Fire Up Pizza

This pizza truck regularly pops-up at local breweries, primarily @streetsidebrewery (where they serve on Mondays) & @listermannbrewing (where we caught them). Sidenote: Listermann is an excellent spot to try a small batch barrel aged stout and chat with Xavier stars of recent glory.

@fire.up.pizza is a Neapolitan pizza truck …and I do mean Neapolitan: Their woodfired oven was imported from Italy (crafted in Naples, in the shadows of Mt Versuvias, as it were). A Tavola is the only other pizzeria in Cincinnati I can think of that boasts such a pedigreed oven - ideal for the high baking temperature required for this style.

On this visit, we opted for the ‘Veggie’ pizza (red sauce, mozzarella, red onion, mushroom, & peppers). The quality of the toppings really stood out to us - these veggies had a vibrant flavor. The crust had fewer air bubbles and was less well done than you usually see for a Neapolitan pie - I’d put it in the lower quartile for char. Personally, I like a bit airy crust and enjoy the contrast & slight smokiness of charred leopard-spots, but some prefer this (indeed, *Nebraskans* may consider even this pizza “burnt”).

Overall, @fire.up.pizza is a strong pizza truck. We spoke with the (New)Jersey-born proprietor about his technique a bit & and it was palpable that this was clearly a passion project (the best sign in a pizzeria). He mentioned plans to continue to tweak/improve the recipe. I plan to be back and expect this place might make it high in the next #CincyStarchMadness rankings.