St Francis Apizza

St Francis Apizza (Oakley) - @stfrancisapizza is the pizzeria I’ve posted about the most, not just because they produce top-tier pizza but also because they are regularly improving - the sign of a great restaurant. For example, they updated their dough recipe earlier this year - making a re-review overdue. So, I was excited to try their new sit-down location in Oakley on Sunday (after all, pizza is best experienced fresh from the oven).

St Francis calls its apizza “East Coast style”. This is geographically appropriate. I would put the style somewhere between the charred chewy oblong “apizza” of New Haven (Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana @sallysapizza) and a classic crisp foldable New York slice (some of my favorites are: Scarr’s Pizza, Cello’s Pizzeria, L'Industrie Pizzeria). This is a style many of NYC’s best “New Wave” pizzerias are exploring right now & I’d categorize St Francis among them - chef-driven, ingredient-precise, obsessed with baking process and technique in order to produce the perfect pizza.

On our Sunday visit, we tried two tavern style pizzas and one East Coast burrata margherita pizza. We also tried the “dip flight” - an excellent addition to the menu - especially for those who grew up with plastic cups of “garlic butter inspired” dip.

Focusing on the East Coast style, the crust at St Francis tells the whole story of what separates great pizza from good pizza. Texturally, it has a great balance of soft and airy on the inside, while crisp and artfully charred on the outside. It’s perhaps 20% chewier than a traditional New York slice, without being tough. More importantly, you could taste the depth that comes from their slow-fermentation process - complex, layered flavor that develops over careful rising.

The bottom line is St Francis transcends “great for Cincinnati” territory. Their pizza would be highly respected in New York’s unforgiving pizza landscape - no small claim. Their technique is in direct conversation with the best places in New York, treating pizza as living craft. A true gem for Cincinnati: @stfrancisapizza is highly recommended.

On Mondays & Tuesdays, @stfrancisapizza, switches out its normal New Haven-ish style pizza for Chicago thin crust / tavern style. Often overshadowed by casserole-esque deep dish pie, Chicago thin crust is one of my favorite regional pizza styles. The crust, after rising uncovered, is rolled cracker thin so that it is quite crispy / flakey. The resulting non-foldable square-cut slice will stick straight out when held - they say this makes it easier to snack on while drinking a beer. Chicago thin crust (see @kimsunclepizza @pizanospizzachi & @vito_and_nicks) bears more than a passing resemblance to “Dayton style” (@cassanospizzaking & @marionspiazza) and “Columbus style” (@masseyspizza & @donatospizza). Those styles all feature a rolled-thin crust, a square/party cut, and a traditional mozzarella blend (as opposed to the quite similar “St Louis style” which deviates by using Provel cheese & unleavened crust, see @imospizza). The Midwest truly leads the world it salty foods to pair with beer.

St Francis uses a six(!) day slow rise for their dough, which produces a very flavorful crust. They also have the option to order your pizza ‘well-done’ which gave us a nice artfully charred crust, adding another layer of flavor. For the purest experience, we ate our pizza fresh outside the shop, prioritizing flavor over great lighting (what’s with it getting dark so early now?). Toppings-wise, we opted for pepperoni and crumbled sausage - sausage being almost mandatory on a Chicago pie. We also splurged on a side of ranch - Once relegated to some “Hidden” valley, housemade ranch dipping sauce is having a real moment.

Overall, this was an outstanding pizza as expected, and a fine start to @cincypizzaweek. Highly recommended. Thanks to St Francis for blessing us with tavern style (spreading the cheesy gospel?)

This is the first revisit I’ve posted. I’d previously had takeout from East Hyde Park’s @stfrancisapizza and it was unerringly delicious. This week, I actually sat at one of the two outside tables and had some apizz straight from the oven. The crust on the fresh margherita was pretty much perfect - soft airy on the inside & crisp on the artfully charred outside with just the right amount of chewiness. The slow rise methods St Francis uses allows the crust to develop an awesomely nuanced flavor. Really, it was quite outstanding & I was impressed - so I felt compelled to up my already high assessment.

St Francis is branded a New Haven style Apizzeria (see @sallysapizza @frankpepepizza @modernapizza) but its round, moderate-crisp, 8-slice pies trend toward New York style. Geographically, it probably belongs somewhere between those two towns… Perhaps White Plains (‘the Assisi of the US’) style? Such taxonomy considerations aside, it’s one of the best.

A New Haven style ‘apizza’ outpost in East Hyde Park, with archetypal leopard-spotted crust. Pedantic types may wonder if St Francis himself, given his vow of poverty, would have opted for such a decadent pizza with sausage & pepperoni cups? I say yes.