By Romina Tobias

I see myself as being on a pizza pilgrimage going off the beaten path to pay homage to this mighty pie until that blessed day comes when I get to taste it where pizza-eating rituals was bornat Naples, Italy. But for now, I am more than delighted to feast on their exports to Pinas treats from Italian Tratorrrias around the metro and of course its highly commercial (but still yummy) versions from ubiquitous pizza chains.

This past weekend, I was lucky enough to sink my teeth on pizza thats oh-so-worthy of your bite. Sandys Pizza, a home based Pizzeria, which I think is one of San Juans best-kept food secrets revealed (I think food gossip is the guiltier pleasure). Sandy Arellano, the creator to whom the pizza brand is named after, started selling pizza in a small Montessori school in 2004 then went into delivery service in March of 2007.

I never formally studied cooking. My mom (Marilou Arellano) is a great cook and so is her sister, Tita Joy. I grew up around them always cooking. I guess I picked it up along the way and found myself enjoying it also, Sandy enthuses. Why pizza? When we were growing up, pizza was too expensive for my allowancereally!, Sandy explains laughing. So I thought that since it was my favorite food and I could have it everyday without growing sick of it, I decided to make it at home for myself.

Sandy was gracious enough to indulge me with their sampler (4 flavors in one pizza). Mine had Garlic Tuyo in olive oil, White pizza (creamy combination of Kesong Puti, Mozzarella, and Parmesan cheese) Garlic Chorizo (garlicky chorizo bits spiced just right), and Thai chicken curry (spiced chunks of moist chicken for an Asian twist). Good pizzas have good crusts. Sandys crust has just the right thickness thin enough for some crisp but tender and a bit bready at the center for a good contrast. The charred spots at the lip give the pizza a rustic look plus a slightly smoky flavor that perfectly blends with the mlange of flavors that explode, like some volcanic eruption, in the mouth.

My favorite flavor, hands down, would be the Garlic Tuyo slivers of dried fish with sweet onion rings are even more flavorful and less salty than anchovies. The taste reminds me of my Lolos top secret recipe for Bacalao dried salted fish in tangy tomato sauce that wed sandwich in hot pandesal just the smell of it reminds me of home and family reunions. And if I were to imagine some Pizzaiolo in some Neapolitan restaurant or some adventurous New York pizza-maker creating a pie using Filipino flavors, it would probably taste like Sandys minimal ingredients but high on flavornothing over-the-top.

She stays true to the Italian way of preparing pizza. She even had a brick oven custom-made for her home and uses nothing but the best ingredients. Sandy's pizza is different because our crust is made from wheat flour. There is more fiber in wheat then in heavily processed bleached white flour. So we pride ourselves with a less oily pizza making us a healthier alternative or choice (with our Very Veggie flavor). The oil from our other pizza variants comes from the toppings such as meats, etc. Our mozzarella cheese is premium imported Australian cheese (lesser fat content then others) and we do not mix any other quick melt or local processed cheeses on our pizzas.

She even makes the dough fresh every morning and prepares the pizza herself but now with a few more helping handstrue pizza devotion there. Youll feel it too once youve tried a slice. Sandys Pizza has definitely set ablaze, the fires of my love affair with Pizza.

Other pizza flavors include: Pizza Margherita, Spanish Sardines, Very Veggie, Combination, Meatzarella, and other mouthwatering flavors. Sandys Pizza has a take-out-and-delivery counter store at 683 Jose Abad Santos St., Bo. Little Baguio, San Juan. 721-8334 / 721-8329. They deliver to San Juan, Mandaluyong, selected parts of QC, Pasig, Makati, & Bacood, Sta. Mesa.