Michael Ali's Coal Fired Pizza

Winter Garden's Plant Street Market is one of the many food halls that have been popping up across the nation. Food halls are the it trend right now... They have their positives and negatives. Some food halls consist of overpriced slop shops that tourists buy into hook line and sinker. And other food halls try to have quality shit in them. This small food hall in this up and coming hipster town in Florida is the home base of the Crooked Can Brewing Company. They are the anchor for this food hall. The beers are pretty decent here but what about the food in the hall... There's a crappy sushi stall, a vegan stall, a juice bar, a gourmet chocolatier, a butcher, a bakery, a paleteria, a grill joint and of course... A 'ZA joint.
This one is special, though... It's an all coal fired oven... Hmmm, just like Lombardi's? Fuck no, they ain't got a 100+ year old brick oven built into the building... They got a modern standard issued wood burning oven that can use coal or wood or even a mix of the two. But they strictly only use coal. Hmmm, sounds like a challenge for da pouch... The place is pretty packed since food halls are always family friendly places and of course the snot nosed kids all want pizza. I put my order in and they said they will call me on the phone when ready... Screw that, I stayed and watched them make the pies. The dude assembling the pies was as happy as a bag of douche. I asked them if they use any wood chips for smoke or flavor... He looks up and shakes his head sideways. Thanks, mistor happy go lucky. The pies looked well put together when it went into the oven. I see they're rotating it but they don't lift it to the dome before it comes out. They just leave it in the oven longer. So, I finally get my 3 pies after 20 minzies or so because they were pretty busy. Let's examine the pies shall we...

 Regular Coal Fired Pie. Open it up and the crust is pretty dark. Then I remembered them brushing olive oil on the crust before it goes into the box. Why? To enhance the dark crust with a shiny clear coat? Whatever, weak. So, I take a bite and it's not bad... Not great but not bad, the ingredients were pretty good quality. The cheese had a mild pull and the sauce was barely noticeable. The crust was kinda hard pretzel like with a smoky char on it, maybe too smoky. It was an ok 'ZA.

Brooklyn, fresh mozz, Italian sausage, rapini, onion. Is this crust darker than the first one? Looks like it to me. You can barely fold it properly because the crust is kinda hard and it just won't crack and fold easily. The ingredients inside were all pretty good. It's a tasty 'ZA but the crust really drags it down. Just eat the good stuff and leave the crust.

Parma, prosciutto di parma, artichokes, gorgonzola. And this crust is even darker than the other two. It's almost comical now. The artichokes, prosciut and gorg cheese were tasty, the crust not so much.

I bet the 3 person crew can make a really kick ass 'ZA if they weren't so busy and backed up on orders and not giving the attention it needs for each pie. Leaving the pies in the oven a bit too long because they're doing other things. It's understandable but really not acceptable when people are paying for it. I rather wait a few minutes longer for a properly made pie that is not almost burnt. Most people won't even notice or even care about a properly made pie but you can definitely taste it in the end product. I prolly won't be back here anytime soon. Good luck, suckaz.

426 W Plant St
Winter Garden, FL 34787
http://www.plantstmarket.com/