I got back from Austin yesterday morning and after an hour long power nap yesterday afternoon and then 12 hours sleep last night I'm beginning to feel human again. Today I went shopping for a tonne of fruit and veg to go with all of the mock meat I smuggled home with me and then I sat down to catch up on all of the blogs I've been missing whilst I've been gone. I'm nowhere near done but I'm heading out to a cheese and wine party (vegan of course) in under an hour so I thought I should probably write my own blog post before it gets too late and I miss my self imposed midnight deadline.
Last time Nick and I were in Austin was 2012 and we got obsessed with ordering pizza from Hoboken Pie and taking it back to our hotel room. This time we got obsessed with visiting the Via 313 food truck. They're an omni spot with veganisable vegetarian options and one of the best thing about them is that they use Follow Your Heart cheese rather than Daiya. Now I like Daiya (despite having had the Daiya stomach thing that almost every vegan I know has experienced) but Nick hates it and it makes me sad when he has to go cheeseless.
Via 313 make Detroit style pizzas and serve them from their trucks which are located outside two popular bars, Violet Crown Social Club and Craft Pride. We only checked out the VCSC spot as we really liked that you could sit on their patio to eat your pizza. This may be the case at Craft Pride too, it's Austin so I would bet money on outdoor seating but we're creatures of habit and we liked our original spot.
On our first visit Nick ordered The Classic Cheese and I went for The Herbivore minus the green peppers. You just need to ask to switch the dairy cheese to vegan cheese.
Now I don't know about you but I had never even heard of Detroit Style pizza until I read about this spot on Lazy Smurf's blog, maybe that's because I'm all British and stuff? Anyway Detroit style pizza has a deep dish style crust and it's baked in a well oiled square pan which means there's a crisp almost fried thing going on with the crust which is Uh-Mazing. Seriously, how had I never heard of this?
It was ridiculously good. I enjoyed my Herbivore, the olives and sweet onions were tasty and the mushrooms had a little peppery thing going on. The marinara sauce was straight up perfect though and on our second visit I ordered The Classic Cheese so that nothing would distract me from it. Via 313 definitely have the perfect pizza trifecta going on. Crust, perfect. Sauce, perfect. Cheese, perfect. So I'd say the classic is definitely the way to go here, no distractions needed because the three basics are so freaking spot on. I can't wait to go back to Austin and eat this baby all over again!
Those pizzas sound so great! I might have to try making my own!
ReplyDeleteHope you enjoy your cheese and wine party tonight, will you be blogging about it with photos tomorrow? :D
Wow, that sounds fabulous! You have me craving pizza in a major way. I'd never heard of Detroit-style pizza either, but it sounds like deep dish pizza with that greasy, almost-fried crust. I've got to start a list going for Austin next May, and this is definitely going on it.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know about Detroit-style pizza either, but those two do look delicious. I love a crispy crust.
ReplyDeleteA vegan wine and cheese party sounds awesome, have fun!
I loved the photo of your Austin haul. I salute your packing technique!
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of Detroit-style pizza. Looks amazing, though. I'm a big fan of pizza in general!
ReplyDeleteNope. I had never heard of Detroit-style pizza either - now I feel like I've been missing out. Next time I make pizza for din dinz I'm going to really oil up my pan to get a nice and crispy crust.
ReplyDeleteYEAH that looks chuffin ace!!
ReplyDeleteI am so freaking obsessed with that pizza. I'm glad you liked it! By the time you come back they will have opened up a full on pizza parlour! I sure hope they add a vegan sausage. Or green olives. Mmm. pizza.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of detroid style pizza, but daaaamn do I want some!
ReplyDeleteI'm more intrigued by the what the daiya cheese stomach thing is? I don't think I've experienced it but I have a feeling it's not pleasant.
ReplyDeleteoh my gosh, that pizza looks crazy good. I would have gone for classic cheese too. Sometimes you just gotta keep it simple, for the sake of pure appreciation.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of this kind of pizza either, but it sounds great.
ReplyDeleteHope you are recovering from all your adventures!
Do you have to actually smuggle the mock meat into the UK? I have no problems with customs here. Once I explain that all the cheese and sausages are vegan and made from plants, they just kind of look confused and send me on through. ;)
I'd never heard of Detroit style pizza either, and it certainly has a look all of its own! I'm glad you could discover a new Austin favourite though - I have heard so many good things about the town but have never been. Hope the jet lag isn't too challenging either :)
ReplyDeleteThere is indeed an open-air area in the back of Craft Pride! (The Via 313 trailer is in that area.) You can eat your pizza there, take it to go, or bring it into the bar. Also, I don't think being from England necessarily has all that much to do with not knowing about Detroit style: plenty of people here (including people from Michigan, and even Detroit) aren't familiar with it either. I certainly wasn't, until we tried Via 313.
ReplyDeleteI think we've gotten so used to ordering the herbivore with the FYH that we've neglected to try the classic! Definitely have to do that next time.
I'm not gonna lie, I just moaned. THIS LOOKS SO GOOD.
ReplyDeletei've never heard of detroit-style pizza either, and i only live on the other side of the lake! heh. anyhow, it looks really good... i'll have to check it out next time we're there!
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