In the pizza play of our lives, being thick was not Domino’s role, and certainly not its ticket. In fact, if we’re already giving signs and measuring, it avoided going to the extremes and always chose the middle way. That’s what made it what it is, and that’s also what pushed it to its cross-preferences popularity. Now, however, a fascinating year is closing in which it went hard on the thin, and then returned to the base point to go even harder in the opposite direction.
“Domino’s Thick” (13 inches, about 33 cm, NIS 78.90 per tray, or a meal of Thick and Family at NIS 126) tries very hard not to remind us of any competitor, naturally, and even harder to make us forget competitors altogether. It presents excellent dough - no less - of good air and good bubbles, and quite interestingly very little greasiness, and reinforces this with focused and repetitive marketing blows proclaiming “garlic butter” and “parmesan crust.” Everything else, of course, remains as it is, including the toppings.
The execution is interesting in its characteristics, and delivers most of the marketing promises. The dough - we already spoiled it, didn’t we? - is a story unto itself, and it’s already worth thinking about incorporating it into other dishes of the chain. The crust provides more parmesan-ness and slightly less garlicky-buttery presence (although here and there it flashes as an aroma), and everything else works well even in the new format. It’s softer, by its very nature, it even requires a fork and knife here and there, heaven forbid, to sort out the happy mess, but it’s pizza, and it ultimately leaves a completely empty box, at completely high speed. Until the next edition.