New York style pizza comes to Decatur
Posted on Wednesday, May 7, 2008
DECATUR ó Dine-O-Mite Pizza and Eatery opened Wednesday, bringing authentic New York style pizza to Decatur.
The new restaurant, located at 1196 South Highway 102, will offer a short menu for the next few weeks, which includes made-from-scratch pizzas, calzones and stromboli.
Dine-O-Mite offers toppings to suit every taste. Classic combos like supreme, meat and veggie are available, as well as more unusual choices like fresh tomato and basil, and barbecue chicken.
The long menu will include pasta, sub sandwiches and salads, as well as hamburgers and grilled chicken. Breakfast is also served there, including biscuits and gravy, omelets and all of the usual breakfast items. The restaurant will have a deli counter and sell fresh baked rolls and desserts.
ě Everything on the menu will be made from scratch, î Andrea Hendershot said.
The idea for the restaurant was born when owners Ralph and Andrea Hendershot and their daughter Amanda moved from New Jersey to Decatur four years ago. They fell in love with the people and community, but they missed the east coast pizza. So, they began their quest to make perfect New York style pizza ó or pie, as itís called in New York.
New York style pizza has a puffy bread-like outer crust that tapers down to a thin, but not cracker-thin middle crust.
Andrea said that when friends from New York came to visit, they brought pizza. One even went so far as to bring the family dough on his motorcycle.
It took Andrea four years of experimentation to come up with the perfect recipe. From her experience working in bakeries and restaurants when she was younger, she knew the right ingredients were missing from her recipe. Bread flours and yeasts make all the difference in the flavor of the crust.
Last August Andrea found the right flower while visiting a friendís pizzeria in New York. When she returned home, she was finally able to perfect her recipe.
Andrea makes the sauce from scratch and uses the best cheeses. She then bakes her pizzas in a stone oven, much the same as the ovens used in New York and Italy.
ě I will use nothing short of the finest ingredients I can get my hands on, î she said.
Andrea wanted to open a small pizzeria, but was concerned that people in this area werenít used to the New York style pizzas and wouldnít like them. Luckily for community members, she began making pizzas and handing them out for free in exchange for honest opinions. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive.
ě Iíve been to Italy many times, and this is what an authentic Italian pizza tastes like, î said friend and accountant, Susanne Jackson. Jackson, who is from Germany, is a cook herself and has experienced European food first hand.
Family and friends have come together to open the business. Ralph has done much of the work of renovating the office of the former Excel Building into a kitchen and dining room.
Amanda painted a New York skyline scene in the dining area, which incorporates a beam into a memorial of the twin towers. Friend Cathy Beach painted the moon, stars and fireworks.
Breakfast is served on Tuesday through Friday, from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. Lunch and dinner hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, 11: 30 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday and 11: 30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday.
FEEDBACK:
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online