Cheese? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Cheese! Pete's Apizza Rocks!

Even before I became vegan, I've never liked the cheese.  In fact, I am a certified cheesaphobe.  The single exception--I loved pizza.  It was my one indulgence.  Italian Store, Pizzeria Paradiso, Cafe Pizzaiolo--loved them all.  But a few months before we made the switch from vegetarian to vegan, I started loathing it.  Awesome Wife would want to get a pizza and live recklessly--I'd say you go ahead, I will eat a bagel.  Seriously.

After going the full vegan, I figured the pizza chapter was closed.  But tonight, AW invited me out for an impromptu date to Clarendon, and Pete's Apizza.  And now, I say "Pizza, welcome back."

The setup is simple.  Pick your crust, pick your toppings, pay at the register and a few minutes later, your pizza shows up at your table.  We went with the plain crust with tomato sauce, and chose broccoli rabe (no relation to broccoli, but instead, a cousin to our friend the turnip), roasted tomatoes, and caramelized onions.  They add some fresh garlic, I added some hot pepper, and off we go.  The verdict: incredible!  The first observation I made (when I could stop eating) was that you don't need cheese to have a good pizza.  It tasted like the real thing, and was about 50 percent lighter.  The servings are huge--between us, we ate about 1/2 of the standard size pie (you can order by the slice, if you take the stock selections, and they also had some appetizers and pastas, plus salad).

The only drawbacks were (a) the noise level and (b) the "air-conditioner" which was blowing out hot air.  While that is quite desirable in a Wisconsin winter, somewhat less so when the ambient air temperature is 100 degrees, like today.  On the plus side, they do an excellent economic analysis of the value of their 18" pizzas.

This place was a winner.  The service was friendly and the food excellent.  For my cheese-lovin' friends, you can have a good time too, but for these two vegans, it was a gala night out.