Life Of Pie

Here we are, 3 years later,  doing a similar road trip from 2019.  Little did we know that that would be that last trip we'd take up until now.  So our first leg took us through Portland, but we only stopped for lunch.  Since it was our first day, we had the energy to make it all the way to Ashland for our first pit stop.  Upon a friend's recommendation, we stopped at Life of Pie (nice take on the name of the movie) for some Neapolitan style pizza.

Before that, we got some greens into our meal (at least the adults) with the Kale & Arugula Salad.  This was dressed with a honey-lemon vinaigrette and tossed with toasted breadcrumbs.  On top, there was a some freshly grated parm.  I found the dressing sweet with plenty of acidity.  There was brightness to go with the pepperiness of the arugula.  Loved the crunch from the breadcrumbs as it added texture to each bite.  Finally, the parm did its nutty salty thing.

For the kids, they scoffed at the greens and started things off with the Fried Ravioli filled with mozzarella.  These were very tasty and well-prepared.  Each ravioli was crunchy, but not so much so that they were tough.  In fact, they were light, crispy and nicely spiced.  Inside, there was plenty of stringy mozzarella.  I thought the marinara was tangy and light, but it would've been better if they didn't serve it cold.

Onto the pies, we started with the classic Margherita with mozzarella, marinara and fresh basil.  Having the basic baseline pizza is always a good idea to get a true taste of the sauce as well as how the crust is meant to be.  This was very good with a nicely leoparded bottom where the dough was adequately seasoned and nutty.  I found the crust to be uniformly crispy giving way to a tender center.  Nice chewiness beyond the crunch too.  As expected, the torn basil on top was added afterwards and provided a bright herbaceous flavour.

Onto something that was much more zesty, we had the Fennel Sausage with Mama Lil's Peppers.  This pizza featured even more leoparding which meant there was additional smokiness.  The most dominant flavor was the sweet, tangy and slightly spicy peppers.  There was no mild moments with each bite.  However, I could still taste the fennel and the meatiness of the sausage.  Nice stringy mozzarella and tangy marinara rounded things out.

Our last pizza was different in the Seasonal Mushrooms with pecorino romano and a truffle EVOO base.  Without an actual sauce on the pizza, this ate much more crunchy with even the center being as such.  Didn't mind it one bit as the nuttiness went well with the truffle and earthiness of the ample mushrooms.  This was probably our favourite of the 3 we ordered.  However, I don't think you can go wrong with any of the choices as the dough is great with proper seasoning as well as leoparding.  Prices are reasonable too.  If you are in Portland, go check it out!

The Good:
- Well-priced
- Good dough and subsequent crust
- Simple, focused menu

The Bad:
- Maybe heat up the sauce for the fried raviolis