The Weber
Buffalo Moon
The Oven Pizza E Vino
El Noa Noa
Jewel of India
Yard House
Shipwreck Landing North
Strings
Modis
Bagali’s
Mary’s Lake Lodge
Cinzzetti’s
Jing

Famous Dave’s

Sushi Matsuri

Small bites

Products We Love:

Sol Azul Teqiula
Seth Ellis Chocolatier

I have a theory that in order to open a new pizza kitchen you have to be either brave or stupid. Pizza is one of America ’s favorite dishes; everyone knows what good pizza tastes like and probably already has a favorite supplier. So, from a business standpoint, to enter a saturated market, you have to be either not-so-bright or know you have a great product and are brave enough to jump in. The Oven Pizza E Vino is the later.

Many restaurants either have cooks that follow a prescribed formula or were fortunate to find a self-taught chef who is skilled at creating masterpieces. I’ve reviewed restaurants, such as the now closed Fourth Story, which had no graduates of culinary school. The Oven has Five(!) staff members who have either graduated culinary school or are attending now. Not only is that fact remarkable, it shows in their dedication to serving the best dinner possible.

For example, instead of buying the cheapest bulk flour they can find, they use unbleached, unbromated (an alternate form of bleaching) aged organic flour; it cost about four times as much. They also make their own mozzarella cheese from curd. Factoid: The Oven uses an average of 60 pounds of their mozzarella per day, that works out to about 21,000 pounds/year. Or, in other words, they serve the equivalent weight of three and a half Humvees just in cheese each year! The extra effort in making their own cheese and using better ingredients would be wasted if it didn’t result in a better Slice; fortunately it does. This may be the best pizza I’ve had anywhere in Colorado.

I tried two of their most popular offerings: the Fresh Tomato and Spicy Italian Sausage. The Fresh Tomato is made with fresh oregano, mozzarella cheese, green olives (sounds gross but adds an interesting twist) and Haystack Mountain (brand) goat cheese. The Spicy Italian Sausage is made with Denver ’s own Marczyk’s sausage; it’s a little hotter than most sausage found on pizza, but if you like that sort of thing you’re going to love this one. All their pizzas are available in a personal 9 inch size for between $7.50 and $8.95; the 12 inch pizzas cost between $11.95 and $13.95. Both are delicious.

My tongue-in-cheek criticism is their name for my favorite appetizer: Bowl of Mozzarella ($6.95). Come on, even chicken places are clever enough to refer to their greasy chicken as Finger Licking Great. I propose to rename this dish Anticipation – or something a little more compelling. It’s made with their great, homemade mozzarella cheese, served warm with homemade rosemary/parmesan focaccia.

My date this evening was my daughter, Alyssa, who was celebrating her 19^th birthday, so naturally we had to try the Seasonal Pie (ours was apple) and ice cream ($5.95). The Oven uses 13 apples in each pie, which means you’re getting over two apples in each slice. In their own words “it isn’t pretty but it sure is good”. We also tried Denver ’s Best Oven Baked Doughnut ($4.95). True, that’s a pretty small field in which to compete, but it is good. The doughnut may not win praises on its own, but you’re probably going to love the chocolate espresso mascarpone served on the side.

The Oven is a comfortable place to bring a date. The tables are family style benches – just pile into an open spot, lean your elbows on the table and gaze into your date’s eyes.