A pizza the pie: Food Network magazine names Pizzeria Locale one of Top 50 in the country

Lori Midson

Food Network magazine heralds the pizza at Pizzeria Locale in Boulder

Six months ago, editors from Food Network magazine zigzagged across the country in search of the holy grail -- or, more precisely, the best pizzas in the United States, and in the September issue, on newsstands August 9, the glossy zine reveals its top fifty pizza picks in each state.

The Colorado winner?

Food Network bestowed the award upon Pizzeria Locale, the new Boulder bastion of 'za overseen by Frasca Food and Wine wunderkinds Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson and Bobby Stuckey and head pizzaiolo Jordan Wallace. Of course, being that this is pizza -- and everyone has an opinion when it comes to which pizza is the best -- the accolades are bound to spark a spray of dissenters, but we happen to agree with the Food Network's pick, although there are certainly several other local pizza emporiums -- Pizzeria Basta, Marco's Coal-Fired Pizzeria, Brava! Pizzeria Della Strada among them -- that toss excellent pies.

Still, Pizzeria Locale's Mais pizza, one of my Favorite 100 Dishes of 2011 -- and the pizza that Food Network magazine trumpeted -- is nothing short of stellar.

And the editors agree:

Instead of just bringing a taste of Naples to Colorado, two James Beard Award winners, Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson and Bobby Stuckey, brought Mount Vesuvius over, too. Their wood-burning oven -- made in Naples with special bricks that supposedly contain volcanic material -- cooks at 1000 degrees F and spits out screaming-hot pizzas covered with a sweet-salty-tangy combo of corn, prosciutto cotto and crème fraîche.

You can scroll through the food porn of all the winners here.