PDX Pizza Week 2022 - Day 5

For Pizza Week Day 5, I ended up doing a twofer -- pizza for lunch, pizza for dinner.

Lunch pizza was a slice of Chinese BBQ Pork Brisket Pizza, from Danwei Canting.  I needed to drop off my loaner laptop to the local organization that runs the IRS free tax preparation service I was volunteering at for this past tax season, and just so happens that Danwei Canting is within 2 blocks of that place, and doing a Pizza Week special.

With laptop dropped off, plan was to grab a slice, a few meat skewers, and a pint for a quick lunch.  Everything went according to plan and was really tasty.  I have Danwei Canting on loose rotation for good eats, but I get lazy sometimes cuz it's ~0.5 miles way on foot, and to drive there, parking sux.

So, about the pizza:

What's on it?: Fatty Pork Brisket slow roasted in Chinese Spices, Sweet Peppers, Mushrooms, Red Onion, Mozzarella & Cheddar Cheese, BBQ Sauce, baked fresh on a Focaccia Crust.

The Inspiration: When Marco Polo trekked to China in the 1200's, he brought with him goods and ingredients from Italy to trade with Beijing. What he brought back to Italy years later began a centuries long relationship of commerce, culture, and food that remains intertwined to this day.

In this spirit we bring you our Chinese BBQ Pork Brisket Pizza. An amalgamation, a tribute, a tasty homage to the Silk Road and the thing that unites all cultures: delicious food. 

I was very satisfied with my slice that looked actually better (meatier) than the picture, and with the yummo chicken and lamb skewers.  5 spice on the meat was a subtle flavor, and overall the slice ate more like a hearty, cheesy, bbq pizza slice.  Glad to note red onion topping was just a few, mostly fully crisped up, slivers that actually enhanced the flavor (I generally don't like full onion slice on anything.)

Pint of draft lager was refreshing, and altogether made for a satisfying somewhat quick lunch.

Notable that I have never seen pizza of any kind on Danwei Canting's menu (their cuisine lane is Beijing home-style dishes), so this was once-in-a-year special treat.

 

 

Dinner pizza was a trip up to Old Town Brewing on NE MLK Blvd., about 2.5 miles up from my place.  I'd been to the Old Town Brewing in old town a few times over the years, but never to their NE MLK Blvd location.

All aligned well to explore since they were only offering their Pizza Week slice at the MLK Blvd location, so after later work wrap-up I ended up heading up there just after 7pm.  Plan was to get a slice, a pint, and order a pizza to-go.

And all that happened.  Pleasant surprise was that they had their mushroom ale on draft, which was a beer I had wanted to try last time I was at the OTB in Old Town, but they were out.  So, slice of Peppabiata Pizza Week pizza and pint of Mushroom Ale was ordered For Here.  And, their Detroit-style pizza ordered was ordered To Go.

For Here course was a jolt to the senses!

Pizza slice was good -- straightforward and spice-y.  Per their write-up, the slice was:

Pizza Name: Peppabbiata

What's on it?: Spicy marinara with Serrano peppers, topped with fresh mozzarella, pepperoni, basil, parmesan, and olive oil.

The Inspiration: In 2022, we are ready for a REMIX! We took the classic margherita and made an angry-spicy, arrabbiata inspired version. Serrano pepper infused sauce brings the heat, so this pie pairs nicely with a pitcher of ice-cold water. Don’t worry, the usual suspects are there- Mozzarella! Basil! Olive Oil! But we added pepperoni because why the hell not?

It ate like an extra spicy slice of pep n jalapeno pizza, which I do like occasionally.  From my cooking journeys I do know serrano peppers are hotter than jalapenos, so makes sense that it was quite hot.  Head sweat underneath my beanie I was wearing was fully activated.

Mushroom ale for beer was a total mismatch for the pizza slice, but I had to try it.  Server was cautionary when I ordered lol -- she's like "are you sure you don't want to try a taster before you order it?"  I assured her I had been curious about it for months, and she relented in ringing up my full pint ha.  It drank basically like a maple-forward stout, even though it was an ale -- and with a certain... earthiness.  I liked it.

To Go pizza was ready shortly after I finished that pint plus the reading I had brought with me, so I was out the door and home shortly after.  Also grabbed a 4 pack of their Shanghai'd Up beer to-go.

Detroit style pizza was good, but not great.  I'd want a whole lot more cheese if I ordered it again.  But, definitely will be returning to OTB for easy pizza n beer eats.