Detroit pizza – Michael Eats

Tasty Detroit-Style Pizza at Renaissance Pizza

Published on July 3, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 809 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.renaissancepizza.ca/

Did Toronto need another Detroit-style pizzeria? No, probably not. But does it really matter when the pizza being served is delicious? Again, no, it does not.

They have a bunch of tasty-looking pizzas on the menu at Renaissance, from the traditional (pepperoni, fennel sausage) to the not-so-traditional (tandoori paneer, duck confit). But if you’re ordering by the slice, you’ve got two options: cheese or pepperoni. I went with pepperoni.

It’s a great slice of pizza. As is traditional with Detroit pizza, the sauce comes on top of the cheese; interestingly, it’s applied post-bake and is (I think) completely uncooked, giving it a vibrant, garlickly freshness that contrasts nicely with the heavy cheese and greasy crust.

It also has that classic Detroit-style crispy cheese all along the edges, which is as delightful as ever.

My only issue is that I think it’s possible Detroit-style pizza shouldn’t be served by the slice; in this case, at least, the bottom of the pizza lost its delightful crispiness, which is a big part of what makes this type of pizza so great.

Every other element here was so tasty that this wasn’t a deal-breaker, but I’d definitely just order a whole pizza next time, rather than risk getting another soggy slice.

Descendant: Still Some of the Best Pizza in the City

Published on September 25, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1168 Queen Street East, Toronto
Website: http://descendantdsp.com/

Though I generally like to visit places I haven’t tried when I eat out, exceptions have to be made. Especially in the case of a restaurant serving food as great as Descendant, which makes superb Detroit-style pizza. It’s a strong contender for the best pizza in the city.

And yeah, it’s still great.

I tried a couple of pizzas — the Gatt-Daddy (“house made fennel sausage, Mama Lil’s Peppers, red onion, sauce, basil aioli, fresh parsley & basil”) and the Jaffna (“kothu roti, mango chutney, cilantro cream, green onion, Calabrian chilis, fresh cilantro, coconut sambol”).

Orrdering a pizza as bizarrely topped as the Jaffna might be a dicey proposition at a lesser pizza joint — but Descendant is not a lesser pizza joint. Aside from making technically superb pizzas, Descendant does an amazing job of taking seemingly bizarre flavour combos and doing something special with them. The Jaffna is sweet, spicy, savoury, and tangy in all the best ways.

The Gatt-Daddy is more traditional, and of course, they knock it out of the park.

It helps that the pizza itself is so good — the crust is delightfully crispy on the bottom, and dense enough to hold up to the voluminous toppings while still being delightfully fluffy and amazing. It’s a balancing act, and one that Descendant pulls of beautifully.

And of course, there’s that Detroit-style pizza trademark — the ring of dark, crispy goodness around the pizza where the cheese has come into contact with the square pan. It’s so good.

Pizza Perfection at Descendant

Published on June 21, 2018June 21, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1168 Queen Street East, Toronto
Website: http://descendantdsp.com/

Is the pizza at Descendant the best in the city? I don’t know. It’s not not the best pizza in the city. It’s a contender, that’s for sure.

It’s so different from the Neopolitan-style pies that you’ll find throughout the GTA that it almost tastes like a completely separate dish.

Descendant serves Detroit-style pizza, which is cooked in a square pan and features a thick, substantial crust that’s delightfully crispy and greasy on the bottom. It’s kinda like the pan pizza from Pizza Hut, but a million times better.

This was my second time at Descendant; I liked it a lot on my first visit, but I liked it even better this time. It’s just so satisfying.

The thing that’s so impressive about this place is that the pizza itself is so good that they could easily phone it in with the toppings and just offer the usual suspects. But a lot of the flavours here are surprisingly bold and interesting, and it all works so well.

Take, for example, the Electric Avenue: “jerk chicken, fresh pineapple, curried lime aioli, green onion, Mama Lil’s Peppers, Diablo’s Fuego hot sauce.” It’s sweet and spicy, with flavours that are about as far from a traditional pizza as you can get. But it’s so good.

We also tried the special, which on this visit was the Mexican: “chorizo, pickled peppers, lime-pickled red onion, sour cream, tomato sauce, fresh cilantro.” This was probably my favourite pizza of the day — but they were all delicious. The flavours were so well balanced, with the brightness of the pickles balancing out the rich sausage and cheese.

The last pizza was the pepperoni, which was more traditional, but no less delicious.

One of the great things about this style of pizza is that you get such a great contrast between the crispy exterior and the soft interior of the crust. Plus, there’s a ring of cheese on the edges of the pizza that’s dark and crispy and amazing, and it’s just the best.