Stellina Pizzeria, Pizza al Portafoglio at Union Market - Antonio Matarazzo and Matteo Venini Come from Lupo Verde

[MichaelBDC]

@eatruneat and I were feeling good, but in need of a snack after doing a wine tasting at A Litteri and scoring several bottles - seriously, if you like Italian wine, you need to check out A Litteri.  They won an award as the best selection of Italian wine outside of Italy a few years ago. Anyway, we sat down at the bar and were warmly greeted by co-owner Antonio.  I ordered a glass of wine and @eatruneat ordered the 'Stellina Sprotz'.  After trying her drink I immediately regretted ordering wine.  Made with DC distiller Don Ciccio & Figli's Amborsia liqueur and a few other ingredients, it was a light, slightly sour orange delight.  I looked down the bar and realized that everyone else had one except me.  We ordered the Cotto & Funghi pizza and were a little surprised when it came out uncut.  Two seconds later a server dropped off pizza cutter, which didn't totally solve the issue.  The tray the pizza is served on has a bit of a lip, which makes cutting the crust a challenge.  Once cut though, the pie was delicious.  The sauce tasted close to Marcella Hazan's tomato sauce with a hint of sweetness and velvety texture and the toppings tasted very authentic.  Unfortunately we were time constrained and that was all we were able to try, but will be back to try more and this time I'll get myself a Stellina Sprotz.  

[Rhone1998]

11 hours ago, DonRocks said:

So that was just another seared mushroom, eh; or was that a stray piece of porchetta? And that vertically fibrous, 1/2-cm-thick, gray thing on the bottom-left, immediately on top of the bread, is a piece of porchetta?

What are your impressions overall? (I may move your reply to the Stellina Pizzeria thread - thanks for posting this interesting puzzle.)

Yes, what you saw as a scallop is a mushroom and the fibrous piece is porchetta. 

We’ve been twice now, once for lunch the day they opened, and everything has been good but perhaps not great. Certainly good enough to warrant return visits, though. They have a fry basket which includes fried shrimp, calamari, and potato chips which was good but maybe could have used one twist up on the crispiness dial. Pizzas were delicious and everyone was nice and enthusiastic about the new venture. 

[MC Horoscope]

Looking forward to comparing it with Pluma, a couple of doors down. I like Pluma's crust! Right now they're my favorite, even over Pizzeria Inferno in Darnestown/ Quince Orchard. I don't usually like leftover pizza but this was good the next day at room temperature, better than another time I reheated it.

[DaRiv18]

On 4/15/2019 at 12:41 PM, Rhone1998 said:

We’ve been twice now, once for lunch the day they opened, and everything has been good but perhaps not great. Certainly good enough to warrant return visits, though. They have a fry basket which includes fried shrimp, calamari, and potato chips which was good but maybe could have used one twist up on the crispiness dial. Pizzas were delicious and everyone was nice and enthusiastic about the new venture. 

Co-sign on Rhone1998 assessment. 

First, Stellina fills a tremendous neighborhood need; the closest decent pizza is probably Wiseguys and that place in Brookland.

the fried seafood basket is something tremendously disappointing, because I love this dish ever since Venice and have yet to find a decent rendition here. Soggy, oily, and the oil probably isn’t hot enough. Plus everything is sized dissimilarly, which is likely the core issue when it all goes in. I wish they figure this out, soon.  

Stellina Spritz is perfect. The pie is delicious, and a solid neighborhood amenity. A top ten-ish DC pizza. 

Service is friendly, but could use a veteran there. 

[eatruneat]

Went here for lunch with @MichaelBDC and the in-laws yesterday. Everyone really liked their food and spritzes and we had a great time. 

For appetizers we all shared the brussels sprouts, arancini, and fried artichokes while @MichaelBDC and I also had the bocconcini & prosciutto. Brussels sprouts were good, but not any different than what you can get elsewhere. Arancini and artichokes came in pairs, and everyone enjoyed the arancini. Being a big of a fiend, I really enjoyed the artichokes and didn't detect any fryer issues here. The bocconcini could have used a little more olive oil, but who doesn't love cheese? 

For pizza, @MichaelBDC and I split the Napoli, which was a bit of a salt bomb with capers, anchovies, and olives but I still liked it. As someone who generally doesn't enjoy the crust, I found Stellina's to be great. I also had a slice of my sister in law's cacio e pepe pizza and thought it was really good despite being super rich. My sister in-law raved about it. There weren't any complaints about the cotto & funghi or the margherita, so I am guessing the pizzas were a hit. Looking forward to coming back and exploring some of the panini offerings.