Sam and I got to eat out for dinner tonight. We chose to goto Ramunto’s Brick n Brew Pizzaria in Hanover. It’s next to the library where Sam meets for his “BikePed” meetings, so he leaves his committee meeting to the aroma of brick-oven pizza. I guess after Monday’s meeting the smell was seductive enough for us to go out to eat.

We ordered a chicken-bacon-ranch pizza, which was the one that sounded the best sans cheese. We typically order a pizza with toppings across the whole pizza and cheese only on one half. I’m lactose intolerant and haven’t eaten dairy since I was in college. There are a number of creative ways that pizzarias have screwed up this arrangement, as illustrated in Figure 1. In the upper left is the correct pizza. Toppings cover 100% of the pie, while cheese only covers 50%. In this pie, I can eat and enjoy 50% while Sam can eat and enjoy 50%. We’ve seen it screwed up in some pretty inventive ways. In the upper right is the typical way that Glass Nickel in Fitchburg will screw up our pizza. They only put toppings on half. I can eat 0% of this pizza. In the lower left is the way that Glass Nickel University Ave would screw up our pizza. They would put toppings on half and cheese on the other half. While I can eat 50% of this pizza, Sam’s half is pretty boring. I usually share my toppings with his half. In the lower right is they way Toppers screws up our pizza. They completely disregard special instructions and slap toppings and cheese on all of the pie. I can eat 0% of this pizza.

Ramuntos deserves credit for landing in the upper-left quadrant of pizza. They got it right, and we had a tasty chicken-bacon-ranch pizza. Sam could eat and enjoy 50% and I could eat and enjoy 50%. Ramuntos makes a quasi-New York style pizza. It’s thin and HUGE, but not completely floppy. The crust stays a little crisp and can puff while it bakes. Surprisingly for a place named “Brick n Brew” the brick oven wasn’t even fired. All of the cooking was being done in standard gas-fired pizza ovens. The chicken was boring – maybe cooking them with the bacon would have added some moisture and flavor. Other toppings included slices of tomato and broccoli.

We also sampled some local beers. I’ve discovered an American style unfiltered Wheat called “UFO” which, according to the Harpoon website, stands for “UnFiltered Offerings.” It’s the most unremarkable American Wheat – no cardamom or orange notes, just wheaty and yeasty. It’s boring in a drink-a-lot-of-this kind of way. It’s offered at most bars in Hanover, so I’m thinking of it as the Spotted Cow of Hanover.