At one time or another, we’ve probably all considered what we’d choose to eat if we had to subsist on
only that one thing for the remainder of our lives. My usual answer is pizza, the reason being that it is
endlessly customizable – thick crust, thin crust, stuffed crust, red sauce, white sauce, and nearly any
topping you can imagine. With pizza, really anything goes. Wolfgang Puck created an incredibly popular
pizza at his Beverly Hills restaurant Spago topped with smoked salmon, crème fraiche, and caviar that is
still on the menu 40 years later!
Pizza as we think of it today was undoubtedly popularized in Italy, though flatbreads have been baked
and topped by numerous cultures for thousands of years. The Italians long had access to fantastic
tomatoes and began topping their focaccia with tomato sauce, which is still an extremely popular pizza
topping throughout the world. The first documented pizzeria is Antica Pizzeria Port’Alba in Naples,
which opened in 1738 and is still selling pizzas today.
Pizza came to the United States courtesy of Italian immigrants settling in New York. The first pizzeria in
the United States was opened by Gennaro Lombardi in 1905 and a number of existing pizzerias in New
York were opened by people trained at Lombardi’s pizzeria who followed his style. Today, New York-
style pizza is known for large, foldable slices with thin crust. Chicago-style pizza went the other direction,
with Pizzeria Uno creating the deep-dish pizza in 1943. This behemoth of a pie often has to be tackled
with a knife and fork. Other notable regional pizzas include New Haven, Connecticut-style “apizza”
which is typically topped with only tomato sauce, oregano, and a little Pecorino Romano cheese. Frank
Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana is credited with creating this pizza and another New Haven icon, the white
clam pie, which is topped with garlic and littleneck clams. Detroit-style pizza is typically rectangular, cut
into squares, and thicker and cheesier than standard American pizza, though not as thick as Chicago-
style. Detroit-style pizzas have wonderfully crispy, browned cheese around the edges, and they are
usually constructed in reverse – with toppings pressed into the dough, then covered with cheese and
red sauce. California-style pizza takes a lighter hand with the sauce and often utilizes fresh local
ingredients that thrive in that part of the country.
With so much variation – and we’ve only scratched the surface of the plethora of pizza possibilities – I
often find myself wanting to try every new pizza place that pops up. This brought me to one of the most
beautifully constructed food trucks I’ve seen: Umani. Upon rolling up, I couldn’t help but notice that this
truck is BIG. It’s painted a slick black and has large windows that show off the full-size, wood burning
pizza oven (imported from Italy) inside. Wood is stored neatly in an area near the base of the truck.
Numerous pizza peels were in the window, ready to slide pizzas in and out of the oven.
The owner of Umani is from Uruguay and has been operating the truck for about five years. He says that
“umani” refers to an unknown flavor (kind of like umami, I suppose?) that sets his pizzas apart from the
rest. Eyeing the massive pizza oven that would be a showpiece in any brick-and-mortar restaurant, I
wondered how hot it must get inside that truck. I was assured that it’s actually quite pleasant in the fall
and winter, though it does get uncomfortable in the summer.
The menu was straightforward – several pizza options, water, and Coke. I noticed that they claim to be
the home of the square pizza, though a pizza measuring 7”x10” is a rectangle in my book (and, yes, I
know that Detroit pizzas are sometimes referred to as pizza squares when they are in fact rectangle, but
at least their slices are squarish. These pizzas were cut into narrow strips.)
Unsure what was meant by rustic, metro style pizzas, I decided to give two of them a try: the American
Dream (topped with Italian sausage, pepperoni, black olives, and red peppers) and the Margarita
(topped with tomatoes, mozzarella, and pesto.) In both cases, the amount of toppings was impressive. I
wouldn’t be going home hungry. The pizzas also looked visually appealing, and I was excited to dig in.
At the end of the day, I don’t care if my pizza comes from a truck, a restaurant, or a microwave as long
as it is delicious. While the truck was immensely impressive, I was underwhelmed by the pizzas
themselves. It looked to me that the crusts were pre-cooked. Maybe this was to allow them to sling
pizzas at a faster rate when hit with a rush, but it deprived the pizza of that hot, crispy, slightly charred
and smoky character that I love when they’re freshly fired. In addition, by topping pre-cooked crusts and
throwing them back into the oven, the toppings did not have time to properly adhere to the crust, which
resulted in a slippery eating experience and bites that often pulled much of the cheese and toppings off
at once. I thought it was an interesting choice to spread sauce and toppings to the very edge of the
pizza. Some places definitely err on the other side with too much unadorned crust, but I would’ve liked a
little more edge to hold on to. I also felt the tomato sauce was a little sweet, but to each their own.
Know Before You Go: While I feel there were some areas that could be improved, I’d give Umani
another shot. The truck alone testifies that they are committed to detail and executing on their vision.
They are available to cater events and would bring a flair that most food trucks do not. Check their
Facebook page for their current location. Two pizzas cost $25.97 and while I tried two, they are larger
than they look. One pizza is plenty for one person and could even be shared.
