Good Taste: Pizza comes (at last) to Petruce
When Petruce et al. opened in 2013 on Walnut Street with its wood-fired oven, most assumed it would be the latest pizzeria. The Petruce brothers, Justin and Jonathan, instead channeled their inner cavemen.
When Petruce et al. opened in 2013 on Walnut Street with its wood-fired oven, most assumed it would be the latest pizzeria.
The Petruce brothers, Justin and Jonathan, instead channeled their inner cavemen to cook just about everything else over live fire, from lamb ribs to sweet potatoes and even a steel crock of lasagna.
Well, after a slow summer and a mishap (yes, a fire) that put their grill out of commission before the pope's visit, Petruce has made some quick adjustments.
For one thing, it is now a welcome new option for lunch. Secondly, the brothers have cranked their wood oven up a couple hundred digits to 900 degrees, so their limited menu now features pizzas front and center, delivered with their trademark style.
The differences begin with a crust borrowed from the house sourdough bread, which lends a little extra chew and depth than typically fluffier Neapolitan pies.
The toppings, meanwhile, remain simple but exceptionally well-crafted, especially the house lamb sausage made with fennel, and garlic poached in lamb stock for extra oomph. Scatter those gamey crumbles with bright-green rounds of mild but flavorful shishito peppers - and this pizza town has one more notable entry, a year-and-a-half later than some expected, but worth the wait.
- Craig LaBan
Lamb pizza, $15, Petruce et al., 1121 Walnut St., 267-225-8232; petrucephilly.com