Review preview: Pizzeria Basta

It's been a banner year for pizza in Boulder: Between January 2010 and January 2011, three ambitious pizzerias opened their doors, all with wood-fired ovens baking renditions of Napolitano or Napolitano-inspired pizzas. Kelly Whitaker, chef and owner of Pizzeria Basta, says the competition has actually helped; his restaurant's numbers were...

By Laura Shunk

April 5, 2011

Audio By Carbonatix

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It's been a banner year for pizza in Boulder: Between January 2010 and January 2011, three ambitious pizzerias opened their doors, all with wood-fired ovens baking renditions of Napolitano or Napolitano-inspired pizzas.

Kelly Whitaker, chef and owner of Pizzeria Basta, says the competition has actually helped; his restaurant's numbers were up the weeks that Pizzeria da Lupo and Pizzeria Locale joined the Boulder lineup.

I've been eating at Pizzeria Basta since the place opened, watching the menu evolve and watching Whitaker and Alan Henkin, Whitaker's partner, constantly work on improving their offerings -- which just snagged the Best Pizza award in the Best of Denver 2011.

For this week's review, I returned to Basta to eat my way through a board that merges Italian tradition with a regional culinary focus. Was the rest of the food as good as the pizzas?

Find out tomorrow when the review is posted here.

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Laura Shunk was Westword's restaurant critic from 2010 to 2012; she's also been food editor at the Village Voice and a dining columnist in Beijing. Her toughest assignment had her drinking ten martinis and eating ten Caesar salads over the course of 48 hours. She still drinks martinis, but remains lukewarm on Caesar salads.

Contact: Laura Shunk

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