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FeedLofty pizza falls flat
Reynoldsburg bistro serves great cocktails and small plates but misses with its namesake pies
PHOTOS BY JODI MILLER
On paper, Pie’s Gourmet Pizza Bistro looks like a slam dunk.
The owners of this ambitious new Reynoldsburg spot managed to snag Rigsby’s vet Bill Fugitt, one of the city’s most talented chefs, who has created an inspired farm-to-table-themed menu. They also talked bartender extraordinaire Cris Dehlavi, renowned for her cocktail menu at M at Miranova, into overseeing the bar.
Pie’s is based out of a century-old, renovated Colonial and boasts a gorgeous open kitchen and a tranquil outdoor patio. The gourmet pizza concept is solid, too—everyone loves pizza, and the price point is low enough it won’t scare away folks used to dining in chain-restaurant land.
But here’s the thing—you can be a brilliant chef (Fugitt is, and I don’t say that lightly) and still not understand how to make something as deceptively simple as a great pizza.
Fugitt whips up some lofty topping combos (Duck leg confit with gruyere, roasted mushrooms and a poached egg? Yes, please.) but hasn’t yet mastered the fine arts of crust and sauce and cheese-to-topping ratios. And that’s problematic when your restaurant is packed with table after table ordering pizzas all around.
Pie’s pizza problem was glaringly evident on my initial visit. The first few courses were stunning. I sat there grinning as I sipped a pitch-perfect Heirloom Mary ($8, basically a Bloody Mary lightened up for dinnertime with dill-infused Oyo vodka and heirloom tomato juice) and savored the best few bites of food I’d eaten in quite some time.
Expertly cooked pork belly ($9)—smoky, velvety meat encased in a crisp baconlike skin—served with a Lyonnaise salad and a poached quail egg. Prince Edward Island mussels ($14) sauteed with ginger and garlic in local Zauber beer. A beautiful little Summer Salad ($8) of lettuces and baby vegetables straight from the chef’s garden, drenched in a lemon-chive vinaigrette.
Then came the pizza, a mushroom-topped specialty pie. Now, a good pizza starts with good crust and sauce. This noticeably misshapen crust (and not in a charming, handmade way) was fairly bland with an odd note I later realized comes from being made with a sourdough starter. And the too-sweet sauce veered dangerously close to Donatos territory. On top, some goat cheese and trendy country bacon overpowered the flavorless “wild forest” mushrooms.
I was similarly underwhelmed by the Pepperizzo ($10), which wastes housemade, chorizo-like pepperoni by pairing it with an undercooked apple-fennel salad.
That first meal was like a roller coaster ride, and I left feeling disappointed.
Next time, I snagged a seat in the neat upstairs “Pie in the Sky” bar. I bypassed the pies and had more luck ordering from the chef’s daily small plate and entree specials. Casino-style scallops on the half-shell ($14 for six) and Pan Roasted Cod ($20) served over warm veggies and fingerlings in a bright citrus sauce were terrific seafood deals.
And with Dehlavi herself behind the bar that night, every cocktail I tried was a winner—especially a refreshing Pimm’s Local Fruit Cup ($7) that combines Watershed Gin with Pimm’s, ginger beer and muddled seasonal fruits.
So there’s hope, if Fugitt can just figure out those pizzas.
-Shelley Mann is editor of Crave, the Columbus dining magazine.
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RESTAURANT REVIEW
Hours: 5-10 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, Price range: $21 to $30 per person. Entrees range from $8 personal pizzas to $20 seafood dishes. Reservations: Accepted In short: You get the feeling Pie’s talented chef would rather be helming a chic downtown bistro than a glorified pizza place. Rating: ★ ★ ★ |
RATING SYSTEM
★ ★ ★ ★ ★: outstanding |
