To Eat Pizza, Or Not to Eat Pizza? Is That Even a Question?

Rances : The Only Way to Eat Pizza

Spending my usual Wednesday evening with my child (especially because I hate doing the same thing over and over again) can be quite a challenge.  I have cycled through a list of restaurants that we both like and have moved on to hopping to more obscure things.  That doesn’t mean we can’t go back to these other restaurants ever, but I love my Wednesday daddy daughter date night to be something different and original.  Someday I am hoping that my daughter actually expresses an opinion about it all and we will run off to some out of the way place that’s new to me. Until that day happens, I am the idea man.

So what’s the menu for this week’s idea?  Pizza.  Ok, I hear the moans from the moms coming through computer screen now.  And maybe I feel a few fist bumps through the computer screens for dad.  But you haven’t had this pizza.  This pizza is Chicago style deep dish pan pizza.  And where is this pizza at?  It’s in the city of Costa Mesa on Harbor Blvd. called Rances.

My Limited Pizza Experience

To give you the setup you have to understand my experience with pizza.  Out here in California you have the crappy pizza places that serve generic pizza and crust.  If you are being extra healthy then someone will suggest that you get the thin crust pizza, which is the equivalent of pizza toppings on a cracker.  Also, competing in this new market place are all of the make your own pizza places such as Pieology, Rev Pizza and the Blaze.  At those places the deal is all about the kinds of toppings you can put on your pizza and not the crust, unless you are gluten sensitive, and then they do carry that option.

But my first experience with Chicago style pan pizza came when I attended UC Berkeley.  At Berkeley there were a myriad of options available, and as the typical college student you were looking for whatever was the most convenient and the most available.  You could get pizza selections from Blondie’s pizza, or another variant across the street.  Most of those places closed at around 1:30 in the morning so they were convenient.  I didn’t need to worry about another place.  Despite my being content with the selection of pizzas that were available, I had college roommates who kept insisting that I needed to try Zachary’s pizza.

I resisted for several months as it was a long walk down College Ave., and we hadn’t been given bus passes yet.  But after a few months, some of my dorm mates prevailed upon me to go.  One person had a car in the neighborhood, which was a rarity.  So we packed into the vehicle and took off down College Ave. to our destination.  Little did I know what I was going to find there.

Zachary’s Here I Come

We pulled up to the place after circling around to find a good place to park.  (You think parking in L.A. is bad?  You are living in a dream by comparison.)  We got out of the car and were informed that it was going to take 45 minutes to get seated.  45 MINUTES!?!?  Were they crazy???  Who in their right mind was going to wait 45 minutes to be seated at a pizza parlor?  I don’t know about your experience, but everywhere I went for pizza it was pretty much open seating.  It wasn’t only that you didn’t have to wait.  They let you sit wherever you wanted.  I had a million things running through my mind at that moment, including getting a beer at Ye Old’ Ship.  But sitting 45 minutes for anything, unless it came down from heaven on a platter, was not one of them.

We sat around talking about what we were going to do.  They said we could order our pizza and it would be ready about the time our table was ready.  Maybe I had lived in America too long.  I wanted things; and I wanted them right away.  Speed of service is as important to me as quality of service and customer care.  But after months and months of prodding, I wasn’t going to back out now.  So we ordered a simple Pepperoni Pizza.  Now at Zachary’s, if any of you have been there, there are a ton of different toppings to choose from.  So for those vegetarian lover’s out there, do not be alarmed.  I am just not among your ranks.  I do not know many starving male college students who are for that matter.  (Dorm food was scary.  Some people speak about a freshman 15.  I think I lost 15 pounds those first few months from lack of nutrition.)

Chicago Style Pan Pizza is Pizza Pie

I was disabused of that “simple” term the moment we finally sat down and they started serving out a slice of pizza.  I don’t know many of you who have had “supposed” deep dish pizzas at places like BJ’s.   That’s a jumbled mess of I don’t know what to call it.  So what do I call Zachary’s? What I will say is that the first time I finally convinced my ex to go to Zachary’s she commented: “I never knew what they meant by a pizza pie before until this very moment.  I will never look at another pizza the same way again.”

What is on this pizza?  Pixiedust?  Magic? Some wonder drug (the coca cola of pizzas)?  All I can say is that the pizza is delicate and amazing with a crust that is firm and tasty (without feeling like you are eating cardboard). It contained layer upon layer of cheese with pepperoni tucked in the middle of it.  And rich, juicy, diced tomatoes were sumptuous as if they had been picked and diced right out of someone's back yard.  The crust is pressed against the side of the pan so it has this pie like design and the cheese, pepperoni and tomato go all the way up to the top of the crust on all sides. Pizza Pie accurately describes what they handed to us.  Now this wouldn’t be very good if the ingredients were not also amazing, but they were.  Everything was fresh and the service was wonderful.  45 minutes?  We would have waited for hours to get a pizza like this.  When we were finished we didn’t know what we would do for an encore.

So there we stood, stuffed like you cannot imagine on barely a slice or two of pizza, wondering what the heck had just happened.  Why had we waited months to go out to this place?  How come most of us had only vaguely heard of Chicago style pan pizza before?  We had all had New York thin crust pizza that you had to roll just to prevent it from going all over the place.  But this was exquisite.  Why were there no pizza places like this in Southern California, as many of us had come from there?  We all said we should start a business down there like that and that it would make a ton of money.  But no one ever did anything.

Back in Health Conscious Southern California

When I graduated from Berkeley and moved back down to Southern California, I knew I would never look at pizza the same way.  Sure, I would try the new pizza place that would come around every now and then.  And yes I was excited to try the cracker pizza with the myriad of toppings at places like the Blaze.  (I actually love the fact that they have a ton of toppings at choose your own pizza places.)  But I was never going to see a place like this in a “health conscious” place like southern California again.  And all I could do was sigh.

One day, while coming back from dropping my daughter off at school I saw a new restaurant on the side of the road.  It was tucked in the shopping center, so I knew it wasn’t going to be a huge place, but decently sized.  I read the sign and it said Rances, Chicago style pan pizza.  My jaw dropped.  I was at once nervous and hopeful, and at the same time I was sure that they would screw it up just like other local placed who claimed to serve pan pizza.  I didn’t go right away, convincing myself that it couldn’t possibly be as good as Zachary’s.  I waited . . . for months.  But staring at the sign day after day, knowing it was there, I finally summoned the courage to go in and order a pizza.

Rances at Last

My ex had finally had Zachary’s after years of prodding so when we finally convinced ourselves to go up to the door of the Rances, we were very unsure of what we were going to be getting.  It was a relatively empty afternoon and a line of tables was in the place that were mostly unfilled as we stood there.

A girl behind the counter asked, “Would you like to dine in or take out?”

“Dine In,” my ex and I stated as our daughter stood by our side.

“Take a seat over there but it’s going to take about 45 minutes for your pizza to be ready.  You might want to order and come back in a bit.”

My ex and I looked at each other and smiled.  It was the first sign that maybe, just maybe, this might be good pizza. We ordered a pizza and then went to Target, one of my daughter’s favorite stores to shop, while we waited for the pizza to be ready.  A little window shopping and a half hour later we came back to be seated and get drinks as we waited for the pizza to come.  In a little under 15 minutes they came back with our order ready.

We could see the steam from the diced tomatoes and oozing melted cheese as the magnificent smell wafted towards us. It looked very much like Zachary’s pizza, but the key was the taste. One cautious bite in my mouth later, and I knew any fears were far removed from me.  Not only did this have the same spectacular flavor, but the crust was sturdy and yet light, almost like a fluffy pastry.  It was an explosion of flavor in the mouth.  We knew we had found the Southern California equivalent to Zachary’s.  (I can argue whether Zachary’s or Rances is better another time.) 

A Word of Caution for Those Nervous About Health

Rances is for when you want PIZZA, not some faux excuse for flat bread and pepperoni.  I’m sure that you can have Stauffer’s flatbread pizza at home every night of the week.  But when you want the sense that you have had something original, and amazing, then Rances blows away the pizza competition. 

Rances, however, is not health food.  Yes, there is a ton of cheese and tomatoes and bread with every slice of pizza.  I would not try to diet on it like that one unnamed spokesman did at Subway.  (Yes, I know his name.  But no, he doesn’t deserve any attention.)  In fact, if you can get more than a slice in your mouth for the meal I would be surprised.  More than two slices and I might faint from shock.  One slice is a lot of food and they often have a lunch special with a slice and a salad.  It makes a great lunchtime meal.  Also, the cholesterol from daily usage would most certainly put you in a grave. 

Chicago style pan pizza is not fast food either.  I would recommend calling and ordering in advance of your arrival if you can decide on what you want ahead of time.  Other than that, enjoy the multi-screened ambiance of the venue while you wait for the pizza magic to arrive.  There are a few appetizers or a good salad that you might split before the pizza comes.  It's also a great time to talk with your little one if you are a dad on a midweek date. 

Consider Rances when you get that pizza craving.  Its not something you do every day. But for a once in a while treat of amazing pizza that melts in your mouth and makes your taste bud’s sing, no one does it better in Southern California than Rances’ Pizza, on the corner of Baker and Harbor in Costa Mesa.

For those of you who disagree, great, I would love to know about more amazing pizza places in the southern California area.  Like I said, I’m all about variety so drop me a message at the bottom.  (Even if they are out of town joints, I like to know about places I can go to when I travel.)  And don’t limit it to pizza places either.  I’m a man on a mission when it comes to trying unique good food and sharing that experience with my daughter.  And until next time . . . this is me signing off.

David Elliott, Single Dad’s Guide to Life

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The Dreaded 11 - Or Weeknight Dad Date Part Deux

So I came into the weeknight date thinking about where I was going to go.  I was agonizing about the restaurants that I was going to choose from. I'm always for trying things new. I know some of those people who can go to the same restaurant multiple times a week and order the exact same things every time. I say good for you!!! I am not that person. I need to try different things from time to time.  But I was struggling and then I thought about going to Claim Jumper. I love Claim Jumper. It's probably way too much food for any one or even two people but if I get a good steak and some roasted veggies I'm doing alright. Or at least that is what I tell myself anyway. (And for those of you who are Vegetarians or have Gluten concerns there is a growing part is the menu just for you.)  Not only that, but when you take your kids they can order a decent sized meal off the kids menu, and it's pretty reasonable.  I know I have gone here before with my daughter since I was given a midweek night with her, but the last time the doctors were suggesting dairy free and gluten free. So this was a whole new experience right? Shhhh!!! Let me live in ignorance.


The irony was that my daughter ordered the exact same thing almost. She did get Mac and Cheese this time and was able to eat the cheese bread so it was a whole new meal. (And cake is a reasonable breakfast food. Or so several mom blogs are swearing. Breads and Cereals, Poultry, Dairy . . . Make it a carrot cake and add a cherry on top, with cream cheese frosting and you have all 5 major food groups.  Maybe there is something to this.)

Anyway, then we moved on to talking, which was the whole excuse for eating. While there, my daughter asks for the kids menu. She then looks at the top of the menu nervously and then sighs a big sigh of relief.

"What," I ask her.

"I'll be able to eat on the kids menu until I'm 13 here. So many places the cutoff is eleven."

And there dropped the mic. What? My daughter is about to turn 11. She's speeding into her tween years. She will be in Junior High before I know it. But the real problem is that I'm going to have to pay more for her restaurant food. That's it! I'm throwing down the gauntlet. Why in the world do they choose 11 as the last year they can eat off the child's menu?

As if I didn't have enough fears in my life as boys start coming around, and you are going to make me start paying more for this??? There will be periods, the sex talk, the boys talk, the junior high years, the not wanting to spend time with her dad any more, and you, the restaurant industry is going to make me pay more for that privilege.

And beside that, you are going to make me pay more for her food, while at the same time giving her more food than any two persons should eat at one sitting.  She's not a growing boy after all. (No slight to growing boys.) And they won't stop over feeding her until she is 55.  There is something that's just crazy about this.  Why in the world do we do this and what is it about that number?

And there was that dreaded number 11 again. Why 11?  I realize that you couldn't start going to Hogwarts until you were 11. And my daughter has made this known to me more than once as she wants it for her birthday party theme, Hogwarts is school from a book. And that book only came out in the last few years. She's not starting Junior High just yet, despite local school districts making it middle school instead of Junior High. Darn you middle school. But what's up with this?

And then there is the doubling of the costs of going out with my daughter, all because she has turned some random number. I know some people lie and tell restaurants they are actually younger. Or when their kids turn three they tell Disneyland they are still 2 so they get in for free. (I especially sympathize with those Disneyland lies given their skyrocketing costs.). I am not that guy.  To my ex's chagrin, I hated lying to people to get something. I'm not claiming sainthood here but it just felt wrong to tell a lie to get a discount. Layers of guilt would wash over me. I just can't be the guy who does that.

Now 13 I kind of get. It's the last year before Junior High. In Judaism it's when the child is considered to become an adult.  It's when boys went out to work for their fathers. It's when women way back in the day used to get married because most had already had their bodies go through puberty. Or for those of you who are younger, that big red button in Inside Out.   Thirteen is when everyone is going through physical changes that mark growing up. Eleven is Eleven. What's with 11?

This is Bob the Frenchman Mouse . . . Ho! Ho! Ho! (A little like Santa Claus but a French one with whiskers.)

Wait... I know now. It's the highest dial on the amp for Spinal Tap the faux rockimentary band.  I suppose if their "hit" Big Bottoms is in the top 50 Heavy Metal songs of all time, then going to eleven must be important. Because you know, "My Amp goes to eleven."

Share your Random number story.

David Elliott's Single Dad's Guide to Life

The Weekday Parent Date

Well, a Wednesday has come and gone and another day of the weekend parent date with the child.  I know many of you have all different days that this date occurs, but for me it is on a Wednesday.  And unfortunately, with barely two hours to be able to do everything I want to with my daughter, this often leads to doing a meal.  I suppose there are some of you out there who are content doing the same thing every week, but I love to give different types of experiences to my daughter.  I was a child who hated doing everything the same all the time and wanted to try something different.  And so I didn't want to end up at the same place every week with my child.

This weeks Wednesday journey took me to the Mongolian Bar-B-Que Pan Asia on 17th Street in Newport beach.  It does look a little odd in the way that it's situated in a strip mall but it does give that old world feeling the moment you step in the restaurant.  They give you water and free green tea the minute you sit down and then a menu.  Just don't expect all you can drink items other than this on the menu.

It's not that there is a lot of variant on the menu itself.  You can add egg rolls, soup, pot stickers, fried won-tons and a plethora of other amenities to the dish, but primarily you are there for the BBQ.  Whether you want all you can eat, or you want just a one time serving, they give you the choice of various different frozen meats.  They sit a little large in the bowl so I suggest if you want more veggies in your BBQ that you take the green tea that they gave you and use it to smash the meat down in order to get more in your BBQ.  Then you go to the counter and really get your variety of onions, peppers, cabbage, corn, pineapple, cilantro, sprouts, etc.  This is where you get to choose everything that marinates on the flat BBQ plate that they fry it up on.

Finally you get to decide what kinds of spices you are going to put on the BBQ.  These can include red pepper spice, lobster, bbq sauce and various spice levels that they have as accents.  Finally you can decide whether you want a dash of garlic powder or sesame seeds to go with it.  Now you get to watch them go into action with a flat board moving it across the hot almost wok like cooking surface.  Once they dish it off into your bowl you take it back to your table and they serve it with rice and bread pockets.  Don't forget to read your fortune cookies.

As you are looking for places that you can experience and not just sit down and have a meal, this is a fun place to take your children and give them the opportunity to experience something a little different, Pan-Asian style.