Restaurant Review: Descendant Detroit Style Pizza

DESCENDANT DETROIT STYLE PIZZA

1168 Queen Street East ~ descendantdsp.com Instagram: @descendant_pizza ~ Twitter: @DescendantPizza Co-Diner: Tim Golem

What makes Detroit style pizza Detroit style? Mainly it's the rectangular shape with a thick crisp crust. It all comes down to the crust. A Detroit style pizza is baked in a well-oiled rectangular pan which results in a chewy medium-well-done state that gives the bottom and edges of the crust a fried and crunchy texture. The corner pieces tend to be the most coveted! I was eager to try this style of pizza at Leslieville's Descendant. Toronto Life landed them at #87 on The City’s 100 Best Restaurants 2018 and I've been on the lookout for an amazing pizza joint in this city. I visited on a Sunday evening, just early enough to grab a table without a wait. The restaurant is pretty tiny, with only a small handful of tables available. However, grabbing a pizza to-go is always an option if there's no where to sit. (They do take reservations, which would be a solid choice.) The room itself is striking. Every inch of the walls is covered in an impressive mixed-medium mural that incorporates paint, wallpaper, and most likely epoxy. On top of that (literally) you'll find vibrant and interesting pieces of art by local artists. The distressed wood everywhere is great and the tin ceiling is amazing. The space almost feels like an extremely hip art gallery - but nope! It's a rad pizza place! The menu is pretty straight forward. You come here, you get pizza. There's nothing else. There are lots of drinks to choose from though, including alcohol, but I was all over the Vernors Ginger Ale ($2.00).

This is the thing to drink for sure because Vernors is an American ginger soda brand from Detroit. Cheerfully effervescent, I was surprised and delighted at the unexpected flavour, which tastes more like a cream soda and less like the typical ginger ale that you're used to. If you're looking for the correct beverage for your Detroit style pizza, this is it. As I previously mentioned, there is only pizza on the menu. There are eight pizzas to choose from and no option to "create your own" (which I love). There were also two limited edition pizzas available on our particular visit, in addition to the regular menu. Every single one sounded delicious in its own way. It was a very tough decision to only choose one, especially with enticing pies like the Barese and the Truff-Ghi on the menu. For my inaugural visit I wanted to attempt to choose the one. Every place has that one special one. After thorough consideration, I believe that the "No Name" ($35.00 for Large) might very well be Descendant's one.

Cheese blend, Ezzo pepperoni, housemade fennel sausage, tomato sauce, post-oven ricotta dollops, Mike's Hot Honey, fresh herbs, Pecorino Romano, calabrian chilis.

The pizzas come in two sizes; small (8x10) and large (10x14). Small is a great personal size and large is an easy share between 2-3 people. The minimum cook time for each pizza is 20 minutes. They also offer some Signature Dips to choose from and we grabbed the Garlic Paprika ($2.00) for some dipping action. The wait didn't seem too long and before we knew it our piping hot beauty of a pizza arrived. Eight slices of happiness! (I was able to eat two.) I recommend eating this pizza with a knife and fork because it's almost too loaded with toppings to pick up - it's not a bad problem to have! Each bite was like a party in my mouth and I fell in love instantly. Each bite was perfectly chewy, delightfully greasy and satisfyingly crunchy around the edges. The sauce is on top of most of the toppings because that's how Detroit does it. It really does all come down to the crust though, which was incredible. The dough itself had a perfect light flavour, almost as if you could taste the quality of the ingredients used. I loved the zippy spiciness from the pepperoni and chilis. I picked up on the subtle sweetness from the hot honey and marveled at how well thought-out this 'za really is. Each topping was fresh and plentiful, the cheese was gooey, and the crust was ideal. The dipping sauce was delicious too. This is the best pizza in Toronto. The staff was awesome and friendly, the atmosphere was super cool, and the pizza was next-level. What more is there to say? It's the best pizza that I've ever had in Toronto and I cannot wait to try more of their creations. Next time I'll order two small-sized pizzas so that I'll have double the tasting power. GET. THIS. PIZZA.