Nosh Pit

Slideshow: Inside the Ridge Pizzeria

A handful of industry types open another family friendly spot on Greenwood Avenue.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Jan 13, 2012 at 09:30AM 0 Comments

A new neighbor for Ken’s Market: The Ridge, located at 7217 Greenwood Avenue North.

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A new neighbor for Ken’s Market: The Ridge, located at 7217 Greenwood Avenue North.

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At 2,200 square feet, the space boasts plenty of seating.

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Including this elevated area. A back room accommodates large parties.

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Or hunker down at the counter and watch the pies fly.

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The Oliver’s Twist (named for the bar down the street): Rosemary, sweet onions, bacon, mozzarella, and a truffle oil base. Behind it is the meaty Lardude.

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The owners had originally imagined a parlor room for games like shuffleboard and skee-ball—an idea ballyhooed by many locals. Coombs says those plans are on hold for now.

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The Ridge, open for lunch and dinner, doesn’t do delivery, but take-out is available. Salads and sandwiches round out the menu.

The most recent addition to the Phinney Ridge boomlet is, appropriately enough, The Ridge. The pizzeria and bar—open as of Thursday—is brought to you by a roster of familiar names: Chris Navarra (Prost, Die Bierstube, Feirabend), Chris Gerke (Nickerson St. Saloon), Larry Wikan of Columbia Distributing, and Tom Griffith (Ten Mercer, T.S. McHugh’s).

The affable Matt Coombs is manager. Before falling in with the above brood, he’d been looking to open his own place but “didn’t find something I wanted to hang my hat on.” Here he’ll be overseeing production of between six and eight specialty pizzas named after neighborhood landmarks: a school down the street, a couple of businesses, the fire department. Though the booze flows freely (full bar, baby), kiddles are most welcome—the Ridge proudly bills itself as family friendly (it’s a neighborhood thing).

Get a look at the bar, those promising pies, and more in the slideshow.

All photos by Seattlemet.com photographer Lucas Anderson.

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Tags: Seattle Restaurant Openings, Pizza, Phinney Ridge, First Look, The Ridge

Flying Squirrel’s New Meatball Pizza

At last, a pizza worthy of occupying the no. 7 spot absent from the menu for three years.

Posted by: Allecia Vermillion on Jan 12, 2012 at 02:00PM 0 Comments

Flying Squirrel’s new #7. Photo: Brian Vescovi.

If you’ve ever partaken of the fabulous pizzas at Flying Squirrel Pizza Co., you may have noticed the menu of numbered pies lacks a no. 7. Much like some superstitious building owners eliminate the 13th floor, the menu skips from pizza no. 6 (potato and blue cheese, my personal favorite) to no. 8 (mozzarella, arugula and runny egg).

No more. The three-location Seattle pizzeria has introduced a meatball pie to fill the seven-spot that has lain dormant for three years. When Flying Squirrel opened its Seward Park location in 2008, a vegan pizza occupied no. 7, says manager Brian Vescovi. But animal-eschewing patrons preferred to design their own vegetable combo pies, and so one day the vegan pie just quietly slipped off the menu, along with its assigned number.

“The no. 7 just ceased to exist and the reputation became like that of Sasquatch or something,” says Vescovi. “People swore they had seen it on the menu again sometimes,” though such sightings were never confirmed.

About a month ago, chef/owner Bill Coury and cook Cody Perez brainstormed a meatball pizza recipe, something Flying Squirrel had never done before. Taste testers deemed the pie worthy of occupying the mythical no. 7 slot. Let’s hope they also enjoyed the irony of a meatball pie replacing a vegan one.

The meatballs are made in house with veal and grass-fed beef, and keep company with fresh mozzarella, basil, parmigiano-reggiano and the Squirrel’s tomato sauce. Since the kitchen can only make so many meatballs, usually fewer than a dozen of these pizzas are available each night. They aren’t nearly as rare as a Sasquatch sighting, but rare enough that the suckers kept selling out rapidly night after night before Vescovi had a chance to take a photo for me.

The new no. 7 is available at all three locations and will run you $19.50. Also, hooray, Flying Squirrel will let you order a half-meatball pie.

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Tags: Pizza, Flying Squirrel Pizza Co, On the Menu

Where to Eat During National Pizza Week

Your options are many.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Jan 11, 2012 at 12:10PM 0 Comments

Photo: Olivia Brent

The ovens at Bar del Corso churn out mighty fine pies.

Seattle hasn’t always been a pizza town you know. Longtime residents talk of days when chains were basically your only option. Thankfully now things are different, saturated as we are with places like Bar del Corso and Serious Pie and Proletariat.

This being National Pizza Week (eye roll) it would seem an appropriate time to survey the many options before us. Bambino’s Pizzeria is a good place to start. From there you can plot your course with this nifty map of Seattle pizza places. And to see how the options stack up against each other, read Seattle Met’s Pizza Smackdown.

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Tags: Pizza, Quirky Holidays

Via Tribunali’s Long-Awaited Portland Outpost Opens Next Week

A Seattle standard heads south.

Posted by: Allecia Vermillion on Nov 09, 2011 at 02:15PM 0 Comments

Via Tribunali Portland. Photo via Facebook.

Via Tribunali is about to become an official Seattle export: The Neapolitan pizza chainlet has announced a November 15 opening date for its downtown Portland location.

According to the press materials, the pizzeria will be the first in the city certified by the Associazione Verace Pizzeria Napoletana, the official arbiter of legit Neapolitan pies. Tribunali owner Mike McConnell has teamed up with Portland restaurateur Bruce Carey (the guy behind Rose City notables like Bluehour) as well as Presidents of the United States of America drummer Jason Finn. What, you were expecting someone from The Shins?

The pizzeria was first announced in early 2010, but suffered enough delays that Eater Portland recently described Tribunali’s opening as the “big ol’ question mark of this year.” The pizzeria’s also aiming to go bicoastal; the Via Tribunali website says the Manhattan location will open January 2, 2012.

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Tags: Pizza, Portland , Via Tribunali

Destination-Worthy Dining on Beacon Avenue

Bar del Corso, Travelers Thali House, and Inay’s Asian Pacific Cuisine make for good eating.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Sep 28, 2011 at 09:41AM 0 Comments

Bar del Corso’s “flawless” pie.

As The Stranger’s Bethany Jean Clement, and more recently, our very own Kathryn Robinson, have noted, changes are afoot on Beacon Avenue: “Except for a scattering of mom-and-pop joints—and more than a few terrific home kitchens, no doubt—Beacon Hill has never been a terribly auspicious place to bring an appetite. Until now,” writes Robinson.

Boosting most of the buzz is Bar del Corso, the new pizzeria of Seattle dining-scene vet Jerry Corso. But then there’s the second iteration of Capitol Hill Indian favorite Travelers. And Inay’s Asian Pacific Cuisine, which boasts “the best Filipino restaurant drag queen waiter in the biz,” known to bust out a song or two.

Spectacles aside, what makes them destination-worthy restaurants? Read the rest of Robinson’s take on the culinary boom of Beacon Ave.

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Tags: New Seattle Restaurants, Pizza

Tuscan Stone Pizza Vacates Downtown Seattle Location

Makes for Issaquah.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Sep 27, 2011 at 03:34PM 0 Comments

See you next summer—maybe. Tuscan Stone Pizza vacates the lot on Second and Pine in downtown Seattle.

Antsy ones, those Meyer brothers.

After debuting their Tuscan Stone Pizza trailer in Kent then bailing for Bellevue in late March, then opening a second branch in downtown Seattle not two months ago, Jeffrey and David Meyer have packed up the Emerald City oven and taken it to Issaquah.

David chalks up the move to the changing seasons. “We quickly learned that’s a summer location,” he says in reference to the lot on Second and Pine, adding sales dropped as the days got darker. Will they resurface there next year? “We’ll see what happens.”

You’ll find the Tuscan Stone in Issaquah at 22411 SE 62nd Street daily 11–8. The Meyers continue to operate on the corner of Bellevue Way and Main Street as well.

Wonder how goes business for the rest of the crew at Second and Pine?

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Tags: Pizza, Street Food

Zaw Pizza Plans First Eastside Outpost

It’s going on Mercer Island.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Sep 15, 2011 at 09:30AM 0 Comments

Zaw Pizza, coming soon to Mercer Island and sooner to Wallingford.

The folks from Zaw Pizza get in touch to say plans are in motion for a kitchen on the Eastside, the first for the you-bake-it biz–starved region. The new spot is slated for a late October opening in Tabit Village Square, on Southeast 27th Street.

In addition to its about-to-open Wallingford storefront (the grand hurrah is Saturday), the local pie chain currently operates in five locations: Capitol Hill, Ballard, South Lake Union, Queen Anne, and Wedgwood.

To see how Zaw measures up to its eco/health-conscious competitors, check out our Seattle Pizza Smackdown.

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Tags: Seattle Restaurant Openings, Pizza, Zaw Pizza

Tuscan Stone Pizza Comes to Downtown Seattle

The brothers behind the Bellevue original go West.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Aug 16, 2011 at 10:21AM 3 Comments

Tuscan Stone Pizza in downtown Seattle.

It’s been about two weeks since Tuscan Stone Pizza set up in downtown Seattle, and the decision to settle on Second and Pine seems a wise one. “We’re starting to get repeat customers,” says David Meyer, who along with his brother Jeffrey launched the curbside business (the duo has since brought on two more partners).

The Meyers opened the first Tuscan Stone on the corner of Bellevue Way and Main Street in late March (they operated in Kent for a short time prior), then figured it time to colonize the other side of Lake Washington. They scouted various locations before deciding the downtown lot was their best bet. There the pizzaioli wood-fire the 10 pies (thin crust, cooked in 90 seconds at 800 degrees) populating a menu split between American-style and more classic Italian varieties. The dough is made fresh every morning.

Brother David says there are two more trailers in the pipeline, though locations are still up in the air, as is the time frame. He could only offer that they hope to get them operating before the end of the year. Till then, the Bellevue and Seattle ovens are open daily 11–8.

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Tags: Pizza, Street Food

East Coast Pizza in Pioneer Square: Calozzi’s Moves Menu Beyond Cheesesteaks

Philly native Al Calozzi promises real-deal pizza at his soon-to-be-expanded Occidental Ave shop.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Aug 15, 2011 at 09:42AM 16 Comments

Calozzi’s, on Occidental between Yesler and Cherry, will expand into an area behind the restaurant formerly occupied by Utilikilts.

When Al Calozzi first hatched a plan to sell cheesesteaks to bar revelers on the Belltown sidewalks, people told him he couldn’t compete with the hot dog vendors.

This isn’t the East Coast, they said.

“Just try one,” he would reply. And they would, and then they’d get it. “I’ve been making this sandwich since I was 10 years old,” says Calozzi, dropping the “g” in “making” like any good Philadelphia native would. “It’s a very unique thing when it’s made right.”

Calozzi, who moved to Seattle five years ago, found a permanent home for his business last September in an Occidental Avenue storefront between Yesler and Cherry in Pioneer Square. It’s just around the corner from Tat’s Delicatessen, another cheesesteak hub. Calozzi recognizes his competition good naturedly, but points out that Tat’s is more of a deli than a cheesesteak shop—a distinction that might seem arbitrary to anyone unfamiliar with Philly cuisine. But it’s true that while Tat’s features a long list of sandwiches, the brief menu at Calozzi’s (steaks, plus meatball and chicken cutlet subs) fits on a small chalkboard. Calozzi does sell Blue Line cheesecakes, the retirement project of a neighborhood cop that he befriended, but overall the operation has been pretty barebones.

That’s about to change. When Utilikilts gave up the space it was occupying behind his restaurant, Calozzi jumped at the opportunity to start serving pizza. The newly expanded shop will accommodate up to 150 people, he says, and the pizza will be like none other in Seattle. “I’ve tasted them all out here,” he says. “It’s not pizza, it’s not.”

To open our eyes to the way of the true pie, Calozzi will soon be crafting hand-tossed pies in the East Coast tradition—he’s even importing water from the homeland to make his crusts. A deal has been struck with nearby Salumi to supply pepperoni and sausage, and every Friday Calozzi will feature a special pizza—Sicilian-style, for example. The pies will come in individual and larger sizes, and Calozzi plans to offer beer and wine, though he says red birch beer—popular in Pennsylvania—is the perfect beverage pairing for pizza.

On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights Calozzi’s will be open until 4am to feed the bar crowd. The pizza oven is on its way, and the whole thing should be up and running within two months, estimates its owner.

But while he’s taking pains to make sure his pies are East-Coast perfect, it’s the cheesesteak that will remain the heart of Calozzi’s business.

“The sandwich, that’s my baby,” he says.

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Tags: Seattle Restaurant Openings, Pizza, Pioneer Square, East Coast Eats

A Chat with Olaiya Land About the Pantry at Delancey

The cofounder fields our burning questions.

Posted by: Katie Ormsby on Apr 27, 2011 at 02:21PM 0 Comments

Olaiya Land, Pantry at Delancey cofounder. Photo courtesy olaiyalandcatering.com.

Family-style dinners for 26, a summer-long roster of enticing classes, a trio of seasoned toques…it’s no wonder Seattleites are pumped for the Pantry at Delancey, the community kitchen opening behind the beloved Ballard pizzeria.

With the launch date fast approaching (look for it in May), we got in touch with cofounder Olaiya Land, a cooking instructor at Delancey and owner of an eponymous catering company. Here, she shares what about the Pantry has her most excited.

What made you decide to open the Pantry?

Brandon Pettit (co-owner of Delancey), Brandi Henderson (Delancey pastry chef), and I are a group of friends who work really well together. I met Brandon back when we worked at Boat Street Kitchen, and we’ve been friends since. He’s like a mad scientist when it comes to cooking; the Pantry will let us play off of each other to create new and exciting things.

What inspired the venture?

There’s a vibrant DIY scene in Seattle, and we love farmers markets. So that really influenced us along with local cheese makers, bee keepers, et cetera.

A big part of the Pantry will be cooking classes. Who do you picture attending these classes?

We’d like to reach a wide range of Seattleites. Realistically we’ll probably draw mostly from Seattle’s uber-foodies, but I’m super excited about also introducing people to cooking. We’re offering a wide variety of classes that meet different skill levels. But I think most classes will work for even a beginner cook.

What are some of the main challenges of catering versus working at a restaurant?

With catering, you have to be very flexible. Since you’re cooking in a new kitchen each time, you don’t know what to expect. It can be stressful, especially huge events like weddings. But it’s also very exciting.

In addition to cooking classes and catering services, the Pantry will host family-style dinners. How many people can fit at these events?

We’ll have a dinner table that’s 16 feet long, and we hope to eventually be able to host up to 26 people at each dinner.

What excites you most about the Pantry?

We want to host community events, which I’m looking forward to. Basically we would host someone like a farmers market vendor for a talk and cocktails. I think we’ll be able to fit about 35 people at those. I’m probably most excited, though, about getting people to cook and realizing it’s not difficult. I want to empower them and get them cooking for their friends and family.

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Tags: Seattle Restaurant Openings, Pizza, Ballard, Pantries and Mercantiles

MOD Pizza Opens on Capitol Hill

The fourth branch officially fires the oven on April 2.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Mar 31, 2011 at 08:15AM 0 Comments

MOD Pizza opens on Capitol Hill. The original MOD, pictured here, is downtown.

That didn’t take long. Not two days after scoping 20-plus forthcoming restaurants, news arrives that one from the batch is ready for business.

The MOD Pizza people send word that they’re opening the graffiti-bedecked restaurant at 519 Broadway in the Joule Building “officially” on Saturday, April 2.

The pies at fast-casual local chain MOD are uniformly priced at $6.28 and at the Cap Hill branch, can be eaten among the murals of local artist Jeff Jacobson. Hours are as follows: Sunday through Thursday 11-10, Friday and Saturday 11-11.

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Tags: Seattle Restaurant Openings, Capitol Hill, Pizza

The Newest Seattle Restaurant Trend: Graffiti

Capitol Hill’s Mod Pizza will be the latest to join the tagged team.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Feb 15, 2011 at 08:48AM 1 Comments

Graffiti everywhere. Here, at Revel in Fremont.

Mod Pizza, “a fast-paced exciting environment” where the pie arrives super fast and is uniformly priced at $6.28, will soon debut its fourth branch, this one on Capitol Hill. When it opens at 519 Broadway East in the last weeks of March (the oven was recently installed), diners will consume their pizza super fast among splashy-sassy walls.

Says company rep Mary Douglas, “Like all the other Mods, this site will look different and have that ‘edge’ to it.” “Edge” will come courtesy of “an amazing graffiti artist” whose paint job will embellish the interior, she reveals.

The pizzeria follows the lead of Revel in Fremont, where an abstract pastel by Seattle artist Pubs (above) flanks the exterior. At Munchbar in Bellevue, neon boomboxes, stars, and marshmallow scribble, courtesy Jordan Nickel, bedeck the walls in a very Fresh Prince sort of way. Belltown’s Dope Burgers does a ragtag beefwich that kinda resembles a flying saucer. And then there’s the midroom mural at Satay.

Five newcomers in three months, give or take—the Banksy effect is sweeping Seattle.

Spot the spray anywhere else?

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Tags: New Seattle Restaurants, Seattle Restaurant Openings, Capitol Hill, Pizza, Restaurant Trends