Source - Urciuoli Doin' His Thing in Gilbert

[Skillet Doux]

The good news is that if you're in the East Valley and Pa'La Prime in its early days is the food of your dreams, you can get it in Gilbert.

The bad news is that if you live anywhere else, you have to trek out to Gilbert to get your dose of Claudio Urciuoli.

So I finally made the trek, and if you know Claudio and his penchant for stellar breads, super fresh ingredients and incredibly flavorful, light foods, you know exactly what to expect and Source will be exactly what you're hoping it will be.

We drove down over the long weekend and caught up with some of the old Pa'La crew now working at Source. I wanted to eat everything but tried to exercise a modicum of restraint.

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First up was a little off-menu pizza I spied sitting behind the counter. I think the fellas were kind of just playing around with Roman-style, and at first I thought they were slinging pinsa (not the same thing), and truth be told, this was almost as light and crisp. They were running a few other flavors but I'm a sucker for potato, smooth and creamy, and good lord, that bread. The light dusting of chile powder was a really nice touch. Not something you're getting in Italy, to be sure.

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Stupid simple pickles. Like, just right down the middle, plain and naked as can be, and super delicious. A little sweet, a little tart, crazy light and fresh. I'm particularly fond of the beets. And these were perfect for...

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...dipping in hummus. Claudio-style, of course. Not a hardcore traditional version. A little busier, a little creamier, a little less dependent on tahini with some chermoula swirled in. But absolutely delicious. Especially with...

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...more bread. This coming out of the oven was drop dead incredible. The texture... I don't even know where to begin. A douse of olive oil and a light dusting of za'atar and it was just light and crisp and ethereal.

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"Mike's Romaine," exactly as it looks. Much simpler than it appears on the menu, with anchovy, pumpkin seed vin and pickled peppers. It didn't play that brash. There's an anchovy add-on, and if it's full-on filets, I think I'd add that next time.

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This one was probably my favorite. It's a sandwich on more killer za'atar bread filled with wildly spiced red lentil croquetas, and cabbage slaw with a lemon labneh. Just stupid good.

So yeah, I hate that this is now half an hour's drive from home. There's a goodly amount of local product for sale that I didn't get a chance to look through as well. And they sell a few varieties of bread by the loaf, which frankly would be a problem for me if they were closer to home.

It's just as tremendous as Claudio's stuff has always been. If you know what to expect, you will not be the least bit disappointed. And if you never got a chance to try Claudio's food when he was at Pa'La, you're getting a second bite at the apple. Don't screw it up.

Source
eatatsource.com
480-687-7732
3150 E. Ray Road
Gilbert, AZ 85296

[M_L-H.P.A.]

Those early Pa'La days were pretty magical. I will need to get out there and give this place a run. Plus, I just miss seeing Claudio's grumpy visage.

[Lunchbox]

Don't be hating on Gilbert!

I love that this is like a mile away from me. His pizzas are stellar. I have some pix somewhere that I'm too lazy to find right now, but there's always a special pizza that's usually just bangin'... I suspect there's a lot of pizza going through the pass...

One time we were in there and I asked Claudio for some balsamic (my daughter is a bougie little B...) and he looked at me like I was crazy. Also I knew his name and he doesn't know me so that probably freaked him out a little bit. It probably offended him in some way but C'est la vie...

[Skillet Doux]

Don't be hating on Gilbert!

The only ill I speak of Gilbert is re: its distance from me!

[LaPan]

DAMN. It all sounds so good. I was just at the doctor's office across the street this morning. Maybe I'll hit it up for lunch on my follow-up.

[chrislee]

I do miss Claudio's food!!! Spent a good amount of time at Pala and loved it.

So glad to see the board is back!!!

[Paranoid]

I should've known this place was Claudio! I was drooling at their menu and Instagram photos thinking this is Pala vibes the whole time. Now I have to make the trek to Gilbert.
Did Claudio leave the og Pala?

[Skillet Doux]

Did Claudio leave the og Pala?

Yup, he did. Maybe a year ago? It's been quite a while. He and Jason fit together so nicely that it was a totally seamless transition. I don't think it was a problem or a bad blood scenario. I think Pa'La Prime (24th street) wasn't quite working out, and I think Claudio is very committed to the vision he has, so I get the impression that it was an amicable breakup.

[JimBoyle]

Posting a quick review of Source, partly to remind everyone of how great this spot is, but also to spite the way too numerous bad reviews of this place that you'll find on other forums (the dumb ones, like Yelp and Google). Before Source opened, I lived a few miles from Agritopia and visited the BarNone establishments frequently. Now that I've moved southwest to Chandler, getting out to Higley just doesn't happen very often. But we needed to meet a friend in the area and got to hit up the new Epicenter development in mid December afterwards for dinner.

Started with the Meatballs, Grilled Dates and Mike's Romaine Salad. The kids ate the meatballs before I could even get at them, but the dates and salad were a lovely start. The agrodolce with the dates was on point, but I wish I had remembered Dom's post about anchovies being available with the salad (didn't see it on the menu, but may have just missed it). It was still good, but I think that would have knocked it up a notch.

Ordered four pizzas next, the House, Mushroom & Ham, Spicy Sausage and the Pesto & Pistachio special. They were phenomenal. Not quite Neapolitan - but lovely, with a very light crust that wasn't too chewy and held together well. Probably a bit lighter than a classic Neapolitan crust. Ingredients were all top notch. The tomato sauce may be the best in town - so fresh tasting, it really blows a lot of the competition out of the water. The pesto pizza was good, although that depends on your love/tolerance of pesto (which like the tomato sauce was very bright and fresh).

But here's where I'll get on my high horse a bit - almost all of the negative reviews of Source are about the price and value (and cardboard plates and plastic cutlery). I don't get these complaints at all. Obviously Claudio is working with top-notch ingredients, which not everyone recognizes how much more that can cost, but I really think Source may be one of the best freaking deals in town. These pizzas are $15 at most! Two adults and two teenagers ordered all of the above, and walked out basically with a whole pizza to go that we couldn't eat (warmed up great the next day!). With a bottle of Los Milics wine and a couple of Italian sodas, the entire bill was a little over $140. As a native of Gilbert, I could offer my opinion on the quality of those negative reviews and the mindset that it comes from, but I'll refrain. It's great food at a good price. I hope it works for him (and us).

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[Skillet Doux]

But here's where I'll get on my high horse a bit - almost all of the negative reviews of Source are about the price and value (and cardboard plates and plastic cutlery). I don't get these complaints at all.

The salads are $10-13.
The sandwiches are $12-14.
The pizzas are $12-14.

Price perception is one of the most fascinating things in the world to me, and in my experience, whether people perceive food as cheap or expensive often has very little to do with the price.

Also, people are idiots.