Editor’s note: This is part of The Know’s series,Staff Favorites. Each week, we offer our opinions on the best that Colorado has to offer for dining, shopping, entertainment, outdoor activities and more. (We’ll also let you in on some hidden gems.)
This is a story about pizza toppings. My favorites. Your favorites. And Giles Flanagin’s favorites.
But before we can talk about what goes on top, we’ve got to lay down some information about what goes on the bottom at Blue Pan Pizza, which Flanagin co-founded in 2015 with pizza chef Jeff Smokevitch. That begins with the dough, which is proofed, stretched and partially baked before anything is added. Then it is covered in aged cheddar so that when the thick edges – the signature of Detroit-style pizza – are cooked, the cheese caramelizes and crisps on the sides.
Most of Blue Pan’s pizzas are also covered in oregano, pecorino-romano cheese, along with red sauce, brick cheese – another ode to Detroit – and whole milk mozzarella.
There. Now, we can talk about toppings. My all-time favorites are ricotta cheese, cupping pepperoni, Italian sausage, garlic (fresh or roasted) and mushrooms. Tier 2 includes onions, basil and fresh mozzarella. (I also love pineapple, but that’s a topic for another day.)
Blue Pan has 48 toppings (if you count the vegan and dairy-free ones) to choose from, which is a lot. But four of my top five are all on its award-winning flagship pie, the Brooklyn Bridge, which you can order with a thick, Detroit-style crust or with a thinner, tavern-style crust. To make it, the garlic is rubbed directly onto the airy dough after it has been par-baked.
Later in the process, the pepperonis are laid on and each is topped with a pinch of Italian sausage. “That is the proper and intended assembly,” Flanagin explained. “It is very intentional.” While the pizza is cooking, the pepperonis will curl up and char on the edges, forming tiny cups that hold a splash of grease. Once the pizza is out of the oven, the pizzaiolos add the ricotta, which has been whipped to make it fluffy.
Flanagin likes that pizza, too, but his favorite menu combo is the 3-1-3, which has a white sauce, Genoa salami, Calabria red chile peppers, sweet piquante peppers, arugula, garlic olive oil, basil and ricotta. “It’s very unique,” he said. “I don’t think you get that in most pizzerias.”
But dig deeper, and Flanagin revealed the pizza he would build from scratch: cupping pepperoni, red onion, goat cheese and Kalamata olives. The spicy flavor of the pepperoni perfectly complements the saltiness of the olives, he explained.
If that combination upsets you, however, you’re not alone. “People get emotional” about their favorite pizza places – and especially about the toppings that make the perfect pie. And while opinions are important, he said, arguing is a waste of time. “We’re not a no-Ranch dressing or a no-pineapple kind of place. We just want people to enjoy themselves and come back.”
And they do come back. After facing some initial blowback when they first opened about the price of their pizzas and the doughiness of the crust (some grumpy locals also felt like Denver already had enough pizza places), Flanagin and Smokevitch began to attract a loyal fanbase.
Midwesterners for sure, he said, and Michiganders who missed the pies they used to eat back home from places like Buddy’s and Clover Leaf. But also Coloradans who appreciated the cupping pepperonis (which didn’t really exist in town before Blue Pan), as well as the post-bake toppings like ricotta, arugula, burrata and prosciutto, and the 20 craft beers on tap.
But especially that pepperoni. “Growing up, I don’t know if we realized that it wasn’t normal” for pizza in the rest of the country,” Flanagin said about his and Smokevitch’s upbringing in Detroit, where they first met in elementary school. “There is so much nostalgia.” Indeed, cupping pepperoni is a relatively new phenomenon in this part of the country. But the spicy, adorable and photogenic little meat cups are now an Instagram favorite and popular coast to coast.
Last December, Blue Pan, which already had locations in the Denver neighborhoods of West Highland (3934 W. 32nd Ave.) and Congress Park (3509 E. 12th Ave.), opened its third location in Golden, at 17525 S. Golden Road. The company also has a food truck and a brand new stall at Empower Field at Mile High, which football fans will see in August. (Blue Pan created a white pie – called Thunder’s White – in honor of the Denver Broncos’ live mascot, Thunder, with garlic cream sauce, spinach, artichoke hearts, roasted garlic and Calabria red chiles.)
So, what’s next when it comes to toppings? Hot honey is the new darling of the pizza world, and Denver pizza joints are layering it on. The Mike’s Hot Honey brand, in particular, has found the perfect balance of sweet and spicy, meshing perfectly with acidic tomatoes, Flanagin said.
Will it land on your own list of favorite toppings? That’s up to you. But let your taste buds rather than your emotions decide.
Originally Published: July 29, 2024 at 6:00 a.m.
