Instant Reaction: Trick Pony (Cowtown Eats)

Instant Reaction: Trick Pony

June 02, 2014

I can't remember a restaurant that had more negativity before it even had its first paying customer. But then again, I don't know of any other restaurant that insulted the local restaurant community before blaming a biased reporter.

In any case, I visited Trick Pony on Friday evening and wanted to let their food do the talking for them.

Located in the former Tuli spot at 21st & S, the space has gone through a light renovation. There's new paint on the wall and the outdoor area has more permanent shutters than the plastic that Tuli had up. Not much else was an obvious change.

The menu's short, but that's probably a good thing for a new restaurant. Focus on what you can do and maybe expand once you've gotten that down.

The three of us sat at the bar area, which gave us a great view of Chef Paul Caravelli and the kitchen staff do their work. One of the chefs, Eric, had previously worked at Tuli and had been brought back to man the wood oven.

We quickly decided to order three items and eat them family style:

Chef's Farmer's Market Salad with dinosaur kale, fresh corn, beets and sliced beef ($7)

Pepperoni Pizza with tomato sauce, pepperoni, buffalo mozzarella, fresh basil, extra virgin olive oil, oregano ($15)

Chef's Pizza with triple sourdough crust, blistered tomatoes, pesto, arugula and ricotta cheese ($15)

Served with the pizzas are two dipping sauces - a smoked chili oil and a pesto sauces.

We were served the salad first, and it was very good. It was fresh and seasonal. Its portion size was closer to that of a side salad than an entree salad, but it was a good start to the meal.

Next came the two pizzas, each measuring about 10 inches in diameter. The first thing you'll notice is that they're not pre-sliced. They give you a knife and expect you to cut it yourself. We got a chance to chat with the kitchen staff during a brief slow period in the kitchen, and he said that it was served uncut as a homage to way pizza was served in the early 1900s in Italy - as a street food out of a cart. Back then, people just tore into the pizza with their bare hands. I guess I'll have to give that a try next time I go.

Despite all their pre-launch bluster, they aren't the best pizza in Sacramento. But they are unique. The crust is chewier and more substantial than other high end pizza places. The dipping sauces are also something that I haven't seen at other pizza establishments. While I thought the ingredients on the pizza could have gotten a little closer to the edge of the pizza, the wide crusts provided plenty of material to dip into the sauces.

The best part of dinner was probably dipping the crust into the smoked chili oil. It was sweet, smokey and with a hint of heat, but very well balanced.

For dessert, we only had one choice.

Panna cotta with ginger crumble and infused watermelon ($5)

The dessert was light and refreshing. The texture of the panna cotta was unexpected. I'd say the best way to describe it was that it was spongier than one would expect when ordering panna cotta, but we were glad we ordered it.

As with the rest of their menu, their wine and beer list is limited. They only have three beers on tap, two white wines and two red wines. The wines were from Andis wines in nearby Plymouth.

As a tip, try to get a seat in front of the pizza oven. Watching Chef Eric perform his pizza making craft was great entertainment and made the evening more enjoyable.

For the three of us, including a $23 half carafe of wine (about 2.5 glasses of wine), the final bill was about $85 including tax and tip.

In the end, I'm glad we went and tried it. It still isn't in the highest tier of pizza places in Sacramento, but it provides something different and that might be good enough for a neighborhood pizza joint.

Trick Pony is located at 2031 S Street, and can be found online at www.trickponypizza.com.

Previous Instant Reactions:

Posted on June 02, 2014 at 01:00 PM in Instant Reaction | Permalink | Comments (0)