By David Nelson | SDUN Food Critic
Coal isn’t rated highly as a stocking-stuffer, but during the holiday season we must note URBN Coal Fired Pizza, a gift to North Park—and the world, no doubt—from pizzarateur Jon Mangini, whose original BASIC Urban Kitchen & Bar by Petco Park has been a downtown favorite since 2006.
On University Avenue at 31st, URBN maintains the industrial look that Mangini chose for BASIC—and then some. At 5,000 square feet it’s nothing short of huge, and the high ceilings and vast windows remind of the factories that hummed in the Midwest before the country’s Industrial Belt turned rusty. Tall, tall walls are brushed gray and tower over bare wood tables set with flickering votives and five-compartmented condiment trays that hold salt, crushed pepper, dried basil, red pepper flakes and freshly grated parmesan. Except for the pizzas, all URBN details seem to be oversized, commencing with a tall, long communal table that seats 35 or so, in case all your best pals want to join you for pizza, suds and the NFL next Monday night. The bar, capable ofserving a crowd, does just that, and while it was a surprise to see four bartenders lounging behind it one Monday around 6:30 p.m., by the time an hour had passed, they were hopping. At least in North Park, San Diego doesn’t doze between weekends like it used to.
Beverages effortlessly punch up URBN’s somewhat intimidating mood (intimate it ain’t). A couple of San Francisco cocktail impresarios, Nick Budrow and Seth Laufman, were imported to design what they call “high-level spirit-driven craft cocktails,” which you could translate as imaginative tipples based on the new small production “boutique spirits” that are knocking the chic and trendy off barstools across the country. The wine list (a good number of bottles also are available by the glass) is pizza-friendly, but could be a little kinder to those who want to knock back a glass of red for less than $8. Domestic and international craft beers abound (try Young’s Double Chocolate Stout, if you’re in a feisty mood), and the draught menu offers both glasses and growlers, or oversized containers meant to be shared. When ordering a growler of Stone Brewery’s Arrogant Bastard Ale, bear in mind the admirable toast invented by brewer Greg Koch: “Here’s looking at me.”
New Haven, Conn. claims to be the birthplace of three famous American institutions: Yale University,
hamburgers and pizza. Yale is unquestionably a New Haven native, and whether the other two truly are local is a matter of some contention, but nevermind, since you certainly can get good pizzas and burgers there (it’s been a while, but the voice of experience is speaking). URBN’s pies are New Haven-style, which is to say thin-crusted and irregularly shaped. The intense heat of the coal-fired oven cooks them quickly and generally chars the edges, which diners simply trim away.
Mangini designed a menu considerably broader than at BASIC, and it’s a good list. The starters are welcome, since man does not live by pizza alone, at least not outside college dorms. Pizzas star, to be sure, and besides design-your-own New Haven pies in small or large versions topped with familiar items like sausage and meatballs, there are such options as mashed potatoes and cherry peppers. The anchovies are white, and a pizza topped with both little fishies and mashed spuds would send this writer howling from the room—but you might like it just fine. Such is the elegance of freedom of choice.
Homer’s Cassandra was fated to foresee the truth, but be believed by no one, which is why the Trojans lost what should have been a simple bar room brawl. URBN’S Cassandra, a genial server of notable skill, advised that the fresh clam pizza is utterly delicious, but can she be believed? Made “white,” which is to say with garlic, Parmesan and olive oil as underpinnings to the clams, it certainly is a classic in New Haven, and reportedly is one of proprietor Mangini’s favorites. Other entries on the “craft pie” list include a classic, quite enjoyable Margherita topped forthrightly with buffalo milk mozzarella, tomato and fresh basil; a white anchovy pie (be my guest); the eggplant Parmigiana pizza, which enriches the basic Margherita with this crusty topping and looks like a red-and-green flower, and a vegan pie nicely decorated with arugula, tomato, red onion, mushrooms and artichoke hearts. The mashed potato pie also includes pancetta and two cheeses, and the just-right sausage and peppers pizza stuffs the cherry peppers with Gorgonzola. Both red and green, the peppers add a seasonal sprightliness to the presentation. Prices for craft pies commence at $11 for the Margherita and rise to 18 clams for the pizza alle vongole. As mentioned earlier, guests can build their own pies with choices from a list of two dozen or so options.
Salad precedes pizza like a shot before a beer, and the hybrid Caprezanella makes a fine shared first course. A cross between a “caprese” of layered tomatoes, basil and mozzarella and a panzanella bread salad, this one is rich in croutons and is accented with red onions and red wine vinaigrette. The URBN salad tumbles “petit” greens with pear, Gorgonzola and walnut brittle; it’s nice, but try the combo of Port-poached figs with greens, hazelnuts and goat cheese first. For a meaty starter meant to get you in the mood for a pie buried beneath pepperoni, sausage and meatballs, taste such top-grade salumi as soppressata, speck, bressaola, coppa and Genoa salami. Each is a pleasure. For those whose football days are incomplete without wings, URBN’s are dosed with spices, garlic and rosemary, and roasted in coal-fired heat.
