Menu

Bono-fide great pizza

By G.A. Benton

JODI MILLER PHOTO

Maybe your go-to pizza is made with prefabricated dough prepared off-premises. And maybe it's made by an uncaring drone buzzing through blocks of waxy bulk mozzarella while also ladling on tomato sauce concocted in industrial-sized doses. If so, then maybe you should upgrade your go-to pizza to BonoToGo. It's the rare local pizzeria that exists in defiant contrast to everything just described. And it is spectacular.

Bono is operated by an unbridled personality named Bill Yerkes. I met Bill a couple of years ago, and right after hello, he began recounting the vast fields of wild oats he'd sown in his bad-boy past. The guy is a gas, a wild and crazy character who might've lifted himself out of the pages of an Augusten Burroughs book because he refused to be held down in ink. He's too alive for that.

And too passionate about genuine pizza to let a recent series of unfortunate events prevent him from continuing to produce delicious pies the right way. The Italian Way. The way this self-described "Pizza Nazi" learned by living in Italy for many years.

So working out of the Eleni Christina bakery — that's from whence Rigsby's brilliant products arise — Bill Yerkes is diligently crafting mouth-surprising pizzas in the heart of the Short North. Clearly, Bill pours his own heart into his pizzas, too (though he also leaves plenty on his sleeve).

JODI MILLER PHOTO

Bill's delectable tarts are not Midwestern in style. By this I mean Bono's pizzas are not square-cut doughy receptacles for the cheap, the cheesy and the greasy. They are not "factory mentality" gutbusters that taste the same every time. In other words, like Bill, they do not celebrate predictability and uniformity.

No, Bono's refined crusts come in irregular round shapes that reflect their artisanal, daily handmade and hand-tossed origins. Interspersed with appealing dark spots, that crust is thin yet chewy, puffy yet crispy. Cooked quickly in Rigsby's Swedish ovens at over 1,000 degrees, they are elite bakery goods.

On top of this delicate yet hearty crust will be Bono's right-on tomato sauce. Naturally, it's made daily. So one evening it might be particularly zesty, on another it could be brimming with fresh basil. However it's made, it'll taste great and will be applied with restraint —?just like in Italy.

As for its top-notch toppings, Bono uses only fresh mozzarella, sagey sausage, imported parmesan, "wild-style" mushrooms (never canned) and whatever fresh veggies show up in the market that day. Note toppings are not heaved on in hog-troughy fashion, because this is Italian-style pizza — i.e. a savory pastry finished with finesse.

As its name implies, BonoToGo specializes in takeout, though there are a couple of really fun sidewalk tables —?yes, a la Italy. That's where I found myself chatting with Bill recently. At the time he was ushering out irresistibly sweet Nutella-filled crepes (yes — a la the streets of Paris — and costing a measly $3!). It was then Bill informed me his lease was only temporary, and he might be gone soon, "unless the neighborhood demonstrates it wants me."

So considering it'd be tragic to lose Bono, and it sits only a few seconds' stumble from Goodale Park, how about spending your beer money at ComFest this weekend, but saving some cash for an incredible BonoToGo on your sobering, munchies-laden way home? Don't you and your community deserve the very best pizza?

The pizzas

BonoToGo's pizzas are nice-priced at $8 (that's dinner for one hearty eater, or a snack for two) or three for $20. Here are some of the amusing menu's inspired combos.

San Giorgio: Not greasy, just racy and delicious, with big blobs of melted fresh mozzarella, great sauce, sagey sausage and spicy pepperoni.

Hulk: This is incredible. It's a verdant symphony beginning with a vibrant and rich pesto as good as any in the city and extending through green peppers, artichoke hearts, fresh spinach, zucchini and great green olives — this one makes it easy being green.

Verdura: Chock-a-block with offerings from the garden, this healthy veggie extravaganza might include halved cherry tomatoes, zucchini, shiitakes, broad slices of parmesan and on and on.

Napoli: Pungent "Sicilian" anchovies and kalamatas make a powerful impact with fresh herbs and garlic that's not over-salty, but rather sexy in that Mediterranean way.

Capricossa: Love the play of funky rich and earthy sliced boiled eggs with artichoke hearts, shiitakes, sweet sun-dried tomatoes and briny black olives acting as flavor spark plugs.

June 26, 2008

Copyright ? 2008 Columbus Alive, Inc. All rights reserved.