I ate The Veganator at Sizzle Pie

My last day in Portland started with a downpour, so my plans to head out on a roadtrip to the coast abruptly detoured me to the famous Powell's Books.  Yes, it's big.  Yes, it's overwhelming.  And it was exactly the place where everyone decided to converge on a rainy holiday.

Fortunately since the building covers nearly an entire block and is several floors stacked high with books, it was relatively easy to sneak away to the quiet cookbook corner where I discovered an entire wall dedicated to vegetarian and vegan cookbooks.  I managed to graze through the entire collection without piling any into my bag to take home with me... mostly because I have NO ROOM.

When my hunger pangs kicked in, I took the recommendation of a fellow Vida Vegan Con attendee to head to Sizzle Pie for a slice or two of vegan pizza.  I must qualify my impressions by stating that I'm from New Haven, the pizza capitol of the U.S., so it's tough to compete.

That said, my two slices made a pretty decent showing.  The crust was thin, crispy and chewy, and had a nice salty flavor that balanced the toppings well.  There wasn't much sauce, but this allowed the pizza to keep from getting that first bite of a soggy, placid center.

I had The Veganator, which was topped with green peppers, onions, Soyrizo and Daiya mozzarella.  I generally don't like peppers and onions on anything but pizza, so this was a nice combo that had a smokey undertone from the soy sausage.

The other slice was the Let Us Play Your Party, featuring spinach, mushrooms, black olives, onions and a nut-based basil ricotta.  I love the Mediterranean flavors on my pizza, but I wished these were kalamata olives instead of the metallic canned black olives.  The vegan ricotta made up for it with its pleasant texture and flavor.

I'd happily recommend Sizzle Pie for anyone who needs their vegan pizza fix in Portland.  But if you're traveling to the East Coast, definitely head to New Haven's DeLegna Cucina which can make any of their traditional and artisinal pies vegan with the substitution of Daiya.  Bon appetit!