“If it’s not Italian, it’s not at Dough.”
This is the philosophy of Doug Horn,chef/owner of San Antonio’s popularrestaurant Dough Pizzeria Napoletana.In these days of fusion confusion, it’s rareto find a restaurateur so devoutly true toa particular food. At Dough, you will findpizza as it’s made in Naples, Italy. Pure,simple, and superbly executed. “This is nothaute cuisine,“ asserts Horn. “Pizza is fun!”
But make no mistake about it. Dough’skind of pizza is serious food, and about asfine a pizza as you will ever taste.
So what makes authentic PizzaNapoletana so incredible? “It’s handcraftedfrom fine ingredients ... a trilogyof sauce, cheese and crust,” says Horn,straightening his blue cap embroideredwith the word Italia. More specifically,the dough must be hand–thrown, thetomatoes must be Italian San Marzanoplum tomatoes, the mozzarella is freshand hand–made daily, and the pizza mustbe cooked in a wood–burning oven thatreaches a searing 900 degrees or higher.All of these requirements and a fewothers are protected with a “SpecialitaTraditionale Garantita” (STG) designationby the Italian government, very muchlike the certifications given to Chianti orParmigiano Reggiano.
A veteran of the restaurant industry,Horn was inspired to create the conceptof Dough from a neighborhood pizza jointwhen he and his wife Lori were living onthe East Coast. “It was New York stylepizza, and the place was packed all thetime,” recalls Horn. “The kind of place thatyou would want to hang out at the end ofa long day.”
Horn learned pizza–making fromthis humble, yet extremely successfulrestaurateur and became curious aboutwhere it all began. He researched theroots of pizza, all the way back to Naples,and discovered that the culinary traditionsassociated with Neopolitan style pizzaare protected by an international tradeorganization: The Verace Pizza NapoletanaAssociation. This association providestraining and certification for thoserestaurants that produce Neapolitan pizza.This sparked a passion and the idea forDough.
So on to the menu. Pizza combos atDough are edited. There is no need forexcess. Margherita “STG” Pizza is forpurists — and purely delicious with SanMarzano tomato sauce, Mozzarella diBufala, Parmigiano Reggiano and freshbasil. The Arugula and Prosciutto isa pendulum of peppery arugula, saltyproscuitto with creamy house–made Fiordi Latte cheese, Parmigiano Reggianoand truffle oil. For meat lovers, there is“Pork Love,” a pizza kissed with salami,Italian sausage, pancetta and speck.
The foundation for all of this isundeniably the hand–thrown dough.The texture and delicate taste of thethin crust is amazingly good. Crispand crackling, yet moist and chewy,it takes on the earthy, slightly charredflavors of soft–grain flour, yeast andthe pizzeria‘s “Il Cuore” (Italian forheart) and what Horn has affectionatelynamed his massive wood–burning ovenimported from Italy. The “heart” of theestablishment, “Il Cuore” traveled on notone, not two; but three ships–all the wayfrom Naples. Once the oven arrived atthe Houston port and made its way toits new home in San Antonio, the threeand a half ton oven had to be fork–liftedinto the restaurant and all the windowshad to be removed. But once carefullynestled into its final resting place the IlCuore got to breeding sensational pizzaat soaring temperatures. The pizza isbaked on the oven’s volcanic stone floorin 90 seconds at temperatures reaching1,000 degrees.
Locals who love good pizza crustare devotees to Dough, but there aremany other special touches: oak–roastedmushrooms and marinated olives,freshly made salads and antipasti as wellas the daily specials on the chalkboard.Also, a new addition at Dough is theBurrata Bar – better known as heaven forfresh mozzarella lovers and one of only afew in the nation.
Burrata is an Italian specialtycomprised of fresh, hand–mademozzarella filled with creamy ricotta andmascarpone cheeses. Horn and his staffmake their mozzarella by hand daily.
Dough’s variations include: BurattaCaprese, served with truffle oil and sweetgrape tomatoes; Spiedini, oven–roastedmozzarella wrapped in Proscuitto diParma; Fior di Latte Stracciato, creamymozzarella strands with zucchiniribbons, crispy pancetta and whitebalsamic reduction; and Burricotti,mozzarella filled with rich ricotta andserved with speck and a sunny side egg.
There are no domestic wines atDough, only Italian wines. Manyselections are by the glass and bottle,and the staff is wine–savvy and friendly.For dessert, there is fresh gelato, madein–house of course, as well as Polentacake, and a sweet Grilled Panini withwarm Nutella chocolate and fresh vanillaice cream. Horn creates all the dessertrecipes.
Dough Pizzeria has been open a littleover a year in their location at Loop 410and Blanco Road to a very enthusiasticSan Antonio. The restaurant seats up to50 inside and 40 outside for patio dining.And yes, on busy nights there will likelybe a wait – which people gladly toleratefor pizza this good.
Horn definitely has expansion plansfor a second Dough, as well as retailingsome of his more popular ingredientsat the restaurant, such as tomato sauce,hand–kneaded mozzarella and pizzadough.
“It’s very tempting to want to addpasta or other Italian specialties, butthen we would become a trattoria. Itwould take our focus away from thepizza,” says Horn. And indeed, thispassion and uncompromising devotionto authentic Italian ingredients andpreparation is what keeps people of allages and social backgrounds comingback for really good pizza.
“When I look out and see a couple ona date at one table, a group of teenagersat another, a family with kids overthere, some businessmen with their tiesloosened, and in the back corner anelderly couple watching the guys makepizza,” says Horn, “and they’re all havinga good time and enjoying the food ... thatto me is success.”
Felicia Gonzales is a freelance foodand wine writer based in San Antonio.Please email your questions or ideas forfuture NSIDE wine feature articles toFelicia at NSIDEWINE@gmail.com
