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At Pie Harder on Tuesday, August 29, the Ecliptic Brewing patio will fill with six pizza ovens baking up deep-dish pies you've never seen—meatball-stuffed Motor City slices, basil-and-tomato bruschetta slices, and meaty, giardiniera-topped Chicago-style slices.
Baby Doll's Travis Miranda, fresh off of expanding into the former Bonfire space, will be serving up a deep-dish bruschetta-style pie with fresh basil and tomatoes. We asked him about what goes into making a great dough, and his favorite pies growing up in New Jersey.
What pizza will you be serving at Pie Harder?
We will be serving a Bruschetta Pie. We wanted to do a pie that would allow each and every bite to include all of the ingredients and flavors, as if one ordered an entire slice. Also since there so much being pizza and pie being eaten at the event as well as still being hot out, something on the lighter side sounded appealing.
Our deep-dish slice is inspired by the NY Sicilian slices that you can enjoy on many NY neighborhood corners. The lighter, airy dough makes for an easy, light slice to enjoy even on a paper plate as you are walking around. For todays' event, we chose bruschetta, as we are at the peak of the summer growing season, and the basil and tomatoes are a perfect topping for a beautiful summer evening.
What makes for a good pizza?
It's all in the dough. The longer you can extend fermentation of the dough, the more flavor will develop. For our deep dish, it can be four days of different stages of fermentation before it is baked off. If you have a delicious dough, you need to top it off only with the finest and freshest ingredients. Living in the Pacific NW, there is no shortage of quality ingredients.
What was your favorite pizza parlor when you were a kid?
One of my favorites is Nanuet Pizza in Nanuet, NY. It has a unique thin crust and delicious sausage. It was always a family stop on the way to Grandma's house. During my high school pizza years in New Jersey, we had great local places like Roman Pizza, NY Pizza, and Guiseppe's.
Where do you get a slice around Portland, when not at your own shop?
I go to Ken's Artisan Pizza quite often. It is right around the corner from my shop, the staff is super friendly, and the pizza, as we all know, is amazing.
Pie Harder will offer up deep-dish pie slices from Baby Doll, Ex Novo, East Glisan, Pizza Jerk, Ranch and Via Chicago, plus sweet pie from Baker & Spice, Petunia's Pies and Pastries, and Ecliptic. It will take place later this month, at Ecliptic Brewing, 825 N. Cook St., 503-265-8002, eclipticbrewing.com. 5-9 pm. $27. Tickets at bit.ly/Pieharder.