Ladies, have you heard that Tommy Lee likes to hang out (ahem) at Katie’s Pizzeria in Clayton? No, we’re not talking about the tattooed dude from Motley Crue, but the restaurant’s general manager, who happens to have the same name. Our Mr. Lee is part of the fun at Katie’s, where you can find excellent food and fun people who do not have strange diseases (like the other Tommy Lee may, that is).
1. The ambiance at Katie’s is urban, dimly lit and relaxing – a tremendous change from that of the former tenant, Blackberry Café. The walls are adorned with art by family matriarch Belinda Lee, an art prof at neighboring Wash. U., alongside “family photos and sixth-grade baseball trophies,” Lee noted. Lee encourages his servers to bring in their own music to play in the dining room, making for a very contemporary vibe. Lee gave us the scoop on another fun idear he’s currently kicking around, too. “We’re contemplating projecting movies onto the wall on Friday or Saturday nights and making themed pizzas and desserts – possibly even servers in scaled-down costumes in the theme of the night’s movie.” Sounds fun.
2. The ambiance is swell, but the food is what you’ll be talking about the next day. Prosciutto spring rolls feature asparagus, that salty prosciutto, portabella mushrooms, fresh mozzarella and basil. The fried artichoke salad is a customer favorite – mixed greens with pistachios, goat cheese, asparagus and “artichokes marinated in olive oil, pepper and salt, and then deep-fried quickly for 15 to 20 seconds,” explained Lee, all drizzled in a balsamic dressing. It’s a killer salad. The ricotta doughnuts on the dessert menu are a sticky, sweet, irresistible sin – doughnut batter mixed with ricotta, fried and covered with elderflower honey and powdered sugar. They’re light, tasty and utterly addictive.
3. But of course, to paraphrase James Carville: “It’s the pizza, stupid.” Katie’s pizza sports a Neapolitan-style crust that never makes a perfect circle, reminding you that someone rolled it out by hand for your order. As for the toppings, the menu is always changing, making room for seasonal pizzas with fresh ingredients, such as the current butternut-squash variety. Some of the combinations, like fennel, sausage, leeks, fontina cheese and pine nuts, or fingerling potatoes, parsnips, pancetta, Parmagiano, onion and rosemary, have stuck around for delicious reasons. The latter may sound a little “un-pizza-like” to some (parsnips?), but it’s a high-carb melange that works, especially in winter. The kitchen staff also cuts meats and grates cheeses daily, and it shows. This pizza is the real deal.
Thank you, Katie’s Pizzeria. Thank you, Lee family. No, thank you, the other Tommy Lee with the drumsticks and the film career.
This article appears in February 2011.