TracyFood

Foto Friday: belated pizza edition. 22 May 2010 1:06 pm

Posted by Tracy in : eugene,oregon,pictures,pizza,potatoes,random,restaurants,vegan,vegetarian , trackback

I was on a posting roll this week, readers, but then yesterday I got distracted and completely forgot to post the best which I had been saving for last: pictures of two specialty pies from Pizza Research Institute in Eugene, OR. We got them the week of Peter’s graduation, which means I’ve been meaning to post about them, and PRI, for not quite a year now. Whoops. But better late than never, right? Right. So here goes.

Don’t worry, there are bigger versions of these pictures later.

Some of you may be asking, “Wait, Tracy, Pizza Research Institute?” Why yes, dear readers unfamiliar with Eugene, that would be the establishment with the unforgettable slogan “Tomorrow’s Pizza Today.”

Have you ever wondered why there isn’t a restaurant devoted to the kind of pizzas you come up with when you’re high? If so, wonder no longer, because PRI is that restaurant, and their Chef’s Special is exactly that pizza. Just imagine all the vegetables ever, on a nice herbed crust, arranged all artistically—but never the same way twice!—and garnished with ricotta cheese that’s been piped out into pretty spirals with a pastry bag. (Or you could get the vegan version, with tofu ricotta, if that’s how you roll.) Also, don’t forget the fruit — there’s always fruit of some kind out towards the edge of a PRI Chef’s Special, so if you eat the slice from the inside towards the crust, it ends with a bit of fruit and cheese for dessert. Lovely! Anyway, here’s a closeup on the picture of the chef’s special pizza:

Today’s fruit would appear to be canned sliced peaches. Nom!

But speaking of crazy fruit pizza, here’s a closeup of the other pie:

3 P’s pizza from PRI

That, friends, is the PRI 3 P’s pizza —pesto, potatoes, and pears. I had never experienced the joy of potatoes on pizza before PRI introduced me to the awesomeness, but now I am quite a fan, oh yes. Anyway. The 3 P’s pizza is a relatively recent development on the Pizza Research Institute menu, one of several specialty pies that weren’t available when I first got to know PRI back in the days when we lived almost around the corner from its location on the corner of Lawrence and 13th, and really it’s amazing I didn’t eat there ALL THE TIME EVAR (probably the thing that stopped me even more than my cheapskate-itude is that at the time they were only open from 5:30-9:30 PM, so I couldn’t go there for lunch). Back then (you know, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth), you could get a fantastic special, which involved a cup of soup (there was always miso and one other offering, generally also vegan), a salad (I sing the praises of their house dressing, a magical concoction involving buttermilk, poppyseeds and I have no idea what else), and a slice of pizza. Eventually they switched to offering those items seperately, à la carte. But I digress. These days, or at least last time I went to PRI and/or looked them up on Google Maps (and discovered, holy cats, that they’ve gone all professional-looking and gotten a website, but those hippies can’t fool me, oh no), tomorrow’s pizza today is available on Blair Boulevard, in Eugene’s ~~Whittaker~~ Whiteaker (corrected 23 May 2010; thanks, Chris!) neighborhood, which is entirely appropiate since it’s kinda hippie central up there.

In my memory, though, I still mostly think of the PRI location on Lawrence Street, where the reggae was always playing and the board games flowed freely while you waited for your special, slice or pie. There might be homemade honey lemonade, or maybe an organic beer on tap, to sip while you sat outside in nice weather, or inside to watch the oscilloscope, because science rules. If you got pizza to-go, they would hand-paint the pizza box — never the same way twice, but usually with the motto “INJOY” included somewhere in the noodly-doodly abstract art of it all.

This post is dedicated to many people, but in particular the great PRI fans of Portland, some of whom tried to establish a rule that anyone passing north through Eugene had to pick up a Pizza Research Institute pie to share. Kevin and housemates, Brian and Marissa—this one’s for you. Next time a road trip takes you PRI’s way, eat an extra slice for me. Nom nom nom.

Ouro

I fondly recall Peter taking me to PRI when I was passing through Eugene and visiting you guys. Lovely. Crazy.
http://twitter.com/clipdude Chris

As a former Whiteaker resident, and erstwhile customer of the PRI, I think that their new location is a good fit for them! After you eat your pizza, Sweet Life is only a short walk away!
http://www.tracyfood.com TracyFood

The Whit (thanks for the correct spelling, Chris!) is indeed a great
fit for PRI, and proximity to Sweet Life is pretty much always a good
thing, unless I'm somehow too full for their delicious, delicious
pastries…

Sent from my iPod
Jen Purcell

We ate there just last week and had a FAB roasted poblano, dried cranberry, sweet pepper, spinach seasonal special concoction. It was AMAZING. The new location isn't nearly as cozy as the old, but the wait is never ridiculous and the new space hosts art shows and performances (live music, DJs, etc.) We even saw a reading of “Zombie Columbine” – yes, you read that right. We left before completion because we were disappointed in the zombie's general makeup and acting ability.
http://www.tracyfood.com TracyFood

Wait, PRI without a ridiculous wait? That almost doesn't compute. It
should be on possibly-high hippie time, but nonetheless worth the wait
on account of the unholy deliciousness of it all… dried cranberries!
Brilliant!