April 29, 2008
First Look: Pete's Apizza
New Haven-style pizza is now at a Metro stop near you - well, just one, off of the Green line. Located a stone's throw from the Columbia Heights metro station, Pete's Apizza (pronounced Pete's "ah-BEETs", not like those Little Caesar commercials) is the latest addition to the neighborhood's housing and retail revival/explosion. Pete's serves up the trademark thin, chewy-crispy crusted pie, along with a selection of salads, paninis, pastas, and gelato from Dolcezza in Georgetown.
For those unfamiliar with New Haven-style pizza, an introduction on the Columbia Heights News website by co-owner Mark Wilkinson offers some background:
Short version: New Haven Apizza is an outgrowth of the Italian-American community that settled in the New Haven area in the early 20th century. It reveres the Italian food culture of fresh ingredients, simple construction, and unpretentious presentation.Many people think New Haven pizza is all about coal as a heat source. Not entirely true, although the most famous New Haven pizzerias do use coal-fired ovens. Our absolute favorite New Haven pizza is actually found in East Haven in a restaurant named Grande Apizza, where they fire the pizza in a gas-fired oven, like we do ...
On opening night this past Monday, Pete's was handling brisk sit down and take out business. All orders are placed and paid for at the counter, which provides guests with a clear view of the open kitchen and gigantic metal pizza oven. Pizza is available by the slice ($2.50 to $3.25) or you can order a whole 18" pie ($18 to $24). Patrons can get creative with a dazzling selection of seventeen different toppings. Some of the more unusual choices include fried eggplant, grilled artichokes, asparagus, and house-made sausage. Most notably, Pete's allows diners to not only design their own pizza, but also design their own slice. Unfortunately, the menu in Pete's is so small, it is nearly impossible to read the list of toppings unless you are standing directly under the sign. Diners lacking 20/15 vision should grab a take out menu at the door and read it while in line.
Pete's also features four signature pizzas, plus a gluten-free pizza (celiacs rejoice!). The Sorbillo ($8) is much like a cross between a pizza and a calzone. Puffy, rectangular slabs of dough are stuffed with salami, ricotta and buffalo mozzarella, and topped with tomato sauce and an extra cheese. The Down-the-Hill ($24) is an upscale take on several classic toppings: meatball, house-made sausage, caramelized onions, roasted peppers, wild mushrooms, and Kalamata olives. Pete's also has two white pizzas, including the New Haven signature: clam pizza, which we ordered as a full pie over the individual slices that had been sitting out on the counter for a few minutes. We also ordered a small Olivada salad ($4/$8) upon the recommendation of the cashier.
Within five minutes, a confused-looking server arrived at our table holding the salad and a single slice of clam pizza, which may have been a mistake, because it took another half hour before receiving the New Haven pizza. However, the Olivada salad tied us over very well. The dressing, a mixture of Kalamata olives, garlic, and oil, was earthly and faintly pungent. This paired nicely with the sweetness of oven-roasted tomatoes, creamy Caprino (a very mild, soft goat cheese), and crunchy toasted pine nuts. Overall, a very well balanced salad despite being the most adventurous of Pete's salads.
After much anticipation, our giant New Haven clam pie arrived at the table. Big, crusty triangles were loaded with bits of sea salty clam. Combined with the bracing Pecorino Romano, this pizza is not recommended for those with high blood pressure. The flavor is bold, and the texture is a bit dry, chewy and pleasantly burnt, particularly along the crispy edges. The crunchy edges are so tasty that we wish the oven were hotter. The center of the pizza pales in comparison; it is a little too chewy and without more browning, the saltiness of the cheese and clam overpowers the oregano, garlic and olive oil. However, the tables at Pete's come equipped with shakers of Parmesan, red pepper flakes, and herbs, and we discover that the pizza is much improved with the addition of extra herbs.
For dessert, Pete's offers several classic Italian treats, including cookies, about a dozen different flavors of gelato or sorbet, tiramisu and a chocolate hazelnut bar. The bar ($4.25) is a decadent layer of dark chocolate with cookie and nut bits, follow by chocolate mousse, and topped with white chocolate ganache and hazelnuts. The deeply intense chocolate flavor is enhanced by a light sprinkling of sea salt. While the flavors of this dessert are sophisticated, the construction and presentation leave a little something to be desired. The bar is prepared in advance and refrigerated, arriving at the table on a cold plate. Left to its own devices in the fridge, the ganache congealed into a semi-solid mass that is, ironically, reminiscent of melted mozzarella cheese. Meanwhile, the bottom layer was so hard that I had to grip my fork with both hands and drive it into the chocolate like I was wielding a medieval weapon. While very tasty, the bar should not go straight from refrigerator to table. Rounding out their selection, Pete's also has a full espresso bar and serves high quality Illy coffee, as well as Harney and Sons tea.
Pete's motto is "It's not just pizza, it's 'ah-BEETS.'" Indeed, Pete's is more than just tasty pizza. It is clear that the owners have put careful thought into the food. The other courses are genuinely good and thoughtfully conceived; they are not throwaway dishes that have be tacked on to round out a lop-sided menu. Although there are already several well-established pizza restaurants in the area (including Red Rocks, located only a few blocks away), nearly all of them specialize in traditional Italian brick oven pizza. By specializing in New Haven-style, Pete's brings some variety to the D.C. pizza landscape, and, unlike Jumbo Slice, their pizza by the slice is worth ordering even when sober.
Pizza by the slice is $2.50 to $3.25; whole pizzas are $18 to $24. Starters are $4 to $9, entrees are $8 to $11, and desserts are $4 to $6. The owners also note that beer and wine are soon to come.
Pete's Apizza
1400 Irving Street NW
Washington, DC 20009
202-332-PETE (7383)
Metro: Columbia Heights
Hours
Sunday - Thursday: 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.
Friday - Saturday: 11 a.m. - 11 p.m.
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ive said this elsewhere, but seriously, the prices for pizza here seem out of whack. i know a good slice/pie is at a premium in this area, but i already have a hard time paying 14 bucks at the italian store. 18 bones for a regular pie (that in a good pizza region, like nj or ny, would cost 10 or 11) is TOO MUCH.
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I'm definitely getting old, I remember buying pies for $6 freshman year of college.
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I grew up in NY, and pizza by the slice is up to $2.50-$3 there at standard pizzerias, never mind this fancy-pants stuff. If you're looking for cheap, get a frozen pizza.
Regardless, I am looking forward to checking this place out. New Haven style is a lovely thing. I made excuses to visit a friend at Yale just so we could get the pizza.
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Hmm....the picture doesn't make it seem all that appetizing, but being that this is really close to my apartment I will definitely give it a shot.
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I may be young and impressionable, but I thought the pizza was delicious! Also, it's hard to find worthy pizza in DC, being a Jersey-ite. I think it's worth the price, but I won't be frequenting for the sake of my wallet.
Also, saw a sign that said "Beer and Wine to Come" in addition to CM Jim Graham enjoying a plain slice...
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I got to try it and I love this pizza! Really tasty stuff. Finally the long night of barbarism known as the jumbo slice has come to an end and those of us in Adams Morgan-CH have good pizza in the 'hood in walking distance.
(what kind of reviewer even bothers to mention the service on the very first day of a new restaurant's opening? honestly, it came across as petty nitpicking.)
Also, the owners are locals who live in the area, not some faceless corporation.
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Price of wheat's almost tripled, fuel is through the roof, i have no idea what labor and taxes costs now. i dont see pizza prices coming down soon.
I guess 2Amys has spoiled me. I refuse to eat pizza unless I'm surrounded by screaming crotchfruit and their hiptard parents.
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a plain pie is not fancy pants. there is no way in hell it should cost 18 bucks. period. i am also skeptical about your claim that the majority of nyc pizzerias are charging $2.50 per slice.
its fucking pizza people. it's supposed to be affordable, not some bourgeois delicacy.
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"Hiptard parents?" What 2Amys are you going to?
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vace, still the best pie in town, is also around $10 a pie.
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I was there opening night as well. The pizza was good, though I didn't notice anything super-distinctive about it compared to the standard tri-state area Neapolitan pies. The interior reminds me of some of the places on Long Island I grew up with, if a little fancier.
Between RedRocks, Pete's, and Radius, the potential is there to really put on the pounds!
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Hey Monkey -- are you available to baby sit Fri. night?
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Monkey,
We may not be hiptards -- maybe just hippies -- but we tried to bring our screaming crochfruit to Pete's last night. Alas, no highchairs, so we wandered away -- even we indulgent Col. Heights parents were not willing to subject fellow dinners to a free-range toddler on opening night. We'll be back with a highchair soon. Pizza looks great.
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Pizza is the best indicator of economic conditions.
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"its fucking pizza people. it's supposed to be affordable, not some bourgeois delicacy."
Times have changed. Flour and cheese prices have increased 2-4 times over the past few years.
As for nyc: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/06/mmm-pizza-a-slice-but-at-what-price/
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If you DON'T think 2Amy's is full of hiptard parents.... You might be a hiptard parent.
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2 Amys was rated as one of the loudest restaurants in DC at 86 decibles.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/04/AR2008040402738.html?sid=ST2008040402725
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2 Amys is loud even when they're closed -- it has nothing to do with kids.
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I hope they sell it in giant slices that all the folks in CH will then want to eat after their evenings out at Wonderland and Red Derby...feel our pain CH, feel our pain...
and if it doesn't come in giant slices, then I'm just jealous...
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DC1 - Uncle Monkey is ALWAYS available to babysit. Like it says in the Bible, "Bring the children unto me and I will fetch a good price for them/Black in thy sight, O Lord."
Pizza stopped being an affordable commodity around the time Wolfgang Puck started putting f***ing arugula and panther sweat coulis on it.
I'll stick with the original Ledo's in Langley, cafeteria trays and all. R.I.P. Irish Pizza Pub. We hardly knew ye.
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I didn't gather that they did do "create your own slice". The girl in front of me in line asked to, and they told her that they have various premade slices to choose from, then she whined and they allowed it. Not sure that their intent is to make whole pies for your one slice request though (it may have been just accommodating for the first nite).
Just my impression though.
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Having grown up in Connecticut and having eaten many a pizza at The Spot (before it closed and competitor Pepe's took it over years later, a sacrilege!) I've actually been looking forward to Pete's opening and took the promise of a New Haven pizza at face value. I stopped by yesterday on the way home and I had only to observe three things before I went on my scowling, self-righteous way. The pizzas are round, not square. They have to be square. Preferably served on a metal sheet pan. Standard metal pizza ovens? Sorry. And finally, the pizzas lacked the charred crispness, the tomatoey tops, that define a New Haven pizza.
Next they'll start serving lobster rolls--cold with mayonnaise, not hot with butter--and call them genuine Milford, CT lobster rolls.
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Thank god I'm home. I've been in Mexico for the last week and was going through Monkey withdrawal. "Crotchfruit"--yowzaa!!!
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David St. Hubbins:
That makes sense - to me, the pizza seemed like standard south shore Long Island pizza, which is just dandy in my book. Except, they don't have Sicilian, which is practically mandatory on the Island.
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If you DON'T think 2Amy's is full of hiptard parents.... You might be a hiptard parent.
They're not hiptards, they're Yuppies; get your pejorative generalizations straight. Just 'cause I like those old school suede Pumas doesn't make me a hiptard.
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Parents on the wrong side of 40 are hardly "young urban professionals." Can we just split the difference and call them "farktards?" And I'm sure Pete's will have their fair share of hiptard parents. Can't wait for the NYTimes review of this place in the middle of "vibrant" Columbia Heights. Although, they'll probably give it some stupid real estate designation like "SoMo" for "South of Monroe Street."
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Parents on the wrong side of 40 are hardly "young urban professionals."
Thankfully I'm still on the "right" side of 40, but only for about another 18 months.
I seem to recall that when the term "yuppie" was coined the general rule was something like "under 40 making over 40". Of course, that was 20+ years ago when making $40K was more like making $100K now. But apparently the new deal is the "scuppie".
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scuppies unite!
their logo makes me ill. seriously, terrible design. i hope they know how to design an $18 pizza.
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Pffft. Poor urban professionals are where it's at! $25 organic cruelty-free single-serving pizzas at Coppis, $12 Belgian lambic ales; it's all about taking your wannabe upscale Puppie lifestyle that you just charged to your AmEx, laying it down on a bed of complacency, and slowly f***ing it to death. THAT's what made America great! That's what makes downtown a "lifestyle destination." That, and observing the mating habits of urban cougar nymphomaniacs. Given the demographics, I say Pete's is gonna have that in spades.
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farktards... perfect.
goatboy, Pete's is also charging $2.50/slice. what's your point?
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What's with the junior sized slices? I am not comparing to the "jumbo slice" nonsense, but just a regular sized slice of pizza. The slice I got yesterday looked more like a leftover than a proper slice. Pete's, you'll get plenty of drop in slice money from me, if you get it right!
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Do they deliver? I noticed a non-working "Order Online" link on their Web site, and I'm not sure why you'd want to order online if you were planning on dining there or doing carryout.
How did you know it was Jim Graham? Was it the bowtie, or the illegally-parked Beetle convertible in front of a fire hydrant on Irving Street?
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Scuppies flock to dine-in at 2 Amys because they wouldn't be caught dead hauling a stack of non-recyclable takeout pizza boxes to their Land Rovers.
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I grew up in Naples. My family's hovel was right beneath the oldest pizza stove in the world. At night ancient mozzerela dwarves would bring fresh cheese through the cobblestone streets, and the original marinara bubbled from the earth like truffles.
And I say all your pizza sucks!
Pete's beats the hell out of my regular place, the shameful hole in the wall with 16" cheese pies for 7.99. I am finally done with the the strange taste of GMO cheese injected with plastic to keep it shelved longer, and crust that is just solidified sausage grease from the last pie made.
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stmove
As cheese is not an organism it cannot by definition be GMO ("genetically modified organism"). I believe your assessment that the cheese is highly processed and at least derived from cows treated with the growth hormone RBST.
I'd also like to believe that your little ancient mozarella dwarves are really pixies or elves. Anyone who's seen Ring trilogy knows you don't want to eat anything touched by a dwarf, even if it comes from Naples.
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Thanks to everyone for the feedback and comments. It's very heartening to hear people's good reactions, but better still to get actionable constructive criticism.
As I write this, we're just entering DAY 3, and it's been a whirlwind, needless to say. We're working out some of the kinks that have come up, and I'm sure there are more that will surface over time. I appreciate everyone who recognizes that we are not a chain restaurant, drawing an "opening crew" from nearby locations to open a new location. We're just a group of locals, hiring an all-new staff on all-new equipment and procedures.
Comments on blogs like this, and communication with us directly about your experiences, are highly appreciated. We're working on making the ordering process more clear, and training the pizza staff to get the black-tan balance on the crust just right.
We do not anticipate delivering in this initial phase; we want to make sure to get the basics down pat before diving into the delivery business. And out wine & beer license is pending. We will have four beers on tap, a selection of additional beers in the bottle, and five reds + five whites in the wine cooler.
Also, we are implementing an online ordering system that will allow customers to place an order from the office, hop on the metro or bus or in their car, and pick it up -- prepaid, no muss no fuss -- on their way home. We'll make an announcement when that system is online.
And THANK YOU DCMama for noting that we don't have high chairs -- our space-saving high chairs are on order and coming soon.
Thanks again for all the great feedback. SEE YOU AT PETE'S!
Mike Wilkinson
Columbia Heights resident since 1999
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Would you consider a "10-and-under crotchfruit eat free!" promo for slow nights?
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DC1.. don't be so hasty to say cheese is not an organism, and since some of it turned into one bak in the 80's, it must have been modified since then. At a few of our lesser respected "micro-chains" I have watched a bag of mozarella grab it's hat and go out for a cigarette. I could care less about the GBH hormone, I mean RBST, it's a GMO damnit! I done seen it!
On the other hand: Pete's is really good. Thanks Pete's for opening. We need more brave souls like you.
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Feh! Give me a crust from the supermarket, some sauce, cheese, oil and garlic, and I can achieve my own pizza perfection. It's still just DC 'za
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WOW! We're three days into operations and we've been thrilled by the response.
We have been getting a lot of attention on DC blogs, foodie blogs and neighborhood blogs & websites, including this one. We were also featured yesterday in the uber-popular Daily Candy website and email blast.
As a result, particularly starting yesterday, we have been getting an unusually high volume of customers for a new restaurant in its first week of operation. Heck, I think even if we were still pre-internet age, with our location at the top of the Metro in Columbia Heights, we would have a LOT of customers right out of the gate.
As our first weekend approaches, we would like to ask customers to be patient if it looks like the line is getting kinda long, and if the food takes more than a few minutes to arrive at your table.
Our staff is all still in their first week of work, and they haven't experienced the first weekend crunch yet. If last night (Wednesday night) is any indication, they're starting to get the idea...!
If you've read about us this week and were planning on visiting to try it out, we would appreciate people spreading out their visits as much as possible during the day, rather than planning on bringing a group for lunch right at lunchtime crunch, or dinner right at dinner crunch time. I know that may be a lot to ask, but I'm hoping that it makes the experience during this first weekend smoother and more enjoyable for everyone.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT, KIND COMMENTS AND MOST OF ALL YOUR UNDERSTANDING.
We're so proud to be here and look forward to serving you.
Mike Wilkinson
Pete's
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I ate at Pete's last nite and although I could totally forgive them for slow service from being overwhelmed - I was so not impressed with the pizza. Both my slices (plain and pepperoni) were WAY salty. Plus the fountain soda was totally flat. Kudos to them though for letting me trade it in for a bottle of sparkling water.
I'll try it again at some point I'm sure, but two too salty strikes and it's off my list of regular CH eateries.
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I think Pete's is the tastiest pizza in DC. Seriously. The crust is crispy and slightly charred and there are plenty of good toppings choices. It seems like most of the comments here are from people who haven't even been yet.
It's worth a visit.
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I agree with arugulafiles. I went to Pete's last week--the pizza was so good, I started swearing.
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Pete's New Haven Style Apizza, located in the Highland Park building at the Columbia Heights Metro, now has wine and beer!
We're starting off with four beers on draft this weekend: Allagash White, Yuengling, Dogfish Head 60-Minute IPA, and Dominion Lager. Because we just obtained our license today, we probably won't have a full Friday night's supply of all four brews, but rest assured we'll be restocked tomorrow. We're also working with a distributor to offer a selection of bottled beers starting next week, including a great Italian summer favorite, Peroni. Stay tuned!
On the wine side, we have five reds and five whites, all Italian, with a range intended to match the flavors of your meal, from light and summery to fruit-bomb reds. We'll publish a detailed list shortly.
Pete's has been open for three weeks now, and we are most grateful for all of the support and kind words. If you're from Connecticut, make sure to tell us! We're beginning to keep a map highlighting the town of origin of out Connecticut guests!
Mike Wilkinson
Pete's
202-332-PETE (7383)
Sunday-Thursday 11A-10P
Friday-Saturday 11A-11P
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Hey Mike, thanks for updating us. I was recently diagnosed with celiac disease and so I'm looking forward to checking out Pete's and trying the gluten-free pizza. Can I make a pitch that you guys add a gluten-free beer to your list? Then life would be complete.