at La Perla Neapolitan Pizza in Eugene, Oregon

Like any fat kid, I considered myself a pizza connoisseur from age four. That was until I traveled in Italy. There are now two divisions of my relationship with pizza: pre and post-Italy. Pre was a sort of pizza adolescence, a time for learning, before my taste buds fully developed. America was my pizza training bra, if you will. Post-Italy…well consider me a fully developed pizza-picky woman. In Italy last summer, my dish of choice was the margarita pizza: fresh tomato sauce, good ole Italian cheese laced with basil, piled four inches high with fresh “rucola” (arugula to make it healthy, of course). Every time I sat down with a handwritten Italian menu, I’d promise to order something different, at least for experience sake. But what leapt off my tongue was continuously, “Margarita pizza, per favore.”

Upon returning to the States, I made it my mission to find Italian caliber pizza. This nearly proved to be an impossible quest. Just as I was about to pawn my Italian boots for a plane ticket to The Boot, I visited Eugene, Oregon: the unlikely site of what will now be dubbed America’s Best Italian Pizza. La Perla Neapolitan Pizza in Eugene (home of the Ducks – quack!) brought tears of pride to my eyes. With decorative shades of Tuscany orange and brick oven red evident inside and on the patio, an open pizza kitchen and a bar with a football game on the TV, La Perle was clearly trying to disguise itself as an American pizza joint dressed up as an Italian eatery. I ordered my Margarita Pizza finished off with loads of uncooked arugula and awaited disappointment. Apparently disappointment had other plans, because it stood me up. One bite of pizza put a Mediterranean sized smile on my face. Had our server been a grinning Italian man with mischievous black curls and a husky odor instead of a sullen teenage girl, I would have been convinced I was back in Napoli. As it was, I was content to close my eyes and let the flavors take me across the ocean.

The crust was the perfect blend of chewy with a kicky crunch. The sauce wasn’t souped on nor was it skimpy. Nowhere in taste was the too-sweet tomato paste flavor that is an instant recipe for heartburn. The cheese wasn’t saddled with the pockets of grease that usually have me reaching for napkins to pat down my slice. The basil was woven in among the cheese like a sinuous lady. The combination was so traditional it was shocking. I ate nearly a full pizza myself and still felt light and comfortable. My three tablemates split two pizzas and cleaned up my remaining two slices, all deeming themselves pleasantly full. Nobody wiped grease from fingers; even my deep dish lover deemed La Perle a win. Salute!

Secrets: I didn’t have to wonder for long about how an American restaurant could master the Italian pizza style. According to the table reading, owners John “Gianni” Barofsky and Beppe Macchi hold themselves to the Italian standard of authentic Napoletana-certified classification of pizza production. Ingredients are laid on the dough, which is then cooked for 90 seconds in a domed, wood-burning oven that reaches temperatures of 700-1,500 degrees. Should they be giving these secrets away??

The menu boasts a great variety of other pizzas, as well as some salads and other dishes for those who don’t care for pizza (as if those people exist). Buon Appetito!

Rating:

/5

Contact: http://laperlapizzeria.com or 541.686.1313