Pavich’s Pizza = Frighteningly Awesome

Too tied up to recap yesterday’s template & bondo adventures, but lunch was too amazing to not briefly mention.

The above is a roasted pork sandwich from Pavich’ Pizza in San Pedro, a Croatian take-out joint, which in its brief lifespan has attracted nothing less than legendary status – everyone talks about it, but I couldn’t find anyone who’d actually eaten there. Everyone has forwarded on the same LA Times review to me, but none have acted upon it. For some reason I hadn’t, despite proximity and my constant, gnawing hunger. Being lactose intolerant, I tent to avoid pizza joints, as well. Yesterday, though, Eric was all keen on eating Weinershnitzel for lunch, and since I don’t do that to myself, and since Chris Williamson, who has also been hearing about Pavich’s for some time, was in the studio, Chris was dispatched to pick up a pair of roasted pork sandwiches (Pavich’s has a selection of excellent non-pizza chow).

On to the sandwich. That flatbread it’s wrapped in is somun, which I believe is baked on site in Pavich’s own brick oven. It’s light as all hell, like an airy pita. Inside is lettuce, tomato, roasted red pepper and white garlic sauce. And pork. Oh, the pork. Now that was a surprise. Pavich’s pork is light and moist, melting in your mouth, barely there, but just enough. It was so tender, and it left me wanting more. That, my friends is a near-perfect sandwich. Filling and delicious enough to reinvigorate your thirst for living, to fuel you through an afternoon of serious work, but light enough not to burden.

And then there’s the sauerkraut, which I ordered to check out. Room temperature, mixed with a light smattering of grilled onions and Italian sausage. Again, filling, but neither greasy or heavy, this dish had everything it needed, but nothing more or less, it’s just perfectly dialed in. That’s Mr. Williamson himself, possibly the world’s least likely hand model, displaying the sauerkraut.

Pavich’s doesn’t have a web page, but here they are on Yelp, and they’re located at 2311 Alma Street if you’re looking for them. They don’t take credit cards over the phone, but do at the location, which is strictly takeout. I’m really into going back again and again, to brave my cheese aversion to try their pizza, hoping that they can live up to the high Mediterranean standards that the now closed Da Vinci’s pizza got me accustomed to (Da Vinci’s had the best crust I’ve ever had in LA).