Anyone who has read this blog for any length of time should know by now I love pizza, and the pizzas Wendi and I had at Firenza Pizza in Sandusky proved to be a wonderful surprise. We didn’t want pizza for dinner (well, actually Wendi didn’t; I can eat it any time), and we had no idea we would be eating dinner in Sandusky.
Wendi and I were on our way to Marblehead, Ohio, to get away for a little bit. Normally, we take a vacation in the summer, but we had visited North Carolina, Georgia and Florida in April and are planning a trip to Boston for Christmas, so we didn’t plan a summer vacation. Wendi’s uncle and aunt, Jay and Kim, had recently visited the area and loved it. So, we thought, why not go. I performed a magic show at the Orrville Lions Rib & Music Fest in the afternoon, took a nap when I got home, and we hit the road a little after 6 p.m.
As we entered Sandusky, around 8 p.m., I saw there were a lot of food options. As we drove along Milan Road, nothing stood out. Wendi wasn’t interested in Chinese, Mexican or pizza. I was up for a burger, but I didn’t want to eat at a place that I could visit in Wooster, so Applebee’s and Five Guys were out. I did a search on Google and discovered Olive Garden was nearby. We headed there. I might be the only Italian who likes Olive Garden, but so be it. As usual, Olive Garden was busy. Wendi spotted a pizzeria in a storefront behind the Italian eatery, so we headed into Firenza Pizza. (At this point in the evening, Wendi was more interested in getting something quick and easy — even if it was pizza.)
When we walked into the restaurant, we saw it was set up a lot like Chipotle. You place your order with the person who handles the base and in this case, the base was pizza dough. You can select the size (10 or 12 inch), the sauce (anything from marinara to alfredo to garlic infused olive oil), the cheese (mozzarella provolone blend, feta and cheddar), your toppings (pepperoni, sausage, chicken, or all kinds of veggies). Or you can order one of their signature pies.
We choose to order a 10 inch cheese and a 10 inch Monterey pie. We had to get cheese, because, well I like cheese pizza. The Monterey sounded interesting with its olive oil and roasted garlic sauce, mozzarella and provolone blend, grilled chicken, bacon, roasted tomatoes, shredded parmesan, and ranch drizzle.
After they create the pizza, they slide it into an open flame stone hearth oven. The stone is around 500 degrees and it gets up to 800 degrees in the dome of the oven. In about 5 minutes, our pizzas were delivered to our table.
The pizzas looked tremendous. The stone hearth oven did its job by crispying up the pies including little bubbles of charred dough. When they were placed in front of us, Wendi commented, “They look like your kind of pizza.” She was absolutely right.
The cheese pizza tasted great. It had a nice simple sauce that wasn’t overbearing. More of the tomato flavor came through than any spices. The cheese looked a little light (as in not so much) when they were making it, but when I ate the pizza, it was the perfect amount. The crust was good with it being crisp and chewy, like it should. Something you can’t get on a conveyor or in a pan.
Where I thought there wasn’t enough cheese on the cheese pizza, the Monterey was loaded with toppings. Wendi had been a little apprehensive about getting a pizza without marinara, so she had gotten a side of marinara. However, she too, was pleasantly surprised by the deliciousness of the pie. The crust held up well with all the toppings. The flavors melded together into this conglomeration of tastiness. I didn’t think garlic infused olive oil made it too garlic-y, but Wendi said she could definitely taste the garlic.
Doing a little research about Firenza as a company, I saw that they began in 2015 in Washington, D.C. It was created by what their website says “two pizza aficionados” who had the goal to develop a “restaurant where pizza lovers could get a high quality, artisanal pizza that baked in only three minutes.” Based on my experience last night, I would say they succeeded.
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Bobby Warren has been making pizzas since he was in high school. He first started cooking pizzas at Lovece’s Pizza Palace in 1980. Since then, he has been on a quest to learn and teach others how to make the best pizza at home. When he is not making pizzas, he is working as an SEO specialist for publishers and digital marketing agencies around the United States.