When the invitation to a celebration of Pizzeria Paradiso‘s 20th anniversary for food writers/bloggers arrived in my inbox, I figured the event wasn’t for me. All I saw were the words “20 Something.” I’m out, I thought. Thankfully, I looked again. The “20 Something” referred to the age of the restaurant, and not the invited guests.
Pizzeria Paradiso turning twenty is quite an accomplishment in an era when restaurant turnover is a fact of life. The consistently good Neapolitan style pizza was the first of its kind in the DC area. As a somewhat reluctant pizza eater, I liked it immediately for it’s charred and crispy crust, baked in a wood-fired oven. I may not get to Georgetown often, but Pizzeria Paradiso is certainly at the top of my list for casual dining in the area.
Having determined that I didn’t exceed the acceptable age limit for the anniversary event, my husband and I headed to the Georgetown location where we were treated to five types of pizza along with beer pairings. I am not a beer fan, although I gave the Elysian Men’s Room Red 5.6% American Pale Ale a try. It wasn’t bad, but really, why would someone name a beer after the men’s room?
I enjoyed the flavorful Atomica pizza featuring salami, black olives, hot pepper flakes, and mozzarella. Even better was the 20th anniversary pizza with roasted garlic pesto, red peppers, speck, buffalo mozzarella, pine nuts, parsley and onions. I don’t eat a lot of speck, but it was pretty spec-tacular (sorry, couldn’t resist).
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| 20th anniversary pizza photo by DesiGrub |
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| Genovese pizza with potato, pesto, and parmesan |
Chef/Owner Ruth Gresser was on hand to help guests make pizzas to take home. I expressed my desire for a cracker-thin crust and Chef Gresser willingly obliged.
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| Chef Ruth Gresser photo by DesiGrub |
I topped it with artichokes, basil, roasted garlic, red onion, and a touch of goat cheese. Even if I pretty much copied the ingredients used by fellow food blogger johnnaknowsgoodfood, I’m proud of my hand-tossed pizza. It made for a very tasty dinner the next night. Thanks Pizzeria Paradiso!
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| my personal pizza |
The media event at Pizzeria Paradiso was great fun. Even though it didn’t end up being for people who are twenty-something, my husband and I were successful in significantly skewing the average age of the attendees upwards. That’s how it is in the food blog world, and I just need to get used to it.
Pizzeria Paradiso’s official week of celebration is November 7-13. Check out the events and giveaways at www.eatyourpizza.com or on twitter at @eatyourpizza.
Pizzeria Paradiso, 3282 M Street NW, Washington, DC (locations also in Dupont Circle and Old Town Alexandria)
