It started with the flyer someone left on my doorstep for a pizzeria in another town. Why, I wondered, would anyone think I’d want to take a ferry across to Kingston just to eat pizza? We have good pizza places here in Edmonds. I could easily pick up my phone and have some delivered.
And yet, the flyer from Sourdough Willy’s Pizzeria piqued my interest. Why sourdough? And who was Willy? Actually, the folder was more than a flyer. It was a menu. A fascinating three-page menu with six styles of pizza: New York style, Detroit style, Sicilian style, and gluten free style as well as two Italian styles—Romana in pala and Artisan. (You may wonder why they don’t consider Sicilian an Italian style pizza. Well, according to Sourdough Willy’s, “We Americans have made it our own by making it a thicker pizza.”)
Then there was the story on the back about the ancient heirloom sourdough starter Willy’s Pizzeria uses, a starter that had its origins in the Klondike Gold Rush of 1885. Does that make the crust better? Who knows. But it does add a touch of romance. Or at least history.
Sourdough Willy’s story continued. After winning the National Pizza Competition in 2017, the Sourdough Library in Belgium sent someone to bring back a sample of their sourdough. The library even made a film about their employee’s journey.
I do like a good story. Nevertheless, I wasn’t a big enough pizza lover to want to sail across the Salish Sea just for a slice.
But then my family heard about the prize-winning pizza place. (I may have mentioned it.) And my daughter suggested we could celebrate the family’s April/May birthdays with a trip to Sourdough Willy’s Pizzeria. Why not? So, we skipped the cake and gifts and took a ferry ride and ate pizza instead.
It was also a good day for a walk on the beach.
And some exploration of little creatures left behind when the tide went out.
Then we had our pizza.
It was excellent.
Niiiceee! Sound like you made an excellent day out of it. And happy belated birthday, Nicki!
Thank you, Lani. Older and wiser, I hope. It’s nice to celebrate with family.
Pilgrimage for Pizza—Perfect!
Just a quick ferry ride over to Kingston. And the pizza was fantastic.
Sourdough pizza? That’s unique. I can see why you had to have some. Love that it was only a ferry ride away.
I like sourdough bread, but the toppings were so flavorful that I wouldn’t have noticed that it was sourdough if I hadn’t thought about it.
There’s something relaxing about riding a ferry and waiting for its scheduled return.
A sourdough pizza place would’ve piqued my interest too. Good job on seeding the idea with family members as that looks like a fun birthday outing.
Yes, it was a fun outing … and very easy for everyone.
What a fun birthday adventure for everyone! You’ve piqued my curiosity about Sourdough Willy’s – we may have to take a trip over there for a summer excursion! A good activity with out-of-town guests too!
Yes. I recommend it. Besides, you can always park and go as walk-on passengers. The salads were also excellent. Before our pizzas arrived we had two huge salads: gorgonzola spinach and the house salad.
That is a cool way to celebrate birthdays! I love pizza! It’s one of my top 5 foods.
Cake is always delicious and tempting, but pizza was a nice change, and this pizza was especially good.
It wasn’t just pizza, it was an adventure! Is that the Romana pizza on the bottom? We have a place nearby that makes it, but it’s quite a long wait.
The pizza on the bottom was Detroit style. I think it was the roasted garlic chicken. The Romana in pala style wasn’t available. The dough hadn’t finished. We made the mistake of arriving on prom day, and eight of their employees were teenagers. They must have all had dates.
I’ll take pizza over cake any day . . . especially when the sun is shining and a ferry ride is in the offing!
I love being out on the water and on the beach. And the weather was perfect that day.
How cool that your family went on a pizza adventure! So glad the pizza was worth the trip! It looks delicious! (Weirdly enough, I had pizza the other day. It was good, but not as good as what you had!)
I try not to eat too many carbs, so I don’t eat much pizza. That made this pizza even better.