High End Pizza And Beer At ChurchKey In Washington D.C., Piece Brewery In Chicago, And Apizza Scholls In Portland, OR
A classic pairing goes posh
Nothing in the food world is safe from revolution.
First came craft beer (remember when Sam Adams was a microbrew?). Then it was pizza: Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix, Mozza in L.A. and soon Kesté and Motorino in NYC. So it was only a matter of time before people started putting the two together in fancy new ways.
The new ChurchKey in Washington, D.C., pours 555 kinds of beer (500 bottles, 50 drafts, five cask ales and not a single Bud in sight) alongside designer pizzas.
What to drink with a pie made with fig, prosciutto, Gorgonzola and port (pictured)? Beer director Greg Engert suggests a Gouden Carolus Classic from Belgium, which has coriander notes that stand up to the sweet blue cheese. And for a three-cheese white pie, he picks St. Boisterous, a pale, German-style lager from Pennsylvania that accentuates the nutty Taleggio and fragrant Fontina.
Other parlors maintain tighter–though equally geeked-out lists: Piece Brewery in Chicago pours eight house-brewed beers (including one dubbed the "fornicator") with its pies. And in the microbrew capital of Portland, Oregon, Apizza Scholls offers 27 bottles, four craft drafts, and pizzas like the bacon bianco, made with mozzarella and house-cured bacon.
Even the chains are jumping on board: Brixx, which has 13 locations in the Carolinas and Tennessee, now serves microbrews like Pennsylvania's Victory HopDevil and Prima Pils. Talk about a revolution.