Chicago-style, thin crust, square cut pies at Bungalow by Middle Brow, Pizza Matta and Professor Pizza transcend tavern tradition.
May Lee cuts a tavern-style pepperoni pizza at Bungalow by Middle Brow in Logan Square on Jan. 23, 2024.
Do note, I did not star these reviews, because they focus on each establishment’s new tavern-style pizzas, not their other styles, and typically I fully dine twice before rating.Pizza as thin as an actual cracker. Almost as thin as the butcher paper on which it’s served. As thin as an abstract expressionist canvas. You’ve never seen pizza as thin as this. And yet, it’s dimensional, holding and hiding flavor within crisp and pliant layers.
The sauce is almost a quintessentially Chicago tavern tomato sauce. Fragrant, from “tons of dried herbs,” he said, but brown butter too. That last ingredient is not traditional, and adds an elusive nuttiness. The pizza was inspired by two places on the South Side and south suburbs, said Ternes, where he ate all the time growing up, but he doesn’t think either place would accept the nod. “Because they’re quite different from what we’re doing,” he said.
“I am again going way too far,” Ternes said. “On our best nights, when we can cut as small as possible, when we’re not completely crushed, it’s way smaller than Papa’s ever, ever was.” Those edges feathered away, though, when I picked up the coveted triangular corner slices. And I wondered if Jackson Pollock ever worked in pizza.Jason Vincent, chef and owner of Pizza Matta, on Jan. 30, 2024, at Pizza Matta in Logan Square. “We started doing pizza with chef Mike Gaia at Giant over the pandemic,” said Jason Vincent, nominated for the James Beard Outstanding Chef Award in 2022.
Nevertheless, the pizzeria opened last April, but the tavern style didn’t start until Mondays in September, then every night since late October. There’s just one 16-inch size, and I do wish there was a smaller pizza. That cheese is $22, not an expensive tavern-style pie for its ingredients by an award-winning chef. I asked Vincent, why is it so big?
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