Chef's Choice calls Fireside Pies a Best New Restaurant.

A review from the Dallas Morning News.

A review from the Dallas Morning News.

Chicago v. New York-style? Gourmet v. deep dish? We've attempted to rise above the controversy and present the best pizze n Dallas. Fireside Pies serves up some of the best in Dallas. The Peta Pie, with goat cheese, balsamic mustard portobellos, arugula, roasted red peppers and roasted pinion nuts, is a vegetarian's dream.

"Fantastic, gourmet pizzas" that are "too good to be true" coupled with "creative salads", all from "hot chef" Nick Badovinus, "make it worth" the sometimes "two-hour wait" at this "hip" Knox-Henderson pizzeria.

By MICHAEL HILLER / Special Contributor, Dallas Morning News I have seen the future of pizza, and it works. It's not served in a box by an unshaven deliveryman, and it's certainly not frozen. It comes from a place where a prominent open kitchen buzzes with activity around wood-burning brick ovens, their gaping mouths full of crusty flatbreads, roasted meats and sausages, even fruit pies. Reservations aren't accepted, the menu fits on a single page and nothing on it is priced above $14. Portions are large. The wine list is solid but simple, neither broad nor deep but crafted to complement this type (and price) of food. The chef emphasizes ingredients produced by artisans, and the restaurant feels welcoming and deeply comfortable. The space itself easily could be any one of dozens of upscale New American dining venues in Dallas, but it's not. Instead, this is the second location of Dallas-based Fireside Pies, which recently opened on the northeast corner of Legacy Drive and the Dallas North Tollway in Plano. Fireside is the collaborative product of restaurateur Tristan Simon, chef Nick Badovinus (Cuba Libre, Hibiscus, Candle Room and the late Sense) and operations director Judd Fruia (formerly of Pappas Bros. Steakhouse). It has nailed the secrets to making and baking a perfect pie, one with a crisp, chewy crust, its bottom lightly blistered from cooking directly on the hearth of a hot oven and its toppings gently praise Phoenix's Pizzeria Bianco and New York's John's and Lombardi's (where pizza first immigrated to America), but in the hunt for a perfect pizza, look no further than the second location of Fireside Pies. While the original Fireside Pies inhabits a rehabilitated teardown site on North Henderson Avenue, the Legacy location is new. Both share the same Hill Country feel with low-slung ceilings; Austin sandstone; large windows shaded with wide cedar louvers; and secluded, covered patios. This second location is larger and more refined than the first. Natural woods, expanses of glass and earthen tile, and marble counters make the restaurant feel Napa Valley comfortable. Focused spotlights tethered to a blond wood ceiling light tables precisely. Though waiting times at either location can still be lengthy, no one seems to object to sipping a cocktail, a glass of sangria or an excellent prickly pear margarita at the bar. Both Fireside Pies restaurants execute essentially the same menu, with a couple of minor exceptions. As with his other concepts, chef Badovinus emphasizes the local provenance of his ingredients. The dough, sauces and desserts are made from scratch. Fresh mozzarella cheese comes from Paula Lambert's Mozzarella Company in Deep Ellum. Plano's Hirsch's Specialty Meats and East Dallas' Jimmy's Food Store make the sausages. Henry's in Plano makes the ice creams. At one point, the fresh basil was grown in the rooftop garden of the North Henderson restaurant. The menu offerings are simple but well-crafted: oversize salads for sharing, oven-roasted vegetables and sausages, a half-dozen crab claws slathered in herbed garlic butter served with a hefty side of toasted bread to sponge it all up. The Oven Sampler, an appetizer meant for sharing but that could easily make a meal, comes stacked with chunks of Jimmy's sausage, Paula's mozzarella, salami or prosciutto, roasted red peppers, cremini mushrooms and pepperoncini. And, of course, there are the pizza pies. In the hands of Mr. Badovinus' skilled pizzaioli (pizza makers), flour, water, yeast and a pinch of salt are transformed into thin discs of hand-stretched dough that are eventually pulled from the maws of those pecan-wood-fueled ovens with smoky charred crusts and golden skins. These are knife-and-fork pizzas, fashionably dressed with sausage and mushrooms for an evening on the town. Toppings can be traditional (spicy Italian sausage, basil, pepperoni, roasted mushrooms, market tomatoes) or creative (sopressata salami, smoked mozzarella, blue cheese, balsamic roasted chicken). Two combinations were particularly wondrous. The North Beach pizza, a wild assemblage of salami, pepperoncini, smoked mozzarella and chopped tomatoes, was at once puckery and salty, spicy and smoky. Another exceptional pizza cuddled tender, moist, house-made meatballs atop ribbons of roasted red onions and red peppers. The pork and beef meatballs are beguiling. The twist? A light dusting of lavender that seduced tablemates to pass plates, all intrigued by this Provençal touch but unable to quite place the flavor. A few bites into Fireside's pizzas, and you know they're made for mopping. You can't eat another bite but glance down to find your fingers dragging the billowy rinds of crust across the plate, sopping up tiny bits of sauce and cheese. Desserts have boutique pedigrees, too. Henry's ice creams get together with Thomas Kemper sodas in floats. The ice creams can also top the house-made fruit pies and the triple chocolate brownie, a gooey mess made with enough high-quality chocolate to make you forget it's mostly an under-baked brownie. As the Fireside concept and menu have matured, so has an emphasis on service. Once predominantly Bohemian and carefree, the waitstaffs are now clean-shaven, attentive and knowledgeable. At both locations, the concise, focused menus are consistently executed by the kitchen staffs. The cramped setting and (as the air chills) the coveted patio seating nearest the outdoor fireplace are perfectly suited to the North Henderson restaurant and its younger customer demographic. The more spacious and quieter Legacy design, which will be the basis for future Firesides, is less brash and more elegant, a place you could bring the family as easily as you could a business colleague. On recent visits to both locations, people at most tables were enthusiastically sharing pies, making pronouncements on each dish. Yet another Fireside Pies is set to open in Grapevine early next year, and three additional area sites are in development. Food – **** Service – **** Atmosphere – ****

With so many worthy openings in 2006, it's hard to draw the line. One tough decision was excluding restaurants whose second branches opened last year and, in some cases, outsone the originals. If Fireside Pies didn't have an older sibling, they would have easily made the cut. - Kim Harwell, The Dallas Morning News