At Mangia, pizza heaven

Mangia

Canton's newest pizza parlor is also Canton's best pizza parlor.

Now, I've consumed some pizza lately, but Mangia comes as close to perfection as I've ever had in the Boston area. It makes me homesick for New Haven and its world-class Italian pizza.

It takes three things to make a good Italian pizza: fresh cheese, a distinct tomato sauce, and the right dough to make a thin crust that's thick enough to handle its own weight when you pick it up. It can't be too thick and bready, nor too thin and fall apart. Mangia has it down.

When I was growing up in Connecticut, Frank Pepe's, Sal Consiglio's, and Carmine Peluso's descendants fed me Pepe's, Sally's, and Tolli's pizza from about the time of my first tooth. It is no small compliment to mention Mangia founders Peggy and Steve Cirelli in the same paragraph.

Mangia isn't quite the coal-fired heaven of New York and New Haven, but it has some of the familiar characteristics - the way the cheese melts; the crust, crispy but filling. Even the grease; pizza is greasy, but you should be able pick it up without a river of oil flowing off.

On our recent visit to Mangia, we tried several different pies, from traditional to experimental, meaty to spicy.

The Tuscany pizza ($13.95 small, $16.95 large), their signature pie, was the best. It is sauceless with a mozzarella base topped with mini tomatoes, restaurant-made pesto, and basil leaves. There are also some walnuts on top - which we thought was an odd choice at first, but they soften up a bit and add a unique and really tasty flavor to the experience. The Tuscany is finished with asiago cheese, crumbled Gorgonzola, and fresh Parmesan. It's a great pizza that's actually pretty light despite the different cheeses.

We also tried the Buffalo Joe ($13.95 small, $16.95 large). Buffalo chicken pizza has exploded in popularity. The Buffalo Joe uses wing sauce as its base with shredded mozzarella under dices of Buffalo-marinated chicken and sliced red onions, asiago, and Parmesan.

Some in our group didn't like the idea of mixing onions with their Buffalo chicken pizza. But I thought it was a nice touch. Onions add a sweet counter flavor to the hot Buffalo sauce.

For the carnivores, it was Phantom's Fav ($13.95 small, $16.95 large). It's double pepperoni, sliced sausage, and sliced mushrooms with big white plumes of fresh mozzarella and parmesan. It melts in your mouth - the pepperoni wasn't dry or potato-chip crispy. Named after the "Phantom Gourmet" show, it's a good pie.

We also had to order one plain cheese ($8.95 small, $11.95 large). The default plain pizza proved delicious and satisfying.

Also mentionable, but not ordered, the Mangia Formaggio is a white base with shredded mozzarella, asiago, ricotta, minced garlic, and Parmesan. They also have a traditional Margherita pie with fresh mozzarella, basil, garlic, asiago, and Parmesan, and a Pesto Bianco with diced tomatoes, chopped garlic, and fresh pesto topped with grated Parmesan.

Mangia left us full but not stuffed. We thought we ordered too much, but in the end, only one slice from our four pizzas was left. The pies come in small and large, and a small is the size you'd think is a medium anywhere else.

The restaurant is essentially a take-out place with few tables and disposable cutlery.

If anything negative is to be said about Mangia, which also has locations in Brookline and Boston's South End, it is that the restaurant serves mainly pizza. No appetizers, fries, chicken tenders, or cheese sticks.

However, it does have salads ($6.95-$8.95), calzones ($8.95 plus $1.50 each topping), desserts ($5), beer, wine, and soft drinks.

JOHN GUILFOIL