It’s hard to be accustomed to good pizza, and then move to Southwest China. Nothing compares, and the closest you can get is Papa John’s, which isn’t close. In the past 6 months we have found the occasional good slice – while traveling, Le Sud, even the Bookworm. But forget about calling up for pizza delivery and spending the night on the couch.
We met Mike and his wife a couple months ago at a friend’s party, they brought the pizza they had just started selling and I remember him talking about the lengths to which he went to get the proper ingredients and equipment to recreate pizza of the quality he was used to. I didn’t try the pizza, so I forgot all about it. But despite Jeff’s offer to take me to a french dinner on Valentine’s day, I really felt like sitting on the couch. I remembered Mike. We kept it simple and ordered the Red Riding Hood (italian sausage, pepperoni, roasted red peppers, sun dried tomatoes), garlic knots, and a spinach salad with goat cheese and sun-dried tomatoes. 
I haven’t found baby spinach in any grocery store or street stand since I’ve been in China, and haven’t tasted goat cheese on sun-dried tomatoes in a long, long time. It was a great salad. The garlic knots were awesome, and the marinara sauce that accompanied them actually tasted like homemade marinara sauce, not a hot derivative of ketchup. I don’t think the pizza tasted like typical “New York Style,” but it was really, really good. The topping-cheese-sauce ratio was just right, and the crust was well seasoned and the right amount of crispy. Even better, all that food cost 125 kuai (under $20), making it one of the few Western options for a Southwest China price. Mike is also a very friendly guy, clearly committed to pleasing his growing customer base here and going out of his way to please (like delivering to us, despite living beyond his technical delivery zone). Just knowing I have the option of home-style delivery makes me a happier person. And made me a very happy Valentine.
