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Pizzeria 712
Good Food In Orem?
Pizzeria 712
320 South State Street, Suite 147, Orem, Utah
801.623.6712
www.pizzeria712.com
Price: Moderate
Date Reviewd: 4/26/08
By Fred Worbon
worbon@slugmag.com
Have you ever found yourself in Utah County around 6 P.M.
surrounded by a wasteland of strip malls, cheap burger joints
and row after row of cookie cutter houses and thought to
yourself, “I’m hungry and I’m in Happy Valley; where the hell
am I going to eat?” Well, I found a place, and it’s in Orem, no
less. If you’re anything like me, the idea of eating out that far
south in the valley brings to mind such palate-busting, gutwrenching,
big-family-accommodating, conveyor-belt food
troughs like Chuck-a-Rama and … ahh … well … Chuck-a-
Rama. I guess there might be a couple of other places like
P.F. Changs and a McDonald’s, but culinary delights are not
the first thing that I think of—until now.
It was the end of April and we were in Orem looking for some
pizza place that a friend of mine swore would be amazing.
It was my wife’s birthday and I was skeptical and, maybe
just a little scared. Located at 320 South State in what could
be the ugliest condo development in all of Utah (it looks like
some demented and sprawling Tower of Babel) lies Pizzeria
712. The décor is simple: warm comfortable colors and
unassuming simple furniture, with an open kitchen. The space
is small and seats maybe 50. On a chalkboard by the kitchen
is scrawled, “when you have the best and tastiest ingredients,
you can cook very simply and the food will be extraordinary
because it tastes like what it is,” a quote by restaurant guru
Alice Waters of the renowned Chez Panisse in Berkeley,
California.
Waters’ statement seems to drive the menu here. Don’t let
the word pizza mislead you; this is not the greasy shit you
get delivered when you’re stoned and too lazy to make grilled
cheese; this is fine dining at its best. Not the kind of breakthe-bank-and-go-home-hungry-and-embarrassed-becauseyou-forgot-your-tie
fine dining, but the my-mouth-loves-meand-I-think-I-love-life-a-little-more-because-of-it
fine dining.
Chefs Joseph McRae and Colton Soelberg, both formerly
of Sundance’s Tree Room, started this place with the goal of
making fine dining more accessible and sustainable, and this
they accomplished by using pizza cooked in a wood-fired
brick oven, something familiar and lacking pretension, and
using ingredients that are fresh, purchased locally when
possible, and most are made in-house. When we spoke
on the phone, Soelberg promised regular changes to
the menu and seemed genuinely excited about the
coming months and all the farm-fresh ingredients that
will be at hand. They picked Orem because it was
close to home for both of them and there would be a
high-density population in the mixed-use complex in
which they are located.
The menu was simple and small, featuring just a few
appetizers, salads, pizza and dessert, but almost
overwhelming because everything sounded fantastic. With
appetizers like a white bean stew with house-made sausage
and braised duck leg ($7.50) and wood roasted brussels
sprouts with toasted hazelnuts, bacon and vinegar ($6) as
well as pizzas that range from the somewhat simple tomato
sauce with hand-pulled mozzarella and basil ($9.50) to one
with caramelized onions, potato, rosemary, and fontina
($10), it’s no wonder it seemed almost impossible to make
up our minds. They have a small selection of Squatter’s beer
and now have a lunch menu offering a handful of panini
sandwiches that range in price from $6 to $7.50 in addition to
a slimmer version of the regular menu.
My wife started with the house-pulled mozzarella and
arugula salad with crostini and sea salt ($7.50) while I tried
the roasted beets, house-made ricotta, endive, walnuts
and tarragon salad ($6.50). Both were incredibly wellbalanced
with no one flavor overwhelming any other and
were reasonably priced at less than $8. For dinner I had the
roasted fennel and house-made sausage pizza for $12 and
my wife had the speck, sopprassata, garlic and mozzarella
pizza for $11.50. I can no longer eat sausage anywhere
else; the flavor was delicate and rich and was perfectly
complimented by a tomato sauce that can only be described
as actually tasting like tomatoes; you know, that sweet-yet-tart
and smooth flavor that you think a tomato ought to taste like.
Apparently, my wife’s food was excellent too, but I wouldn’t
know because nothing could pull me away from my own
dinner. We had no room for dessert, but the Winder Farms
pannacotta with winter fruit ($6) was tempting. We even had
leftovers, which were nice the next day when I was stoned
and too lazy to make a grilled cheese sandwich. The pizza
was surprisingly still good. The only downside to this place
is that Orem is nowhere close to my home and now I have a
reason to venture into Happy Valley way more often than I
am comfortable.
(34) SLUG
Photo courtesy of Pizzeria 712