at one point, i couldn’t quite understand the analogy between pizza and sex, but finally understood the parallel as a guy’s simple, straightforward logic – yes, of course you’ll take some if it’s there, and like sex, pizza can never really be bad.
for the gals, like me, the analogy is, of course, much more complicated, and works in a slightly different way. sometimes i want the sauce to be sweet, sometimes i want it hot and spicy, and many times none at all; tonight i want a thick, hard crust, but tomorrow i want it thin and soft; i might try something different, exotic toppings like wild boar, and even though i’m accustomed to everything on top, i could be turned on to a stuffed pizza. every detail matters, and i shouldn’t have to tell you what i want and when, because you should just know. and no, pizza is never really horrible, but it’s very very very rare that the whole thing absolutely blows me away.
there was the usual back and forth of “what do you want?” “i don’t know, what do you feel like?” and somewhere along the way, we decided on pizza. perhaps it was the giddiness because we’re going to try a new pizza place, abbot’s pizza company. perhaps the drive all the way down to venice seems long when there are so many options within walking distance of home. maybe it was the multiple trips up and down abbot kinney trying to find first, the very small, unadorned storefront that almost blends into the block, and second to find a parking spot. whatever it was, by the time we finally stepped up to the counter, pointed at the slices of on the racks flanking the register, paid the $3/slice and sat down at one of the steel bars along each wall, i had been worked into a famished frenzy.
and this one was...yes! a veritable pizza-gasm.
abbot's pizza bianca - mozzarella! ricotta!
pizza bianca has no tomato sauce. had i carefully read their menuboard, i would have seen that abbot’s makes their bianca with garlic pesto sauce and would not have ordered it. but thankfully, my animalistic hunger took over and i rushed right into it, simply pointing like a chimpanzee to order. what an excellent uninformed choice. it wasn’t a sauce that overwhelmed the whole crust as much as it was just another fragrantly garlic, faintly pesto topping in perfect balance with red onions, fresh tomatoes, julienned basil, and mozzarella and ricotta cheeses.
poppyseed bagel crust
many times i’ve scorched the roof of my mouth, so my first bite of the bianca was careful. the crust was thin and crisp. the pizza wasn’t hot, just very warm, so i devoured it, only pausing for the first heavy dot of ricotta. it added a subtly sweet creaminess to several fleeting moments. bite after bite, and my last bite of the poppyseed crust alone was like a perfectly toasted, proper poppyseed bagel. it’s crunchy first on the outside, then thick and chewy on the inside. this, the bagel crust, is what make abbot’s pizza company famous - onion, garlic, sesame, poppy, a mix of all four called “the blend,” and just plain “hot-crust.” thick and thin, crisp and chewy; abbot’s has the best of four crusty worlds.
i force myself to slow down for the popeye’s chicken pizza. spinach, mushroom, onions, and mozzarella cheese, on the same garlic pesto sauce, along with a tequila lime chicken which i pluck pluck pluck right off. the chicken’s marinade wasn’t bad, just too much flavor stimulation with the garlic pesto already.
olive pesto sauce underscores the symphony of mushrooms and cheeses on the wild mushroom pizza. portobello, oyster, button and shiitake mushrooms in perfect rhythm with parmesan, romano, and mozzarella cheeses. ohmigod. it’s so good. this is the one. this is my favorite. i mmm-ed with every bite, and i’m pretty sure my head was slightly tilted back with eyes closed through at least half of it. i wanted more, but i can’t. three slices and we're done.
so yes, pizza is like sex, and abbot's most certainly does it for me. they let you have the best of every world. plain crust or something on it. thin and crisp or thick and chewy. you can have a single slice or a whole pizza. eat in or take out, or even have it delivered. gourmet specials or pick-your-own new york style. traditional tomato, alfredo, or one of the pesto sauces. this or that, it’s no wonder that it was so orgasmic.
now just get up, toss paper plates and napkins in the trash, and head outside to have a cigarette.
abbot's pizza company
1407 abbot kinney (@ california ave.)
venice, ca 90291
310.396.7334
BBQ Junkie says
love, is all i have for abbot's pizza. glad someone finally flogged em. my favorite slice is the five onion with the wild mushroom a close second.
btw, they have a second location on pico.
hermz says
Excellent entry. Now I feel the urge to go get me a piece. ha!
FoodZealot says
The Abbot Kinney location is substantially better than Pico, imho.
I haven't ordered a whole pie and ate it there (have had them delivered), but the slices are actually better than just baked due to that second crisping of the crust, again imho.
T says
i can see from the photo what you mean! ive been wanting to try this place for ages and now you've given me a reason :-)
pizza bianca here i come! (seriously my mouth is watering...its good to find another la blogger!)
naughtytink says
Wow. I found this blog, and then tried ABC! Being from NY, I have been in long pursuit of a great pie. I found it. We ordered the Mushroom which was amazing! The pesto IS so perfectly balanced. But then the BIANCA... I believe that after the ecstacy waned, I started reeling from Garlic Poisoning.
Beware!
(I love your blog:)
Adam says
Mmmmm. How did I miss this when you originally posted back in April? A slice of absolutely stimulating pizza writing.
Anonymous says
pizza here is ok, crust is good. but c'mon, other than the large size of the pie, it ain't nothing like nyc (or italy). red sauce waaay too spicy and thick, tastes like pasta sauce. toppings are good too and interesting and the location on AK is sweet. bottom line is pizza in LA is generally average, this is tops of the bunch but that ain't saying much with such little competition.
sarah says
i agree about abbot's being nothing like ny, but we don't necessairly always have to compare. as a standalone, it is still pretty damn good. :)
there really is no excellent NY-style pizza in LA. only in NY. same with chicago-style. only in chicago (except, zachary's in berkeley is pretty good, too). same with true neapolitan style.
the thing is that LA doesn't have its own brand of pizza except - *ew* CPK or maybe wolfgang puck, and we can't really call that pizza anyway. that's flat bread with creative california crapon top.
ok. done rambling. LOL!
sam says
there is a new york style pizza place on beverly drive in beverly hills,.... what's that place called again? dammit can't recall the name!!!
have you been? do you know which place i speak of?
sarah says
mulberry street pizzeria!
omy, i used to go there all the time when a couple of friends of mine lived within walking distance of it...
:)
amanda says
i don't know if i've ever wanted a piece of pizza in my life as much as i do right now. great description and it is SOOO like sex ;-) do they have a location in San Diego for me to try out???
amanda says
i don't know if i've ever wanted a piece of pizza in my life as much as i do right now. great description and it is SOOO like sex ;-) do they have a location in San Diego for me to try out???
Anonymous says
This is the worst pizza I've ever had. The Bianca was inedible and the BBQ Chicken Pizza tasted like they bought BBQ sauce at Ralph's. We believed all the hype. What a disappointment.
Thai News says
It wets my appetite ;-)
Anonymous says
Abbots is pretty good "CA" pizza - San Diego has Bronx Pizza and Flippin Pizza and KO Pizza all really good for CA but NOT LIKE the best of NY. Although most of these guys are from NY. OC has La Rocco's in San Clemente they are all equally the same above average for CA - Mulberry St Pizza is too thin not any flavor - I prefer MR Pizza Domiano's on Fairfax for a drunken Slice if you can find parking also Village Pizza on Larchmont is fair enough - Joe's Pizza just opened in Santa Monica on Ocean they are known to have one of the top 5 slices in Lower Manhattan - Look Out for Big John's Famous NY Pizza coming to LA soon! This guy makes an amazing pie - I guess you can say he's a sex Dr. LOL