Now this is a truly seafood pizza-with shrimps, squid, oysters and crabmeat among others, it was swimming in mozarella cheese on a high fiber whole wheat crust.Continuing my “mission” of spreading “the word” on good food, I recently reacquainted my taste buds with old favorites and new items on the menu at Chicago Style Pizza. I was invited by Father Espiridion "Boy" Celis to attend the blessing and formal opening of CSP last week.
“It’s a dream come true to finally realize the plans we had almost a year ago” opens up Father Boy. “But as early as December 2011 we were already on a dry run.” He then shared the irony that while his restaurant finally made it “home“ last Christmas, his duties as parish priest were transferred from Mandurriao to Molo a few months after.
CHANGES
“Change is inevitable” he says. “And this also is reflected on our menu as we have new pizza variants and flavors as well as new offerings”. Now open to serve is a cozier restaurant with modern fixtures with a seemingly quaint ambiance.
And first out of the kitchen that afternoon was a sampler of Father Boy’s thin crust pizza. “This is New York Style pizza as opposed to the deep dish approach of Chicago” he says.
It took him a lot of tries to get the perfect thinness – one that has a crunch yet a bit chewy in the inside. A quick bite on the pizza gastronomically translated his words as even with the simplest topping of ground beef, tomato and cheese, Father Boy’s thin crust pizza was “heavenly”. The crust even on its own is already palatable for they only use high fiber whole wheat flour.
“For our deep dish specialty, we now have a White Seafood pizza” he says. “It’s topped with squid, shrimps, oysters and crabmeat among others loaded with cheese”. And out came a hot off the oven the pizza we were just talking about then and that even a slice can already be a meal itself.
He added that he is keen on coming out with a pizza that will utilize squid ink with/instead of tomato sauce just as the authentic ones he had back in Chicago.
BEST SELLERS
His best sellers – the Premium and Budget Chicago Style pizza, meanwhile remain true to taste and form. With mozzarella and cheddar cheeses, pepperoni, salami, Italian sausage, mushrooms, tomatoes, onions and sweet bell peppers on top of a special pizza sauce loaded with herbs and spices - they come on a 14-inch thick, crisp and chewy high fiber whole wheat flour dough with no MSG added.
By Premium, it means a two-inch deep dish with 400 grams liberal amounts of toppings while budget comes in lesser amount but still the same good taste.
Not to be left out is the authentic Chicago ballpark Hotdog. “These are standard hotdogs served during ballgames” says a nostalgic Father Boy. Unparalleled in texture, flavor and color this assemblage consists of warm beef hotdog, soft steamed bun, mustard (no ketchup please!), garlic dill pickle, hot peppers, sweet green neon relish, onion, tomato and lip smacking celery salt. The latter also being homemade – rock salt mixed with celery seeds.
STEAKS AND MORE
“We expanded our menu to include steaks among others” Father Boy informs. “But the recent news about the mad cow disease outbreak in the US made us utilize the locally-bred meat rather than the imported”. It made no difference for me as the steak served – in all its sizzling glory, had us yearning for more. It was seasoned well enough to bring the out the delectable flavor in each bite.
Also on the menu that day were Pasta Puttanesca, Meaty Spaghetti and Fried Chicken. They are also trying to cook up rice toppings as well as more new flavors in their pizza and pasta line up as well as new meaty offerings.
Venturing into the food business was more than a “calling” for Father Boy. His former parish sends some of its youth volunteers to school and to augment the schooling expenses of these students at the same time practicing his passion, he opened Chicago Style Pizza in 2009.
Starting with takeout and deliveries only but a year later it expanded to have a dine-in area in Jaro. He oversees and manages the pizza place but entirely independent from his church obligations. These youths, in turn, run the pizza place on top of their school and church responsibilities as some serve as singers in the church’s choir while others as “sacristans”.
Chicago Style Pizza is now at 100 R. Mapa Street, Mandurriao, Iloilo City and is open daily from 2pm to 10pm. For deliveries and reservations, please call 321-6022.
