Pizza part II

American Pie goes for the classics

by Joan Lang

AMERICAN PIE, 865 Forest Avenue, Portland. 774-PIES

Hours: Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

MasterCard, VISA, American Express

Wine and beer

There's a theme to the little boom of new pizzerias opening around Portland these days (the Flatbread Company opened last month and Ricetta's in Falmouth is on its way): this ain't your father's pizza parlor.

American Pie, the latest enterprise of Dana Street and partners, is another measure of the distance pizza has come since its early days in the brave new world. In fact, it's a cinch Aldo and Luigi wouldn't even recognize this one.

Neither would anyone who's ever been to Raoul's before it slipped from memory last year. The talented Mr. Street, who also owns Street & Company and Fore Street in the Old Port, seems to have hit pay dirt again, completely recasting that slightly down-and-out space with such on-trend décor touches as lofty vaulted ceilings, exposed ductwork, and wide-open wood-plank floors.

Enormous high-backed booths with sleek, indestructo sheet-metal tables invite spreading out; on busy nights smaller parties seem to get seated side-by-side at a pair of long wooden library-style tables, just like back in the dining hall at college. It's all casual but somehow hugely chic.

A pinball-equipped gameroom, cherry Cokes, and stepstools in the bathrooms proclaim this as a kid-friendly haven, but there's also a large, well-furnished bar (wine and beer only) for the grownups. Takeout can be had if the wait gets too long. And, yes, there's a jukebox. You can tell Street wants this to be a real neighborhood joint.

As with Fore Street, the kitchen is pretty much right in the dining room, the whole working guts open to view. A trio of custom-built wood-fired ovens turn out all the pizzas and many of the pastas and sandwiches. You can smell the appetizing aroma of wood smoke from out in the parking lot.

Best to order an antipasto (salami, capicola, prosciutto, cheese, and roasted vegetables) for the table and a pitcher of beer while you consider the rest of the menu. Once you get over the stunning setting, note that the menu is actually quite traditional: a seven-some of featured pies plus a bunch of build-your-own options; calzones; hot-and-cold subs; a few salads and apps; and some very familiar pasta dishes.

The pizzas are pretty wonderful, fashioned Neapolitan-style on cracker-thin crusts in such guises as Four Cheese (mozz, provolone, Parmesan, and Romano), Meat Trio (meatball, pepperoni, and sausage), and a sauce-free Classic (the olive oil, sliced tomatoes, mozzarella, and fresh basil of Pizza Marguerite fame). Topping choices for the build-your-own range from standard mushrooms, anchovies, and provolone to fresh arugula, pancetta (an Italian-style bacon), marinated chicken, and feta cheese.

The 10-inch size makes a perfect individual pie or shareable appetizer, although the 16-incher gets a raised wire rack that's very fun to eat from.

With the help of the folks at Standard Baking Co., which Street co-owns, the pizza dough itself is light and supremely textured, making up one of the best crusts I've tasted outside of Italy. A sparing hand is used with the toppings, which is also very Italian, all the better to enjoy that great fresh-baked dough flavor. I've enjoyed every single pie I've ever tasted here.

The pastas are neither the best you've had nor the worst. They do the job and don't require a Ph.D. in haute cuisine to appreciate. Lasagna, spaghetti Bolognese (with a light-colored, almost delicate meat sauce), and chicken Marsala over linguine make a fine supper, especially accompanied by the delicious, focaccia-like garlic bread. Various hot and cold subs (meatball, eggplant Parmesan, Italian-style cold cuts) are another possibility if you're not in the mood for pizza -- although why you wouldn't be is a bit of a mystery.

Desserts are pretty basic: ice cream, apple crisp, that sort of thing. I'd almost rather do the totally American thing and stop somewhere else on the way home for a sundae.

Clearly, the focus here is on pizza, and I'm willing to bet that as American Pie evolves they'll be adding more interesting selections and daily specials. Like all Street's restaurants, American Pie is a work-in-progress. I'll be there, in the third booth on the right.

Joan Lang can be reached at joanmlang@aol.com.