Este Pizzeria: the entire-slice experience.

• Author: Sasich, Chris
• Position: Around Utah: READERS' CHOICE

Salt Lake City -- What you get on your pizza says a lot about you. How and why you make your pizza says even more. When David Heiblim moved to Salt Lake City from the East Coast in 2001, he noticed that something was missing--he couldn't find the same East Coast style pizza that was so ubiquitous and culturally significant back East. Like the Italian immigrants who introduced this country to pizza, Heiblim sought to recreate something that reminded him of where he came from, and so in 2004 he introduced Utah to ESTE PIZZERIA.

"What I really wanted to do was like a really traditional East Coast pizza," said Heiblim, who now runs the licensing company for Este, as well as being in charge of quality control. "I really just wanted it to represent what I thought pizza was, and so all those decisions were made based on that. I spent a lot of time on the ingredients."

Heiblim uses his Mom's recipes for both the marinara and the meatballs and designed the spice blend for the sausage himself. Este uses a very specific cheese that favors a little more stringiness and bite. The dough is painstakingly made over two to four days. Heiblim has been so specific about the ingredients because he wants a specific overall effect.

"I really wanted to create balance," said Heiblim. "I don't want too many toppings on the pizza. Our pizza is thin enough that if you add a whole bunch of toppings on you're really not going to taste the dough, the sauce, the...