Brian Williams is a peacemaker. He’s not gonna tell you that enjoying St. Louis-style pizza makes you a Provel-lovin’ fool or that Chicago-style pizza is a starchy casserole, not a true pizza pie.
No, Mr. Williams is going to let you have what you want, from a menu that doesn’t play favorites. His new St. Louis National Pizza Co., slated to open May 1 in the South Grand neighborhood, will feature all three styles of “‘za.”
Williams explained that his St. Louis-style pizza has “a very thin crunchy crust with Provel.” His New York-style pizza has “a thick doughy rim with a thinner base. It has to be hand-tossed to get that gluten to form the dough around the edge.” And, he concluded, his Chicago-style pizza is “deep-dish with a layer of crust on top, stuffed-style.”
Williams toiled at a now-defunct Pizza Inn franchise in St. Louis in the ’80s, he said. He also has worked at pizzerias in Chicago and New York, and he “wanted to bring them all under one roof,” he explained.
He said his menu will also feature stuffed garlic knots, which enclose fontina cheese and prosciutto in a baked honey-dough pocket, slathered in garlic butter. And he plans to make his own ravioli in-house to use for toasted ravs.
In addition, Williams will sell pizza by the slice, along with beer and wine, and hopes to open a patio for dining by June. “The patio will have special hooks to leash up your dog, and I’ll provide free dog biscuits. I love dogs, and this whole community, and I want people to hang out here,” he said.
He plans to keep St. Louis National Pizza Co. open till midnight most nights and later on Fridays and Saturdays. It’s easy to imagine revelers congregating for a slice at the 3201 S. Grand Blvd. address, smack in the middle of the South Grand dining and shopping artery.
– Byron Kerman
This article appears in Apr 1-30, 2010.