photo: Christina Mitchell
Oakland’s Forge Pizza opened in January and now a smaller location, Forge Danville is opening next to Lunardi’s supermarket on Thursday. “Forge” is a hearth used to bake at very hot temperatures and it’s the perfect name for this restaurant because virtually everything is cooked in the imported Italian Valoriani oven. Executive Chef Jeffrey Amber (XYZ, Chow, Moose’s) and Pizza Research & Development, Jeff Krupman (Pizza Hacker, known for his “pop-up” street pizzas) have put together an abbreviated menu including starters, salads, sandwiches, pizzas and sweets. My cousin and I stopped by for a friends & family lunch the other day and we started off with the creamy Burrata (cherry tomatoes, levain, smoked salt, $7). The Summer Melon Salad (ricotta salata, cashews, honey, $10/13) was surprising because the menu didn’t mention anything about radicchio, and it turned out to be the main ingredient. The dish was slightly salty and sweet, but the bitterness overpowered all of the other flavors. Forge offers eight thin crust pizzas, with the option to customize your own. We decided on the Fat Boy (housemade sausage, bacon, red onion, cream, pickled peppers, $17). It was enjoyable, but don’t order that thing unless you really like sour flavors. The pickled peppers were so intense, I couldn’t really taste the housemade sausage. The crust was thin, charred in spots and kind of floppy. Fifteen local artisanal beers and Californian and European wine will be available in addition to house-made tonic, ginger beer and root beer on tap.
345 Railroad Ave, Danville
Christina Mitchell
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