A Fine Slice of Portland

Pizza and Beer take me back to my boyhood days of listening to the soundtrack for “The Sound of Music” with my Mom. You know, “These are a few of my Favorite Things” and so on. By the way, John Coltrane does a really nice version of this song as well (sans the cute Rodgers and Hammerstein lyrics of course).

The subject of pizza and grading a good pizza is a tricky task. Let me just say that I once ate pizza for about 300 days in a row (or dang close). I used to work at the majestic Pizza Oasis in the late 90s while I was busy locating the inner Chief. I’m hoping to get there soon so that I can take you all down a trip through my memory lane. The reason that I’m mentioning my work in the industry is that there is one big thing to consider when discussing pizza. Grabbing a slice and ordering a pie can be two COMPLETELY different experiences. Ordering a pizza with your favorite ingredients and getting it fresh out of the oven are two big factors with regards to achieving optimum taste from your ‘za. There are some places which can master a pie but can’t master a slice and vice versa.

There has been a recent renaissance in Portland with regards to awesome, whole pizza pies. Since there are so many great places popping up, I would rather delay on discussing whole pies until a later date. With that in mind, I feel that I have had plenty of different slices around this town and have identified my favorite slice. The obvious beauty of grabbing a slice is that you don’t have to agree on toppings with anyone and you can grab one whenever you have the hankering.

Today, we discuss Bella Faccia on 2934 NE Alberta St. The name is Italian for “Beautiful Face”. This wonderful little nook has been on my radar for about the past 4-5 years and I still rank it at the top of my list.

A few bullet points of interest:

* It is a relatively thin slice of pie yet it is firm but not crackery.

* They make 18” pies and make their slices out of those.

* The only to go or dine-in whole pies that they make are 12” and 18” ones. I can only conclude is that they really pay strong attention to their crust and achieving the desired output.

* Due to the emergence of the Alberta neighborhood, I think they get a pretty solid traffic flow which means that their pies are always pretty fresh and not sitting around for awhile. Note: I remember I grabbed some slices from an unnamed place in my neighborhood and their slices had been out for some time. Anyway, my jaw was sore for 3 days from chewing the old crust of two slices. I felt entitled to that crust but paid the ultimate price (well, the second ultimate price; I do have a pulse and all).

* They have indoor seating with a comfortable ambience as well as a decent-sized outdoor area in the back.

* The staff is solid and not pretentious even though they seem to have an indie flair. I’m cool with that; being young and hip is all about the indie vibe these days in Portland. I used to be young and hip and a hippie-rocker guy during my pizza days and I was dang fashionable.

* This seems to be a polarizing slice. People either love it or they are not into it. The knock that I hear is that the pepperoni is greasy. We’ve all seen unnamed friends dab their pizza with napkins to decrease the grease factor. This seems like a logical gameplan for such instances.

As you can see from my scintillating photos, I mixed it up on a recent Friday evening. I had to get a pepperoni slice as I’m a big fan of the pig. In addition to pork, I’m also very fond of Greece and the magical combination of flavors that they have cultivated over many centuries. I forgot the name of the Greek slice and it’s not present on their online menu; I think it was tri-something. Regardless, it was an olive oil based pie with spinach, tomato, feta and garlic. As you can see from the picture, these slices were executed to dang near perfection. I like my pizza to be cooked that 1-2 extra minutes. To wet my whistle, I opted to have a pale ale which came from the Hazed and Infused Brewery. The beer was pretty dang good; after all it was Friday night, the sun was out and I was about to kick off the weekend on a positive note.

In summary, there are many places to grab a slice in Portland. No matter whom the vendor, a slice always seems to do the trick and satisfy the urge. If you are up for a little road trip and a potential pizza windfall in your life, you may want to check out Bella Faccia on Alberta. In addition to a great sliceria, this area makes for a great stroll as it has a lot of great bars, shops and the trademark Portland vibe. I believe that they have last Thursday every month which is the evil twin to First Thursday in the Pearl. I would definitely say that the Mississippi and Alberta neighborhoods have far surpassed the Belmont and Hawthorne districts with regards to having a cool, unique identity.

There are some good pictures at Bella Faccia’s website that I’m not going to hotlink. I would encourage you to check it out if you are interested.

Until next time…

http://www.bellafacciapizzeria.com/

http://www.yelp.com/biz/bella-faccia-pizzeria-portland