This Sounds Like a Revolting Pizza Combination. But What Does It Taste Like?

Don’t judge me.In fact, don’t judge anybody for what they put on their pizza—or in general how they like their food. With a few notable exceptions (foie gras, I’m looking at you), I think food should largely be free of moralism—especially absurdist ones like whether sweet things belong on a flatbread largely agreed to be Italian in the western canon, but like many foods “from” anywhere, are actually just a slice (see what I did there) of a shared global culinary heritage. But let me back up.I was in San Antonio checking out the brand new Monarch San Antonio, Curio Collection by Hilton. It’s gorgeous—and that’s not a word I just throw around when it comes to hotels. The rooms are gorgeous in this Art Deco-inspired style, the lobby bar is multi-tiered and striking, and the views (and aquachile) from the rooftop Coastal Mexican eatery Aleteo are spectacular. But I needed something to do during the day. As much as I love and appreciate the San Antonio River Walk for exactly what it is, I felt like venturing out. The hotel made sure I ventured out in style, comfortably situated in a Rolls Royce Cullinan, complete with doors that open forward, buttah-like leather seats, and glossy-surfaced tray tables, on our 90-minute drive to Johnson City, in the Texas Hill Country, to visit Untamed Wine Estates, a stop on the tours offered in partnership between the Monarch and the tour company Elevate, which offers luxury tours of the region (by helicopter, if guests so choose and have budget for it). Continue Reading Article After Our Video Recommended Fodor’s Video It’s monarch butterfly season in the Hill Country, and almost as if on cue, a large group of monarchs swarmed around the entry to the winery as we stepped up the footpath. We had a lovely caviar and sparkling wine pairing from Fredericksburg’s Six Twists Sparkling, but the real champion of the afternoon was this banana pizza. Just hear me out. Untamed’s co-owner Mckenzie Sanvido developed the dough for the pizzas served at the tasting room herself, using her background in chemistry. Her husband is from South Africa, where banana on pizza isn’t as uncommon as it might be in the United States (they also like banana on pizza in Sweden). The pizza on the menu is called the South African Summer, which has prosciutto, bacon, peppadew peppers imported from South Africa, and yes—banana—sliced thinly and put on the marinara underneath the layer of cheese.The South African Summer pizza. Brad WagnerSo, it looks like a banana-less pizza, and at first bite, it almost tastes like a banana-less pizza, but then you get that very subtle hint of banana, mixed in with all those other great flavors. Surprisingly, it doesn’t clash. After a few bites, and a few sips of Cabernet Franc, I was hooked, and I don’t care what anybody thinks.But people who know pizza think highly of it. The South African Summer won third place at the Official International Pizza Challenge in Las Vegas. There’s more bad news for pizza purists. Not only was the banana pizza good, it was so good it was worth taking the leftovers home. And believe me when I say that the only thing better than banana pizza might actually be cold banana pizza, which I inhaled while I was preparing this story for publication. Untamed Wine is roughly halfway between Johnson City and Fredericksburg, easily accessible from the major airports in Austin and San Antonio. The best way to enjoy the wineries in Texas Hill Country responsibly is to go on an escorted tour, to ensure the driving is entirely taken care of by somebody else. And do take the plunge and try the banana pizza. It’s worth it.