COCONUTS HOT SPOT — If you’ve been lucky enough to be at Thong Lor’s WTF, Silom’s Whiteline or Old Town’s Let the Boy Die on nights when the Hot Wheels pizza truck has pulled up, you may have already tasted this welcome addition to Bangkok’s pizza scene.
If not, stop by their first brick-and-mortar shop in hip new dining destination The Society Fair on Thong Lor Soi 10.
Serving up many of the same pies that made the pizza truck popular over the last year, American owner Teddy Blackway has imported a full-sized Italian wood-burning pizza oven that, if anything, makes his pies even better.
Anyone that’s tried Hot Wheels pizza can tell you, without a doubt, it’s their crusts that make the pies stand out. Substantial, chewy, slightly charred and highly foldable, the secret to the crust is that Blackway lets the dough rise for 55 hours.
That’s right, the dough rises for more than two days. This means that, in addition to making killer pizza, Blackway also has to be a fortune teller, predicting how many pies he’s going to sell two days from now.
If he overshoots, the dough gets tossed into the garbage. If he undershoots, he loses money since there is demand but no pizza.
The second part of the equation for creating Hot Wheels inimitable crust is the oven. From Napoli, the same place where Blackway studied pizza making, the oven burns hand-split eucalyptus wood and is keep ultra-hot. So hot, in fact, that the pizzas cook for just 60 seconds each.
It’s this high-heat that creates the charred pattern that decorates the crusts of Hot Wheel’s pizzas.
While you might not even notice it, in the pizza world this pattern is highly-coveted and means that your oven is at the perfect temperature for pizza making. It’s called “leoparding” among pie snobs and it’s totally #pizzagoals.
Oh, and Blackway splits the oven’s wood himself behind the counter and and is very willing to let visitors give it a shot as well.
When we recently stopped by for a visit, we tried the four-cheese pizza (THB280/360 for a regular or large pie), which features a straightforward mix of high-quality pecorino, parmesan-reggiano, gorgonzola and mozzarella on the inimitable crust.
A sprinkle of black pepper was the only condiment it needed — which is good because, as a pizza purist, Blackway only offers pepper and chili oil for the pies and has taken a strongly anti-ketchup stance.
Next up was the salmon pie (THB290/390) which, surprisingly, wasn’t overpowered by the smoked fish. It was rounded out with dill and capers but it was the addition of very thinly sliced red onion that really made it pop.
The meat me pie (THB290/390) is cooked with cotto ham and sausage. Just before it’s served, spicy salami is added to the top.
We finished up with the Nutella star (THB290/390), the restaurant’s lone dessert pizza but, with an option like this, who needs other choices? For this finishing statement, the pizza dough is folded around thick blobs of mascarpone cheese, giving it a star shape. It’s baked for 60 seconds before being smothered in Nutella and your choice of strawberries or bananas. Just before serving, it’s cut into wedges. As the first cut is made, the white mascarpone spurts out and, well, it’s awesome. It tastes even better than it looks.
Rounding out the menu are pie choices such as margarita, veggie, Hawaiian, tuna and anchovy, among others.
The new shop will offer craft beer on tap as well as red and white wine by the glass. They deliver to most of central Bangkok for THB40-80. They are open Monday-Saturday from 6pm-12am and Sunday from 6pm-10pm.
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