Jolly: It’s Not Delivery…it’s Spin; Michael Smith Concept Rocks

Face it, none of the really excellent food in Kansas City is delivered…

So if you want great pizza you’ll need to put down the phone, get off your ass, grab some friends and head to Spin Neapolitan Pizza. Tucked away in the ominous corporate shadow of Overland Park’s Cheesecake Factory lies the small in size but huge in flavor pizza cafe.

Spin’s the partial creation of James Beard Award-Winning Chef Michael Smith. Yes, that Michael Smith of American Restaurant and 40 Sardines fame.

Little known fact: Smith is a minority owner is the fast casual concept here in Kansas City.

So you know you’re going to get a genuine, rustic pizza with the very best fresh ingredients. And this Neapolitan pizza cafe is the perfect, casual gathering place to dine with friends and have a bottle of wine… or three. Or to bring your family for a great dining experience and a superb value.

Just don’t seat your kids near my table, as my friends and I often fall victim to wine induced volume mishaps.

And now that the weather’s getting warmer, Spin’s quaint gated patio is perfect for a romantic date or just hanging with fellow wine snobs on a budget.

Five of us met at Spin recently on a Friday night.

The thing is, you should wait for your entire party to show before going to the counter to order because Spin doesn’t really have servers. That way you can discuss pizza and wine pairings.

No sense getting into a goat cheese disagreement.

So we waited for our stragglers and made our way to the counter past the small but affordable, tasteful wine selection. Spin has reds and whites all of which sell for $18.00 a bottle.

Weekdays you may bring a bottle from your collection and they’ll open it for a $1.00 corkage fee.

As opposed to the $30.00 charge at some Leawood venues.

Three of us decided on two bottles of Conosur Pinot Noir from Spain. A female friend ordered a bottle of Kung-Fu Riesling and my buddy Nick (who has the palate of a homeless person) ordered beer. Spin also has a vast beer selection to go with its wine list from Cellar Rat Merchants.

We were told our drinks would be delivered soon after we seated ourselves, so we isolated ourselves from the family types and our wine was opened table side and poured by more of a food runner/ pizza chef than server.

However we did get great VIP service.

After about 15 minutes our three pies arrived and were placed on our table with care. And they looked more like art than food. Amazing!

All other local pizzas are not fit for my dog to eat now.

We got a Tre Carni which had a crushed tomato red sauce topped with huge meatballs, pepperoni, and Italian sausage. I picked that one because it sounded like a MAN Pizza.

The girls picked the other two; the Tour De BBQ that had BBQ sauce, chicken sausage, sweet red onion, fontina, and roasted corn. This is how BBQ pizza is supposed to be, fresh, rustic and a little sweet.

The last was my favorite of the three, the Pollo Arrosto Chevre. I had no idea what that meant other than possibly, eat this your problems will fade away. They did. I later learned it also means roast chicken & goat cheese and it had a heavenly, roasted garlic, olive oil glaze and was topped with caramalized onions and crimini mushrooms.

Speaking of which, goat cheese is suddenly my new favorite cheese.

I wanted to put it on everything after having that pizza. Unfortunately it’s better on pizza than most of the things I experimented with, which may explain why I dine out so frequently.

Spin also has a gluten free crust for those of you who have never tried pizza in your entire life.

Now you can.

Finally we tried the gelato. Believe it or not, I’d actually never had it before and the selection in the cold case by the kitchen was calling my name. We were still seated when I asked the server for a gelato menu and he said he’d be right back.

When he returned he handed me a hand written list of Spin’s gelato selections.

Because apparently there is no such menu. But rather than simply telling me to take two steps and look in the case, he went the extra mile. Nice.

I ordered the peanut butter banana and it was so creamy and glorious it made the ice cream I’m used to eating taste like kitty litter.

So thank you, Spin. You’ve set the bar high for great service – a bar that’s been slowly dropping for many years – in a self service setting, no less.

Consider me a new regular.

The three area Spins are located Overland Park, Olathe and 49th and Main on the Country Club Plaza