A few weeks later when I order my first pie, The Real Deal with pepperoni and the signature brick cheese, I did taste it. It’s like heaven in the midst of all this hell. It’s better than any crispy, melted or gooey cheese I’ve ever had. It’s umami and flow and serotonin and pleasure. When my slices of the pizza are gone, I regret sharing the rest with my roommate and my photographer. This pizza makes me feel selfish. But the cocktails quickly erase my self-absorption. On both fronts, Kyle is onto something.

There are a couple of things that are signature about Detroit-style pizza. The crust itself is soft, doughy, and thick. The shape is a little different, not round but cooked in deep, rectangular pans that, legend has it, were initially engine oil disposal pans frequently used in the automobile mecca, and only later brought into the kitchen. The sauce is everywhere, laid down in three thick stripes down the ‘za, another subtle homage to race cars and the city that birthed this variation of Italy’s most beloved, highly-adaptable export.

Put onto the style by following a server’s recommendation at Tony’s Pizza Napoletana in San Francisco, Kyle immediately fell in love and quickly became determined to recreate it himself. “I was like, ‘this is incredible, this is my favorite pizza I’ve ever had,’” he remembered. “‘I don’t know why I don’t see this everywhere!’ So I kind of started looking into it a bit more.”

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