The latest joint in Oklahoma City that obsessive pizza fans have been asking me to continually taste and see are the Detroit-stylings of Providence Pizzeria, located inside the upscale food court “concept” of the Parlor, 11 N.E. 6th St.
With small eateries like Burger Pig and El Guate leaving the Parlor just months after it opened its doors, last weekend seemed like as good of a time as any to take the Providence in, just in case. Accompanied by my latest flame who, like me, was interested in the concept of Michigan-centered pizza, we made our way through the hipster food court and it’s relatively comfortable atmosphere to their mall-esque storefront.
While I had always thought Detroit-style pizza was just a large cheese pie that the MC5 kicked out the jams on, motherfuckers, it turns out it’s basically a Sicilian-style pie – a rectangular-cut masterpiece with rich sauce and a thicker-than-usual crust. The recommended Motor City was $14.00 and, according to the menu against the wall, was topped with red sauce, romano, ricotta, fresh basil, and pepperoni.
Cut into four smaller rectangles, each fat corner was generously covered with their homemade sauce—a muscle car rampage of fresh flavor that ran circles on my Okie tongue—and cupped pepperoni slices, as well as a needlessly artistic display of ricotta cheese and sprigs of basil, strategically placed across the sturdy top.
The crust, though thick as a brick, was casually light and carefully tight, not without its own blessed flavor profile featuring a buttered bread that worked well, especially around the crusty outsides where the ricotta cheese, blended into a creamy dollop, packed a tender wallop; it made it hard to shove the leftovers in a box, knowing full well it was going to sit in the fridge overnight.
And while it doesn’t rightly change my mind on the lazy nature of pizza, I can humbly say that Providence Pizzeria does the Motor City—the town and the pizza—reasonably proud. Cómpralo ya!
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