Long-awaited Acre Pizza, from the owner of Acre Coffee, has opened at the Barlow in Sebastopol.
Steve Decosse has hired well-known pizzaiolo Alastair Hannmann as the opening chef, where he’s making authentic New York and Detroit-style pizza.
What’s Detroit-style? The pan-style pizza with crispy caramelized edges gained a furious following in the 1940s when Gus Guerra, the owner of Buddy’s Rendezvous restaurant baked a Sicilian-style dough in a heavyweight rectangular pan and covered it with hearty brick cheese and tomato sauce. Whether or not those pans were borrowed from a motor-industry friend who’s factory used the pans for spare car parts is part of the legend, but the Sicilian-inspired pizza has gained a following throughout the country.
The casual pizza shop took over the former Village Bakery, sharing the space with Red Bird Bakery’s new commissary kitchen. The gourmet pizzas are selling for a song, with hearty quarter NY pie slices for between $4.50 and $6 and whole pies for between $16 and $22. More details coming soon.
Open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Thursday, until 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. 6760 McKinley St., Suite 150, Sebastopol, order online at acrepizza.com.