When: 9/23/2013
Where: 1541 14th ST NW, Washington, DC
For our first meeting of pizza club we went to the newly opened Etto on 14th Street (aka DC food mecca). Becky, couldn't make it last minute, so the rest of us decided to forge ahead in the name of delicious pizza.
Catherine and I arrived first and put our name on the list. We arrived around 8pm on a Monday night and they quoted us a 30 minute wait. We were able to get a spot at the bar and we both ordered a glass of wine. Soon Jenn showed up and the attentive bartender soon served up wine and water for Jenn. The restaurant is fairly small. The bar has room for 10 or so. The atmosphere is quite bright and loud (we had trouble hearing our waitress at times). The entire staff was nice and helpful, but our wait was over an hour.
Once we were seated we were starving so we ordered a cauliflower salad to start. It was served from plates at the bar. Although it was a cold/cooked salad it was delicious.
Our pizzas came soon after. Etto cooks their pizza in a wood oven and cooks them till the crust is charred. No one in our group liked the charred taste. I ended up picking most of the charred spots off and we all used the provided olive oil to dip our crusts in (which was amazing). Otherwise we all enjoyed the flavor of the dough, airy, chewy, and a bit sweet.
Courtney: "Sweet and airy, charred and bubbly crust"
The highlight for all of us was the sauce. The sauce was full of flavor.
Jenn: "Kinda sweet, perfect proportion to the crust and toppings - I hate when pizzas are too saucy - unlike my women"
The toppings were fresh and delicious. Highlights were the pine nuts, garlic, and cheese! However both pizzas were a bit salty. The Eggplant pizza especially, had salty pockets scattered across the pieces.
Catherine: "I liked the margarita's toppings. I did get a slice that only had a small amount of mozzarella on it but loved the sauce so much that it didnt bother me. On the specialty pizza I LOVED the roasted garlic and how they didnt chop the eggplant into small pieces (kept it whole). The pine nuts were a great and suprising addition. One of the toppings was salty and that affected some of the bites I took in a overpowering kind of way."
Pizza 1: Margherita Pizza
Catherine- Half pie
Jenn- Pizza pie oh my!
Courtney- Pizza pie oh my!
Pizza 2: Specialty Eggplant
Catherine- Quarter pie
Jenn- Half pie
Courtney- Half pie
Best for:
Catherine- Having your birthday dinner at.
Jenn- Meet up with gal pals or date night with BF (NOT 1st or 2nd date friendly - too loud)
Courtney- When you want dinner to last all night
IT factor:
Catherine- The spread on the bar including the meat shaver.
Jenn- Really cute atmosphere, you can see the brick oven...and they only make a certain amount of some stuff, so they can run out....makes your food seem more special!
Courtney- Freshly shaved meat
