A friend of mine in the restaurant trade warned me once about places with menus the size of a novella. "Unless all their food tastes the same, how can they possibly stock all those ingredients in the kitchen?" he railed. "How can they make all those dishes taste any good?" In truth, small and simple is often the best, and that is what the folks at Small Shed Flatbreads seem to be going for: small, simple and focused.The focus being, of course, on the flatbread.
But what is flatbread? Is it really bread? A crust? A big, round cracker? Defined as "unleavened," flatbreads come in all varieties, some made with yeast, some not. Not surprisingly, toppings can run the gamut as well. At Small Shed, you might think you're ordering a pizza, but you need to think outside the crust because you've never tasted pizza like this before. This is pizza with a crust that's tender and wafer-thin, chewy in the middle, toasty-crunchy around the edges, and garnished with toppings far more imaginative than you'll find at your local pizzeria. And that's just the beginning.
Do you like seafood? At the risk of wiping out this year's clam harvest, I need to tell you that there are few things on earth as wonderful as the menu item called Shhh! Why do they call it that? I'm embarrassed to say I forgot to ask--I got lost in the list of flavors that included parsley, marjoram, oregano, mozzarella and Parmesan--and of course, chopped clams that have been saut ed with garlic and shallots. I added pancetta, and the result was a briny delight. My pet peeve is food that has been carelessly oversalted, but this is something else: the naturally salty combination of pancetta and clams that is meant to be savored like a guilty pleasure. Maybe they call it Shhh! because your doctor shouldn't know you're ordering it.
Another time, I tried the Mt. Tamal-Pie because I couldn't resist the name--but also because it seemed so very simple: a cheese-flavored flatbread topped with salad. And there are so many choices of salads! There's the straightforward Shed Med--organic greens and cherry tomatoes served with balsamic vinaigrette. The very simple Wedge is kind of like a salad my college roommate used to make, except that her wedge of crispy iceberg lettuce was not organic, nor was it topped with pancetta and a blue cheese dressing with a hint of spicy-peppery flavor. The Caesar is probably the most disappointing item on the menu. The primary flavor of its "egg-less" dressing is oil, and it is not saved by the too-bland flatbread chips. But the star of the salad show, and the most perfect topping for the Mt. Tamal-Pie, is the Bolinas beat salad--greens, Humboldt Fog cheese, and generous chunks of fire-roasted beets, topped with a honey balsamic reduction and garnished with toasted pistachios.
Whatever salad you choose with your Tamal-Pie, you have to wonder why your server brings you a knife and fork. Fully half the dining experience is rolling up the salad in a slice of flatbread and eating it like a wrap. Send back the flatware, and ask for more napkins!
For those who like cheese on their pizza, I can personally recommend the Blue Bread--but of course the cheese isn't mozzarella; it's, well, blue. A Spanish-style blue cheese called Queso De'Valdeon Azul, in case you were wondering. It's also served with prosciutto, fresh tomatoes and herbs. If blue isn't your color, try Green Bread. With its pesto and tomato topping, it's considerably milder than the Blue and lacks the wonderfully tangy blue cheese bite.
Because there's at least one pepperoni fan in every crowd, Small Shed offers a pepperoni flatbread, but of course it's not just any pepperoni. Like the rest of the caf 's ingredients, the pepperoni on this bread is all-natural and nitrate-free. Add Anaheim and poblano chili peppers along with the requisite cheese, tomato sauce and herbs, and you have a somewhat traditional pepperoni pie. I brought one of these home for my son and managed to grab a bite before he inhaled the entire thing.
Which brings up the topic of size. Let me repeat: This is not your regular pizzeria. There are no "small-medium-large" choices. It's "one size fits all"--priced from $8.50-$12.50 (with some optional toppings available for an additional $1.75)--and one flatbread would easily satisfy two people (or one college-age kid). Add salads, and you have an affordable, healthy lunch or dinner.
And you'll still have room for dessert, which is a good thing, because you probably won't want to pass up the chocolate sinkhole or the brioche bread pudding, to name just two of the homemade choices. I liked the bread pudding, but I loved the sinkhole…perhaps named for the urge to dive into the chocolate and sink to the bottom. Fortunately, the warm cup in which it is served is far too small for such an indulgence, but so much the better. You'll devour the whole thing--along with the pistachio whipped cream--even taking the time to scrape the sides of the cup for every scrap of baked-on chocolate--and you won't feel overstuffed. Enjoy your dessert with a small pot of French-pressed coffee, made to order.
One of the most enjoyable aspects of this spot is the fact that it feels like what it is…a small, friendly, local cafe that draws its clientele from the neighborhood. It is such a part of the neighborhood, in fact, that you can order Small Shed flatbreads delivered to your table at Sweetwater. Everything on the menu is available for takeout. If you don't live nearby, order a flatbread "half-baked" and finish it off in your own oven. Order it unbaked and top it yourself. For the especially culinarily inclined, raw dough balls are also available.
Personally, I prefer the casual ambiance of the place itself, where I can chat with a friend over a glass of decent wine while waiting for my clam-and-garlic-infused flatbread to bake in Small Shed's wood-fired oven.
