SPOTLIGHT : That’s Amore! : Nothing Hits Your Eye Like a Big Pizza Pie

Consider the pizza. A humble circle of raised dough topped with savories and baked to crispness.

Just what are the mystical properties that make this seemingly ordinary food a linchpin of late 20th-Century life? Is it the convenience factor and the fact that hot ones are rushed to your door at near light speed? (Never mind that most of them taste like computer paper.) Or is it the nostalgia factor, the taste of hot cheese and homemade sausage we remember from our first dates? Sociologists, unfurl your pads.

On second thought, don’t bother. Pizza just tastes good, that’s all, and if you don’t believe me, ask any kid. Long before Alice Waters and Wolfgang Puck made pizza California chic, before confit of duck and goat cheese and smoked salmon crept into the equation, there was the pizza. Praise heaven.

I think of pizza as American food, but it did take the Italians to get the ball rolling. Tomatoes, for example, the No. 1 source of nutrients among all fruits and vegetables in this country, are a New World food (Mexico, to be exact), but it took Columbus, Mediterranean soil and a few centuries before the tomato turned up on top of a good crust. The pizzeria was born in Naples, circa 1830.

As a result, Neapolitan-style pizza is still king around here, in spite of the multitudes of pretenders to the throne. Let’s picture the prototype: A round pie with a yeasty crust, an intensely flavored tomato sauce and savory cheese, in dime-sized clumps, bubbling on top. Makes you hungry, doesn’t it?

Pizza in the new American cuisine attempts to rewrite history. Pizza is free-form nowadays, postmodern, deconstructionist. There are square pies topped with Thai peanut sauce, oblate creations oozing feta and pesto. Sauceless pizzas with cheese. Cheeseless pizzas with sauce. Chocolate pizza.

It’s no problem to find your favorite style around here, of course. The problem, in essence, is making an informed choice. If you want to be really confused, drive down any major thoroughfare in Orange County and count the pizza places. On Beach Boulevard alone, you’ll find more than 50.

So I’m not going to tell you that each of the following places has the best pizza in the county, and I’ll leave the hyperbole to the ad agencies (and to the editorial staff, whose selected observations have been included in an accompanying feature). I can tell you, however, that each of these pizza parlors, a baker’s dozen, features something interesting, distinctive or outstanding, something to warrant a visit. Well, what are you waiting for? The pizza is getting cold.

* California Pizza Kitchen

Someday, they’ll look back on the late 20th Century and shake their heads at our eating habits. And when they do, there’s a good chance that California Pizza Kitchen will be one of the reasons.

This wildly successful chain is, today, nothing short of an empire. Tourists from all over the planet eat these pizzas in the restaurant’s most visible branch, in the lobby of the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, and the lengths that this company will go to internationalize its pizzas seems to be limitless. How about a Thai chicken pizza with spicy ginger-peanut sauce, or a Peking duck pizza globbed up with Hoisin? I realize the Pacific Rim is in, but this is ridiculous.

I am not an unabashed fan, but I do like the smoky taste that comes from the restaurants’ specially designed wood-burning ovens. Best choices are the vegetarian, with a simple, straightforward appeal and lots of good, smoky mozzarella, and the two sausage, an appealing mix of trend and tradition.

1151 Newport Center Drive, Fashion Island, Newport Beach. (714) 759-5543. Pizzas $5.95 to $8.95.

* Bina

Bina is a simple trattoria with red and white checkered tablecloths, straw bottles of Chianti hanging from rafters, and a partially exposed kitchen, but it is also a family restaurant in the truest sense. Bina just happens to be the first name of an authentic Sicilian mama, the woman who runs the place along with her five sons.

Pizzas come in two varieties here: regular, with a thick crust and ranging up to 16 inches in diameter, and gourmet, the real ones to eat.

Gourmet pizzas start with a thin crust, crushed whole tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella and come in such styles as bianca, salsiccia and del mare, made with smoked clams and shrimps. These are sensuous pies, about 9 inches in diameter, intended for sensuous appetites. My choice would be Napoletana, Naples style, a thin crusted masterpiece crowned with anchovy and heaps of oregano. It comes served bubbling on a large ceramic platter, and is just as salty and provocative as one you would eat outdoors on a piazza overlooking the Mediterranean.

If anchovies aren’t your thing, though, how about pizza alla Siciliana, top heavy with grilled eggplant, roasted red pepper, and sauteed onions? Choosing your own toppings will work too. Mama guarantees it.

1730 E. 17th St., Santa Ana. (714) 972-3101. Pizzas $6 to $15.50.

* Mezzaluna

Next we come to the class of pizzas best described as matzo thin, pizzas currently chic in trattorias from Milan to West Hollywood. These are cracker-crisp pizzas, with dough given its special character from the dearth of yeast and all the extra kneading. I think they are they best pizzas anywhere.

Romano Molfetta, an urbane man with a polished manner, greets all his guests with a killer smile. Eat his pizzas in the noisy main dining room, at marble-topped tables spaced too close for comfort, or downstairs, in a cozy, semiprivate room, used primarily for parties. I like the downstairs, where you can watch the pizzas being shoveled in and out of the restaurant’s yellow tile oven. That is oak wood you smell burning inside.

Mezzaluna’s pizza con scamorza e radicchio is my favorite Orange County pizza, a crisp pie oozing smoked mozzarella and redolent of bittersweet radicchio. The combination soars. Molfetta prefers the Napoletana--tomato, anchovy and caper, or his quattro stagioni, literally “four seasons,” four equally divided quadrants of mushroom, eggplant, tomato and proscuitto toppings. Selvatica is pesto, pine nuts, tomato and mozzarella, and the more mundane Margherita, made with fresh basil and tomato, is all humble pleasure. Bravo, Romano.

2441 E. Coast Highway, Corona del Mar. (714) 675-2004. Pizzas $9 to $10.

* Trattoria Spiga

The other Orange County place to eat those matzo-thin crusts is here, at this handsome, state-of-the-art sidewalk cafe in the tony Crystal Court mall.

Pizzas always seem to be cooking in the cafe’s handsome, completely open tile kitchen, and a smoldering wood fire burns nonstop in the brick pizza oven. I like the fact that pizzas here are served on a wooden planks, but I won’t tell you they are going to fill you up. These are delicate pizzas, snacks really, and ideal for al fresco afternoon dining.

I come back for Spiga’s quattro formaggi, literally four cheese, made with fontina, mozzarella, Parmesan and a generous sprinkling of Gorgonzola, a pungent cheese definitely not for the fainthearted. Pizza ai frutti di mare, a Neapolitan specialty with mussels, clams and shrimp, has an intensely concentrated tomato sauce that some may find overwhelming. It is a pizza for tomato worshipers only. And daily specials can be, well, intriguing here. One I tasted, ai pomodori secchi, is positively outrageous. It comes blanketed, from side to side, with amazingly powerful sun dried tomatoes.

3333 Bear St., in the Crystal Court, Costa Mesa. (714) 540-3365. Pizzas $5.75 to $10.50.

* Little John’s

Before you dive into your pizza at this modest San Juan Capistrano pizzeria and pub, an ordinary looking room with particle board tables and sea foam green walls, you’d best read the story behind the product, conveniently written all over the menus.

Little John, it seems, is 5-foot John Poulos, a Greek who owns a sister location in Warwick, R.I., of all places. He makes a pie dubbed by Esquire magazine’s John Mariani as the “Best Pizza in America.” I find Little John’s pizza more than acceptable. Mr. Mariani is entitled to his opinion.

The pizza here is baked in a brick oven and sports a light crust, crisped on the bottom. The house tomato sauce is sugary, aromatic and redolent of oregano. Best thing to eat here by me would be the Greek pizza, made with good olive oil, feta cheese and slices of fresh tomato. It’s gooey, rich and fragrant, and the feta is an inspiration. Don’t count on speed, though. As the menu informs you with pomp, “greatness takes time--the Sistine Chapel took 15 years.”

32341 A Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano. (714) 240-7095. Pizzas $5.75 to $15.95.

* Fitness Pizza and Pasta

“Pizza of the ‘90s” is how this Yorba Linda restaurant bills its pies. I mean, we’re talking pizzas made with a whole wheat crust, low-fat mozzarella and extra lean meat. And I have to admit my initial response was Yaargh. So, I was wrong.

It simply never occurred to me that whole wheat crust could be so light and fluffy, so delicious. And not only is this one of the best crusts around, many of the toppings--eccentric in the extreme--work like a charm. Iron Man has iron rich spinach, full-flavored ricotta, fresh garlic, mushrooms, herbs and spices. Bull Rider, my favorite here, is made with prime roast beef smothered in barbecue sauce and slices of red onion, like a dream Sloppy Joe.

18246 Imperial Highway, Yorba Linda. (714) 993-5421. Pizzas $5.95 to $17.95.

* Peppino’s

Transplanted New Yorker (he’s from Troy) and full-blooded Neapolitan Joey Moscatiello owns this mini-chain of neighborhood Italian restaurants, and he’s already planning his empire. Moscatiello is something of a Wunderkind, only 28 years old. He has three locations, with more on the way.

The pizzas here come in two basic varieties: Napoletan, a thin, round pizza, and Sicilian, a thick crust served in a 16-inch square pan. Good ingredients are what make the pizzas here winners. Peppino’s uses fresh homemade dough, whole pear tomatoes, marinated onions, and whole-milk mozzarella only, and Moscatiello sees to it that the water is cooked out of the vegetables used in the toppings. “Nothing is worse than a wet pizza,” he says. Ask for his off-menu pizza putanesca, an authentic Neapolitan treat made with anchovies, capers and a spicy tomato sauce on an ultra-thin crust.

23600 Rockfield Blvd, El Toro. (714) 951-2611. 27782 Vista del Lago, Mission Viejo. (714) 859-9556. 26952 La Paz Road, Aliso Viejo. (714) 643-1355. Pizzas $4.45 to $15.95.

* Sonny’s

Sonny is Sonny Genovese, and he is the undisputed pizza king of San Clemente. There is almost always a wait for a table on his wrought-iron patio or at one of his red and white checked tables, and you can smell the garlic wafting up from his kitchen well down El Camino Real.

Sonny is a Sicilian, but unlike the Sicilian pizza at Peppino’s, this is a thin, crisp crust, one less yeasty than many of its rivals. The deep red marinara sauce here is a bit too intense for my taste, but this pizza is still a class act. Wonderful toppings, such as pungent yellow banana peppers, imported capicolla and a terrific fried eggplant make for heavy, hearty pizzas that really stick to the ribs. And if you have a special request, just head for the pizza oven. Sonny is almost always standing there, marshaling to his kitchen brigades.

429 El Camino Real, San Clemente. (714) 498-2540. Pizzas $7.95 to $13.95.

* Crocodile Cafe

I must confess I’ve eaten more of Crocodile Cafe’s pizzas than I care to admit, partially because I like them and partially because I used to live down the street from the original Crocodile Cafe in Pasadena. These California-style pizzas come direct from the source. Owner Greg Smith once employed Ed Ladue, pizza man extrordinaire formerly of Wolfgang Puck’s Spago, and these pizzas are not unlike the ones that make celebs go gaga.

Smith uses a wood-fired brick oven that he has had specially built for his restaurants, and the result is a light, crisp-crusted wonder that makes a perfect appetizer for four, or main course for two. The barbecued chicken pizza, made with free-range chicken, is a wonder here, as is the yielding four cheese. But I would have to opt for the wonderful vegetable pizza, a complex affair with eggplant, green pepper, red onion, tomato, caramelized garlic and fresh herbs. It’s one of the best pizzas on the planet, and it’s actually good for you.

975 E. Birch St., Brea. (714) 529-2233. Pizzas $6.95 to $8.50.

* Z Pizza

French pizza. Now there’s a twist.

It’s a twist that’s more of a gimmick, though. Z Pizza started as a counter place next to an Alpha Beta market in South Laguna, and today there are five locations. American Sid Vanaroff and Frenchwoman Suzy Megroz are the owners, and their yeasty, crunchy pizzas have some of the county’s most unusual toppings.

Everybody talks about the pizzaladiere Nicoise, for example, a resolutely French, cheeseless pizza with sweet onions and anchovies, but Vanaroff confides that it is really not a big seller. Most popular are the California, with fresh tomatoes, and, sigh, pepperoni. You can get many different styles here, from pizza al pesto, a green masterpiece, to Mexican pizza. My favorite is the one they call capricciosa. It’s a mountainous creation, with pesto, artichokes, ham, fresh tomato, olives and mozzarella cheese, and the best reason to try this eccentric chain.

30902 Coast Highway, South Laguna. (714) 499-4949. 4237 Campus Drive, Irvine. (714) 725-9000. 5365 Alton Parkway, Irvine. (714) 551-5311. 3601 E. Pacific Coast Highway, Corona Del Mar. (714) 645-4100. 3423 Via Lido, Newport Beach. (714) 723-0707. Pizzas $6.75 to $11.80.

* Angelo and Vinci’s

Fullerton’s legendary “A and Vs” makes nearly everybody’s short list for Orange County pizza. The fact that the restaurant fills its 500 odd seats to capacity every Friday and Saturday night attests to that.

Even if this pizza weren’t great, the restaurant would qualify as some sort of local shrine. It’s a cavernous, converted theater, filled with enough Christmas lights, stained glass and junk memorabilia to stock a thrift shop, an obscenely cluttered grotto suited as much to the Phantom of the Opera as to Santa Claus.

Pizza here is of the thick bread dough school, generously gobbed with low-moisture mozzarella that all but blankets the thin layer of homemade sauce underneath. These pizzas come on metal stands and are giant, oozy creations with great puffy rims. Just about any size or variant is available.

If you do not wish for the restaurant’s heaping tablespoon of atmosphere, or to fight the inevitable throngs, A and V’s has a takeout counter just adjacent. There, for $1.25, you can get an enormous slice of the restaurant’s tomato and cheese pizza, arguably the best food value in the county.

516 N. Harbor Blvd., Fullerton. (714) 879-4022. Pizzas $10.25 to $20.95.

* La Pizza Loca

Though Orange County is dotted with franchises representing an astounding array of pizza chains--from BJ’s Chicago Pizzeria to Domino’s--stands and takeouts were not what we had in mind when we set out to do this feature. But then La Pizza Loca, a hot new chain specializing in fast delivery, had a concept too novel to ignore: Latin pizza.

Technically, of course, Italian pizza is Latin too, but a pizza conceived for Hispanic Americans sounded intriguing. Alex Morelo, the chain’s founder, claims that his pizza was developed to suit the Hispanic palate. But, while it’s true that you can get things like chorizo and jalapenos atop your pizzas here, there is nothing specific about these pizzas that reminds me of anything Hispanic.

I can say that these pizzas beat those of most takeouts, though, and that they can be astonishingly cheap. (One recent evening, the chain featured a medium pepperoni for only $3.95.) Pizzas are prepared in the standard Blodgett metal ovens at all locations, and they don’t skimp with toppings.

The chorizo is crumbled and cooks up crispy, by the way, and, if you can stand the heat, jalapenos make a great addition to a pizza.

7920 Orangethorpe Ave., B, Buena Park, (714) 994-9606. And three Santa Ana locations: 300 E. 4th St., (714) 568-0171; 2040 S. Main St., (714) 751-1717; 2429 W. Mc Fadden Ave., (714) 541-4511. Pizzas $7.99 to $13.79.