The Fireplace (B+)

Connecticut is a strange place to go hiking.  I grew up in Maine, so I'm used to well marked, well maintained trails that scale mountains.  Connecticut has many state parks with many hiking trails...but many of them are poorly marked, poorly maintained and some are downright dangerous.  Not only that, but CT doesn't have many mountains and the hikes are treacherous scramblings up hills.  Having said that, there are many beautiful vistas at the top of CT hills that let you see for miles and miles.

Another difference between Maine hiking and CT hiking is that Mainers usually have to drive long distances to reach the trails they want to climb--they are far from civilization.  Most Connecticut parks are right inside of towns.  So what did I do after hiking last week?  I got a barbecue chicken pizza, of course!

The Location
The Fireplace is a cute pizzeria and pub located in downtown Southington, CT.  The atmosphere is quiet and dark, the tone is hip and young.  Their website boasts of their many awards and positive reviews.

The Basics
The Fireplace makes all their food in a wood fueled oven, but I would not call this brick oven pizza.  In reality, it's New Haven style pizza.  I have to admit that the rest of this review will be biased.  I just do not like New Haven pizza.  Since moving to Connecticut, I've discovered that it's a thing  for people here to love New Haven Pizza.  I feel like I am keeping some kind of dirty secret because I don't love the same pizza as my local friends and coworkers--and I don't dare tell them.

I guess it's not a secret anymore.

New Haven pizzas are thin and have a chewy, crispy crust.  That sounds appealing, but it's terribly unpleasant.  The crust requires so much chewing and mashing that my jaw actually gets tired after the second piece.  It's like eating a tough, overcooked steak...that occasionally jabs you in the gums.  I like New York pizza with its soft, chewy crust, I like Chicago deep dish pizza with its flaky, fatty crust and I like brick oven pizzas with their floury, melt-in-your-mouth crusts.  I do not like this New Haven bullshit.  I think Tony Stark could have made his Iron Man suit out of New Haven Pizzas.

"I knew I should have gone with something tougher."

The Pizza
The Fireplace calls their barbecue chicken pizza the 'Honey Barbecue' and it is described as 'chicken, bacon, mozzarella cheese over honey barbecue sauce.'  Sounds great, right?  It looked great, too.

Delicious in the middle, dangerous around the edge.

The Chicken
Chunks of breast meat that were still moist.  Yum!

The Sauce
Ok, I'm going to pause here and say that this honey barbecue sauce was absolutely amazing.  It had just the right balance of sweet and tangy.  It was full of seasonings and flavors that were subtle and powerful at the same time.  The Fireplace may have the best barbecue sauces I've ever had.  You can bet that I will be going back to try their wings.

The Toppings
I should point out, here, that the bacon on this pizza was freshly cooked and was laid across the pizza in complete strips.  They were a little crispy, a little chewy and added just the right amount of salt to the pizza.

Overall
The flavor of this pizza came together in a really beautiful way.  It had just the right balance of salty, sweet and tangy.  I was blown away.  Unfortunately, I just can't get past the particle-board crust.  I am giving this pizza a B+.  If you like New Haven style pizza, dear reader, you would probably give this pizza an A.

I think that Connecticut pizza is a lot like Connecticut hiking--beautiful, convenient and a pain in the ass.