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Y! MyWebSpinoza's, Beavercreek, Ohio, restaurant review
Former Pacchia co-owner opens restaurant serving authentic gourmet pizza
Friday, June 12, 2009
BEAVERCREEK — To the cynics among us, the use of the term "gourmet" in connection with food usually means "an excuse to charge more."
But before that charge is leveled against Spinoza's Gourmet Pizza & Salads, consider the care with which restaurant owner Glen Brailey selected the toppings for his, yes, gourmet pizzas.
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Three of the dishes at Spinoza's Gourmet Pizza & Salads include the Spinozian Deluxe (front), YinYang pizzas and Baruch's Favorite salad (left).Spinoza's Gourmet Pizza & Salads
- WHERE: In the Mall at Fairfield Commons in Beavercreek (outside entrance near Sears) [Map]
- HOURS: 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to midnight Fridays and Saturdays, noon to 8 p.m. Sundays
- WHAT TO TRY: The Drunken Goat Salad ($4.95/$8.95), Baruch's Favorite Salad ($4.95/$8.95), YinYang specialty pizza ($8.95/$13.95/$17.95), Spinozian Deluxe Pizza ($8.95/$13.95/$17.95).
- MORE INFO: (937) 426-7799
- More info on how to go
Brailey — former co-owner of Pacchia restaurant in Dayton — led blind taste tests with his staff on as many as two dozen sausage and pepperoni products before deciding what to buy.
Brailey orders two types of pepperoni as well as a peppered salami from the Ezzo Sausage Company in Columbus (the smaller of the two pepperonis is spicier and designed to "cup" when cooked). Italian sausage and chorizo come from a different sausage maker in California.
Cheeses are sourced from a Wisconsin company that has a Web page devoted to "social responsibility." Spiced nuts come from a woman in California who launched her business after a divorce, Brailey said.
The attention to detail shows up on the plate, in "Signature Pizzas" that hit more often than they miss. Pizzas are served in three sizes — small (nine-inch), medium (12-inch) and large (14-inch) — on either original or whole-wheat crusts.
A good starting point for beginners is the Spinozian Deluxe ($8.95/$13.95/$17.95), topped with three cheeses, pepperoni, Italian sausage, bell peppers, mushrooms and black olives.
A spicier alternative is the Arizana($8.95/$14.95/$18.95), which derives heat from chorizo sausage and a spicy tomato sauce and adds sun-dried tomatoes and roasted red peppers, smoothed out by dollops of ricotta cheese in addition to smoked gouda, mozzarella and provolone.
Some of the more creative signature pies take pizza in a new direction.
The best of the bunch may be the YinYang ($8.95/$13.95/$17.95), which is topped with glazed walnuts, chorizo sausage, gorgonzola cheese, olive oil, garlic and fresh spinach as well as mozzarella and provolone. The walnuts provide an appealing sweet crunch to balance out the mild heat of the chorizo.
But other combinations don't work as well, such as the Jamaica Marley ($8.95/$13.95/$17.95), which replaces tomato sauce with BBQ sauce, is topped with jerk chicken, bacon, black beans, smoked gouda and red onions, then is sprinkled with chopped cilantro after it comes out of the oven. The barbecue sauce and cilantro dominate the flavors.
Salads also blend diverse ingredients and are served in two sizes: regular, which serves one, and large, which is designed to serve two or three. Try the "Drunken Goat" ($4.95/$8.95) with its dried cranberries, toasted pine nuts and soft goat cheese, or the "Baruch's Favorite" (Baruch being the first name of Baruch Spinoza, the 17th Century Dutch philosopher for whom Brailey named the restaurant), also $4.95/$8.95, with its fresh strawberries and glazed walnuts.
The new restaurant still has some kinks to work out. On one visit, a small portion of the lettuce leaves in a salad had at some point frozen before the salad was served, and on another, our salads were served a scant 45 seconds or so before the pizza arrived. The amount of toppings on the smallest-sized signature pizzas and on the Neopolitan pizzas with cracker-thin crusts can leave diners wanting more.
The draft beer list is more impressive than the wines by-the-glass list. The Hoegaarden White Ale is crisp and delicious, with a hint of clove, while the robust and pleasantly bitter Troegs Seasonal is for more experienced craft-beer enthusiasts.
Some of the most intriguing wines — Ravenswood Petite Sirah, Forest Glen Syrah Rosé — are available by bottle only.
Live music is on the menu on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
In Spinoza's, Brailey has launched an eatery well worth checking out — "gourmet" ingredients and all.
CONTACT this reporter at (937) 225-2258 or mfisher@coxohio.com.
