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RedRocks in the 'Washington Post'

Posted by Adam Kuban, November 1, 2007 at 11:57 AM

Washington Post restaurant critic Tom Sietsema visits recently opened high-end pizzeria RedRocks:

Hovering over the activity is a slim, fair-haired guy wearing a permanent grin, otherwise known as the owner, James O'Brien, a musician (he plays guitar and piano) and barkeep-turned-restaurateur. He'll tell you his passion for pizza stretches back to his youth in New Jersey and time spent in New York and New Haven, Conn., places that live and die by pies. Only after he knew pizza would be the next bullet point on his résumé did he meet the man who would shed serious light on the subject: consultant Edan MacQuaid, whose dozen or so years of employment at Pizzeria Paradiso and 2 Amys—Washington's trailblazing pizza purveyors—give RedRocks street cred.

Following the restaurant's launch, MacQuaid spent two months at RedRocks, training its kitchen crew and passing along some of his learning. Such as: Use only extra-fine milled flour from Italy. And: The dough should be made in small batches several times a day and should never see the inside of a refrigerator. It's okay to use canned plum tomatoes for the sauce, the veteran pizzaiolo shared, but only buffalo mozzarella will do for a classic margherita pizza.

The route to a good pie includes a proper oven, and RedRocks, whose name refers to the type of bricks used to make such, has one. Its low dome and small "mouth," or opening, help retain heat (the oak-fired chamber reaches 900 degrees). To be a good pizza maker, says MacQuaid, who has moved on to another pizza project of his own, "takes lots of practice and attention to detail."

RedRocks

Address: 1036 Park Road NW, Washington DC 20010 (map)
Phone: 202-506-1402
Website: redrocksdc.com

Fired Up for Pizza [Washington Post]

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Tags: RedRocks, Reviews, Washington D.C.