Recently, I met up with Laura and Lauren from Blue Ion for lunch. I picked Desano because I’d been wanting to try it, and boy, am I glad we did. The place was relatively empty when we first got there, but we were impressed with the size of the space and how immaculately clean and inviting it was. It had a very interesting feel about it; it felt at once brand new and years old, which was strangely calming.
Then again, we were 2 beers deep, so that could’ve had something to do with it…Photo from Urbanspoon
When you first arrive, you order at the counter and then wait for your food in the dining room. The lady who was working the counter (whose name I’m sad to say that I don’t remember) was really funny and helped us make the perpetually difficult decision of which pizza to order. She also let us know that all of the ingredients they use to make their pizza–from the flour they use to make the dough, the salt they use to season it, and the buffalo mozzarella and tomatoes that top their pizzas are all flown in fresh from Italy. And their pizza dough is made fresh daily in small batches. And their three pizza ovens (which were also imported from Italy) can cook your pizza in under 90 seconds. Like, whoa. What is this place?
It’s blurry because eating at Desano is like a dream. A delicious, pizza dream.
Some of the ingredients, like Peppadew, we’d never heard of, and she patiently explained to us exactly what everything was (a peppadew is like if “a sweet pepper and a cherry tomato had a baby that was kind of sweet and spicy all at the same time”), and made some genius recommendations.
For reference. Sidenote: They sell these at Whole Foods stuffed with goat cheese, and they are positively sinful.
We started with the San Gennaro pizza (sausage, peppadew, garlic, buffalo mozzarella, caramelized onions, $15), which also shares a name with one of their 3 pizza ovens. The crust is Napoletana-style, which means thin crusts and a nice char, which is refreshin and different. The pizza was so good, I can’t even explain it accurately. It had a great mixture of spicy (from the sausage) and sweet (from the peppadew and onions) and cheesy (from the mozzarella and garlic). It was perfection.
I might actually go eat this for lunch today #noshame
The other pizza we ordered was the Bianca (Mozzarella, ricotta, buffalo mozzarella, garlic, pecorino romano, $13). I’m a little obsessed with white pizzas and have yet to find one in Charleston that lives up to the amazing white pizza I’ve had in Boston. This one definitely came the closest. It is freaking delicious. La, you might even convert from the Gourmet White at Mellow (although, you never really will, let’s be serious). I can’t wait til my mom is off of her HCG diet so I can take her here and have her try it. She’s also a white pizza snob. It was cheesy, garlicky, and delicious and I would even go so far as to say that it’s the best white pizza in Charleston.
I changed my mind. I might go eat this for lunch. #CantMakeDecisions
After eating a bunch of pizza and drinking beer, you’d think our gluttony would be satisfied, but you’d be wrong. Did I mention that Desano hand fills cannoli? Because they do. And they let you choose from a variety of toppings and it is glorious. Since we were practically the only people in there, the counter girl made us a custom cannoli based on her favorite toppings. I don’t remember what it was, except that it was delicious and had I not been disgustingly full, I would’ve ordered another.
She’s like a magical cannoli wizard.
The level of service at Desano was also exceptional. From the moment we walked in, we felt like they actually cared about us having a positive experience. While we were waiting for our pizzas to come out, one of the guys from the kitchen came out to apologize and say that they’d overcooked one of our pizzas and were making us a whole new pizza. They brought out the overcooked one anyway, so we essentially got a whole pizza for free (and we didn’t even ask or complain or anything!). Plus, even though they sell alcohol, they’re totally fine with you BYOB and don’t even charge you a corkage fee! That’s some excellent customer service right there.
These ovens are serious business. Photo from the Charleston City Paper
DeSano Pizza Bakery
94 Stuart St.
Charleston, SC 29403
(843) 637-4225
