Posts Tagged ‘Pizzeria Orso’
Chef Chris Nye, the New Pizza Guy
Posted by rebecca / Friday, April 1st, 2011
Chef Chris Nye is the new chef of Pizzeria Orso and he is featuring his new spring menu today.
I had the chance to taste some dishes off his menu, and they were delicious! I tasted the beet salad; some type of mozzarella salad with lemon and arugula; tomato arancini; sourdough bruschetta; lamb spirale with pappardelle di farro; margherita DOC; ripieno (folded pizza) with ricotta and broccoli rabe; orso bianco; a meat pizza that I don’t know the name of; ricotta cannoli; homemade tiramisu; and a shot of (strong) limoncello.
The beet salad was a fresh way to start off the meal. It consisted of pickled beets, dandelion greens, yogurt, local honey and pistachios. The pistachios softened and added some saltiness to the acerbic taste of the dandelion greens. I will always love a good beet salad.
The lemon preserves was the real star of the mozzarella salad. It gave the mozzarella salad a much needed sour kick to every bite. I love mozzarella, but it can be overwhelming and very heavy, and the lemon added another dimension of taste to the otherwise bland mozzarella. Good thinking, Chef Nye!
I would definitely order the tomato arancini (see pic below) again as an antipasta. It was a hot, crispy risotto, taleggio ball with a surprise of a small piece of tomato in the middle. What’s not to love? It’s fried, creamy and has risotto! This is not a new spring item, but nevertheless, scrumptious.
Ah, the sourdough bruschetta with warm ricotta and a side of roasted olives was addictive. Our table agreed that there must be crack in the ricotta because we all gobbled it up and wanted to ask for more. After this dish, I started to feel pretty full. I know, sounds pathetic, but a big slice of bruschetta plus a good piece of mozzarella AND three balls of risotto can be really filling!
The Calabrian sausage in the lamb spirale was moist and savory. But to be honest, (I also think I was distracted from all the food) I probably wouldn’t have known it was lamb. They could have April fooled me into thinking it was beef or pork, but either way, it was good. The hand cut pasta with the cute pioppini mushrooms tasted homemade and simple. It could definitely work as a perfect, hearty lunch meal as well.
Yes, that was FIVE antipastas that I tried…if you can imagine how filling they were. I ALMOST forgot that we hadn’t even started on the main course of pizzas.
The ricotta with broccoli (or spinach?) rabe ripieno (a calzone type thing) had a perfectly crispy crust, with fresh veggies combined with what tasted like a sweet ricotta mixture. It was creamy and combined with the veggies nicely.
The orso bianco pizza with ricotta, mozarella, grana, fontina, pecorino and garlic was a white pizza full of creamy cheesy flavors. I love cheese, and white pizzas, so this is what I will be ordering next time. This pizza would pair perfectly with the beet salad.
The meat and margherita pizza were pretty standard, but nevertheless tasty!
Honestly, I couldn’t believe that everything except for the meat pizza and the lamb spirale was vegetarian. Thanks to all the cheeses (the mozzarella, the risotto, and the rich ricotta on top of the bruschetta and in the ripieno), I felt like I had eaten a hearty dinner.
For dessert, we were all happily surprised when the waiter brought out the cannoli with some fresh rhubarb! What a great surprise to kick off the spring season. It was my first time seeing rhubarb this year, a lovely reminder that it is officially spring which means more foods are in season! It was fruity, piercing reddish pink, sweet, and brightened up the plate. We also had homemade tiramisu…oh.my.goodness…it was fluffy and light, like a cloud in my mouth, as well as subtly sweet. I will definitely remember this tiramisu.
Thanks again to Amber, Sangi, Pizzeria Orso and of course, Chef Chris Nye!
(image: Pizzeria Orso)
Pizzeria Orso
400 S Maple Ave.
Falls Church, VA 22046
703-226-3460
-Rebecca Kim
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Wednesday, July 28th, 2010
The first family of hospitality crowd-sourcing, Nina and Tim Zagat, have released the results of their 2011 Washington D.C./Baltimore survey, an all-too-familiar litany–the Inn at Little Washington continues its decade-long streak of ping-ponging back and forth between the #1 and #2 spots for food; Restaurant Eve remains firmly entrenched in the food top 10–which I highly doubt will surprise any fine dining aficionados or even casual gourmands.
I was, however, interested to see how the D.C./Charm City surveyors stack up against other markets and how often they hit the streets in search of a good meal.
According to Zagat’s, there are roughly 6,500 surveyors actively evaluating 2,400 meals per day across the D.C./Baltimore corridor. While that sounds like a whole lot of eating, our area ranks second-to-last in surveyor meals per week (2.6).
Texans, on the other hand, have gorged themselves into four of the top five spots (Houston – 4 meals per week, Austin/Hill Country – 3.8, Dallas/Forth Worth – 3.6, San Antonio – 3.5).
The economy, of course, is partly to blame.
Approximately 40 percent of local surveyors admitted to eating out less because of forced belt-tightening, while another third of those surveyed copped to more carefully eyeing menu prices when they do step out.
On the upside, over half of the surveyors said lean times have prompted restaurants to beef up their dining deals while approaching 45 percent said the downturn has rekindled a passion for home cooking.
Amateur food sleuths might also be interested to know that Zagat’s stable of local food spies skews female (51 percent) and relies heavily on retirees (60+ year olds comprise 25 percent of their core constituency)–though Gen Xers (30-year olds) and late Boomers (50s and up) account for 23 and 22 percent (respectively) of the roving reporting crew.
Rankings-wise, NoVA restaurants seemed to do pretty well.
We claimed six of the top 20 food slots:
* Inn at Little Washington (2)
* Restaurant Eve (7)
* L’Auberge Provencale (10)
* L’Auberge Chez Francois (15)
* 2941 (16)
* GoolDaeGee (19)
Seven of the top 24 cuisine categories:
* New American: Inn at Little Washington
* Chinese: Peking Gourmet
* Classic French: L’Auberge Provencale
* South American: El Pollo Rico
* Southwest/Tex-Mex: Sweetwater Tavern
* Thai: Thai Square
* Vietnamese: Four Sisters
And scored a handful of entries in the 20 “Key Newcomers” list:
Would love to hear what you all think of the current crop of popularly appointed dining champs AND/OR the Zagat’s scouts among us.
–Warren
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Wednesday, June 30th, 2010
“I’m glad I came. They’ve redeemed themselves,” my companion decreed after revisiting Falls Church’s most highly anticipated Neapolitan pie haven, Pizzeria Orso.
Like many of the online backbiters, my friend had raced to try pizza poet Edan MacQuaid’s nascent solo project shortly after opening–and had wandered away sorely disappointed (“How can pizza be soggy AND burnt?”).
I must admit, I fully expected the wheels to come off once our mop-headed, heavily tattooed teen server began popping off at the mouth about freshly shaved, raw porcinis and waves of splashy San Marzano tomatoes. But either that kid was doing an Oscar-worthy job of parroting management’s carefully crafted, gourmand-stroking spiel or staff have accepted MacQuaid’s deep, abiding love for seasonal spoils and artisan ingredients as their own personal mantras.
I’m leaning towards the latter.
Sweet, milky burrata virtually shimmies atop a mouthwatering slice of oil-packed tomato, which is itself supported by a garlic-rubbed, oil-bathed slice of artfully seared sourdough (handmade by fellow flour slinger and 2941 cohort, Patrick Deiss).
Meanwhile, MacQuaid indefatigably polices his showpiece pizza oven (pictured above), hustling items out promptly before the DOC-sanctioned, 90-second cooking window expires.
I’d say each pizza and/or panuozzo spends roughly 2/3 of its minute-and-a-half firing time diametrically opposed to the blistering heat source, only to be paraded to within inches of the flames just prior to evacuation so that every inch of the crust bubbles, bulges and chars to maximum effect.
The resulting crust is fluffier than some folks may be used to. But I found the combination of ash, encrusted sea salt and liberal olive oiling most intoxicating.
And don’t even get me started on the basil.
Whether fully intact atop a classic Margherita or finely ground into homemade pesto (another extra virgin olive oil-led triumph), the captivating herb is quite obviously one of MacQuaid’s favorite muses. Though I think a similar case could be made for Orso’s marvelous dairy (tongue-teasing ricotta anyone?).
Now, if only MacQuaid would make good on the promised cannolis already…(“They’re coming,” a seemingly just as anxious staffer said of the not-quite-ready-for-prime-time dessert).
–Warren
Make Way for the Return of MacQuaid
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Tuesday, May 25th, 2010
(Image: FohBoh)
After years of laying low, journeyman pizzaiolo Edan MacQuaid (that’s his grinning mug, above) stands ready to reintroduce artisan pie lovers to his particular brand of Neapolitan deliciousness at the closer-to-opening-than-ever Pizzeria Orso.
“I can’t wait to get back in front of the oven,” MacQuaid said, adding that he fully intends to hand make every pizza–all pies will be flash baked (estimated cooking time: 90 seconds at 800 degrees) in the straight-from-Naples brick oven–for the foreseeable future.
It’s that type of attention to detail that helped MacQuaid rise through the ranks at the first Pizzeria Paradiso during the early 1990s and led to his becoming one of the most sought after pie slingers in the area (he helped establish the pizza programs at 2 Amys, the original RedRocks and the now-defunct Bebo Trattoria).
MacQuaid retreated from view in 2007 to began working on the Pizzeria Orso project, devoting the past few years to recipe testing and business plan writing. And he’s convinced the fruits of his intensive research will be readily apparent to veteran pizza hounds.
“We’ve gone to really long lengths to make sure we have the most authentic product this side of Naples,” he asserted.
MacQuaid suggested, however, that he was unlikely to pursue the now fashionable Denominazione di Origine Controllata certification. But he did leave the door open to exploring the newly minted Specialita Traditionale Garantita status.
Pedigreed or not, everyone will get the chance to judge MacQauid’s life’s work when Orso officially comes online in the coming weeks. (A press release pitched an early June opening but MacQuaid suggested he might pull the trigger sooner, noting, “We’re ready to start producing some pizzas.”)
MacQuaid expects to get underway with around 20 specialty pies, including: classic margherita (San Marzano tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella and basil), Vera Orso (five Italian cheeses and shaved, seasonal truffles), mezzalune (1/2 margherita and 1/2 stuffed pizza), tricolore (a salami-and-cheese medley MacQuaid equated to “two calzones and a margherita.” “There’s a lot going on in that one,” he pledged”), quattro staggioni and Vesuvius (stuffed with buffalo burrata).
The near uniform 12-inch pizzas are expected to run between $6-$19.They’ll also offer homemade antipasti, fried snacks (arancini, fritto misto), specialty calzones and build-your-own pizzas.
Meanwhile, MacQuaid said his wife and partner, Thea, remains hard at work on constructing a beverage program centered around craft brews (look for four draft lines and around a dozen bottles) and Southern Italian wines.
“I can’t wait for people … to see us in action,” the long patient pie maker gushed.
Pizzeria Orso: 400 S. Maple Ave., Falls Church; 703-226-3460; www.pizzeriaorso.com. Open for lunch and dinner daily.
–Warren
Pizzeria Orso Picks Up the Pace
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Wednesday, January 20th, 2010
Construction FINALLY began this past Monday at Falls Church’s long-dormant Pizzeria Orso project–the artisan-pizza-in-the-burbs concept 2941′s management leaked to the online faithful nearly two years ago.
2941 owner Rick Adams is financing the neighborhood eatery while Neapolitan pie maker Edan MacQuaid–he’s twirled dough everywhere from perennial award-winner 2 Amys to RedRocks (coming to Old Town Alexandria this spring) to the now-defunct Bebo (for about a minute, anyway)–will man the imported brick oven.
And although MacQuaid glibly describes his raison d’etre (on Facebook) as “I make pizza twice per week,” a 2941 spokesperson suggested the Denominazione di Origine Controllata-obsessed chef has been much more focused on business issues lately.
“He hasn’t really been flinging pizzas anywhere,” the spokesperson said. “He’s been working to get this place open.”
The spokesperson declined to elaborate on any grand opening dates or final menus for Orso (“They know they’re doing pizza!”), but building tenants have been told they could be enjoying gourmet slices by as early as May.
Pizzeria Orso: 400 S. Maple Ave., Falls Church.
–Warren
