No Joke: It's Serious Pie

Anyone who knows me well, knows that the phrase, "Let them eat cake" doesn't really apply to my culinary taste buds. It is all about the pie! (We didn't even cut - or serve - the cake at our wedding reception - we sliced into Mom's coconut cream pie and never looked back.) Which is why after landing in Seattle yesterday, I was very excited to hear about Tom Douglas' restaurant, Serious Pie. We frequented many of his other restaurants while we lived in Seattle but as luck would have it, this one opened up after we moved across the country.

Serious Pie is no joke. As soon as you open the door to this small pizzeria, you are overwhelmed with the delicious smell of perfectly baked crust. This is a bread-lover's pizza pie. A bread lover who is also infatuated with house-cured meats and artisan cheeses. In no time at all, we had a pitcher of beer and piping hot pizzas. Served on a cutting board (this is no small pie), the roasted yellowfoot mushroom with truffle cheese pie melted into my mouth. We also sampled the yukon gold potato, rosemary and pecorino pie, house salumi, caramelized onions and sardenga pie, and the penn cove clams, house pancetta and lemon thyme pie. I think we repeatedly used the words balanced, flavorful, gourmet (without those gourmet prices), pungent, savory, rich and ridiculously awesome.

(Note: Serious Pie is a small space with long wooden, communal tables. They do not accept reservations so plan to get there early or plan to wait patiently. The staff was extremely pleasant, explaining the wait time and taking our cell phone so we could head over to another Tom Douglas restaurant, The Dahlia Lounge, and sit comfortably at their bar. The Dahlia Lounge also serves the second best coconut cream pie in the country. Mom's is still my favorite!)

Also a bonus for all my bacon-obsessed friends:
1. Another reason to love Tom Douglas is his BACONOPOLIS - an annual event where attendees can indulging their inner pork desires by eating 10 different bacon dishes.

2. Rumor on the street is that Bakon Vodka may be coming to the mid-Atlantic region in the next few months. (I got to taste it at a local Seattle bar last night and it will not disappoint.) If it does make it to Baltimore shelves, you can be sure I will be hosting illegible ink's own Baconopolis!