it was a late night. I had come home from one of the speediest runs ive ever done, dressed up good, and headed out with some friends to another friends short film premiere on the east end. descendant has been on my radar for a while but it was always pretty out of the way so I never really humored it as an option. lucky for me, the film was playing at the Fox theatre which was just past the elusive pizza spot.
at about 9pm, i hopped in an uber with two buddies and zoomed out toward the beaches down queen st., making a well-needed stop for some 'za.
Descendant makes detroit style pizza and as far as i'm aware, is the only place nearby that serves what techincally is an "upside down" pizza - meaning, sauce on top of the cheese. Ever since I tried an upside down slice from NY Pizza Suprema out in nyc a couple months back, i've been in love. what essentially happens when you cook it this way, is that as the cheese cooks, the oils from the cheese drip down directly into the crust which gives it flavour, all the while the oils that rise upwards out of the cheese sauté the sauce above it. all this makes for a swirling cocktail of happiness in a slice.
Overall this is definitely a pizza to indulge in. in other words, the cheese was great but I think next time i go - I definitely want to splurge on the toppings. with the dough so thick you're already essentially eating a cake so why not cover it in fudge and smarties (not literally). the excessive nature of it seems to be engrained in it's creation as well which is evident from the fact that they spread the cheese all the way to the top of the pan so that it slightly burns and caramelizes around the edges, giving it a killer crunch. for this reason, it was one of those rare occasions where the crust was my favourite part of the slice.
another thing i can appreciate is that they ferment their dough for 2 days. one of the main things that sets new york pizza apart from others is that a lot of spots let their dough rise for 3 days whereas many other places might just leave it out overnight. descendent taking the extra effort to put that sort of time into such an integral part of their food is really awesome.
appearance is so appreciated and the descendant interior feels super punk with the splattered paint decor and crashing drums playing over the speakers. i instantly got the impression that these people speak for the sweaty working class underbelly of toronto and serve a secret upheaval of what is normal through the power of crispy cheese and loud layers of aioli.
the pizza itself was as good as i expected. honestly it's totally not my style and i'd rather have a long, pointy, foldable, thin-crust piece of heaven but if you're looking for deep dish - this is your spot. Frankly youre getting more dough than anything else but is that really wrong when the dough tastes amazing? i don't see myself having this too often since it is a lot on the palette but if you really want to strap your arm up and inject dopamine into your veins i think this might give you what you're looking for.
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