Crust Comes to Tremont

A new pizza joint just opened up in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood, but this isn't your average pizza place. Crust, opened by chef Jeff Fisher (Touch Supper Club fame) and partner Mike Griffin, is offering gourmet pizzas made with as many local goods as possible (often from the Tremont Farmers Market). They are also offering giant slices of pizza ($3) that are as big as your head. Other menu items are creative salads, pastas, and subs. All reasonably priced, in my opinion.

"R" and I called ahead to place an order for takeout, and with just a 20 minute wait, we headed up there to get our food.

We decided to share the Mixed Mushroom pizza with goat cheese, fresh thyme, fresh garlic, caramelized onions, balsamic reduction, white truffle oil, pecorino romano, and grated mozzarella. The specialty pizzas only come in one size-- large, 16 inch, 8 slices for $16.95.

We had a choice between thin crust or hand-tossed, and we went with the hand-tossed. Doughy, but crispy-- it was pretty darn good. It held up well to the toppings and travel time. The pizza was packed with mushrooms, and had strong earthy flavor. We both commented that we wished the additional ingredients came through a bit more. Some balance in flavor was needed by adding more balsamic and garlic, and the pizza was missing the creaminess of the goat cheese. The goat cheese was minimal. Overall, we did really like it and I'd order it again. But you must love mushrooms.

It was a carb-on-carb kind of night. We also shared an order of the Butternut Squash Gnocchi with slab bacon, fresh sage, caramelized onion, and finished with an apple cider reduction and pumpkin seed oil. For $9.95, it was a good sized portion and more than enough to share.

It was rich and creamy, and had great fall flavor. The gnocchi were plump and doughy, and had started to soak in the tasty sauce. We know that it was prepared fresh, because the kitchen is open and as "R" stood at the takeout counter, he got to watch them make it right in front of him.

We were stuffed, had plenty of leftovers for the next day, and were pretty pleased with the new find in Tremont. Welcome to the neighborhood!

Just don't be looking for them to compete with Edison's late night pizza. They close at 7PM Monday - Thursday, and at 9PM on Friday and Saturday. Sundays they are closed. Also, with only a couple of high top tables by the counter-- make sure that you aren't necessarily planning on dining in.

Crust
1020 Kenilworth Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44113
216-583-0257