This is not a review for French Laundry (I've not eaten there yet, and it's almost impossible to get a reservation for a $500+ per person meal there), but as the San Francisco Chronicle's food critic Joel Bauer recently wrote that Zero Zero serves the "French Laundry of pizzas", it's important that you know French Laundry is regularly voted one of the top restaurants in the World!
So, does Zero Zero deserve that comparison?
In a word (or two), not really.
First, I don't know what other reviewers were smoking, but the decor is nothing to write (home) about. It's basically saloon style, on two floors, with the same infrastructure but less glitz than Azie's, the previous occupant of the space.
Last night's appetizers were very good, but that's not what Bauer was comparing to French Laundry. For the record, I had the Braised Pork appetizer, with chanterelle mushrooms, fried polenta, slow cooked organic egg, and pickled peppers (8/10), while Pavey had the Crudo (raw) Fish appetizer, with the aforementioned raw fish, and other bits and pieces (8/10).
Pizza-wise, I had the Townsend - roasted garlic, young organic potato, prosciutto, mozzarella, parmesan and rosemary oil (7/10) and Pavey had the Margherita - tomato sauce, basil, mozzarella, parmesan, and extra virgin olive oil (9/10).
The first couple of slices of each pizza were wonderful, the pizza dough managing to be thin and crisp, yet fluffy. The Margherita toppings tasted fresh and alive. However, after they cooled a little, the Townsend just tasted heavy and stodgy, while the Margherita lost its sparkle.
9/10 for a pizza sounds like glowing praise, but at the end of the day it was still a pizza, and a somewhat pricey one, at $110 including appetizers, tip and a glass of wine each.
All in all, much better than Pizza Nostra's greasy equivalents, but no match for my still favorite Pizza Express (the Venezenia, with an egg) in and around London.
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