14 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
Coast Weekend’s local
restaurant review
SURFCREST PIZZA
Surfcrest Pizza unafraid
of gluttonous ecstasy
Review and photos by
THE MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA
MOUTH@COASTWEEKEND.COM
FACEBOOK.COM/MOUTHOFTHECOLUMBIA
A
mong aisles stacked with
chips, soda and snacks, a
scent of pizza arises from
the rear of Surfcrest Market.
The smell of rising dough,
however, is not exactly new at
the Tolovana general store.
For years the shoebox-sized
kitchen was the domain of chef
Jonathan Hoffman, home to his
wholesale bakery, Dough Dough.
In the summer of 2015, Hoffman
hosted a weekly pizza pop-up.
For help with pies, he hired Brad
“Biggie” Hendricks.
Earlier this year, Hoffman
— a three-time winner of the
Iron Chef Goes Coastal compe-
tition — outgrew the Surfcrest.
(He moved Dough Dough
Bakery to Seaside this summer
and added a weekend wine bar
in October, whose ever-rotating
slate of small plates is wonderful-
ly inspired.)
Having worked the pop-up,
Biggie saw potential for pizza
permanence in the Surfcrest
kitchen. And he was familiar with
the oven, which he says affords
the pies a singular character.
“It’s seasoned like a cast-iron
pan,” Biggie said.
But let’s be clear: Biggie is
not making Hoffman’s pies. The
two employ substantially differ-
ent ingredients, techniques and
philosophies. Where Hoffman is
reaching, refined and uncompro-
mising, Biggie is an unabashed
lover of good ol’ cheese-stacked,
meaty pies.
Now, as we’ve seen recently
Rating:
3140 S. Hemlock St.
Tolovana Park, Ore. 97145
503-436-1189
Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
everyday
Price: $ – Large pies from $18
to $23
Service: Hammy, hilarious and
accommodating; dine-in and
delivery
Vegetarian / Vegan Options:
Worthwhile for vegetarians
Drinks: Beer and wine, plus
the market’s full array of soda,
juice, etc.
KEY TO STAR RATING SYSTEM
Caesar salad
The Whole Hog (left half ) and Maui (right half )
with Seaside’s Avenue Q Pizza
(see Coast Weekend’s Oct. 12
review), pizza-making can be
more than a trade, but a way of
life. Like Avenue Q, Surfcrest
Pizza has been run by one man:
Biggie. He says he’s worked
seven-days-a-week for more
than 120-straight-days. Besides
cooking the pies, Biggie’s also
delivering them. He’s even met
folks on the beach for delivery.
(Recently he hired his first em-
ployee, though Biggie has yet to
take a day off.)
But where Avenue Q’s Matt
Kaffer — aka “the one-man
pizzeria” — is monk-like in his
minimalism, Biggie is a cheeky,
junk food-loving maximalist.
(His ever-jovial, goofy presence
breathes life into an otherwise
drab dining space.)
Besides a steady diet of
schlocky, self-effacing puns,
Biggie’s daily specials approach
— nay, covet — absurdism.
Among his junk-food-mad-sci-
entist creations: a crust made
of ground-up Doritos, dough
infused with bacon fat, and a
biscuits-and-gravy pizza, just
to name a few. These whimsical
specials come and go as goofy
inspirations tend to — by the seat
of their pants. And as they’re just
as much for giggles as for public
consumption, I stuck generally
to items on the regular menu for
this review.
Biggie’s pies have a few other
defining features besides the vin-
tage oven: The crust is soft and
medium thin; the sauce, light on
spices and unsweetened, is made
from roasting then food-process-
ing onions, peppers and toma-
toes, which gives it some depth;
besides salami and pepperoni, the
red meats are ground in-house.
As a result, I found the sausage
more perky and vibrant than
usual.
Surfcrest’s hand-tossed pies
come in a single size: reasonably
large. They start at $18 and top
out at $23, with slices ranging
from $3 to $4. Reasonable prices
all in all, especially for Cannon
Beach.
The Maui ($19), with ham,
bacon and pineapple, found
synergy amongst the salty, fatty
and sweet. The Spicy Pulled Pork
($23), with black beans, jala-
peños, red onions, pulled pork
and finished with cold shreds
of romaine and diced tomatoes,
resembled a taco pizza with more
supple meat.
The Prawndue ($23), with
a fondue cheese sauce, chives,
prawns, garlic and diced to-
matoes, had a more fixed, less
viscous cheese than the namesake
goo. The Whole Hog ($23), with
bacon, sausage, pepperoni, mush-
rooms and onion, was as stacked
with cheese as it was with meat.
Altogether it was incredibly
greasy, enough to necessitate
soaking some up with napkins.
Indeed, sometimes Surfcrest piz-
zas can be overwhelmed, lousy
with grease.
Poor
Below average
Worth returning
Very good
Excellent, best in region
To put it another way: They’re
not skimping on the good stuff,
wholly unafraid to veer towards a
cliff of gluttonous ecstasy.
Biggie’s absolutely capable of
making lean, more wholesome
pies. A special with chèvre, a
mild pesto sauce, tomatoes and
onions was as scrumptious as it
was reasonable.
There are a few sides: sal-
ads, bread sticks, spaghetti and
mac and cheese. I had a Caesar
($7.50), with croutons baked
to order. It was puckeringly
over-salted, with forgettable
dressing. While the sides might
act as worthy additions to a party
spread, I felt like sticking to the
pizza.
At times Biggie’s pies were
irresistible. At others, they were
simply good, and occasionally a
little floppy. Consistency could
improve.
Nevertheless, Surfcrest Pizza
not only fills the hole left by
Hoffman’s graduation from
the Market’s tiny kitchen, it’s
a much-needed addition to the
growing neighborhood. CW