Two weeks ago, I caught an episode of Todd English’s Food Trip where he went in search of the best pizza. He hit Grimaldi’s in Brooklyn, Una Pizza Napoletana in the East Village, and most importantly, he hit Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix, AZ. As soon as I saw Todd pick up a slice of that pizza and show it to the camera, I knew I had to go and try it for myself. Well, this past weekend, there was nothing on my social calendar so I booked my flight and Saturday afternoon, I found myself at what is generally considered Mecca in the pizza world:

I knew to expect a ridiculously long wait, but unfortunately my local friend in Phoenix delayed me and I couldn’t get there an hour before they open like I had intended. You can see from the picture exactly where in the line I was, and that was at 5:10, exactly ten minutes after opening. Doesn’t look that bad, right? But what you don’t see is that in addition to the full house already seated inside and the customers ahead of me in the line, there was literally a house full of other customers that were ahead of me in the list because they did line up an hour earlier. The procedure is to give your name to the hostess who will give you an approximate wait time and then you’re free to either leave and come back to check every 45 minutes, or, more conveniently, just pop into Bianco’s wine bar in the building next door. It was 105 degrees outside so after I left my name and was informed that it would be 2-2.5 hours(!), I quickly made my way to the wine bar.

The wine bar itself was awesome. A little old fashioned house with a quaint little porch out front, and when you walk inside, you really feel like you’re just walking into someone’s house. As you enter, there’s a little room to your right where the actual bar is. You can get your drinks and sit in that room, but it is a little cramped. Alternatively you can grab your drinks and head into the living room area. It was really a sweet little set up. Spacious and comfortable seating throughout, and you were encouraged to roam around, even go outside and sit on the benches or at the picnic tables if you didn’t mind the heat. The staff between the restaurant and bar was well coordinated and constantly kept track of where everyone on the waiting list was located, so that when it was your turn, no matter where on the property you were, they’d find you. Milling around carrying a bottle and a glass of wine, it was reminiscent of the vibe at a college house party. Awesome.

Chris Bianco himself has trademark disheveled hair which seems to stand straight up in defiance of the laws of gravity. He’s the mad genius of pizza and looks the part. In contrast, the females on his staff are all super attractive with a casual but polished air about them. After two and a half hours of waiting passed with the help of two bottles of inexpensive Ramsay pinot noir, one of the hot waitresses came over to tell me that my table was ready. So they really do manage to somehow keep track of where everyone is! No small feat. Can you imagine trying to keep track of everyone’s location at a frat party?

Inside the restaurant everything was comfortable and casual. It was dimly lit, not too loud, and the scent of great food was everywhere. At the waiter’s suggestion, I ordered the antipasto plate. Great recommendation! It contained slices of a cured meat of some sort, like a salami but more refined, roasted peppers, roasted sweet corn, a bit of cheese, and a few other roasted vegetables. Every item on the plate was superb and was terrific with the pinot. For the bread on the table, we were served a sliced mini baguette, wonderfully firm and chewy, and certainly made from a recipe that could not be far removed from that of pizza dough. Absolutely delicious along with the dish of extra virgin olive oil which was bright and floral without being too bold. Not as big and green as some olive oils, but bright flavor with restrained subtlety is apparently Bianco’s style and what a terrific style it is.

For my first pizza, I got a margherita with arugula as an add-on. I knew from researching the place before my trip that Bianco’s margherita was the best choice for appreciating the crust because it was the simplest in terms of toppings. The idea for arugula as an add-on was something I got from a local I had just met there. I took my first bite, and it was heaven. It was everything I hoped for. The underside of the super thin crust was delicately charred only in spots, so in a single bite, you could taste a little hint of smokiness, the subtle tang in the crust, a touch of sweetness from the tomato sauce, the mellowness of the cheese, and the spectacular fresh zing of the basil and baby arugula. I still get giddy thinking about those flavors in my first bite. The delicately crisp underside of the crust yielded to a satisfying chew from the beautifully puffy rim. This was truly the best crust I’ve ever tasted. In fact, yes, the best pizza I have ever tasted, period. All I can say is wow.

For my other pizza, I got the Wiseguy which featured wood roasted onion, mozzarella and fennel sausage. The crust itself was too thin to support such a heavily loaded pizza, but that’s probably the only thing I can come up with that even remotely approaches a gripe about this pie. The first thing that dazzled me when I bit into it was the fennel sausage. So delicious with just a hint of sweetness to it. The sausage didn’t look greasy at all, but it was still so moist and juicy. As I took my next bite, I focused in on the onion. Nice big half inch slices of onion, just barely translucent from its roasting, but carrying a sweetness you’d normally only expect from fully caramelized onions. The only things that come to mind as you eat a Chris Bianco pizza are superlatives. This was pizza elevated to new heights. Every ingredient had star power, but all played nicely together on a single pie. And while every topping was truly utterly amazing, it’s the crust that will forever leave me wanting more. Chris Bianco deserves all the praise in the world. He is producing glorious food out there in the desert.