A mixup on times for food carts lead us down a tasty trail on Friday at Flat12 Bierwerks (414 N. Dorman St.) after we biked to the Holy Cross neighborhood for lunch. We had anticipated the grand opening of Scratch Street Food, promising a burger with bacon marmalade, arugula, and gorgonzola. But we didn’t read their Twitter post that they wouldn’t be at Flat12 (which has recently been hosting food courts in its back parking lot patio during its tastings at the end of the week), until 5 p.m.
Thankfully, Byrne’s Grilled Pizza, yet another local food truck, this one paying homage to the legacy of Fr. Jim Byrne of nearby Holy Cross Catholic Church, was setting up its grills. So we turned our tastes from grilled burgers to grilled breadsticks and pizza. Sturdy sticks with a nicely chewy exterior and plenty of coarse salt offered up an earthy hit from the Flat12 Pogue’s Run Porter in the dough. For pizzas, the Byrne’s Specialty, topped with pesto instead of red sauce, artichoke hearts, ricotta, and spinach, made for a nicely balanced pie that wasn’t too heavy. The crust took on a slight char and a nice crispiness from the grill. The Guilty Shepherd, also without tomato sauce, came topped with goat cheese, a trio of peppers, and avocado. The peppers were perhaps not as grilled tasting as they might be, owing to little heat from the top of the grill, but their slight crunch was nice against the creamier ingredients. With samples of Flat12’s Milk Stout and slightly sweet and caramel-rich Glazed Ham Porter, we definitely felt fortified for the afternoon as we pedaled off.
