Pizzeria Bianco - Los Angeles

I came in expecting greatness...with trepidation. Pizza from the country's best pizza chef is a tall order, but I didn't know if I'd be overwhelmed or under. 

I admit I was underwhelmed...in the best way possible. These pizzas are perfection but they stand out because they don't. 

The Wiseguy is my favorite, a simple, straightforward white pizza with roasted onion and fennel sausage. But the onion is cooked just to the brink of softness, the sausage is fragrant but not so salty so it blends seamlessly into the pie. Chunks of smoked mozzarella add a big cloud of smoke to permeate and amplify the sweet and savory. And the crust. Wow, what a crust. It's so thin it could be paper, so supple it can be both chewy and melt-in-your-mouth. 

The Sonny Boy is the classic pizza with tangy tomato sauce and stringy strands of fresh mozzarella. Soppressata shaved-thin blankets with a salty savor, and olives add the acid for a break from all that meat. 

The Rosa is a lesson in restraint. A generous bed of Santa Barbara pistachios plays on the nutty notes of parmesan, punctuated by a red onion crunch. 

The hype here is justified - it really is that good. The crust is incredible, the ingredients are superb, but it's really the ability to balance and refine that makes these pizzas exceptional. I've had good pizza in many places, but the pizza here is something else altogether.