Inside, the open kitchen sets the stage: a pastaio (pasta maker) pulls fresh noodles, seemingly moving to the groove of the DJ playing lo-fi records in the dining room. The wine list only packs biodynamic and organic Italian producers and grower Champagne, keeping the selection regional and intentional.
Award-winning bartenders greet drinkers with warmth and authority, led by partner and lead bartender Jose Pereiro, who guides drinkers toward cocktails that suit their tastes. Since opening in 2017, MidCity has kept the focus squarely on the drinks, letting thoughtful cocktails take center stage without any unnecessary theatrics.
Known for their Neapolitan-meets-New York-style thin-crust pizza using slow-fermented dough that's crispy and chewy at the same time after being baked in electric ovens. Pies range from $17 for a cheese pie, to $25 for the "meatza." There are red pies and white pies, such as a pesto with mozzarella, ricotta, garlic, parmigiano, and lemon oil.
Google The meeting heard from Richard Smith, representing members of the church, said they did not want to stop the business trading. "Trading from a pizza van at the gates of the church in such a location is demonstrably unsuitable even, some say, disrespectful," he said. Smith also said the location of the van caused "disturbance and inconvenience" for churchgoers, particularly disabled and elderly people.
The dough is what really makes a Sodo pizza stand out - the sourdough base is made using flour from heritage grains and is fermented for 72 hours to make it light and digestible. But the toppings are no afterthought, with the team sourcing ingredients from local producers, including mozzarella and burrata made in Acton, pepperoni and nduja cured in Islington, honey from Walthamstow and leaves from a salad farm in Dagenham.
Sitting in one of the inside window seats at Flour + Water, we watched the Vespr lobby's giant mobile shimmer in the sunlight. Directly in front of us on the ground level, we could see what the diners on the patio outside had ordered. In turn, three women passing by on the street were so entranced by the sight of our pizzas they decided to come inside to snoop around.
Ask any Gen Xer who grew up going to Mr Gatti's, and they almost always have a story loaded with nostalgia. The affinity felt by millennials and Gen Xers who experienced Gatti's during their formative years is often palpable, with customers expressing deep emotional connections to the brand and its pizza offerings from their childhood experiences.
When you think of the quintessential examples of American pizza, you probably don't think about Connecticut unless you're from that state. New York, Chicago, or perhaps Detroit are more likely to come to mind. But Connecticut can hold its own in the pizza wars, having developed its own highly commendable New Haven-style pizza - known as "apizza" (pronounced "abeets") - which tends to be crispier, more oblong-shaped, and a little extra charred in all the right spots.
Depending on what door you use and when you get there, Dimo's can be a pizzeria, a deli, a supper club, or a sit-down Italian restaurant. Splitting focus like that usually leads to compromises on quality, but Dimo's inexplicably excels in every department. Dimo's Italian Specialties (the door on the right) operates in deli mode from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, and switches to a dinner menu starting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday through Sunday.
