Star Wars, Pizza Style

BY CARLA WALDEMAR

Lola
5557 Xerxes Ave. S.
612-424-8338
www.pizzerialola.com

So you thought the skirmishes in the Middle East were incendiary? Well, welcome to the pizza wars of Minneapolis. Across the waters, it’s Sunni vs. Shiites. Here on the home front, it’s Punch against Lola.

We extolled the many merits of Punch in a recent story. Pizzeria Lola, the newest addition in our lexicon of primo pizza parlors, boasts equally ardent supporters. About all they have in common is an imported, landscape-dominating, high-temp, wood-burning pizza oven. And what emerges from them puts Domino’s products to shame—like pitting Sprite against Champagne.

Punch is the masterpiece of Twin Cities native John Soranno, who spent years in Italy, and clearly drank the Kool-Aid—er, vino. Lola is the love child of Ann Kim, a recent immigrant from Korea. As proof she’s wholeheartedly adopted American ways, her favorite food is pizza. And her favorite dog is her pet, Lola, after whom she named the place—and also, we trust, a pizza fan.

Both owners have created sleek, cosmo-looking parlors—John’s more cramped with tables full of Punchaholics, plus those in line for take-out at the short-order counter and others scrounging for booster seats for their brood.

Lola, in contrast, is a full-stop café with (excellent) waiter service—a more relaxed evening out for grown-ups under the awning ablaze with snow-melting tangerine tones, her signature color. Inside, the ceiling is a vast, luminous circus tent, lit by hanging tin-can lights and twinkles along the spines that lead to the vast, circular copper pizza oven under its summit.

Against rough-hewn lumber wainscoting, tables are set with saucily mismatched china and a stem or two of posies. It’s fun. It’s also loud, loud, loud—a distraction the manager noted they were preparing to address. Lola offers a far more intriguing, and extensive, list of beer and wine. Wines, most available by the glass as well as bottle, salute labels you won’ t find elsewhere, and that adds to the fun. Tap beers are local-centric, including Fulton Lonely Blonde, Surly Furious and, yes, Grain Belt Nordeast. Ever tried Blenheim Hot Ginger Ale? Me neither. But there it is on the list of sodas, along with Mexican Coke and Boylan Root Beer.
But we’re here as a press corps observer in the pizza wars. First off, Lola’s are certainly big enough to share—14 inches is my guess ($8-15), built on a sturdy, anti-soggy crust that billows at the rim, boasting lots of bite but, truth to tell, not lots of flavor. A bland but chewy base. We shared The Forager, a superior blend of a sensuously earthy mélange of mushrooms, tossed on with abandon, knit with a skein of truffle cheese and further gilded with a splash of truffle oil.

The menu leads off with a couple of pristinely simple pies—the Marinara (red sauce, roasted garlic, Pecorino cheese and olive oil) and Old Reliable (mozz and Pecorino on the red sauce). Adventurers may try the Lady ZaZa, boasting Korean sausage, kimchee, peppers, soy, scallions and sesame oil, or the Hawaii Pie-O (Berkshire bacon, fresh pineapple, mozz and provolone). I’ll be back for the Seasonal-squash, brown butter and Taleggio cheese. And the Sunnyside (guanciale-like Canadian bacon, sort of—with soft eggs, leeks and Pecorino cheese).

Time to praise the starters, too ($4-11). In fact, they’d make a super meal all by themselves. We split an order of roasted cauliflower nuggets spiked with hot Calabrian chili peppers—fantastic!—and another of roasted Brussels sprouts tossed with butternut squash and pearl onions. Lola’s Caesar is composed of whole leaves of romaine visited by hearts of palm, a shower of grated Parm and, yum, a whole soft-boiled egg. Way to go. Or try the mixed greens topped with pancetta , blue cheese and sherry vinaigrette. There’s also a tasty-sounding, if by now standard, beet number, combining the roasted babies with frisee greens, goat cheese and hazelnuts.

Desserts are limited, and that’s fine—what are they doing in a pizza palace, anyway?—and, let’s just say, unusual. The list leads off with a serving of house-made soft-serve ice cream, to which you can add (more fun!) extra-virgin olive oil and a crunch of sea salt (both work. Recommended!), or chocolate sauce. Or try Lola’s chocolate chip cookies. Or, best of both worlds if a little messy, a DIY ice cream sandwich of those chippers and the soft serve. Or a root beer float.
Before you leave, stop in at the photo booth (really!) beside the bar for a three-stripper in duplicate, $3. How’s that for live entertainment?