Pizzeria Bianca Story

[james]

My friend Adam told me this story about Pizzeria Bianca the other day -- so it's really good second hand information.

He flew to Phoenix a few months ago just to eat there. Being a serious pizza fanatic, he called the day before in the middle of the afternoon when they were open. He got through to Marco, who is Chris' brother. Sounds like a great guy; he gave Adam tips on where to stay, where to go for drinks, etc. And warned him about the lines.

It sounds like the Pizzeria is open from 5-10 five days a week, and Chris is there the whole time they are open and he makes every pizza. As they say in business, Marco runs the back office. It also sounds like Chris has been on TV quite a bit, and Oprah picked Pizzeria Bianca as the best pizza in the states. Is that right? (we need a fact checker).

Adam got there at 3PM and was the first peron in line, and the second person arrived at 3:10PM. This was his third time to the restaurant and he had not gotten in the first two times, so he wasn't taking any chances this time. There is a Bar Bianco that serves wine to the folks in line, and it sounds like a festive atmosphere. They opened at 5PM, and the first tables filled up and pizzas flew out of the oven. When Adam left, the line was still there and the place was hopping. It sure sounds like a good business.

This is same Adam who lives in Naples with friends for months at a stretch, so he knows his pizza -- and he thought it was great. Very reminiscent of Naples.
James

[mgraban]

Chris indeed makes every pizza himself (it's Bianco, not Bianca).

Bianco's is an amazing place. My wife and I ate there monthly when we lived in Phoenix until August 2005. Chris is a very warm and friendly guy. He's always busy, but he'll always say hi across the counter.

When I was there in December, I told him about my oven. His advice:

"Keep burning them until you get it right."