We have long said that the two things we don’t argue with people about are barbecue and pizza. But we do get a bit impatient with folks who insist that there is only one _____ (choose your adjective: good, proper, real, or insert your own favorite) kind of those things. That said, we do urge St. Louisans to try a pie that’s waaaay different from the usual styles found around town. Do not expect square pieces and provel cheese, keep your mind open, and you will find new and delicious thrills.
The Good Pie, in a dark-from-the-outside storefront on Olive Street just east of Compton, hasn’t been open long, only about six or seven weeks. One of the employees was getting some orientation on the espresso machine on our visit. (Pizza and espresso? Does that make your heart beat faster even before you taste the coffee?) It’s very casual, as befits a pizza place, with its brick walls and wood-framed blackboard. But on the blackboard, you may read about a pizza with black Umbrian truffles. Don’t do truffles? Press on.
Mike Randolph is going for real Neapolitan-style pizza, like you’d find (with luck) in Italy, and to that end, he’s brought in a snazzy pizza oven that zaps the pies at 1000 degrees Fahrenheit. He’s also paid good attention to ingredients and his offerings beyond the pizzas. The results are apparent.
There are plenty of things to tide diners over before pizzas arrive, or even make a noshing-style meal of. Roasted mushroom chunks are tossed with taleggio cheese, re-warmed just until it melts oozily, the juices and just a slight hit of balsamic vinegar waiting to be finished off with a piece of the hot-from-that-oven flatbread that comes at the same time. We used a little more of the tasty bread to wipe up the last bit, too, of a white anchovy and roasted pepper salad. The anchovies are marinated in a lemony base, and if you’re hesitant about anchovies, these are a great introduction. The flavor sparkles in the mouth, helped along with a few leaves of baby arugula and a dressing laced with a little pesto. It’s a delight. There are plenty of simpler options, too, various cheeses and salumi, either singly or in a combo, and a couple of salads including a caesar, available with the options of those anchovies.
The pizzas themselves are 12" in diameter, available in some simple options, again in the style of Naples. We tried two, the house signature called "The Good Pie", and a puttanesca. The crust is remarkable. Quite thin, but not crispy, it has a little chew to it, but it’s cooked so quickly that the outer crust is still so tender, it’s like eating a freshly-baked roll. The heat blackens bits here and there, adding another layer of flavor. The Good Pie tops it with a simple tomato sauce, pieces of buffalo mozzarella, a few grape tomatoes and a few leaves of basil, some of which crisp up, too. Everything is in remarkable balance: The basil doesn’t (surprisingly) overwhelm, the mozzarella is soft and subtle, the sauce itself satisfying enough to keep the mind from wandering and the small tomatoes giving a quick burst of moisture and acidity.
The puttanesca, named for the pasta sauce that originated, according to legend, with Naples’ ladies of the evening, wore the same tomato sauce, with the addition of some larger-than-average capers, good black olives (yes, pitted) and the fab anchovies. The tart-salty notes were the theme here, bouncing off each other nicely but not overwhelming the sauce.
The dessert list is short, some gelato, a cake, affogato, which is a shot of espresso over a scoop of ice cream, and bombolini. Often described as "Italian doughnuts", bombolini are probably closer to New Orleans-style beignets. But Randolph adds grated orange peel and, we think, some vanilla to the dough before pieces of it are deep-fried to order and served with oodles of powdered sugar over them, absolutely charming, even if you’re dressed in black from head to toe.
Short, all-Italian wine list, much of which is available by the glass in tumblers, in the style of a very casual Italian trattoria, or in half-bottle carafes.
The Good Pie
3137 Olive
314-289-9391
Smoking: No
Entrees: $8-$13
Lunch & Dinner Mon.-Sat.
Credit cards: Yes
Wheelchair access: Yes
Comments
9 responses
Hey guys,
I love what you guys do.
I’m a wine author and my family was in the restaurant business. Now we are the wine business.
as for PIZZA:
There is NO better or more simple way to learn about it then this site
http://www.pizzaandcoffee.com/
The site is EXTREMELY simple
It’s not fancy on purpose.
Everything from the lettering to the colors to the sayings are Neapolitan to the core, just like pizza and coffee.
Neapolitan…
turn up the volume too
Take Care
Gianluca Pio Rottura
We would like to see TGP expand it’s small plate offerings beyond meat and cheese. Otherwise, kudos to TGP for bringing neapolitan pizza to StL
great pizza, great restaurant, great time. TGP is the best pizza in town.
My husband and I ventured over to The Good Pie for a holiday lunch yesterday.
We enjoyed the atmosphere, our attentive server Kiesha, who was knowledgeable and good. My roasted mushroom and taleggio pizza and my husband’s ceasar salad were very tasty.
Unfortunately, the pizza does not stay hot –the first piece was barely hot enough, and the remaining pieces were lukewarm. Perhaps the metal serving plates could be pre-heated.
So the prices of $13.50 for the pizza, and $7.50 for the small (and anemic looking) salad with 2 anchovies, found us dropping over $25.00 for lunch–with no drinks. Yipes.
Perhaps I would have felt less “taken to the cleaners” if we had ordered one of the lunch specials (salad and pizza), but they were only availble with the basic pizzas.
We adored the pizzas and appetizers at The Good Pie. This joint has excellent service and a pleasant atmosphere, too. We loved the place so much, we came twice during our three day trip to St. Louis. The first time, we started with the mushroom and olives appetizers. Both were excellent, and generously served. The mushroom and puttanesca pies we ate were sublime.
For our second visit, we began with a delicious mixed-green salad, and followed with a repeat mushroom pie, plus a terrific marinara pie. (You can be creative here, getting traditional pies or those with cheese/no sauce or sauce/no cheese, for instance.) We finished our second meal with one of the best apple pies we’ve ever tasted.
And for both visits to The Good Pie, the service was outstanding–extremely friendly and very professional staff.
Don’t miss The Good Pie!
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The Good Pie no longer allows smoking which makes sense because the place is not very big and the smells coming from the oven are wonderful.
3 of us tried the good pie recently. Great environment/decor, reminded me of what you might see in NYC. Very reasonably priced wine list. Nice caesar salad with just the right amount of dressing, and the sieved, rather than coddled, egg didn’t detract. Now for the bad news. The pizza wasn’t very good. Both pies were limp with absolutely no crunch or crispness, and the cheese was barely melted. How they achieved this state while at the same time portions of the crust had some char is a mystery. All three of us agreed that the pizza I make out of my 60’s era magic chef with a custom hearth of my own design is far better.
Looks outstanding to me! I absolutely love pizza! =)