Even in the Internet age, I still have many basic questions that have yet to be answered.
Whatever happened to the E in the A,B,C,D,F grading scale? Who decided it was OK to eat cows and not horses? What is so fascinating about glitter?
These are just the beginning. But one question in particular stuck out in my mind this week: How can some cooks make the same basic recipe taste so much better than others?
I mean the few times I brave the kitchen, it’s basically culinary roulette. I know the recipe won’t turn out as it should — that it’ll either end up better or far, far worse — even when I use the exact same ingredients and follow the recipe to a T. It never fails to confound me.
This phenomenon of the culinary green thumb came to mind Monday after I stopped by a new restaurant called Pizza Artista, located outside of Prien Like Mall. It’s the second Pizza Artista to open, the first being in Lafayette.
I was impressed by the trendy outside and the number of people walking in. But, to be frank, I didn’t have high hopes for anything out of the ordinary. After all, how much better could one pizza be than another?
I walked up to the start of the line, where I could choose to make my own pizza or stick with a house favorite. Although creating a pizza Subway-style sounded fun, I wasn’t feeling very decisive that day, so Devin and I went for three favorites: the Classic Veggie, the Mediterranean and the Margherita pizza. Each costs $8.99 and feeds one to two people.
As I walked over to the drink machine to get some iced tea, one of the owners approached me.
“Have you washed your hands?” he said. I suddenly felt as if I were back in kindergarten. My face flushed, and I shook my head.
“Come try it,” he said. Still a little confused, I reluctantly followed his lead. He led me to a blue machine. “Stick your hands in there,” he said. Like a good 5-year-old, I did just that, hoping this was the washing part and not a form of punishment for my poor hygiene. But when I put my hands inside, my fingers were greeted by a circle of warm water.
“It’s like little washing machines for your hands,” my friend Devin said. The owner told us that Pizza Artista is the only restaurant in Louisiana to use this hand-washing technique. We gave each other a secret “impressed” look in unison.
Within about 15 minutes, all three of our pizzas were ready. I decided to start with the simplest and most traditional — the Margherita. It had red sauce, mozzarella, tomatoes, whole-roasted garlic and fresh basil. I added a little pesto for good measure at the choose-your-finish station, where I could add final ingredients like olive oil, oregano, peanuts and barbecue drizzle.
Anyone who has tasted a Margherita pizza is familiar with the feeling. You bite down into the subtle layers of herbs and cheese to get to the fresh tomato burst of flavor and the warm doughy bread. There’s nothing quite like it.
I spent a week in Italy a couple years back, and I often mentally relive that first flavorful bite of Margherita pizza that pulled apart like air. I always thought I’d have to fly back to Naples to experience that again, but now I know all I have to do is drive a few miles down the road to Pizza Artista.
Next was the Mediterranean, which had Alfredo sauce, spinach, mozzarella, feta, onions, mushrooms, red bell peppers and Kalamata olives. This one left “subtle” to the Margherita, and instead went straight for “explosive.” The feta and spinach and signature sauce all came together in that eyes-rolled-back kind of way. Devin dubbed it his favorite, but I had to stick to my Margherita guns, despite the temptation.
Lastly, we tried the Classic Veggie, which had red sauce, mozzarella, onions, mushrooms, green bell peppers, black olives, sliced tomatoes and green onions. This one was zesty and fresh, like a garden in my mouth. Every veggie was cooked and cut so as not to overpower the others. The farm-fresh result brought me back down to earth from the high-strung Mediterranean, and I sipped on my sweet tea in bliss.
For those who need a little meat in their marina, the Classic Cajun, Swamp Daddy and Bouchiere came highly recommended. They were stacked with ingredients like boudin, smoked gouda, crab, crawfish and Andouille.
Somehow, the pizza at Pizza Artista seemed just a little better than other pizzas. I don’t know how they managed to execute the classic roll, top and bake with such exceptional results, but they certainly did.
My question of why some cooks have it and others don’t will probably never get answered. But I plan to keep poking around Pizza Artista to find out.
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