And now a word about our favorite pizza source in Dublin

[dianeduane]

Which would be (originally) Independent Pizza Co. in Drumcondra, but (even more so) its younger sister-facility, Gotham Café in South Anne Street. The excellent Adam Kuban of Slice, the pizza lovers’ website par excellence, has just kindly posted a note I dropped him about the place.

Gotham Café is one of our favorite places to eat in Dublin. We’ve been going there ever since it opened, and have (by now) probably eaten enough pizzas there to completely pave South Anne Street. It’s also where the Star Trek novel Dark Mirror was conceived in 1991 (as the book’s acknowledgement page notes) secondary to a long and wide-ranging discussion with Peter about Starfleet uniform styles, over a large pizza with extra Mozzarella, extra sauce, pepperoni, and hot chiles, and a medium with extra Mozzarella, double garlic, hot chilies, and onions, along with two bottles of Orvieto Secco and a whole lot of Ballygowan water. (The framed cover commemorating this slightly crazed event still hangs, I believe, in the owners’ office.)

Last time we were passing through, we took some pics of what we were eating and sent them along to Adam. With luck, many more transiting pizza lovers will now grace David and Jackie’s front doors and sample what we firmly believe is the best New York-style pizza on the island of Ireland.

(Gotham still has no website running. I wish they’d get busy with that. In the meantime, let the offering at Slice suffice.) 

(However, I take no responsibility for the article’s slugline. “When Irish Pies Are Smiling”?  Ow ow ow ow ow ow.) 

(ETA: Someone's posted a Flickr image of the Gotham menu page that features the "specialty" pizzas.)

Tags: Star+Trek, Dark+Mirror, Gotham+Cafe, Independent+Pizza+Co., Drumcondra, Dublin, South+Anne+Street, Ireland, pizza, pizzeria

Comments

[drewshi.livejournal.com]

I think Sue and I have eaten there. If I remember, it was also the closest we came to something that resembled an American dining establishment. Of course, this was back in 97.

[dduane.livejournal.com]

It would have looked like this back then:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/frankieh/1352040501/

(They redid the frontage in 2005/6, if I remember.)

[dewline.livejournal.com]

A variant of the Mirror Universe, delphine Starfleet officers, and opera riots.

I can now see a place like this at the root of a novel containing such things. Many thanks to them for hosting those beginnings!

[stokerbramwell.livejournal.com]

Well, you've got me wanting to eat there, that's for sure!

*resists, with tremendous difficulty, making a bad Batman joke*

[dewline.livejournal.com]

Having a hard time resisting the urge to go "in universe" with the jokes myself...

[evil-macaroni.livejournal.com]

Dunno - I seem to recall eating a FINE slice of 'zza in Galway during my travels in 1997. Can't remember the name of the pizzeria but it was world-class...

[dduane.livejournal.com]

Oh, there's other good pizza in Ireland. (There was a very famous and high-end place up in Sligo that had quite a following until its owners retired. And Cork is such a hotbed of great restaurants that I'd be amazed if there wasn't good pizza down there.)

Dublin, though, is littered with stuff that isn't as good as it could or should be. Gotham is a bright light in this murky scene.

[antikythera.livejournal.com]

Mmm... every time I scroll down my friendslist now I want pizza. Little pizzerias are far better than big chains, which are all that we seem to have in Toronto.

[ckd]

Oh thanks a bunch. Now I'm hungry and missing Dublin.

[lady-autumnstar.livejournal.com]

Okay, you got me wanting pizza, so I went for the little frozen thing, not being near an actual pizzaria (not even a Pizza Hut) and now I wish I hadn't succumbed.

Now where did I put those Rolaids?

[antikythera.livejournal.com]

I think my solution is going to be to make a pie tonight. I make the dough in the food processor according to this recipe (http://www.breadworldcanada.com/recipes/recipedetail.asp?id=157).

[lady-autumnstar.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a good recipe. Bon apetit!

Being the lazy soul that I am, I generally use the fresh refrigerated dough from my local Publix grocery. It's actually a decent dough and makes a good pie.

[antikythera.livejournal.com]

That used to be my preferred method, but for some reason none of the grocery stores in my new neighborhood have it.

[dorianegray.livejournal.com]

I believe you once paid for my brother's meal in Gotham Cafe...oh, several years ago now. He was the tall fair bloke at a nearby table making snarky commentary to his date on your conversation with your dinner companion. He went to pay (after you had left) to be told that you had picked up his tab because you were amused by his remarks. (That's how he tells the story anyway.)

He's getting married to said date in a couple of weeks. In the Red Bank in Skerries, speaking of good eating places.

[dduane.livejournal.com]

(chuckles) Yeah, that was us.

Give your brother our best, in any case!! Tell him we said to have the best day ever. (And yes, I know the Red Bank. We don't get up that way often enough, unfortunately.)

[dorianegray.livejournal.com]

I'm mildly impressed that you remember the incident. :-)

Will definitely pass on your good wishes to Bro-ski (who will probably make very light of it, but be extremely pleased internally).

And yeah, Skerries is a bit far from Wicklow.