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The. Best. Pizza. Ever.

Possibly.

Doubtless Peter, who took the photos, will post at some point about our meeting at the Carter Fold, and all that.

For the moment, I have a few stray seconds in which to type yet another provocation, only I don't really mean to be provocative.

I mean for you to drive, as we did, to Johnson City, TN. It's a pretty place, on the way to Asheveille, where, as our renter says, the high-maintenance hippies live. Whilst in Johnson City we drove by the Down Home, which is reputably a fine place to see music, where I was pleased to see Michelle Malone's name on the marquis. Marquee. Whatever. To see Michelle Malone still out there performing, even though I don't think I've ever actually seen Ms. Malone. No matter.

This is about pizza.

We travel with a six-year-old. Food is, y'know, a struggle, especially given that we are fond of whole grains and vegetables and such.

So, after three days in a tent in the rain, Susan got busy on her new iPhone to find us a proper place to eat in Johnson City. Which, finally found, was closed, it being Sunday and all. So we limped back toward the freeway. At a stoplight, we all somehow looked over and saw a big pile of stone and mortar. I thought it might be a folk art installation, but noticed a few picnic tables outside. I don't know what Maggie thought it was, but both she and Susan spontaneously emboldened me to turn left and find out.

It was this: scratch pizza. An old house with all manner of workings festooned around the outside. Open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. They make their own meat. They make their own bread, their own pizza dough. Everything's fresh.

Pizza is $15. Whatever you put on it, it's $15, though we recommend their "Trust" pizza, in which you simply talk with the nice folks while ordering and they make up something for you.

I have eaten pizza all over this country. It's a quest, like mole sauce and barbeque and chili.

Maybe we were just hungry and wet and hungry and road-weary, but I think not.

I think it was the best pizza I've ever had. Maybe because it reminds me a bit of the first pizza I ever ate, at the late and lamented (at least I think it's out of business now) Hungry U in Seattle. But it's similar only in that the crust is full-bodied and whole-grained. The toppings are vastly superior.

Y'all can chip in with tribal loyalties and regional traditions, and that's fine.

But Johnson City...it's a pretty place, in an pretty part of the country.

And we'll be routing through town whenever we can so as to eat.

Typed before coffee, so be kind, eh?

Tags: alden, city, johnson, pizza, tn

Comment by denton fabrics on August 6, 2009 at 5:07am: I know what you mean. I've had many a multi-day backpacking adventure and the first thought to mind when your boot finally hits asphalt again is food; quality and quantity.

Comment by Easy Ed on August 6, 2009 at 10:02am: Can't imagine that this will cause any provocation other than the usual local/regional loyalty tug that you mention people might have a need to express. Now if you wrote that this was the best pizza to eat while you're listening to Merle or Lefty, people might have a reason to call you on it.

Comment by Hillbilly Haiku on August 6, 2009 at 10:13am: after visiting their website and as a total carboholic, "yeah, but what about their bread?!!? Did you get some of their bread???"

Comment by Grant Alden on August 6, 2009 at 10:41am: No, we didn't get any of the bread, simply because there wasn't a square centimeter of space in the car to put it. Too many very wet tarps and such...but we'll be back...

Comment by Grant Alden on August 6, 2009 at 11:47am: I should add, however, that the owner tossed in a magnificent brownie, and some kinda weird cheese torte...cheesecake with a whole lot of cayenne...which, maybe, almost worked, but was evidence of a clever and creative mind at play...

Comment by T Hanssen on August 8, 2009 at 1:01am: I love pizza and tend to like most varieties (thin, thick, crispy, soggy, whatever). Since re-locating to Seattle, I have yet to disprove a friend of mine (who relocated from Chicago to San Francisco) when he told me "There is no great pizza West of the Mississippi River."

Pizza in Seattle is phenomenally "meh."

Great pizza in Tennessee? (checks map) - I'd believe that.

Comment by Grant Alden on August 8, 2009 at 6:06am: In its day, the Hungry U was a pretty solid pizza, but it sought to expand and was dwarfed by Pagliacci's (which is just OK), exceeded its cash flow, and was turned into a pretty good Indian Restaurant on Roosevelt, last I checked. (At one point I lived a block down the street from the Hungry U, and my roommate shamelessly flirted with one of the waitresses. To his eternal frustration; she was married, and meant it, which always confused him.) There used to be an exceptional pizza place down by SeaTac...not in Federal Way, not in White Center...can't remember the name of the place, nor the community. Ah, well...probably gone by now, anyhow...

Comment by Amos Perrine on August 8, 2009 at 3:51pm: If you are ever in, or even near, Pittsburgh, check out Mineo's. The best pizza I have ever had -- outside of Provence, where, like homegrown tomatoes, it's a completely different animal.

BTW, some years back I was vacationing on Cape Cod and in Provincetown there is (or at least was) an eatery that served only two items, pizza & ice cream. While waiting in line to be served I struck up a conversation with an inebriated woman, who, after learning I was from West Virginia, held me personally responsible for Black Lung. It was very funny, really. Today, she would likely berate me for global warming that, of course, results from the use of coal. Peace on.

Comment by Joe Maynard on August 18, 2009 at 8:55am: Well, whatever. Have to chime in from Brooklyn... Brick oven is fine, we have a lot of those places here, which are good, but really, even better than Grimaldis which constantly has a line of 200 tourists all weekend long, diFaro's is the best. No brick oven, just an 80 yr old grampa who grows basil in his window box, orders his supplies from his home town in Italy, and makes every pizza by hand (long waits guaranteed!) http://www.blogsoop.com/nyc_rid_5441.html

Comment by Erick Orr on August 25, 2009 at 11:16am: Can't personally say anything about the Grimaldi's in Brooklyn, though everyone who has been there has the same response as above, but the one in Scottsdale, AZ is exceptional. It is my preferred spot for pizza and why they chose us as their 3rd location after 2 in NYC, no idea, but very, very glad they did.