Singing Pagliacci’s praises

The “clink” you heard in Edmonds last month was Pagliacci Pizza fans hoisting their handcrafted micro brews to hail the popular pizzeria’s arrival in south Snohomish County.

The Seattle-based purveyor of gourmet pizzas and pastas has set up shop in custom-built contemporary digs on Edmonds Way. It has added about 30 jobs to the local economy.

The new store is the 21st Seattle-area location for the eatery Bon Appetit magazine has called one of the best pizza places in America.

Pagliacci specializes in gourmet pies with underpinnings of hand-tossed dough baked on bricks to achieve a thin and chewy crispness. High-quality ingredients — many of which are grown or made in the Pacific Northwest — are a Pagliacci trademark, said marketing director Shelley McNulty.

The mozzarella cheese is made from whole-milk, the sausage is courtesy of CasCioppo Brothers in Ballard and the gelato is handcrafted by Maria Coassin.

Pagliacci Pizzerias vary with the location; Edmonds is primarily a delivery kitchen that also offers pick up and in-store dining on whole pies and other menu items. The 55-person seating area, with its urban ambiance and flat-screen TV, has “late-evening date place” written all over it.

There’s no table service but the staff is helpful about fetching necessities. Lunch service and pizza by the slice are not yet available.

A hankering for a different kind of pizza brought this Pagliacci neophyte to the Edmonds store. My phone call was directed to the chain’s efficient central ordering system and my request — including customized “holds” on some ingredients — was taken by a friendly and savvy employee. Twenty minutes later, I picked up my 17-inch, 12-cut “honest large” pie ($21.99), sides of the signature and pesto salads ($3.25 each) and a pint of Gelatimo gelato ($6.25).

Although I live about four minutes from the shop, my Goat Cheese Primo pizza, topped with olive oil and fresh garlic sauce overlaid with mozzarella and goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, green peppers and fresh tomatoes, was barely warm when I arrived home. Revived by 30 seconds in the microwave, the pie was so rich one slice apiece was all my husband and I could handle.

Impressive was the Pagliacci salad, a generous mix of green leaf lettuce, garbanzo beans, diced red pepper, salami, cheese and red onion dressed with dijon vinaigrette. Ample enough for two was the pasta pesto salad dotted with sweet peas and artichoke hearts. Chocolate gelato proved a sweet, light finale.

Toppings on Pagliacci pies range from chicken marinated in balsamic vinaigrette to roasted garlic. Choose from 14 combinations or create your own. Pizzas range from $8.99 to $21.99 – more if you customize them. Seasonal specials — the spring one features lamb sausage — are customer favorites, McNulty said.

Calzones, lasagna and penne pasta tossed in a five-cheese tomato sauce also are available, along with imported and domestic soft drinks, juices and waters.