Greenwich Lechon Pizza - A Pinoy Celebration in a Box

When I saw the words "Lechon and Pizza" in one sentence I just had to back pedal and make sure my eyes weren't deceiving me. I thought to myself, that if what I saw wasn't a mistake of vision from hunger, that would probably be one of the craziest ideas man has ever thought of. Looking closer, and reading closely, I saw with disbelief that indeed it was true.

I then marched in to buy one.

I will be brief with this post and be honest. I never liked any Greenwich pizza since the re-invention of the pizza chain and the scrapping of the Pizza Square (one of my childhood favorites). Until this pizza that is.

Following the Sisig Pizza which I appreciated for its boldness and innovation in using the Pampanga specialty as a main pizza ingredient (but didn't enjoy too much). This Lechon pizza takes it a notch higher by using probably one of the most well known and loved filipino dishes of all time, the lechon kawali, and throwing in an entire Filipino fiesta celebration inside a box of pizza.

Roasted garlic and spices permeating, I eagerly opened the box and had my nose delighting in the scent of a feast.

Biting in, Filipino hospitality welcomes you with a red carpet or should I say banig (straw mat) of textures coming from tender lechon and crisp roasted garlic. This is followed by the sweet harana (serenade) of pickled bell peppers (atcharra) and onion leeks while the light, fluffy and crumby dough exalts our native pan de sal by providing the perfect bedding.

As they say in American Idol, there is nothing like singing a popular song and making it your own. With this pizza, greenwich takes cooking innovation to a new level using Filipino ideas and ingredients successfully into the concept of pizza and owns it.

While this pizza might not be the best out there, it's a celebration of Filipino ingenuity and I think the creativity should be applauded.