I
tried a sliced sausage and green pepper pizza at Russo's New York
Coal-Fired Pizzeria at 290 and Highway 6 over the weekend. The sausage
was real Italian with a nice fennel aroma. But it was the crust that
set this pizza apart. It was crunchy and slightly charred along the
perimeter with a very crispy bottom and big yeast bubbles along the
edges to add chewy texture.
So I can say with authority that the
first coal-fired pizza oven in Houston is turning out an outstanding
pie. The oven was one those red brick jobs that you find in gourmet
Italian restaurants only Russo's was burning coal in it instead of the
usual wood. There was a big pile of anthracite coal bags piled up on
the floor in case you were wondering what kind of coal they used.