Brooke Pearl Alistair Tutton

Related Articles

309

• Grills Gone Wild
• Surf on KC's New Turf
• A Fully Baked Idea
• Lucky Number Seven
• A Dinner to Remember

When it comes time for lunch or dinner, sometimes you just want to leave the cooking to someone else. No matter who you ask, there’s usually one (Italian) dish everyone can agree on: pizza.

Pizza Bella, located at 18th and Baltimore, is the only one of its kind in the Kansas City area. Owned by the same company as 1924 Main, this former clothing boutique converted into a restaurant in 2007. Rod Dazell, owner, and longtime chef Quillan Glynn put their heads together to create a unique and local menu selection. “We use whole wheat flour for the dough, which is fermented for 24-48 hours, and we stretch the dough to order,” says David Grime, manager. “We’ve also adapted appetizer selections that are simple, fun and fresh.” And since they only use two wood-burning ovens (blazing at 600-800 degrees), everything is baked, cooked and ready in about 10 minutes, depending on the lunch or dinner rush.

My first visit to Pizza Bella was to meet some friends for lunch. As I walked in, the narrow hallway, with a concrete wall draped with a sheer curtain on my right and a floor-to-ceiling wooden partition wall on my left, led me to the hostess. Behind her was the bar (in case you desperately needed a drink on the way to your seat), and the kitchen, with its fire-flaming ovens, is adjacent to the liquor selections. Without waiting, we were seated. Noticing a nice blend of contemporary and comfort (and modern pop music playing in the background), I threw my bag on the concrete floor and Tod, Jessica and I took our seats in red lightweight armless chairs. A mix of bench seating and pull-up chairs, just like ours, filled the middle portion of the restaurant. The wall of windows to the back let in natural sunlight, while also providing a clear view of Baltimore Street and the restaurant’s outdoor seating area. When warm weather prevails, the windows slide open, extending the seating area and (literally) bringing the indoors out.

After making ourselves comfortable, we noticed our table came fully equipped with bread sticks, a water jug, and brown and orange diamond-patterned placemats with the menu listed on the back — convenient. The servers, all about comfort, stride up in their Pizza Bella T-shirts, jeans and tennis shoes to take orders. “We wanted it to be sort of a corner pizza restaurant, a sheek, modern place where everyone is casual,” David says. After reviewing the menu and skipping anitpastas this time, Jessica and I ordered the Margherita pizza ($9) loaded with tomato, evo, garlic, basil and fresh mozzarella. The mushroom pizza ($10), a popular choice that Tod loved, was nicely presented with roasted onions, taleggio, thyme and white truffle. Even with its fancy presentation, it’s still pizza, so remember forks aren’t necessary and using your hands is acceptable — we did. And portion size is nothing to complain about.

The second time I went for lunch, I took a stab at a few crowd favorites. The antipastas (all $6) are great side dishes that complement any pizza of your choice. The cauliflower gratin came with roasted onions, smoked almonds and gruyere. It was delicious and just as good when reheated for my lunch the next day, but rumor has it that it’s no longer on the menu. Just as good are the roasted fingerling potatoes, with oyster mushrooms, leeks and truffle crème fraiche, and the calamari salad, with arugula, white beans, green olives and lemon vinaigrette. I was a little apprehensive as a formerly vegetable-eschewing child, however, about the roasted brussel sprouts (the No. 1 favorite), with pancetta vinaigrette, almonds and pecorino romano. But after giving the dish a shot (without plugging my nose), I enjoyed its flavorful sweetness — if my mom would have made brussel sprouts like this when I was younger, I wouldn’t have had to hide them in a napkin.

As for the pizza, two other popular choices are the prosciutto and the fennel sausage (both $10). Since David says the biancoverde ($10) is a common choice among women, I decided to give it a try. It came with fresh mozzarella, ricotta, pecorino romano, arugula and fresh basil. (I’m more of a meat lover myself, but my roommates devoured the rest of it the next day.) If you just want a regular pizza without all the “extras,” order the marinara ($8) — you can’t go wrong with tomato, evo, garlic and basil toppings.

If you still have room after all of that, try the tiramisu, gelato of the day with cookies or the almond biscotti with vin santo ($5 each). And just so you know, you’ll probably be taking leftovers home, too.