A pizzeria in small-town Kentucky has been named one of the country’s 50 top independent restaurants by FSR Magazine, a sister publication of PMQ Pizza.
FSR’s July issue rounded up the top mom-and-pop owners and teams that are “creating experiences guests can’t find anywhere else.” The list runs the gamut from Taiwanese and Japanese cuisine to steakhouses, Mexican food and, dominating the list, numerous Italian restaurants.
Wayfarer Tavern, located in Dayton, Kentucky, and owned by Mike Dew, is the one pure pizzeria on this year’s list, although others include pizza on their menus.
Wayfarer is known for its masterful mashup of three styles in a single pizza: the Midwestern party cut, Detroit style and the classic bar pie.
In an upcoming article for PMQ’s print magazine, Dew offered insights on the origin of his unique pizza offering. “As I investigated what ‘bar-style pizza’ or ‘tavern-style pizza’ or ‘party cut’ pizza really was, I saw a trend,” he said. “What I like to call the ‘Bar-Style Pizza Belt’ emerged—it basically starts in Milwaukee and moves south and east across the country through Chicago, St. Louis, Dayton and Columbus, Ohio, over to New Jersey and up to the Boston South Shore. Taking all these different ideas into consideration, plus my desire to include the crispy Detroit-style cheese edge, resulted in the Wayfarer Tavern dough recipe, bake method and square cut we have today. Our actual crust base is more of a traditional East Coast style; we don’t cure our dough and aim for a very specific texture and color in our bake.”
FSR notes that Dew creates “pizzas that feel familiar but [are] not easily boxed in. That same deliberateness shows up in the details, from multi-day fermentation to finishing touches like fresh herbs, hot honey and other textural contrasts that give each pie a little more dimension.”
“Just as important,” FSR continues, “Wayfarer has positioned itself as a gathering place in Dayton, with a collaborative approach that brings in other chefs, makers and local partners.”
Pizzas on the Wayfarer menu include the Pizza All’Amatriciana (guanciale, pecorino Romano, Calabrian chiles, black pepper, red onion and a five-cheese blend); the Rapini al Limone (confit garlic cream white sauce, five-cheese blend, rapini, Calabrian chile, lemon zest and whipped ricotta after the bake); and the Summer Corn Elote (sweet corn, sweet and spicy pickled jalapeños, peppadew peppers, red onion, confit garlic cream white sauce, five-cheese blend, chipotle aioli, tajin, feta, cilantro and lime after the bake).
Six other restaurants that made the FSR Top 50 list offer pizza on the menu along with other Italian specialty dishes.
At Hey Luigi in Portland, you’ll find five pies, such as the Hey Luigi (crushed tomatoes, Parmesan, fontina, speck, roasted pineapple, jalapeños and red onion) and the Pesto Mushroom Sausage (smoked mozzarella, roasted mushrooms, Italian sausage, pesto and red onion).
At Mercato Della Pescheria in Las Vegas, the menu boasts seven wood-fired pizzas, while Pricci in Atlanta fires up four pies of its own and Denver’s Osterio Marco offers four pizzas. In Miami, Donatella limits its pizza menu to three, including the Nduja Truffle Honey (nduja, yellow piennolo del Vesuvio tomatoes, stracciatella, truffle honey and micro basil).
Finally, Culaccino, with locations in Nashville and Franklin, Tennessee, only plates four pizzas, but they’re highly artisanal, including the L’Agnello Sacro (lamb sausage, smoked eggplant, goat cheese, scallions and Fresno chiles) and the Oh Che Fico (caramelized onions, gorgonzola, hazelnut crema, arugula and saba).
