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2 Amys, Wisconsin Ave. and Macomb Street - Great Wine, Small Plates, Pizza, and Desserts - No Longer DOCG Pizza, but Who Cares?


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While not up to the task of keeping my visit count up to the level of Stretch I had dinner at 2 Amy's over the weekend. While it was a usual busy Saturday night, the wait was not unbearable.

Enough has been said of the pizza, but I wanted to mention a special item on the little things menu, porchetta! The front half of a small stuffed and roasted pig was atop the bar waiting to be sliced and served. A nice treat that I have not seen since my last trip to Italy. The garlicky flavor combined with the pork was a wonderful combination. If you see this porcine treat on the bar, get some.

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While not up to the task of keeping my visit count up to the level of Stretch I had dinner at 2 Amy's over the weekend.  While it was a usual busy Saturday night, the wait was not unbearable.

Enough has been said of the pizza, but I wanted to mention a special item on the little things menu, porchetta!  The front half of a small stuffed and roasted pig was atop the bar waiting to be sliced and served.  A nice treat that I have not seen since my last trip to Italy.  The garlicky flavor combined with the pork was a wonderful combination.  If you see this porcine treat on the bar, get some.

You got the front end Saturday because Mrs. B and I ate up the ass end Friday night. If you sit at the bar you can pick at the "crumbs" off the cutting board all night, whenever the bartenders' backs are turned.

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belated posting due to travel

had lunch at 2 Amy's on Vets day - the pizza was back to its former glory after some 'good but not great' pies on our last visit - we had a margarita which was characterized by the most generous dollops of mozzarella I've seen on a 2 Amy's pizza, and another pizza w/ pancetta and arucola

also had the meatballs which were their usual yummy selves

I ordered razor clams as an app - didn't actually know exactly what I was ordering but always like to try new things - they were grilled w/a little olive oil, lemon and parsley - not sure what I was expecting but I wasn't that impressed (and in general I love shellfish)

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I paid my first visit to 2 Amys on November 5. We had a Margarita, and a 2 Amys with pepperoni. The Margarita was a good pizza, but the one I had was not worth driving across town for. There was not much cheese on our pizza, and it did not seem as if they cooked it long enough because it was still a bit doughy. I was less impressed with the 2 Amy's pizza, I enjoyed the sauce and the spicy pepperoni (which my wife did not like), but I thought that the cheese was flavorless, and like the crust on the margarita it was too doughy. The best thing that we had were the cod croquets, they were filled with cod and fried perfectly.

It might have been that I hit it at the wrong time (a Saturday lunch), but I was hoping for much more. I should also add that I found the service to be rather lacking, my Mother had to ask for her glass of wine three times before it finally arrived.

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I paid my first visit to 2 Amys on November 5.  We had a Margarita, and a 2 Amys with pepperoni.  The Margarita was a good pizza, but the one I had was not worth driving across town for.  There was not much cheese on our pizza, and it did not seem as if they cooked it long enough because it was still a bit doughy.  I was less impressed with the 2 Amy's pizza, I enjoyed the sauce and the spicy pepperoni (which my wife did not like), but I thought that the cheese was flavorless, and like the crust on the margarita it was too doughy. 

I've always enjoyed their pizzas - the key for me is to order the margherita with extra buffala...otherwise there's not enough cheese to go around as you suggest. They also have really tasty sausage that shows up on specials sometimes, like with chanterelles, fontina, and cherry tomatoes - another favorite.

My other 2 amy's fav is the simple green salad - baby arugula with a lemon vinaigrette. Just the right tang and peppery zip to cut through the pizza cheese & carb fest. My only complaint was the 1 time that they must have run out of baby arugula and substituted much stronger full-grown...would have been nice to know before we ordered.

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Take out from 2Amy's last night: 1 Norcia, 1 Etna, and 1 special.

The special had asparagus, anchovies, caramelized onions, and granna on it.

The special was good, but not great. I was excited when I first heard the ingredients. I thought this pizza would work well following my favorite chocoloate covered pretzel theory of eating: salty + sweet = delicious. In this specific case, the saltiness of the anchovies set off against the sweetness of the caramelized onions should equal deliciousness.

Alas, it only worked so-so. The onions were too sweet, and there weren't enough anchovies. Still, some leftovers are in my fridge right now awaiting their demise at lunch time.

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I was at 2 Amy's last night and it does seem that the solution for those who like their pizzas more heavily topped, ordering extra toppings is the way to go. One of my dining companions ordered a Two Amy's with extra mozzarella and extra pepperoni and I have to admit, it looked really good. I was perfectly happy with my Margarita with mushrooms, but next time, I may have to go the extra cheese route.

Also, we finished with a butter rum ice cream...boy was that good!

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On a less snarky note, it's supposed to be authentic Neapolitan pie. That's how it and its toppings are designed. If you don't want Neapolitan-style pie, go somewhere else.

These views are an opinion that represent me, myself, and I and no one else whether current employer, former employer, or former employer who fired my ass.

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On a less snarky note, it's supposed to be authentic Neapolitan pie. That's how it and its toppings are designed. If you don't want Neapolitan-style pie, go somewhere else.

These views are an opinion that represent me, myself, and I and no one else whether current employer, former employer, or former employer who fired my ass.

Extra toppings.......?

No pizza for you!

(Authenticity is much-overrated)

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Yeah, but how big a deal is it to throw some extra cheese, or whatever, on a pizza and charge a couple of extra bucks?

it's not that difficult. the extra toppings are listed on the menu. sometimes there are even lamb meatballs, which are better than cheese.

the pizzas here don't always get knocked out of the ballpark, it's true, but there's nothing else like them i know of in these parts.

also, it's really worth taking a look at the appetizers listed as daily specials and the assortment of small things on the bar menu. i avoid mondays, when the bar menu is not available.

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I'm not talking about authenticity. I'm talking about things like the taste and texture of the dough, sauces and toppings.

"...it's supposed to be authentic Neapolitan pie... If you don't want Neapolitan-style pie, go somewhere else." -- JPW

I order my 2 Amys with extra sauce. Fortunately, they forgot to instruct the employees to snarl if someone questions Pastan's genius or endangers his AOC status. :lol:

To tell you the truth, I'm a Vace guy myself, if I'm just mainlining 'za, but I like 2A's other offerings quite bit.

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"...it's supposed to be authentic Neapolitan pie... If you don't want Neapolitan-style pie, go somewhere else." -- JPW

I order my 2 Amys with extra sauce.  Fortunately, they forgot to instruct the employees to snarl if someone questions Pastan's genius or endangers his AOC status.   :lol:  

To tell you the truth, I'm a Vace guy myself, if I'm just mainlining 'za, but I like 2A's other offerings quite bit.

Sure, sure, go ahead point out me contradicting myself. :P

They do kind of fit together though -- authentic calls for one type of bread sauce and toppings in certain proportions. Perhaps 2 Amy's does it that way because that's the way it's best enjoyed and not just to keep their designation. Then again I am the husband of neither Amy so maybe I'm just talking out of my ...

Edited by JPW
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Since I frequent 2 Amys, I've gotten a little bored of the pizzas on the menu, so I've been experimenting with toppings lately and non of the combinations I come up with are ever as good as those that you can get right off the menu. The best that I've been able to do is improve upon the ones on the menu slightly. Has anyone come up with any good combinations that I haven't been able to think of?

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Three words: Grapefruit panna cotta.

Had late lunch on 12/31 with best friend from college. Suppli hit the spot, and salt cod croquettes were perfectly cooked but blander than expected. Margherita was the highlight as always. Puttanesca was good, not great -- too many anchovies overpowered the pie. Cannoli were okay.

Next time, it will be two margheritas.

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Nine o'clock on a Sunday night and this place is still packing them in. After a 10 minute wait for a bar stool, I settled in with a couple small plates and a glass of wine. First up - the Salt Cod Croquettes. The three generously-sized croquettes have an amazing texture - crisp and golden brown on the outside with a moist center of flaky bits of fish and filler. The only quibble about the dish is that the salt-cod could've used a bit more ... well salt.

Next up - the Deviled Eggs. Deviled eggs seem to be on the fast track towards trite. I've seen several versions of this many times over the past few weeks on different restaurant menus. What makes this one stand out is the accompanying parsley sauce. Chopped parsley and lots of garlic with a vinegary tang makes these eggs sing with flavor.

Ice cream seems to always be a sure bet here. Tonight's Toffee Nut Crunch ice cream was certainly no exception. With chunks of toffee, pistacio nuts and swirls of caramel, this dessert really hit the spot after my dinner.

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stopped by for lunch yesterday

they had a special of lardo on garlic rubbed crostini - delicious - my first time eating lardo (very thinly sliced, translucent cured pork fat) - nice subtle taste

and a norcia pizza

and some nice almonds to snack on......

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I finally made it to 2 Amys! So very, very delicioso!

We shared the Lardo Wrapped Shrimp, Cured Pork Fat wrapped around shrimp on a Skewar. Spicy marinated goat cheese, it wasn;t spicy at all, but more like ans escabeche sauce drenched cheese and thoroughly delicious. San Marino olives which were in an orange infused olive oil and Serrano Ham. We also had their special pizze of the night which was Fontina Cheese, Pancetta, Truffle oil, and an egg! It was out of this world. Dessert was the Blood Orange Pannacotta.

Honestly, I could of kept on eating all night but then I would of ended up like that guy at the restaurant in MOnty Python's, The Meaning of Life.

I can't believe I have not been there before this. Yum.

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We went on Monday night and started with the salt cod croquettes (second time we had them in the past month), they are indeed delicious. Then we stuck with the staple Margherita pizza, why mess with simple perfection :lol:

For dessert with had the special sfogiatella with sweet cream ice cream (the ice cream actually had some fancy italian name, but I'm pretty impressed I could get even close to the correct spelling of the pastry :huh: The pastry was triangular and made up of a bunch of extra crispy flaking layers and filled with some type of cream which I think contained a good dose of almond paste. It was heaven and the ice cream was extra rich. No surprise why everyone seems to like the ice cream so much - must be LOTS of cream in it.

Since this was the second time for the salt cod croquette appettizer, I was curious what other apps are tried and true favs (besides the various chartucherie)?

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First time at 2 Amy's last night. It's definitely across town for me (I live on the Hill) but it was well worth the trip! Everyone I was with thoroughly enjoyed their pizzas.

I was a little hesitant to order something and add toppings (since so many of the raves were about either their very simple pizzas or the specials) but I went ahead with the Margharita (sauce, bufalo mozz and basil) with prosciutto di Parma. I think I made a good decision.

Crust was perfectly cooked...slightly browned in places and cooked all the way through. The prosciutto was magnificent. I studied in Italy for a few months in college and this definitely matched the pizza I got there.

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Funny. I was there last night too (sitting at the bar). In addition to a few other things, that's the pizza we ordered too!

To start, we had some supli as well as a round of truly delectable goat cheese served with a fig spread and crusty (but not too) bread. With a glass of wine each, our total with tip came to $25 pp.

I was a little hesitant to order something and add toppings (since so many of the raves were about either their very simple pizzas or the specials) but I went ahead with the Margharita (sauce, bufalo mozz and basil) with prosciutto di Parma.  I think I made a good decision.

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Two Amy's Neopolitan pizza is absolutely outstanding and really does compare favorably with what you will find in Naples. I have not had as good of luck with their other pizzas. As for their ice cream, I believe they use Lewes Dairy heavy cream and a ratio of two parts heavy cream to one part milk for most of their flavors. They have as good of ice cream as I have found in any restaurant anywhere. In fact I believe that the absolute best meal at Two Amy's is a Neopolitan pie and a double order of whatever flavor of ice cream they have that day.

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My wife and I went to 2 Amy's for the 1st time the other night. she had the Margharita with pepperoni, and I added sausage to mine. Both pizzas were fantastic and easily the best pizza we've ever had in DC, which unfortunately doesn't say as much as i'd like it to considering that DC pizza sucks. We also had the salt cod croquettes which we thought were just ok, partly because i burned my mouth on them, partly because i like to dip things in sauce, and partly because they were just kinda plain and ok. We did spy another table eating some sort of roasted olives appetizer that looked delicious, and we immediately regretted not getting that...anyone ever try that?

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We did spy another table eating some sort of roasted olives appetizer that looked delicious, and we immediately regretted not getting that...anyone ever try that?

The strategy for the olives is to nibble a few, and then use the rest as pizza toppings - they're non-pitted and much better than the ones that come on the pizzas.

Cheers,

Rocks

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I had a late lunch @ 2 Amys yesterday, and while most of the items were great as usual the special pizza was probably the best pizza of the many amazing pizzas I've had here. It came with Pipe Farms goat cheese, fontina, cacio di Roma, chives, garlic & truffle oil. It was a little cheesier than their pizza usually are, but I thought the combination of the goat cheese, the garlic and the truffle oil was amazing. Maybe I was just dazzled by the toppings but the crust seemed even better than usual too.

I don't know how long they'll offer this (they may even have had it before) but it was so good that I'm gonna try to go back early in the week to have it again. They also (as of last night) have the same goat cheese in one of the pannini specials. The butterscotch chocolate chip ice cream & raspberry lemonade sorbet were great too. This is another area in which I think this restaurant really excels, the sorbet in particular is consistently amazing & among the best I've had.

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I had a late lunch @ 2 Amys yesterday, and while most of the items were great as usual the special pizza was probably the best pizza of the many amazing pizzas I've had here.  It came with Pipe Farms goat cheese, fontina, cacio di Roma, chives, garlic & truffle oil.  It was a little cheesier than their pizza usually are, but I thought the combination of the goat cheese, the garlic and the truffle oil was amazing.  Maybe I was just dazzled by the toppings but the crust seemed even better than usual too.

I don't know how long they'll offer this (they may even have had it before) but it was so good that I'm gonna try to go back early in the week to have it again.  They also (as of last night) have the same goat cheese in one of the pannini specials.  The butterscotch chocolate chip ice cream & raspberry lemonade sorbet were great too.  This is another area in which I think this restaurant really excels, the sorbet in particular is consistently amazing & among the best I've had.

Interesting...I was there as well yesterday but I didn't get there till about 2. I had the other special pizza with the 2 Amys sausage, sweeties, hotties, roasted garlic, and fontina. I know what you mean about the pizza dough -- yesterday, it was probably as good as I've ever had it there.

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This evening I polled 47 people coming out of 2 Amys, and fully 39 of them responded that they had experienced 'moderate-to-severe' denting in the second finger of their right hand over the course of their meal.

"The ridge in your finger can provide for some outstanding masturbation," one woman told me, "but it's imperative to hurry home before it stops throbbing."

Her husband agreed, in a hurry to get to his car: "It's the difference between a donut and a cruller," he said.

It's time for 2 Amys to get some sharper knives, no?

Cheers,

Rocks.

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This evening I polled 47 people coming out of 2 Amys, and fully 39 of them responded that they had experienced 'moderate-to-severe' denting in the second finger of their right hand over the course of their meal.

"The ridge in your finger can provide for some outstanding masturbation," one woman told me, "but it's imperative to hurry home before it stops throbbing."

Her husband agreed, in a hurry to get to his car:  "It's the difference between a donut and a cruller," he said.

It's time for 2 Amys to get some sharper knives, no?

Cheers,

Rocks.

The problem is that people are using knives and forks.

Repeat after me.

Grab crust. Fold in half. Insert in mouth.

It's very easy.

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This evening I polled 47 people coming out of 2 Amys, and fully 39 of them responded that they had experienced 'moderate-to-severe' denting in the second finger of their right hand over the course of their meal.

"The ridge in your finger can provide for some outstanding masturbation," one woman told me, "but it's imperative to hurry home before it stops throbbing."

Her husband agreed, in a hurry to get to his car:  "It's the difference between a donut and a cruller," he said.

It's time for 2 Amys to get some sharper knives, no?

Cheers,

Rocks.

Only on donrockwell.com... :)

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This evening I polled 47 people coming out of 2 Amys, and fully 39 of them responded that they had experienced 'moderate-to-severe' denting in the second finger of their right hand over the course of their meal.
The other eight were lefties.
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The other eight were lefties.

Nah, we eat continental-style...fork in left, knife in right.

The other eight were possibly children (who get things cut for them) or possibly nerds, who carry their own folding knife at (almost) all times. Because you never know when you're gonna need a sharp edge. And because you can't do everything with a Taco Bell spork.

Lefty, the Nerd

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