Quarter Sheets

A theme seems to be emerging in my quest for new culinary adventures. It involves the discovery of fabulous, funky eateries in not-necessarily fabulous but definitely funky areas of Los Angeles. As Foodie Friend #1 and I were driving through Echo Park en route to Quarter Sheets, I found myself musing, in my old WASP -lady voice, “These people think they live in LA, too.”

And how lucky those particular Angelenos are because they are within walking distance of the hands-down best pizza in the city. I’d been looking forward to visiting Quarter Sheets for a long time, but when Michelin gave it a recent nod, I knew I had to get there sooner than later.

It is the poster child for hole- in-the-wall joints; we had a half hour wait even at 4:45 as there are maybe 10 tables squeezed together and a menu limited to 5 kinds of pizza, two salads and four desserts. But what pizza, salad and desserts they are!

The crust! The crust! The crust! How can I adequately describe the crunchy depth of that lightly oil-slicked wonder? The mouth feel is something akin to a deeply satisfying sour dough. It crackles and then gradually dissolves into the rest of the pie, mingling perfectly with the tomato, basil and ricotta or fennel sausage and pistachio pesto toppings. You have never eaten a slice so slowly out of sheer desire for it not to end.

And on the subject of crispiness….the little gem and chickory salad takes that cake, smothered in a vinegar and basil dressing you want to take home as a dipping sauce. And speaking of cake……Hannah Ziskin has created a princess cake for the ages; airy layers of white cake, bejeweled with stripes of raspberry jam, divine marzipan & cloud-like cream fit for a Michelin star.

Go figure, in a little dive off Sunset near Echo Park, food royalty!

Logistical note: Good luck parking, and go early for God’s sake!