When it comes to pizza, it's pretty well settled that for thin-crust, New York takes the title, and for deep-dish, the honors go to Chicago. Yet there are pockets of marinara culinary bliss scattered around the country. One place you might not think of for good pizza is our nation's capital. Well, if great pizza is a determinant for where you put down roots, you might be pleasantly surprised that you needn't limit your search to the immediate New York and Chicago corridors. So when hunting for the top restaurants in DC, don't discount the pizza parlors. With that in mind, let's take a journey through the crust culture of our capital city, by visiting 2 of DC's pizza places that regularly seem to come up on everyone's list: 2 Amys and Etto.
Tucked into the Cleveland Park neighborhood, in the Northwest quadrant of DC, you will find 2 Amys Neapolitan Pizzeria. In 2001, 2 Amys was DC's first D.O.C. certified pizzeria. What's D.O.C.? It stands for Denominazione di Origine Controllata, which in this case was the Italian government's formal recognition, in 1998, of Neapolitan pizza as a traditional food that was deemed worthy of preservation. In doing so, they stated that the ingredients and methods of preparation have to be within their guidelines. Those guidelines include being cooked in a wood-fired dome oven operating at roughly 800ºF; using specific ingredients that must be fresh, all-natural, and non-processed; and following a strict preparation technique. Of course, simply being certified D.O.C. doesn't guarantee that the end result of what comes out of the oven actually tastes great. In this case, there's no question.
As the Washington Post quoted in their review: One of the hallmarks of great pizza is a crust so compelling you could eat it by itself. Apparently 2 Amys passed that test with flying colors. Zagat put it even more bluntly when they crowned it as a must-stop for pizzaholics. Finally, Thrillist DC put the proverbial icing on the cake when they went a step further and said that in addition to being one of DC's favorites, its impressive Italian wine list has helped 2 AMYS endure as a mainstay in Capital's culinary conversation. You needn't take just their word for it, either. TripAdvisor has nearly 400 reviews of 2 Amys and nearly 300 of those reviews fit within their standard of Excellent or Very Good. Furthermore, as Time Out Washington DC noted, you better snack up before going, because the wait times can be over an hour. That's not bad for a pizza place that doesn't call the Big Apple or the Windy City home.
More centrally located at the corner of 14th and Q Streets, Etto has achieved equally stellar reviews. Recently, Thrillist, a rating organization obsessed with everything that's worth caring about in food, drink, and travel, placed Etto in their annual 33 Best Pizza Shops In America. That's quite a compliment, being recognized in the company of New York and Chicago pizza palaces. Etto might not be a D.O.C. pizzeria, but they do mill their own flour and cure their own meats in-house, which is no small accomplishment in itself. The Washingtonian Magazine, noted for its local rankings of top physicians, places to dine, and neighborhoods, ranked Etto in its top 100 restaurants for 2015. Time Out Washington DC said this of Etto: With fluffy-yet-flat crust, a slight char, and fresh toppings, the pizzas here are easily the best in the neighborhood. Yet, once again, you needn't take their word for it. TripAdvisor already has nearly 50 reviews of the recently opened restaurant and has awarded its Certificate of Excellence to the pizzeria, due in no small part to the fact that 34 of the 47 reviews are either Excellent or Above Average.
These are only two of the dozens upon dozens of pizzerias in our nation's capital and many with equally impressive reviews. So who needs to plop down in New York or Chicago to get a good pizza? Among the top restaurants in DC are some of the best places to eat pizza anywhere in the country.
Source : articlesbase.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment