Michelle and Corey Wilton are covering the culinary bases and rounding out Eagle Rock’s dining options with their latest venture, a behemoth, 4,500-square-foot restaurant and bar with ample patio space and ice cream.
Next Wednesday, the husband-and-wife team behind the health-minded Four Café will open the doors to Piencone Pizzeria, Creamery and Pub: an all-day, something-for-everyone spot where naturally-fermented dough turns into wood-fired pizza by way of a stylish green-tiled oven at the center of it all.
In addition to the scissors-cut pizza, that oven will forge appetizers and shareable plates such as roasted cauliflower with currants, Serrano aioli and curried vinaigrette. Just a few rooms away, a full, 14-seat bar helmed by partner Herb Gualpa will be pouring 15 mostly-local beers on draft, plus cocktails like the La Maestra, made with gin, Aleppo peppers and a honey-and-lime jalapeño syrup—all named after staffers’ former bands.
Photograph: Courtesy Piencone/David G. Marks
Order at the counter, then sit anywhere you like in the former Coffee Table space, whether you’re dining in the sunny and plant-dotted areas with tables and banquette seating, or in the darker-hued bar, which just so happens to feature shuffleboard and a flat-screen. On the patio, find six picnic tables, plus a small kids’ area with giant Jenga and a playhouse.
Expect eight varieties of pizza, including one vegan pie. The La Piedra involves house-made sausage, tomato, chili flakes, grana padano, basil and red onion; the Honey Pot layers salami, spigarello (similar to broccoli rabe), Sicilian oregano, sheep’s cheese and fermented Aleppo honey; the Beer Baron’s made with beer-braised leeks, raclette, pancetta and potato. For a veggie-leaning option, look to the Cauli Dreamin’, with cauliflower, béchamel, green olives, garlic, breadcrumbs and grana padano; the Green Thumb, made with greens, tomato, oregano, shaved garlic, Calabrian peppers, lemon and fiore sardo; or the Vegan Squashington Pizza, with Kabocha squash, rosemary, garlic confit, goosefoot greens, charred shallot and almond ricotta.
The house-made, organic ice creams and sorbets will rotate seasonally, but you’ll more than likely catch a few of these: vanilla bean, maple with house-made brown sugar Pop Tart, brown butter lavender, Meyer lemon buttermilk, chocolate hazelnut, sesame caramel, a vegan coconut passionfruit sorbet and vegan Mexican hot chocolate.
“We are thrilled to bring another restaurant vision to life in this little part of town we’ve come to call our home,” Michelle Wilton says in a news release. “Our community is so important to us, and our goal with Piencone Pizzeria, Creamery and Pub is to create a concept deeply rooted in that [camaraderie], from the warm and inviting design of the space, to our incredible team, who will fuel the welcoming environment for local families and guests alike.”
Here’s a glimpse of what to expect when Piencone opens its doors next Wednesday:
Photograph: Courtesy Piencone/David G. Marks
Photograph: Courtesy Piencone/David G. Marks
Photograph: Courtesy Piencone/David G. Marks
Photograph: Courtesy Piencone/David G. Marks
Piencone Pizzeria, Creamery and Pub opens on April 4 at 1958 Colorado Blvd, serving from 11am to 11pm, daily, with bar hours of 4 to 11pm Monday to Thursday; 4pm to 1am Friday and Saturday; and 11am to 11pm on Sunday.