The most frequent question asked of Dough owner/chef Keith Hall is: “Why does a11-inch pizza cost $16?” I asked the same question and here is what I found.
If you want quality, you don’t start with “cheap food.” Pizza at Dough starts with flour from Napoli, the ancestral home of Pizza Napolitana. The grade “double zero” reflects the fineness of the particles. Then comes the water used to make the dough (and is also served in carafes at the table). It comes from the City of Dallas and then goes through a filtration system that removes chemical and physical impurities.
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Then there are the tomatoes in the topping: they come from the foothills around Mount Vesuvius in Italy. These are a DOP (Denominazione di Origine Protetta) product. That is the food equivalent of wine’s DOC and DOCG classifications that denote a specific place of origin of the product. Even the oven in which each pizza spends a scant 90 seconds was crafted in Italy. The other pie toppings come from a long list of local producers listed on the back of the menu. The burrata, fior di latte, and burricotti, are made in-house. If you order take out, the pizza is not fired until you arrive to pick it up. This is quality control taken to an extreme.
The result is a memorable pizza. Eat them with a glass of wine from what may be the best Italian wine list at any pizzeria in town. Look for producers like Allegrini and Vietti for reds, and varieties like Falanghina and Arneis (or the area of Gavi) for whites. Dodge the Pinot Grigios (the grape is popular, but mundane).
I tasted all of the following at a media event this week. While the assembled hacks and hackettes dined at one table, the rest of the place was hopping. Dough is clearly a favorite spot for couples, families with kiddies, retired folks, and single diners at the counter watching the gyrations of pizza making. Dough is a come-as-you-are, non-judgmental place: an affirmation that Dallas stands behind no one when it comes to really good pizza. Dough, Cavalli, Il Cane Rosso, Urban Crust, Serious Pizza and others are already here, and there are rumors of NY and Chicago style leaders coming in. I say, “Bring it on.”
