extraordinary and the service is getting better every day. It is our mission to drastically mend the thoughts and ideas that our community has... not just about dining, but about the entire process of food from its beginnings in the earth to its edification of our bodies. We desire all to partake of the richness, and hopefully, also, to impress ourselves along the way.

Pizzeria 712 is the new awesome

Thanks to my sister-in-law Betsy for the great post about P712. Check it out at her site the new awesome.

To Long In Exile

We are here...

For those of you who have not been able to stop by for pizza, we are here. We have not posted in quite some time. We are keeping ourselves busy by the oven, cooking pizzas and the likes. Besides this short informational post you will be seeing some new and exciting posts in the near future. We are extremely grateful for the overwhelming support we have been receiving. You will be able to see pictures from the opening party and such soon. Thank you.

Lunch... Anyone?

Come one, come all. Lunch is served starting Monday, December 3rd
11 am-3 pm. Click on image of menu to read it.

COME VISIT US

Update 11-22-07 (Happy Thanksgiving)

So close. Moved in the tables, chairs, reach ins, prep tables, ice machine, dishwasher, etc, etc ,etc...it's starting to look like a restaurant now. The sign is aglow and so is our oven.

Update

Here is a photo stitch of the pizzeria as of November 18th.

You can almost smell the pizza...

The restaurant nears completion as we near our inevitable opening date. I've stitched together some photos for a progress report. We are flattered to realize that folks as far away as Asia, U.K., and Italy are checking the blog. We plan to impress you all.

A view from the front door..

From the west patio doors..

Three tired guys..

Pizza oven...Check!

We have officially reached the point of no return. We have created a monster. Even if Midtown wanted to get rid of us (which they don't because we rock)...they couldn't. The 7000 lb. gorilla in the corner is now taking orders from us. Much thanks to our trustworthy mason, Clayton Chadwick.

Joseph playing in his fortress.

An updated picture of Midtown.

The first Pizzeria Seven Twelve family meal.

Our Oven, In All It's Grandeur

We are setting our sights on done as far as our oven is concerned. We got the oven in place with a little bit of grunting.



Here is our progress in pictures..









Our always steady mason with the two goofballs. Brian sacrificed his victory picture for the team.





Joseph, giving his final blessing...





Other progress that is being made..




Our BEAUTIFUL sign.

Toddlers...

Oh, how they grow. This is phase two of our oven. What you can't see in these pictures are the strong, handsome gentlemen who hauled all this concrete.



By the time you read this, there will be a fresh coat of delicious new asphalt were this dirt lays. As Joseph and I were discussing the various properties of asphalt we realized we didn't know as much about it as we would like. So with some help from Wikipedia---Asphalt or bitumen can sometimes be confused with tar, which is a similar black thermo-plastic material produced by the destructive distillation of coal. The primary use of asphalt (bitumen) is in road construction, where it is used as the glue or binder for the aggregate particles. The road surfacing material is usually called 'asphalt concrete' in North America or simply 'asphalt' elsewhere. The apparent interchangeability of the words 'asphalt' and 'bitumen' causes a lot of confusion outside of the road construction industry despite quite clear definitions within industry circles. Huh.

We're In Labor... So To Speak

Our wood fired oven was born today. October 15th, 2007. 2560 pounds and some ounces. 24 square feet. It is a beauty.

One Small Step For Man, One Giant Leap For Pizza

As many of you have heard we are decorating the bathrooms of the pizzeria with cement countertops and today was D-day. We had been postponing the project for quite a while on account that none of us know diddly about cement, or even how to swing a hammer for that matter. Nevertheless, and with a little positive coaxing from C-TRAIN'S Dad, we forged ahead and hopefully made a little bit of history. Here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Trying to get our mix on.

Mixing, mixing, and more mixing cause that's how we roll.

These are OUR melamine forms. Stop drooling over their awesomeness.

Adding steel mesh to strengthen the countertops.

Yes, they are kind of like cakes, big cement cakes.

You can almost smell the pizza baking

This is an historic day for all those eagerly anticipating the opening of the pizzeria ... the long-awaited arrival of our beautiful Mugnaini 24 square foot Italian wood fired pizza oven (assembly required). We are very excited. Look for pictures next week as our mason begins construction inside the restaurant.

Future dishwasher of Pizzeria 712: Mr. Jacob McRae, cleaner extraordinaire...NOT!!

New Read

We just got a great new book in the mail today. Needless to say I was quite excited. I am always ready to get more insight into how Alice Waters thinks. Joseph and I had the opportunity to "Stage" there last year and the place is just beautiful. A warm wonderful kitchen, great cooks and office workers that shuck fava beans. On our recent trip back our waitress took us on a tour. It is a study on what a great restaurant is. You can sense the years of dedication to food and eating. Anyway, I have just peeked into the book but I already recommend it.

Moving Closer

Progress is being made. With the sheetrock going up it make the space seem more... spacious. We were out running around today looking at art, counter tops, paint. We stopped by the green building store and were planning on looking at some clay paint but ended up looking into doing plaster for the walls. The colors and depth were so beautiful that is seems worth the couple days work and inevitable paint in the hair. We shall see.

And Finally ...

What could I possibly add to what Colton and Brian have already said about our California adventure? Here are a few memorable moments from my point of view.

Tue the 18th:

While hurriedly putting all the suitcases into the trunk of the awesome Protege, I for some crazy reason decided to put the car keys in the trunk and close it -- brilliant! Luckily, Colton calmly informed me that you could pop the trunk from inside. Whew! What a relief. I thought I had ended the trip before it even started. I'm sure Colton and Brian will get a lot of mileage out of this for years to come.

The amusement that Colton and I had at watching the, "trying to look so sweet and innocent", Brian as he sat in the airport security getting the whole security check. I guess he looked a little suspicious.

Trying to explain to Colton and Brian "how great Southern California really was" as we crept along the 405 toward L.A. in an area that even I had to admit was not the most scenic; and having them keep saying to me with their little smirks that "I'm sure it really was a great place to grow up."

The taste and feeling while eating the most sublime carrot soup at Lucques.

Entering the La Brea Bakery. Nancy Silverton has been someone I have greatly admired and respected for over a decade. I have made dozens of her recipes and followed her rise as she has become one of America's greatest pastry chefs. To finally visit her bakery where it all started was truly amazing.

Eating at Mozza's where the music really is loud just like Mario, and the pizza dough is really great, and having my 5 year old daughter Sophie call during dinner and hearing her demand as loud as she could over the music "Why is that music so loud? Come home right now!"

Wed 19th:

Off the plane straight to Berkeley (Colton driving like Colton - seat belts recommended) for lunch at Chez Panisse. For me the desserts are always so amazing. I am surprised and delighted by the perfect peach and raspberry crisp. The unsweetened vanilla panna cotta was perfectly balanced with a huckleberry sauce. The chocolate mint ice cream (made from steeped mint leaves) -- a taste so pure and satisfying. Brian's remark after the meal was simply, "I am so happy now." Isn't that what it is all about? Bringing a little bit of joy to people in this crazy, messy world.

After an afternoon of hunting down a few of our old chefs, eating some pastries, watching Colton and Brian inhale burgers at In 'n Out (I don't know how Colton can eat so much), we had a few minutes before dinner so I persuaded the boys to take a quick trip to the beach. It was windy, and cold, but it was beautiful and magical. Just taking a few minutes to watch the waves, smell the ocean and daydream is something that fills me with hope and happiness and peace for the future.

The look on Colton's face as he watched the most perfect pizza being made and baked in the wood fired oven at A 16. Nothing is more fun than to listen to Colton when he starts talking about food and what it means to him. His passion just pours out; it is truly inspiring.

Thurs 20th:

Eating breakfast at the Grove, pastries at the Boulangerie and then straight to Pizzetta 211 where we had the most amazing heirloom and cucumber salad. Crammed in the corner of this tiny 16-seat restaurant (which was packed) -- it was unbelievably good.

Following Colton and Brian around downtown exactly 15 paces behind them. I for some reason could never keep up with the Olympic speed walkers.

Being truly blown away by the Ferry Plaza Building. So much great food.

Hearing Brian state how much he appreciated our waiter at Zuni, who had disappeared on us, when he returned, honestly told us that his friends had come in and he was talking to them. That is the kind of servers we want no excuses, just integrity.

I look forward to seeing you all - old friends and new - at the pizzeria.

Let's share a meal.