Heights Eats

I am a huge fan of thin, chewy pizza crust. Pan pizza has its place, but I’ll almost always choose Bar Cento style pizza with a crispy outer layer, yeasty flavor and toothsome bite.

Making this at home has generally been a challenge. Pizza stones and peels are great for medium thick crusts, but a thin crust will usually fall apart in transfer. The solution we’ve found is a pizza screen along with a crust that clearly passes the windowpane test so it can be stretched without breaking.

I used Alton Brown’s grilled pizza dough recipe (with half whole wheat flour and a little extra water), which took about 20 minutes of kneading on the stand mixer to pass the windowpane test.

Here’s the rest of the recipe, which is enough for 3 pizzas:

(1) Make dough (see above) and let rest for at least one hour (it can be stored in the fridge for about a week).

(2) Make sauce: sautee a few … continue reading

I convinced Sarah that we should go to Bar Cento tonight. An excellent meal there can easily be cheaper than eating at a mid-priced chain (e.g. Champps, Friday’s, etc.). Here’s what we ordered:

The Pizza Bianco with Cheese ($8): Super-simple, but extremely good. Fresh garlic, olive oil, sea salt and a bit of cheese on a super-crispy but still chewy crust.

Pommes Frites w/ Belgian Mayonaisse ($7): Fresh cut thick fries with three different flavored mayos and ketchup. Jonathan loved these. The waiter pointed out that these are a better bet than the French Fries ($5), as you get a double portion plus mayo for only $2 more.

Mushrooms ($5): Local mushrooms sauteed in a very flavorful combination of oil and herbs.

On our waiter’s recommendation, I had a New Holland Cabin Fever Brown Ale ($6), which was very thick, flavorful and almost stout-like. It went well with everything.

For dessert we split the Chocolate Ganache Cake ($5), which looked … continue reading

On Friday Ben and I made plans to go to the Death Cab for Cutie concert (it was my Mother’s Day present) and to give Bar Cento a try without the little one in tow. We had a great time. We sat right in front of the pass, so we got a great view of all of the action going on in the kitchen. We started with the antipasto plate: there was a generous assortment of cured meats and cheeses, all of which were excellent. We also ordered some Pommes Frites with an assortment of Belgian mayo which included chili, curry, and garlic. Our favorites were garlic and curry (it tasted like masaman curry).

To drink, Ben first ordered a Flemish Sour Ale and then a Belgian Wheat. Both were very good. The Flemish Sour Tasted strangely like hard cider, and the Belgian Wheat had flavor something like Orangina (and not just because of the orange wedge).… continue reading

This weekend we went to Bar Cento for dinner. Ben and I were both pretty excited about going because of all of the positive reviews it has been receiving and that Jonathan Sawyer (who learned some of his chops from Michael Symon) is the head chef. We were also excited that it was kid friendly.

The atmosphere was kind of cozy, but in a friendly way. When we were seated the waiter brought us a small paper bag with rolls and a small ramekin of olive oil. The bread tasted very fresh and went well with the olive oil. We ordered the antipasto plate for an appetizer. It was fantastic: there was an assortment of three meats and four cheeses as well as a slice of grilled bread and marinated veggies. Ben and I especially enjoyed the prosciutto while Jonathan was more into the cheese. For entrees we chose a pizza Marinara with prosciutto and the cheese … continue reading

Thin Crust Pizza

Cheap Eats at Bar Cento

Bar Cento — Parents’ Date Night

Bar Cento