Fresh on our Detroit-style pizza binge, our first since moving away from Detroit, we chose Sunny Hill for our next stop. We walked in right after they opened for a Saturday lunch and were the second group seated.
Crunchy Cauliflower ($18) - Amazingly robustly crunchy breading surrounding a tender roasted cauliflower inner core. It's so evenly breaded and adheres so well to the moist interior that it almost seems like a commercially breaded frozen cauliflower. But these have to be homemade, right? They are sprinkled with a chili crisp-esque aleppo oil, which is dry rather than oily, and has a bit of sweetness to complement the heat. It's all on top of a super creamy and thick cashew and cilantro sauce. It's fresh and nutty, and really delicious. (5/5)
Now onto the pizza. Taken from another of my reviews: there are several characteristics that define Detroit-style. Firstly, the base must be a thinner and chewier focaccia dough-like crust, pillowy on the interior and with a crispness on the bottom and sides that are somewhat greasy but not overladen*. There must be flavorful Wisconsin brick cheese (or blend), buttery and fatty, melted on top and spread until it spills over the sides of the crust, creating a crisp caramelized frico ring surrounding the pie. The pepperoni must be underneath the cheese**, and the flavorful tomato sauce, typically in several wide lines, is spread atop the cheese. There must not be too many toppings to prevent the crust from compressing and ruining the texture.
*Note 1: The fat/grease is very important, both to allow the crust to crisp up and to act as a hydrophobic layer to prevent sogginess.
**Note 2: This is the one trait I dislike since it makes the pepperoni limp and soaked with grease.
Loyal w/ Pepperoni, 4-Square ($31) - Before I get started, I have to say that the pricing for the 4-Sq vs 8-Sq is bizarre. In no world should an 8-Sq pepperoni pizza be $56. Not to mention it's actually MORE expensive than the 4-Sq on a $ per square inch basis! And you get 4 less corners? People pay a premium at Jet's for their 8 corner pizza! I'm sorry, for a value proposition, this pizza gets a big fat zero.
Usually Detroit-style take a while come out, typically 20+ minutes, often over 30 minutes. This one took less than 15, which I found very curious. Surprisingly, the pizza actually comes cut into four slices instead of six, unlike pretty much everywhere else on the West Coast. It looks picture perfect, with the two saucy racing stripes across the top and a superior lacy frico crust along all edges. It's seriously a sight to behold, one of the more perfect Detroit-style pizzas I've seen in a long time.
It's after lifting a slice up that things start to unravel, at from a traditional technical perspective. Instead of baking the toppings on raw dough, Sunny Hill seems to either par or fully bake the crust before adding toppings, then bake again. This means the crust doesn't fully meld with the toppings, resulting in a crumb that's extremely airy and light and a taste that's somewhat disparate rather than harmonious. It's more akin to focaccia with toppings rather than pizza. And yet this allows the base to be fully fried on all sides, lending a superior buttery browned flavor.
Unfortunately this method of assembly causes an issue - the frico literally slides off the bread. Even before picking up a slice, I could see it separating from the dough and melted cheese bleeding through. The top is a little more forgiving, so the melted mozzarella and brick cheese mixture does manage to mostly adhere. Speaking of the brick cheese, it really does make a huge difference in flavor. This blend is miles better in flavor complexity and fattiness as compared to most Detroit-style places around here that use pure mozzarella or a blend without brick cheese.
The sauce is very good as well. It's balanced between sweetness and acidity, spiced just enough to add flavor but still keep the fresh zing of a great tomato sauce. On top of the sauce, the pepperoni is charred and cupped. It seems to be carefully applied so there aren't too many overlapping pieces. This ensures the pizza doesn't become too salty, which is really appreciated.
Value-wise this pizza is terrible. $31 is the most I have ever paid for a 4-sq pizza. Heck, it's more than I've paid for many 8-sq pizzas. Luckily for Sunny Hill, I don't usually include value in my ratings, but I was seriously considering dropping the score here. (5/5)
I think with this pizza, traditionalists will cry afoul. People who are more open minded will accept that this is a delicious pizza regardless of all the flaws. I'm in the latter group, although with a caveat: What Sunny Hill serves is emphatically not Detroit-style; It's a great Detroit-style-Inspired focaccia with toppings.
Bathrooms - Two unisex rooms. read more