Weekly Pizza Lunch: Marta

My #weeklypizzalunch/#Kubslunch this week was with my friend and former MSLO colleague Jennifer Jarett at Marta, Danny Meyer’s new Roman-style pizzeria in the “NoMad” neighborhood’s Martha Washington Hotel. The mushroom pizza here is OFF THE HOOK — if people still say that (I don’t think they do). I’d almost consider adding chanterelles to my own … Read more

Weekly Pizza Lunch: Rose & Joe’s Italian Bakery

I’ve probably eaten slices from Rose & Joe’s more than from anywhere else, and I can say from considerable experience that an edge (but not a corner), on a plate, no reheat is the way to go. It loses something in the reheat, and in fact is best somewhere between warm and not-straight-out-of-the-oven hot. I … Read more

What is “bar pizza”? (Or “bar pies” or “tavern pizza” or “pub pies” or what have you)

A Margot's Pizza bar-style pizza
A plain bar pizza from the second round of testing for the Margot’s Pizza pop-up.

Good question, and there are as many answers to it as there are bars serving pizza. Which is to say, it’s somewhat fluid. The South Shore of Massachusetts may have the greatest density of this style than any other region, but it’s a genre that appears in other states as well, if in slightly different form.

To my mind, most bar or tavern pies I’m familiar with and love are:

  • Very thin crusted
  • Decidedly crisp
  • Well-done but not to the point of being burned
  • Large enough to share but small enough you could house one yourself

But that’s the physicality of the bar pizza. There is also a communal and spiritual aspect to this style of pizza. The best bar pizza joints are beloved gathering spots that bring together generations and social classes.

Read more