Editor’s note: This is part of The Know’s series, Staff Favorites. Each week, we will offer our opinions on the best that Colorado has to offer for dining, shopping, entertainment, outdoor activities and more. (We’ll also let you in on some hidden gems).
Let’s get this part out of the way first: Yes, Redeemer Pizza is painfully cool — it’s impossible not to be with the back alley pizza window, street art-filled location in RiNo and pizza-themed religious iconography. But make no mistake: This Larimer Street pizzeria, an offshoot of service industry-favorite Dio Mio Pasta a few blocks away, makes the most simple yet memorable piece of pizza I’ve had in Denver.
In fact, there’s a meat-free pie on the current menu that may just be the best bite of food in the entire Denver metro right now.
Redeemer’s All the Mushrooms ($25 for an approximately 16-inch pizza) is slathered with garlic cream sauce and topped with roasted oyster mushrooms, pickled beech mushrooms and a perfectly stretchy cheese blend. The roasted mushrooms have an almost meat-like quality and endless umami flavor, while the acidic bite from the pickled beech mushrooms brightens the entire slice. Every bite is utterly perfect and perfectly balanced. (If you’re an onion fan, I like to add red onion to this pie.)
But what really takes this pizza to the next level is its naturally leavened sourdough base, the brainchild of chefs Spencer White and Alex Figura. The high-hydration dough, made with house-milled wheat, is put through a lengthy fermentation process, resulting in a perfectly crusty, chewy dough that, unlike franchise pizza, leaves you feeling full and not fatigued. Finally, a pizza that doesn’t make you feel gross after indulging.
As one of thousands of Americans who developed GI issues during the pandemic — anxiety-related reflux, in my case — I thought my days of late-night slices were over. But then I followed a neon slice of pizza in an art-filled alley and had my mind blown and my belly filled with a deeply satisfying meal.
Add a Caesar salad with addictive house-made croutons — and maybe a bottle of biodynamic wine — and you’ve got a perfect dinner for two.
Redeemer Pizza, 2705 Larimer St., 720-780-1379, redeemerpizza.com
