A muse can take many forms. For some it's a beautiful partner, always lingering at their side with wisdom and guidance. For me it's a perfectly baked pizza and amazing lighting. I had extra footage from my visit to Driftwood Oven's new spot in Lawrenceville so I put it to some tunes.
Enjoy the video and if you've had a chance to make it to Driftwood Oven for their soft opening let me know how you enjoyed it!
It's no secret that I adore Driftwood Oven's pizza. I spent a lot of money on gasoline chasing them around to every corner of Pittsburgh. But most of their travels have come to an end as they've settled on a permanent home in Lawrenceville.
They've taken up residence at 3615 Butler St (the old Matteo's spot) where they'll be slinging 16 inch pizzas with a full bar and a roof over their heads. Three years of hard work to sell pizzas and an amazingly successful Kickstarter is really paying off for Neil, Justin and the whole Driftwood Oven crew.
I was lucky enough to pop into their shop during their soft opening. It was a Sunday full of sunshine and I did my best to capture their pizza on video. Look forward to more coverage of Driftwood Oven as they figure out this whole permanent pizza thing. Maybe we'll even see some of their delicious and elusive square pizza slices...
This is Driftwood Oven's delicious Archer pizza. A bit bigger and sturdier than their mobile version.
Welp, the Driftwood Oven boys are at it again. Towards the end of November they announced that they were going to focus their Winter energy on making Matteo's old house their home and open a shop on Butler St. After years of traveling around the city, battling for their lives in multiple pizza dojos, and dealing with the elements, Neil and Justin thought they deserved a solid roof over their heads.
After all, they ventured to the corners of the city to serve us pizza, it's about time we travel their way.
Driftwood Oven is opening up in the old Matteo's spot on Butler Street. I'm not sure what happened to Matteo's, but I'm confident a somewhat casual pizza shop will do wonders in the Lawrenceville area. But, because they're upgrading from a tent to a sturdy structure with an actual roof they need a bit of help with the extra expenses. So they launched a Kickstarter to raise the extra money.
I'm typically a bit skeptical of Kickstarters because creators tend to get a too grandiose with their promises. Typically resulting in failed goals or setting impossible expectations. The steady rolling Driftwood Oven crew has hit a sweet spot with their rewards and have a solid track record of quality to back up their promises.
The rewards are far from crazy and give you an opportunity to pre-buy pizzas at bulk discounts. For $100 you get an invite to their Kickstarter Party which is already in the running for the 2018 Pizza Party of the year.
Driftwood Oven is a success and pizza shop like no other. They are hard workers who built a pizza empire from scratch. As of this writing the Kickstarter is about eight hours old and has already raised over $10,000. Each of those dollars represents a delicious archer they served in the dark winter nights outside Staghorn Cafe in Greenfield and the long days of prepping dough for those sweltering days outside of Grist House.
A couple of classic pies from Driftwood Oven
I am a firm believer that everyone's favorite pizza place is whatever they were raised on. Luciano's and Monte Cello's hold a special place in my heart even though their modern forms may not be the greatest version of their pie. Driftwood Oven having a permanent home will give family's another great option for Friday pizzas and I bet you that place will host someone's birthday each weekend. Maybe so much that they'll create a Driftwood Oven Birthday Song?
More importantly, Butler Street is peppered with businesses that are out of touch with the neighborhood. It's the unfortunate side effect of the population boom and investors trying to capitalize on a trend. Participating in the Driftwood Oven Kickstarter gives residence a way to say "I made this happen" and "This is the kind of business I want in my backyard."
Can you even believe that Butler St is anchored on one end by Driftwood oven and on the other Slice Island? Pittsburgh has certainly become the secret pizza capitol of the North East.
One final thing - their mobile pizza unit isn't going anywhere as they said they'll roll it out of the shop when things get a bit warmer. Stay tuned for more Driftwood Oven pizza updates.
Saturday mornings at Espresso A Mano are hectic. You have everyone in the Lawrenceville area piling in for one of the best cups of coffee in the city. The line accordions its way out the door, tables are hard to come by. A team of bikers orders 10 cappuccino’s and the espresso machine hisses in excitement.
And what is better than a cup of coffee? Obviously, if you’re reading this you think pizza is great. And it is. But it has its place. Usually in the afternoon or evening. But maybe we should start exploring pizza’s contribution to the world of coffee?
Coffee spills into my stomach, causing it to grumble with delight. I pour all the coffee down my gullet and while I’m energized to the point that I can see into the future and tab through 30 browser windows, my guts are feeling forgotten.
A body cannot subsist on coffee alone. The folks at Espresso a Mano realize this after witnessing their customers began to quake. Scones and croissants aren’t potent enough to ward off “Coffee Stomach.” Something had to be done. To steady the human body and soak up caffeine, they summon pizza to their coffee shop.
The soft dough and oils bring harmony to the digestion tract while the cheese and fresh toppings provide a flavor that complements your cappucino.
The pizza is brought in from La Tavola Italiana in Mt Lebanon. It’s not a place I’ve heard of before, but there’s a reason they import pizza from miles away. If you didn’t know any better you would think it was being shipped in from Rome every morning.
By the time you’re eating the pizza (which arrives by noon on Saturdays at Espresso A Mano) it’s mildly warm, in a comforting way. The quality of the ingredients keep the pizza from fizzling out. Like a great cup of coffee that’s easy to drink piping hot and smooth when it hits room temperature.
The crust is chewy and soft. There’s some tearing that needs to happen and you’re definitely getting your flours worth. If you’re feeling adventurous you’ll grab some of that doughy crust to dip into your coffee. No one will look at you with shame. It’s something we’ve all wanted to every so often, you’re just the brave person who took action.
Sauce is tangy and thick like a pasta sauce. There are swirls of toppings and a layer of cheese as white as the fence Huck Finn painted.
I’m a proponent of eating pizza from the source—but these large slices delivered to Espresso A Mano hold their own. They’re a tease of the real pizza, the pizza that hasn’t been removed from its natural habitat. The pizza that bursts from the oven and into your mouth is a pizza that you cherish.
Yet, this is amazing. And I cannot wait for their pizza shop to open up in East Liberty. Their shop, Taglio, will specialize in Roman Style pizza. If it’s anything like the pizza I had in Rome, they’ll charge you by the gram.
These slices were built for endurance and make great traveling companions. Get one to-go with your espresso or save it for later. The genius of this pizza is the minimal toppings. There’s nothing offensive or over-the-top on this pizza. It’s clearly the fundamentals and nothing more. The lack of exoticism acts as its own preservative. There’s no gloopy cheese to erode the pizza and there’s the right amount of oil without becoming slippery.
The this dough soaks up any ingredients that try to escape. The longer you wait, the better this pizza tastes. It’s a functional masterpiece of pizza engineering.
I’ll be interviewing the owner this Saturday. Stay tuned for more insight about Taglio. Got questions? Get in touch.
Pittsburgh has caught pizza fever and every one is getting in on the action. Last week we explored the world of Pizza Cones from Pizza Cono in Squirrel Hill. This week’s new challenger in the pizza arena is Espresso A Mano in Lawrenceville.
Normally they’re busy serving the best coffee money can buy while peddling devilish croissants. But they’ve realized they’ve been ignoring a large demographic in Pittsburgh - Pizza Enthusiasts.
For $3 you can grab a slice of pizza that isn’t made on site. It’s made in a pizza place in Mt. Washington. It was busy and loud and I didn’t quite catch the name and I’m sorry.
On the weekends, they get a few pies delivered to the coffee shop. They cut them up, waiting for an over-caffeinated patron to order a slice. The perfect compliment to a stomach slopping around with coffee.
Through the glass I saw a sample and it looks like something you’d eat at Il Pizzaiolo or Mercurio’s. The crust looked soft and fluffy, the ingredients fresh, and a dazzling piece of pizza that would feel at home in Naples.
I’ll have to go back for a taste next weekend.
I’m pumped more places are carrying pizza. In this dire winter I’m comforted knowing I never have to travel too far to stumble into a pizza oasis.
Some say Pittsburgh’s Little Italy is in Bloomfield. But those people are wrong. They’ve never been to the secret best Pizza place in Pittsburgh - the backyard of a certain Dan Cardone.
I’m lucky enough to frequent this quasi-pizzeria regularly and it never disappoints. When you get over the shock that there’s a legitimate pizza oven in the backyard (next to the Bocci court, naturally), the surreal thought thatmaybe, just maybe, you’ve been transported to Naples begins to set in.
The oven is a magical thing. Dough, cheese, and sauce go in, and out comes a circular, bubbly, disc, that shares the same DNA as the pizzas served in the heart of Italy. The edges get a little charred during the cooking. But because of the 900 degree temperatures, it remains fluffy and soft on the inside. It’s hard outer shell is just an evolutionary feature of pizza and, obviously, how it’s survived in the wild so long.
No matter what comes out of that oven, it’s automatically added to the list you keep in the back of your mind of the top 10 pizzas you’ve ever eaten. There’s no discussion, no discourse. It’s added onto the list and there’s nothing you can do about it. Then you spend the rest of your life wondering if you’re the type of person who builds a brick oven in your backyard. And guess what? You probably are. Start collecting those bricks.
While my Lawrenceville apartment can’t currently host a pizza oven without fear of burning down a city block, this is the next best thing. Enjoy the photos - they chronicle my latest outing there and what it takes for a pizza to go from a chunk of dough to a slice of heaven.
Piccolo Forno pizza is a strong contender for best pizza in Pittsburgh. It harkens back to the olden days when Northern Italy was the pizza mecca. Some may say it still is, but that’s an argument for another day.
Domenic Branduzzi runs Piccolo Forno like a machine lubricated by the freshest and purest Italian olive oil. The pizzas come out piping hot, with a perfect balance of cheese, crust, and sauce. Nothing is particularly overwhelming, but the trifecta plays well with each other. They’re just too polite to get in one another’s way.
Piccolo Forno doesn’t follow the standard neapolitan formula, instead opting for the type of pizza you’d find in Northern Italy. Simple, humble, and delicious.
Some pizza from Cattivo, Pittsburgh super secret pizza gem.
