In search of North Jersey gluten-free winners

It’s been nearly three years since the doctor cruelly yanked gluten out of my diet (and, yes, solved some previous medical mysteries.) Major dietary staples were lost that afternoon in her office: bagels, pasta, pizza.

Ahh, pizza. One of the best things about living around here is the pizza: grabbing a slice or picking up a pie on the way home. Taking it away was losing a way of life, not just a favorite food.

When I saw a local place advertise gluten-free pizza, I eagerly tried it, only to be woefully disappointed. The next time, I added multiple toppings, but with an already higher-priced pizza, that amounted to more than $20, and it still wasn’t good. (Not to mention, I have to order an entire pie — in the GF world, there are no slices.) It seemed best to keep pizza as a happy memory instead of insulting those satisfying past slices with these inferior imposters.

Here are some local pizzerias that offer gluten-free pizza:

A Mano

• Where: 24 Franklin Ave., Ridgewood; 201-493-2000; amanopizza.com
• rust: Makes its own dough from gluten-free Caputo flour
• Ingredients: Add water, salt and yeast to flour made of rice flour, corn starch, potato starch, soy flour, sugar, guar gum and xanthan gum
• How much: $15.99, regular margherita $10.99

Amici

• Where: 127 S. Washington Ave., Bergenfield; 201-374-1996; amicifamilyrestaurant.com
• Crust: Purchased from Ferraro Foods
• Ingredients: Rice flour, water, corn starch, tapioca dextrin, non-fat dry milk, whole eggs, sugar, salt, xanthan gum, baking powder, soybean oil and yeast
• How much: $9, same as regular margherita

Sparkie’s

• Where: 1 Highwood Ave., Tenafly; 201-266-8660 and 273 Closter Dock Road, Closter; 201-660-7300; sparkiespizza.com
• Crust: Purchased from Better Bread
• Ingredients: White rice flour, tapioca starch, olive oil, salt, sugar, yeast, non-fat dry milk powder and egg whites.
• How much: $11.95, regular margherita $7.95

Vesta

• Where: 64 Hoboken Road, East Rutherford; 201-939-6012; vestapizzeria.com
• Crust: Purchased from Mozzarrelli
• Ingredients: Rice flour, corn starch, potato starch, potato flour, tapioca flour, non-fat dry milk, whole egg, sugar, salt and xanthan gum
• How much: $17, regular margherita $12

Then came this question from the other side of the cubicle wall: “Want to do a story on gluten-free pizza at local places?” Um, OK.

I tried to forget past experiences as I ventured out for some of North Jersey’s options. I went basic, ordering the margherita at each place, with no toppings.

The quest began at Vesta in East Rutherford, where I found a flavor I knew very well. I can’t quite describe the taste/aftertaste, but gluten-free eaters recognize it immediately. That is not a good thing.

The reaction of non-restricted eaters with no gluten-free frame of reference is always interesting, so I passed off some Vesta slices on those willing to take the risk. One said it might be OK if it wasn’t supposed to be pizza. One colleague (gracefully) spit it out, while another said she actually enjoyed it. I did not.

I might have asked to kill the story right there, but A Mano in Ridgewood intrigued me. They make their own dough using a gluten-free Caputo blend of flour instead of a premade frozen one from someplace else. Manager Greg Stott told story after story of their overjoyed GF pizza customers. So I let myself hope. I wasn’t sorry.

The A Mano pizza was actually somewhat close to the real thing. The crust had lift, which is nonexistent in typical GF pizza. This was, by far, the best gluten-free pizza crust I have ever had.

Unfortunately, their homemade mozzarella was too strong for me, but that didn’t stop me from eating the pizza just to have the crust. I would definitely go back for another that came without that particular cheese.

Next stop: Sparkie’s in Tenafly. It had a tough act to follow, but much to my surprise, Sparkie’s actually topped the total pizza experience. The crust was not as good as A Mano’s, but I enjoyed the overall pizza more. A friend with me liked it as well, even after having some of their regular pizza.

The rest of this pie, I shamefully admit, I did not offer to colleagues when I returned to the office. I kept it for myself and gave it one final test: the cold pizza. Sparkie’s passed.

At this point, I probably should have taken George Costanza’s advice and gone out on a high note, but this is the life of a features writer — you press on to the next pizza.

That final pie was from Amici in Bergenfield. On my first trip, they were out (a danger when a restaurant buys premade crusts instead of making them themselves). I went back when they re-stocked.

I would put Amici’s pizza above Vesta’s, but not in the category of the other two. It wasn’t bad, but it had that definite gluten-free taste. A non-restricted eater, however, wasn’t as critical, even saying she would eat it by choice.

And Amici gets points for being the only place that doesn’t charge more for its gluten-free pizza. For less than $10, this slightly better-than-average pie was worth it. A couple of toppings would make it much better — and, in this case, still bring you change for a twenty.

So, much to my surprise, there is decent gluten-free pizza out there. And when it’s pizza in more than just name, I’ll even go in for the whole pie (although a slice at a time really would be nice).

Now, can anybody find me an edible gluten-free bagel?

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Gluten-free Recipes with Bill & Sheila