Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Ella's Wood Fired Pizza

After the DC Green Festival, a group of us were hungry so we headed on over to Ella's Wood Fired Pizza. I'd heard from quite a few people that it was good. The menu was wonderful with a broad variety of options for small plate starters, salads, and pizzas.

Of all the options, I chose the Verdura, a pizza with roasted artichokes, sun-dried tomato puree, olives, parmesan, and basil.

Let's say this. The crust was wonderful. Nicely crisp in a way only a wood fired oven can create. Delicious. The rest of the pizza lacked flavor strength. I wanted the artichokes to have bit more push to them and the sun-dried-tomato puree lacked the depth I would expect. I did not find the parmesan added the amount of salt I would have liked either. That said, this was not bad food. It was warm and the portion was just right, if a little generous. I shared T's carmelized onion and gorgonzola pizza which was tasty, but again, it seemed like the flavors could have had a bit more intensity. Again, a perfectly delicious crust.

A special note of pleasure: T tackled the Mangotini. Now at $8, I expect these are going to be thoughtful and delicious. It did not disappoint. I could have had a few!

For dessert, the table shared a wonderful serving of lemon bars. Yum. I make these and mine are good, but these were far superior. Our dining companions definitely enjoyed their meals, a Nicoise salad and two of the other pizzas (one with potato and pesto)

A note about the service. Our server was great. She was engaged and quick and thoughtful given our questions, etc. Really, just the way service should be.

Because I love the crust and the laid back vibe, I'll be going back to try some of the other options. Have you been? What did you like?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

If you are over in NW, you may also want to consider eating at Matchbox. www.matchboxdc.com

Anonymous said...

Guys--I love your board but please use your spellcheck! It's not even the hard words that get me down. I can only read hte hte hte so many times before I give up.

DC Food Blog said...

We'll do our best. I can say I am a notoriously bad typist. You often gets turned into oyu.

ScottE. said...

I ditched the back half of work today and am now bored, so zooming through your archives. We've been to Ella's many times as it is the stomping grounds of both of our former employer. I agree with you. The crust is great, I love the atmosphere, but yes, the ingredients need just a touch more punch. But it is a good place and whenever we bring other people there, they tend to enjoy it as well.