NW 27th & Vaughn
www.kindlekart.com
Tried Kindle Kart today on the advice of the WW. Took me a minute to find it, as the WW misreported the location as 26th and Vaughn, when in fact it's at 27th & Vaughn, and not immediately noticeable from Vaughn, either. Hopefully they get some signage up soon.
The owner, Kevin, was super friendly and eager to talk about pizza. Apparently he's been making it for about 15 years. He used to be up on N Mississippi, but he hated the oven he was using, so he sold it and built this one:
(Lousy photo, I know.)
The pizza was terrific. It's Neapolitan in style, paper-thin crust and wood-fired. I got the Margherita and the Sausage and was very happy with both. He mixes the dough by hand, no mixers, and lets it ferment anywhere from 24 to 36 hours, depending on the weather.
The Margherita, for some reason, comes with raw sliced grape tomatoes on it, and I think that's the only misstep here. I would either bake these on the pizza or cook them ahead of time and add them to the pie the last 30 seconds or so in the oven. As they are, they seem texturally out of place and don't offer much in the way of flavor, but they're easily picked off. Everything else, though, was delicious.
The crust clearly has enough salt in it, which is where so many pizzerias seem to stumble. Crust had a nice crunch to the exterior and a chewy interior, with an airy crumb. Perhaps a little too charred on the sides, but not so much that it bothered me. Sauce is somewhat thicker than the typical simple Neapolitan sauce, augmented with some visible herbs. The fresh mozzarella had a lot of flavor, and Kevin didn't skimp on it.
The sausage on the Sausage pie is among the best in the city, rivaled I think only by Brian Spangler's at Apizza Scholls. It's studded with fennel and given a kick with the addition of cayenne pepper. Really, really good stuff. The pizza comes with sweet, tender onions that Kevin grills on the flat top beforehand.
Oh yeah, speaking of flat tops, Kindle Kart does burgers, too. Given the quality of this pizza, I'll definitely be back to try the burgers at some point.
The pizza is crazy cheap here. $7.50 for a 10-inch Margherita and $8 for the sausage & onion one. Dollar for dollar, that has to be the best value for quality pizza in the city. I only wish this cart were closer to me. Now, with Sandwichworks and Kindle Kart mere blocks from each other, I have more reasons than ever to cross the Fremont bridge.
