Here are some of our frequently asked questions regarding our Estes Park Pizza restaurant with a few tongue-in-cheek answers:
- Is this really a New York Pizza? Unequivocally. Chicago pizza uses certain ingredients, NY pizza uses different ingredients, Detroit uses another set, but all include sauce, cheese and dough. Different cheeses, different dough formulas, different sauce recipes. My grandmother is from Lacedonia, Italy. Her sauce is different than my Aunt’s who is from Naples. Still sauce? Absolutely. Well, NY does it a certain way. When I say NY, I don’t mean upstate NY, I mean the boroughs of NYC and Long Island. In parts of Brooklyn, sauce is called Gravy. On Long Island, it’s called “SAWSE” pronounced like that. Mozzarella is not said that way in NY, its pronounced mooozadell. Ricotta is pronounced Rigautha. It’s all about where you’re from. Pizza is not pizza. Please visit our place if you want true NY pizza. And yes, we have a deck oven too if you prefer that taste.
- Is your dough made here? Yes, every day using the best ingredients available including flour from Italy, Extra Virgin Olive Oil also from Italy.
- Is your sauce fresh? Yes, it is also made fresh here every day using Italian San Marzano tomatoes and the recipe is mine. Pizza sauce doesn’t come out of a can, tomatoes come out of a can and with them, you make sauce(gravy for Brooklyn natives).
- Are you from New York? From birth to age 38! Born on the border of Queens(in a hospital, not a street).
- what is your best pizza deal for a family? The Sicilian pie, hands down. The dough alone is over two pounds. It’s nearly a foot and a half by a foot and a half! It will feed 5 hungry people.
- do you offer gluten free pizza? yes and no. We do not offer a gluten free facility and only serve those who are choosing GF as a lifestyle choice. True celiac disease patients will not be served here.
- is your pizza deep dish, like Chicago style? No. Can we get a thick pizza? Yes. Our Sicilian is thick and heavy but is not deep dish style.
- how about a stuffed pizza? No.
- Do you have a vegan, dairy free pizza? This only leaves dough, sauce and veggies. We will gladly make you a pizza with just sauce and veggies.
- do you offer whole wheat pizza? Not yet. I happen to have a great recipe but find it much tougher to work with and there is little call for it presently. In time, we will offer it.
- do you import New York Water to make your pizza? If you look out the window, you will see the source of most of the water this country drinks. We are at the source. How could it be better?
- how hot is the pizza oven? HOT! The floor is often 800-1000 degrees. Our deck ovens hover around 500.
- why do you call your wings 1000 degree wings? Because we actually cook them in the embers of the fire. These embers are frequently over 1000 degrees and make for a taste we cannot replicate in any other oven at this facility.
- Do you offer a “______________” discount? We offer 10% off for veterans, every day, all day even on specials.
- What’s a Calzone? It’s nothing more than a huge hot pocket. Take pizza dough, stretch into the shape of a football, add mozzarella and ricotta, fold in half, seal and bake. A traditional one has nothing more than the two cheeses. Today, people want the kitchen sink in there and I cannot blame them. The ingredients are in a dough pressure cooker for all-intents and the same ingredient combinations taste very different in a calzone than on on a pizza.
- Tell me about these cannolis (pronounced “kanole” back home. It seems the last vowel is left off a lot.) My wife makes the filling from scratch! The filling is proprietary and though I’ve seen it done, I still have no idea exactly what’s in it beyond fresh ricotta, fresh whipped cream and vanilla. You see, real Italian women always have something up there sleeves. They say it helps keep us in check… Mangia!
- Where do you get your bread for the heros? We make it right here! Yes, you heard right, we bake it right here, to order, then make your meatball parmagiana hero on fresh bread. It cannot get any better.
