Royale with Cheese 

• Alex Springer

Even pre-pandemic, I had noticed myself becoming fonder of ringing in the new year from the comfort of my couch and coffee table. Now that we're wrestling with brand-new COVID-19 variants amid an age bafflingly devoid of empathy, however, my at-home plans are pretty much set in stone. I'll mix up some drinks, set out some snacks and watch Ryan Seacrest emcee the Times Square festivities on my TV while I sing Auld Lang Syne with my wife and kid.

You know what goes great with such low-key celebrating? Pizza, of course. So, in honor of my newly-christened, uber-introverted New Year's fete, I decided to bury the past with a visit to Victor's Pizza Co. (545 W. 3900 South, 801-996-3485, victorspizzaslc.com) and reflect on how pizza's circular dimensions represent the ongoing cycle of life, death and rebirth. My wife and kid had a blast with this, of course.

Victor's Pizza Co. was one of the brave new spots that opened its doors in 2020, and it has been building a good amount of buzz since then. If you've taken a glance at the menu, you'd have noticed that all their pies are named after characters from Quentin Tarantino's magnum opus Pulp Fiction, which is what initially sparked my interest. Well, that and fresh pizza with a keen eye for toppings, of course. Mixing pizza and genre-bending cinema is catnip to me, so I decided to invite a few of Victor's pies over to party.

Though Victor's is available through whatever delivery service you prefer, I opted for pickup so I could check the place out. It's a cozy beacon of marinara-hued light on the outskirts of South Salt Lake, and the interior sticks with the Tarantino theme with plenty of Vince and Jules-inspired artwork. My inaugural order was the Royale with Cheese ($13.99), the Honey Bunny ($14.99) and the Red Apples dessert pie ($9.99).

As a Tarantino movie fan, I couldn't help but belabor the connection between each pizza's topping and its corresponding film reference. Sometimes places that stick to thematic naming conventions for their dishes veer into gimmicky territory, but I can totally see the logic at work with Victor's pies.

The Royale with Cheese is a no-brainer—it's packed with mozzarella, sharp cheddar, gouda and parmesan, creating a truly cheesy endeavor that lets each respective cheese shine. This also happens to be an excellent gateway pizza for those who have a difficult time venturing out of their cheese pizza comfort zone. The flavor combo of the mild mozzarella, the gouda's richness and the sharp cheddar's bite sprinkled with the salty magnificence of good parmesan will wake the palate up and provide a glimmer of pizza's true potential.

One of the more unconventional pies, the Honey Bunny is a great place for pizza aficionados to start. It's a pepperoni and salami pie with the addition of feta cheese and a hot honey glaze, and it's just as delightfully unhinged as Amanda Plummer's Pulp Fiction performance. You've got the smoky goodness of the pepperoni and salami—familiar ground for any carnivorous pizza fan—but then you throw in some buttery feta cheese and a drizzle of capsaicin-laced honey, and you're blissfully trapped in a vortex of sweet, savory and spicy. This one is pure pizza greatness.

Though I am a devout parishioner at the pulpit of pizza, I've always had a dysfunctional relationship with dessert pizzas. They're one of those things that sound good on paper, but just end up breaking your heart upon receipt. Based on this past emotional baggage, I was a bit hesitant to order the Red Apples Pie, but ... New Year, new me, right? When I cracked open the box on this dessert, the smell of baked apples and cinnamon was enticing enough to prove that I had made a good decision. As I made my way through my first slice, I could feel all those long-standing issues with dessert pizzas melt away. As it turns out, all one really needs for an effective dessert pizza is a heavy hand when it comes to toppings. This pie has gobs of crumbled graham crackers mixing it up with melty caramel and cream cheese frosting along with thick slices of perfectly baked apples. It's one hell of a way to end a meal.

As Victor's Pizza Co. helped me close the book on 2021, I think I'll be seeing a lot more of it in 2022. After all, I still need to try the sharply dressed ricotta, mozzarella and garlic pie named after the Wolf ($12.99) and I can't pass up a chance to get the Marvin ($15.99), with its extra helping of bloody marinara that echoes the poor guy's Pulp Fiction fate.

Whether you're hosting your own Tarantino movie marathon or just in the mood for some classically curated local pies, Victor's Pizza Co. is well worth a spin in your delivery rotation.