Peter’s Blog, May 9th, Pure Pizza

Written By Peter Reinhart

So, I’ve already written that we we opened Pure Pizza here in Charlotte a couple of weeks ago, but the Grand Opening is really going to be this Saturday, May 12th, when the entire Seventh St. Public Market, where we’re located, has its own Grand Opening. There will be music, jugglers, demo’s, lots of food — basically an all day celebratory festival (and for the whole week following) after two years of build up and many false starts. You may recall that back in December I wrote about the Public Market when we had our “soft opening.”  These past six months have been like a dress rehearsal, or like when a show goes into previews before the real Opening Night, as all of the venders worked on their own location, displays, and products. Now, at long last, it’s all come together, along with the influx of spring produce, and now all the shops will be open, beginning Saturday, for the big hoo-ha event.

I’ll take some photos and report back next week with a more detailed report, but I did want to show you a couple of shots of one of our most popular pizzas, the Pepperoni Supreme, featuring locally made pepperoni, house-pickled red peppers as well as pepperoncini, and a nice topping of our Bianco-DiNapoli organic tomato sauce and a blend of gooey cheeses.  You will also notice that the ones in the photo are made on our sprouted ancient grain pizza dough, made with a blend of sprouted whole wheat flour and five other sprouted whole grain flours (for those who prefer a different crust, all the pizzas are also available on a classic white dough made with organic, locally milled flour, as well as on a gluten-free dough made exclusively with an organic sprouted ancient grain blend, all of the grains being gluten-free).

There is no other pizzeria in the world making these sprouted grain pizzas, so we’re pretty excited about being on the cutting edge. Again, I’ll have more photos and details next week, but I just wanted to let those of you who are within shouting distance of Charlotte know to try to come by on Saturday for the festivities. I’ll be doing two demo’s (at 12 noon and again at 1 PM), and will be hanging out all day to enjoy the party, so please be sure to say hi. In addition to our pizzeria, the market will also feature a juice bar, a sushi stand, a killer pour-over coffee and espresso cafe, a wonderful olive oil and balsamic vinegar store (offering free tastings!), a fresh fish and locally raised meat market, lots of organic produce, baked goods, a comfort food restaurant called Fran’s Filling Station (the second location of a very popular Charlotte restaurant), gelatin art, and lots more. Hope to see you there — if not, I’ll be back next week with my report.