The List: ThirteenPies
"I don't want to go on a diet, I don't want to eat a Caesar salad with no dressing, why would I do that? I ain't got time for this, just be happy and don't be stupid. If I've got a boyfriend and he loves my body then I'm not worried.
"
Adele
Unlike Adele, I am a salad fan.
I credit/blame this truth of two facts:
1) Almost every night my mom would serve a "garbage" salad consisting of whatever fresh veggies (and some fruit) were around the house - the bigger the variety, the better.
And 2) if I wasn't eating at home, I almost always ordered a salad and, I'm convinced, there's no place better than Southern California for a fantastic bowl of greens.
As a result, I am a bit of a salad snob and it's rare that I rave about any dish. Unfortunately, even my favorite "Best Dish List" hasn't previously helped. A couple of weeks ago I gave it another try at one of the new spots in Buckhead Atlanta, Thirteen Pies.
Hmmmm. Should a pizza place be best known for its salads?
The List entrant was the chopped salad featuring Romaine hearts, fennel salami, smoked provolone, castelvetrano olives, pickled pepper, tomato, cucumber, Parmesan & herb vinaigrette.
In other words, close to "garbage salad" from home. I could hardly wait...
The great news is the salad tastes much better than the picture looks.
In fact, the salad is really, really good. I loved the balance of flavors and would absolutely order it again. However, I'm not sure I'd tell you to go out of your way for it. In part because the portion size is smallish and if you just order the salad, you end up being jealous of those eating the pizza.
It didn't help that my girlfriend ordered one of the special salads and hers tasted better than the chopped.
For the record, the pies looked good (Spotted Trotter Guanciale & farm egg pizza below), but I'd have to do a little more sampling to really weigh in on their merit.I'm not complaining...
Have you been to Thirteen Pies yet? What did you love?