Upper Crust pizzeria feature

By Sandra Miller
Beacon Hill Times
Despite it being 2pm on a Monday, usually a dead time for eateries, the Upper Crust on Charles Street had a line nearly out the door. Almost all the seats in the 20-ish seat pizzeria were filled, mainly with a remarkable number of thin adults of all ages apparently not on a low-carb diet.
Around the restaurant, on the floured window that allowed a peek into the dough-making process, and on the door were the various awards and accolades from the usual foodie establishments and publications. But the real award is that Monday afternoon line that forms to get some Neapolitan-style pizza – thin, crispy crust, chunky tomatoes with fresh basil and oregano for a zesty sauce, a thin sprinkle of cheese, and perhaps topped with the day’s special of artichokes, sundried tomatoes and basil, or the “Lexington” – lobster fra diavolo pizza, or perhaps “The Newbury Street” with veal parmesan. The slices are huge, 1/5 of a pizza. They also offer whole-wheat crusts.
More customers file in. “I’m not going to complain,” says General Manager Barry Proctor. Proctor’s been GM of Upper Crust for about 7 years, when he left his line cook job at Grill 23 for something with more customer interaction. “It’s been a great experience for me, to get in on the ground level and watch it expand so quickly,” says Proctor.
A pair in hospital scrubs recognized Proctor and said hello; after chatting a bit, Proctor noticed that they had been waiting a while for their pizza and checked on the order. Upper Crust has accounts set up with MGH and other area businesses, and is always donating pizza to neighborhood events such as an MSPCC fundraiser, Hill House and Make a Wish Foundation events, neighborhood cleanup volunteers, area school parties, and a Boston Children’s Hospital bowling contest in Malden. “We try to get as involved as possible in the community,” says Proctor.
He recalls sending pizza after pizza over to the set of “The Departed,” which was filming across the street. Proctor’s a big Scorcese fan, and he also seemed a little sad when recalling that Leo DeCaprio was on a special diet and couldn’t eat his pizza. “I’ll really miss Manny,” Proctor says, recalling the former Red Sox player Ramirez who with his wife would eat with Proctor. “Say what you will about him, but he was a really good customer.”
In 2001, Jordan Tobins opened Upper Crust on Charles Street. Upper Crust has since expanded to Brookline, Lexington, Newbury Street, Hingham, Waltham, Watertown, Financial District, South End, Harvard Square, Salem, and Key West, Fla. (!) Next up is Newburyport and Plymouth, with Wellesley under consideration. A customer chimes in a vote for a Natick location.
“It’s great pizza,” says Proctor. “All of the ingredients are fresh and the best quality. We make dough fresh on location. We use a light amount of cheese and sauce, so it doesn’t feel like you have a brick in your stomach.” They also bake it on a stone in the pizza oven, not in a pan, for a crispy crust. The pizzas are made to order, and don’t sit around for more than 10 minutes, he says.
Deliveries are made by bikes equipped with wooden crates secured to the back. The crates can be a little unwieldy for experienced delivery professionals; it proved too much for one deliver-bike thief, who apparently lopped off the crate onto Storrow Drive a while ago. One of Upper Crust’s loyal customers was in traffic when he spotted the unique crate, and returned it to the pizzeria. “That’s somebody who liked us a lot,” Proctor recalled. “He was rewarded with a lot of pizzas, needless to say.”
The flagship store makes about 2500 pizzas a week and employs 15-20 regular staffers. “Our A-team works on Fridays,” Proctor says. “Friday is like pizza night for everyone in America.” And when the economy gets rough, people still order pizza because it’s an economical treat, he says. “We won’t empty your wallet,” he says.