New Tastes, Old-School Style: Pizzeria Orso

This is not your grandmother’s pizza. Or maybe it is, as old processes meet new combinations at Pizzeria Orso, the recently opened sister to 2941 Restaurant.

To create his signature 12-inch Neapolitan pizzas, pizzaiolo Edan MacQuaid uses a 3-ton handmade volcanic brick oven. It bakes the pizzas at 800 degrees for 90 seconds, which means toppings don’t have time to get “stressed,” MacQuaid says. “You won’t find that the grease has separated from the solids in the cheese or that mushrooms are dried out. Everything’s going to come out soft and fresh and aromatic.”

The dough never touches a fridge and is mixed in a diving-arm mixer that simulates kneading. “It incorporates air into the dough and allows the flour to absorb more water, which leads to a more interesting structure and texture,” says MacQuaid, 36.

Advertisement

The result is signature dishes like the classic margherita with San Marzano tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella and basil; Vera Orso, topped with five Italian cheeses and fresh-shaved white or black truffles, in season; and Ripieno, a stuffed pizza with ricotta and mozzarella cheeses.

Besides serving pizza, the 117-seat eatery cures its own meats and offers classic fried Neapolitan dishes like potato croquettes and fried risotto stuffed with buffalo mozzarella or mushroom ragu.

MacQuaid, who runs the place with his wife, Thea, is no stranger to pizza in D.C. He started at Pizzeria Paradiso in Dupont Circle in 1992 before being invited to open 2 Amys in 2000 and to consult on RedRocks.

Undeterred by the area’s surplus of upper-crust pizza places, MacQuaid says he’ll get his slice of the pie. “I think that the level of dedication and our methods and the products we use are going to set us apart.”

» Pizzeria Orso, 400 South Maple Ave., Falls Church; 703-226-3460.

Written by Express contributor Stephanie Kanowitz
Photo by Kris Connor

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7uK3SoaCnn6Sku7G70q1lnKedZLK5vNGeqqxnp6V8c3yQaWZpbl9mfXC8yLOxnqqZlnqwvtKoZJ%2BZnKHAbq%2FHrqmcoF8%3D