Out of the Oven: January 29th, 2021
R&B’s Weekly Specials always spark a little excitement. With such a reliable standard line-up it’s hard to justify straying from the go-to orders (you know the Wild Mushroom Bianca has my heart) – but we all need a little adventure sometimes!
For the last weekend in (the long-awaited/highly-anticipated) January of 2021, our friends at R&B gifted us with a new hybrid comfort meal: the Buffalo Chicken Pizza.
| Measure | Score | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Txt Exp | 55% | Startlingly monotonous, yet appealing |
| S:C:T | 2:1:2 | Chicken occasionally MIA |
| Integrity (/5) | 2 | Thin but dependable due to length |
| Fance (/10) | 6 | A cozy night in, but wear your “nice” sweatpants |
| Elevation (/10) | 5 | Light, thin centre crust anchored to a strong end. A sharp transition |
| Cold (/5) | 2.5 | Much better than cold wings, but the crust will put up a fight |
| Microwave (/5) | 3 | Alive and thriving! Prepare the napkins |
| Oven (/5) | 4.5 | Competing with Round 1! A new texture is born |
| Rh Value | 2.16 | Worth your time, especially for crunch-lovers |
Round One. (01/29/21)
Textural Experience – 55%
Texture variety was not this pizza’s claim to fame. As a one-off weekly special, the focus seemed to be on the “comfort food” angle and iconic taste, not on its resemblance to its winged counterparts. The relatively small pieces of chicken were buried among the melted cheese and sauces, and were not fried, so they didn’t contribute much to texture. Meanwhile the Sriracha drizzle further amplified the soft and saucey experience (despite adding a noticeable exclamation mark on the spice levels) and therefore reduced the possible impact of the green onion toppings. Even with this lack of textural variety, the overall experience of Buffalo Chicken flavour on top of the reliable crust felt oddly appropriate and welcome in pizza-form (if you’re comfortable with spice). However, if you’re hoping to recreate the textural experience of buffalo wings, well, get a side of wings.
Sauce-to-Cheese-to-Topping Ratio – 2:1:2
Okay this was a strange one. Adding to the low textural experience score above, overall this felt like a fairly monotonous pizza, aside from the spicy sriracha kick, which distracts from the lack of heavy toppings. If you’re looking for a cheesy, sauce-focused pizza, this is not it, but you will get significant flavour from the sauce and probably not notice how little else there actually is going on above-crust.
Dough Integrity – 2
Some folding was required (and appreciated), but utensils were not necessary. As with all R&B pizzas, the end crust provides a strong gripping point that makes the integrity of the rest of these short slices less of a logistical consideration.
Fancy Scale – 6
The personal size elevates the glamour and takes some attention away from the sriracha drizzle that might not otherwise be in line with everyone’s fancy night out. Plus, R&B’s wood-burning pizza oven always takes the pizza up a notch by default. However, the Buffalo Chicken flavour is clearly targeted to those wanting a cozy, satisfying-in-sweatpants pizza (and it absolutely delivers!), so it may be better paired with a cold beer on the couch than a glass of wine at the dinner table.
Crust elevation – 5
As with other R&B pizzas, this is a thin crust pie, however you can count on the crust to conclude with its comforting, doughy presence at the end of every slice, landing the score at 5/10. If you’re not into a bready finish, you might find the end crust to be too much. As a bread-lover myself, I look forward to having an excuse to dip the end crusts into R&B’s infused oils or (the best) French Onion Dip.
Round Two. (01/31/21)
After two days of patiently waiting its turn for Round 2 assessments, a simultaneous CC/M/O analysis was conducted to calculated the Reheat Value just under 48 hours after Round One.
Cold Comfort – 2.5
The flavours shine surprisingly well after some fridge time, and the sriracha drizzle continues to pack a pleasant punch across the pie. As with other dough-heavy end crusts, this ends of this slice are challenging to tackle when cold, so while the majority of the slice hits the spot right out of the fridge, wrangling the end of the slice takes away from full cold comfort points
Microwave – 3
A quick zap in the microwave makes the end crust much more manageable – suddenly the whole slice is alive! As expected, the microwave breaks down the dough integrity meaning you will certainly need to fold or scoop the leftovers as you go – not a bad tradeoff for the added surface area that is now edible without a fight.
Oven – 4.5
Reheating in the oven gives the leftover base crust a crunch that (for you crunch fanatics) may have felt missing from the first round. The green onions get a little charred and the end crust transforms into a wonderfully warm, fresh-seeming experience that makes you want to sit down and enjoy the slice at ease instead of on-the-go. (Where are you really going, anyway?)
Reheat Value = 2.16
Warm it up! We’ve got time…
Heating brings life back into this pie, making it worth your time (if applicable) to warm it up before chowing down. However, if you’re in a rush and don’t care for the crusts, you will find comfort in the few cold, straight-out-of-the-fridge bites that each slice offers before facing the impermeable wall of crust.
Finally! The blog for me. Loved this post – keep ‘em coming!