Come January, chef Jonathan Eismann of Pacific TIme fame will be opening Pizzavolante (“flying pizza”) at 3918 N. Miami Avenue, in the Design District. According to Eismann, the contemporary-styled 900 square foot space will be offering “creative wood-oven pizza” with organic and local ingredients, and “some gluten-free products”. Emphasis will also be placed on a mozzarella bar, “which will feature some D.O.P.-style Italian bufala mozzarella, some domestically produced from California to Florida, some prepared in-house.” The cheeses will be plated with other items such as local fresh arugula, grilled vegetables and so forth, “to produce an elevated level of antipasti.”
The 30-seat cafe, with a dozen additional seats outdoors, will also prepare “five or six pastas, some sandwiches, gelati with traditional Italian flavors, and semifreddo, which not that many people are familiar with” (it’s something akin to semi-frozen mousse). But what really sets Pizzavolante apart from other pizza joints is the wine program. For one thing, you’ll be able to have your bottle of wine delivered along with the pie. Plus, “it will be the first fast food concept where the wine list is prepared and maintained by a sommelier”, who will pair the grapes with pizzas and other menu items. The wines won’t be expensive (“in the teens and twenties”); price for a 12-inch pie will start at $9.50. When asked how the economy might affect this new business, Jonathan replies that when he first planned it, “the economy was booming”. Now he “hopes people will have $9.50 left.”
-- Lee Klein
