D/a/ A lot of talk and hype was made about Pi Pizzeria in St. Louis after we all learned how much Barack Obama loved the stuff. It was certainly reason to take notice. President Obama, as influential as a living man can be, loves a pizza restaurant in St. Louis? Maybe, perhaps even more of an interest for me personally was the fact that Obama is a Chicago man. And, well, Chicago has such great pizza restaurants like Lou Malnati’s. How could he be so into a pizza place in St. Louis? I just made my first visit to Pi in the Central West End with date in hand to see for myself what the fuss was about. When you walk through the doors, you are immediately halted by a large curtain. But there is nothing to fear. You are not going to walk past the curtain to find yourself on stage in front of an anticipating audience. No, you soon realize that you aren’t walking onto a stage, but rather, you’re going behind the curtains to a casual V.I.P. area that you and your date can easily slip in to. For a pizzeria, Pi in the Central West is quite elegant and stylish. The artwork and design of the restaurant is a conflict between modern and old-fashioned taste, which makes it both interesting and refreshing. There are certain images of the restaurant that can’t seem to leave me such as the randomly selected and configured mirrors behind the booths and a sword stabbing a watermelon. While these images may not be especially romantic, they are certainly topics for discussion. Still, it is the lighting that really sets the mood for a date. It may be simple, but many places tend to get this wrong. But this place has it. As far as service goes, I’d say it’s excellent. The waiting staff seemed very helpful, knowledgeable and energetic. The manager that night, Joel Clark, and waitress Kelsey Zehner were especially impressive with their service. It did seem that there were a lot of waiters for the number of tables and especially for a Tuesday night, but, if so, that doesn’t usually equate to be a bad thing for customers. While the environment was fantastic, the food has to be good too, or else it may make us question the President’s taste which may make us question his policies, just kidding. The food is, in fact, very good. I tried three salads: the Euclidean, the BLT, and the Winter Citrus. They all were impressive, however, the Euclidean, which is only available at the Central West End Pi location, was a personal favorite. The small size should be large enough if you’re eating anything else with it. The salad portions are very generous. Joel, the night’s manager, insisted I try one of their signature cocktails that he felt went perfect with any of the salads. The one I had was called the Infinite Potential that mixed champagne and apricot flavor among other things. I was impressed and his pride was certainly valid. Of course, what is really important at a pizzeria is, of course, pizza. I must say that the pizza was very good. Did it live up to the hype? Probably not, but the bar was raised quite high.
PLACE: Written by Mark Webber. Photography by Richard Nichols
Pi in Central West End
I enjoyed both the Bucktown and the Central West End. The Bucktown is a bit thicker with a very desirable blend of flavors including mozzarella, roasted chicken, artichoke hearts, red bell peppers, green olives, red onions, feta and sun-dried tomatoes. The Central West End has a thin crust and includes mozzarella, volpi prosciutto, goat cheese, cherry tomatoes, red onions, arugula. The Central West End is also, as you might guess, only available at the Central West End location. I can’t say that the pizza is the best I’ve ever had nor can I say with confidence that it is the best pizza I’ve had in St. Louis. But I can say this: There is definitely no better pizzeria in St. Louis to take a date to. The atmosphere is wonderful. The service is wonderful. And the food is very good. I do highly recommend saving room for dessert. The desserts, created by Matthew Rice, are extraordinary. I especially loved the Hot Fudge Cake. The rich chocolate is well balanced with ice cream. I couldn’t help but eat the whole thing!