Old School

My husband and I like to watch the Food Network television show Restaurant Impossible. In this show, Chef Robert Irvine goes into a failing restaurant and in two days and with $10,000, transforms it into a new, improved eatery with a hip interior and a slick, cool new menu. We are then to assume that the restaurant goes on to be successful, though we never know that for sure.

The thing that amuses both Bill and me is that at the end, all of the restaurants look basically the same, and the menus are pretty much interchangeable. Oh, there might be a few differences if the themes are different – Italian, Greek, hamburger joint, etc. But in the end, most of the restaurants are very much the same. We recently had the occasion to dine at Irvine’s Nosh restaurant on Hilton Head Island, and yes, you guessed it, it looks just like the restaurants on the program. Funny.

I thought about this recently when Bill and I went for pizza at one of our favorite Denver-area dining spots, Bonnie Brae Tavern. Bonnie Brae has been in business for 75 years, and I have been eating pizza there for almost 35 years. In that time, the menu hasn’t really changed

much and the pizzas are just as delicious now as they were the first time I ate there. Yummy crust and fresh, delicious ingredients, but nothing fancy. No fancy white sauces, no clams, not an arugula leaf to be found.

Likewise, the décor is about the same as it has been for at least the 35 years I have been eating there. I’m sure the turquoise leather has been replaced a time or two, but it nevertheless, remains turquoise leather. The wall is lined with beer neon signs with the cords exposed as they snake over to the plugs. It feels like home. (Not that I have beer neon signs in my kitchen, but you know what I mean.)

I contrasted this to another restaurant where I ate today with a niece who is visiting from LA. Sassafras American Grill is in the beautifully gentrified Highlands area of Denver, and the restaurant is located in a lovingly and beautifully remodeled old Victorian home. While not the fresh, contemporary look typical of, say, Robert Irvine’s restaurants, it still is beautifully hip (and quite delicious, I might add). The Cajun-flavored offerings are absolutely yummy.

Still, Bill and I are definitely old-school. As such, I feel very much at home sitting on the turquoise leather seating that makes Bonnie Brae a favorite. Oh, that and the crunchy crusts on the scrumptious pizzas!

Speaking of pizza, here is how I make a grilled pizza that tastes almost like the pizzas we got in Italy.

Preheat your grill while you prepare your ingredients. Divide pie crust into individual portions and roll it out as thin as you can. I generally buy my crusts at Whole Foods, but you can certainly make your own.

While your grill is getting hot, warm some olive oil in a pan, and throw in a crushed garlic clove. Let the oils from the garlic flavor the olive oil, and then brush the olive oil on both sides of your individual crusts.

Put your ingredients in bowls and take them with you out to the grill, along with the crusts. I recommend very simple ingredients. Maybe you will want to brush a little tomato sauce on the crust after it has cooked on one side. Perhaps you will put on a little cheese. You can add some garlic or maybe a little prosciutto or few slices of pepperoni.

Once your grill is preheated, carefully place the crusts (on which you have brushed some garlic-infused oil) directly onto the grill rack. One web site recommends that you put your crust on a piece of aluminum foil that you have floured and slide it from the foil onto the grill. I have generally just used my hands. However you do it, this is probably the trickiest part. But you can do it!

At this point, don’t walk away from the grill. Keep your eyes open as you watch the crust begin to bubble. It really only takes a minute or so. Once the bottom of the crust has gotten a little charred, turn the crust over using tongs. Brush more oil onto the crust, and quickly put on your ingredients. Close the lid and let the pizzas cook and the cheese melt (if you used cheese) for a few more minutes – probably no more than five. Keep your eye on the pie. Delicious.