New Year, New Pizza
Could 2022 be the year of pizza? Well yeah, most likely.
Hi pizza fans! Ready to get greasy?
Is 2022 gonna be the best year for pizza in Pittsburgh? Let me look into my mozzarella ball to see what we might be dealing with…
I foresee we will see some newer pizza shops expand and upgrade their wares.
I think we’ll see some movers and shakers both move and shake.
I’m sure we’ll see some newerer pizza offerings in the spring time.
Pizza is pretty good, as it turns out. And in 2022 it’s going to keep getting better. There’s already some bits of pizza news that are getting me excited to renew my pizza resolution of eating more pizza.
Woodfired Pizza Upgrades Cheese Supplier
When I first went to Woodfired Pizza (the former home of Pizza Taglio) I was underwhelmed. It wasn’t bad, it was simply basic. Let’s be honest, a basic Neapolitan pizza is still pretty good, but they’re up against a tough legacy. They have an impossibly large pizza oven to fill because Taglio is a tough act to follow. Pumping out pizzas similar in nature, in the same venue, it’s hard not to compare.
They’ve been open for almost a year now and are making a huge upgrade to their cheese game by partnering with Caputo Brothers Creamery. This is the same provider that Driftwood Oven uses (the most artisan of artisan pizza??). As an avid Driftwood Oven cheese consumer, I can say this is top notch cheese.
Pizza is evolutionary. I rarely make the same pizza twice, making small tweaks here and there always searching for that elusive perfect pizza. Does the perfect pizza exist? Perhaps. Perhaps in some corner of the galaxy there is a universal perfect pizza. Or maybe it’s waiting for us in some alley in Squirrel Hill.
As Woodfired continues to pursue their perfect pizza, upgrading their cheese to a local and loyal cheese supplier should improve their pizza game considerably. I’ll be revisiting Woodfired soon to see how they’re doing as they take another step on their pizza journey.
Strip District One Step Closer to Becoming New Pizza Mecca
The Strip District is already home to a variety of stellar pizza shops. Iron Born has a huge presence along Smallman st. Then there’s classics like Bella Notte, Enrico Biscotti, and, my uncle’s favorite, Colangelo’s (he can’t get enough of those cushiony square slices). Not far from the hub-hub of shops is Pizzeria Davide and Osteria 2350.
The Strip District serves as a buffet of pizza shops, an eclectic choir singing the praises of this Italian treat. Listen closely and you can hear the tone of every kind of slice in existence in perfect harmony. Thin, thick, saucy, cheesy. Whatever. You can get it in the Strip. And now there’s a new addition coming to the area.
Papa J’s is moving from Carnegie to the former location from Smallman Galley (right next to Pamela’s). This is a huge Italian institution moving into the heart of Italian shopping and eating. It’s a perfect match like a meatball plopped onto a big plate of spaghetti.
Well that’s pizza for the week! Sorry for the delayed newsletter, crazy week last week. Hope you’re doing great and the pizza is coming out piping hot!
Pizza ya later!
-Dan Tallarico, Pizza Journalist