What’s Detroit-style pizza? It’s deep-dish, but light, and here’s one to try
Detroit-style pizza is everywhere these days, and I’m not clear why.
“It’s different,” said Edward Gutierrez, serving the rectangular, light, crisp-bottom pizzas at 817 Pizza, a truck and future restaurant at 2836 Stanley Ave. in Fort Worth.
First, Gemelle introduced it as the favorite pizza of owner Tim Love’s wife, Emilie. Then, Zoli’s added Detroit-style pizzas under a different menu name, Thunderbird Pies. And the Michigan-based Jet’s Pizza chain has four suburban locations.
“Everybody’s been doing Neapolitan-style pizza for a while now — this is new,” said Gutierrez, a Culinary School of Fort Worth chef.
He’s serving them at 817 Pizza, the kitchen outside a bare-bones patio bar and play yard named Smokestack 1948.
Gutierrez, a Fort Worth native, has kicked around some up-and-coming restaurants and hopes 817 Pizza is both a springboard and a way to hire Culinary School graduates.
He connected with Smokestack 1948 and owner Carter Froman (of Carter’s Coffee) midway through the project.
Gutierrez hopes to turn the food trailer into a permanent kitchen and expand the menu, he said.
“It’s all simple, something like you would get off a food truck, but with some extra thought,” he said.
It’s impossible to visit 817 Pizza without making obvious comparisons.
The pizza is deep-dish, light and slightly sweet. It’s what a nearby Pizza Snob deep-dish pizza would taste like if Pizza Snob served one (it doesn’t).
The Smokestack 1948 bar and playground, in an industrial and residential area at Stanley and West Lowden Streets, is similar to nearby Berry St. Ice House, but much more spartan. An expanded cocktail bar and garden is planned.
Gutierrez said he experimented with focaccia recipes and uses a special Texas extra-fine flour that’s sweetened with honey instead of sugar.
The menu offers six pizzas ($13-$18) along with sandwiches with house-made bacon ($7-$14), salads ($9-$12) and a kids’ menu with an $8 pizza, tater tots and a $7 pepperoni grilled-cheese sandwich (fun for all ages).
The trailer was sold out of its fresh Texas mushroom specialty pizza Sunday afternoon, but a bacon-jalapeno-cream cheese pizza surprised both with the house-made bacon and the diced smoked jalapenos, cleaned of seeds to add flavor while keeping some fire.
The most intriguing might be the brisket pizza, or the Frito pie pizza with sausage.
There’s also a gluten-free crust ($3 extra).
The menu also includes poached chicken salad, either on greens or as a sandwich, along with a brisket sandwich, a smoked bratwurst and a BLT with that house bacon.
The dessert specialty is the under-billed “fried nuggets,” actually a basket of beignet nuggets (or are they doughnut holes?) with powdered sugar and mocha drizzle ($6). They definitely need a scoop of MELT Ice Creams vanilla ($5).
The 817 is open for lunch and dinner daily except Mondays; 817pizza.com.
This story was originally published January 17, 2021 at 5:45 AM.
