Monday, February 13, 2012

Pizza in Chinatown?

  From my short time of traveling, I have learned that almost every big city has their own "Chinatown".  And in Washington DC, it is right downtown, nestled in the midst of some of DC's best museums.  While I was on an outing to the Smithsonian American Art Museum with Bruce and Cathy (which has a fabulous Annie Leibovitz exhibit right now, if you are in the area), Cathy said she had a great place for us to grab some pizza.  A friend of hers had told her about a place "we had to try the pizza at in Chinatown!"  Bruce and I both gave her a funny look.  Pizza in Chinatown?  But as skeptical as we were, we walked a few blocks over to Chinatown to a fun place called "Matchbox".

Chinatown, Washington DC
     As soon as you walk in the door at Matchbox, you can see all their awards for their pizza on the walls.  And once inside, the smell is intoxicating.  A mix of dough, tomato and wood burning in the oven hits you and, without even looking at what else is on the menu, you know you have to order pizza.  They are very proud of their authentic wood-fired masonry oven and give it all the credit for their famous pizza.  According to our waitress, that oven has not stopped burning at 800 degrees since the day Matchbox opened.
    Their pizza menu is extensive and everything looked amazing.  Since there were three of us, we decided to order 3 different small pizzas and then share, so we could try as many as possible.  Cathy ordered the Q Special with grilled marinated chicken, portabella mushrooms, roasted red peppers, zesty tomato sauce and mozzarella.  Bruce ordered the Serrano Spanish Ham & Pecorino Romano with roasted garlic, ricotta, buffalo mozzarella, and oven-dried tomatoes.  I could not come to a decision, so I asked our waitress what her favorite was and without a moment of hesitation answered the Sausage & Sundried Tomato with ricotta, mozzarella, fresh basil and balsamic reduction. 
Top Left: Q Special, Top Right: Serrano Spanish Ham, and Down Center: Sausage and Sundried Tomato
   All three were delicious.  I am a big fan of their sauce and the crust has a great, smoky and soft texture that only a wood burning stove can give.  The Buffalo Mozzarella on the Serrano Spanish Ham was especially creamy and delicious.  And while I loved all three, I think my favorite was our waitress's.  The Sausage and Sundried Tomato was simply out of this world!  The basil tasted flavorful and fresh (and as the picture shows, they do not skimp of it), the sausage was slightly spicy and tasted great, and the balsamic reduction added a perfect finishing touch. 


     All in all, this Chinatown Pizzeria exceeded all of my expectations.  Definitely worth checking out if you are in DC.  And if you aren't as big of a fan of pizza as me, the rest of their food looked incredible too.  But... you should really try out the pizza. :)

Dindon family outing!
     

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