Manzanita Connections: Special Pi(e) Day Edition 3.14

A local guide to pizza pie, in lieu of searching for dessert pie

Happy National Pi Day! March 14 is the day we (okay, some of us) celebrate the famous mathematical constant π (pi = 3.14). Basically, it’s a great excuse to bake pie and eat pie. All pie counts. Sweet or savory. Morning, noon or night. A pizza pie also counts, especially if you eat it while listening to Dean Martin croon: “When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's amore.”

I hunted around for local “pie news” and possible Pi Day specials with little success. Sadly, Sisters & Pete’s Coffee and Treats has closed its doors, but Big Wave has Marionberry, Key Lime, Peanut Butter, and Chocolate Éclair on the menu. If you know other places that serve pie, please drop me a note in the comments.

A Raspberry Sour Cream Pie from last summer.

If I could, I’d bake you all pie, but for today, I’m sharing a short list of where to eat the other kind of pie …

Pizza Pie

Manzanita

• Marzano’s Pizza Pie – Hand tossed pizzas for take-out, closest to the beach; Open Thurs-Mon, 3:30-8:30pm (GF available).

• Rusty Moose –Flatbread pizzas; Open Wed/Thurs 4-9pm and Fri/Sat 4-10pm.

Nehalem

• Manzanita Lighthouse Pub & Grub – Hours vary. Closed Sun/Mon; 21 and over but take-out available.

Wheeler

• The Salmonberry – Wood fired pizza and steel pan Detroit style pies on the Wheeler waterfront; Open Fri-Mon, 4-8pm.

  

  Go hungry if you order the Detroit-style pepperoni at The Salmonberry. Also available with a gluten-free crust.

Garibaldi

• Crab Rock Pizza – Wood fired Napoletana style pizza in the Port of Garibaldi; Open Th/Fri 4-8pm and Sat/Sun 12-8pm.

• Fornax Pizza – Wood fired, wild fermented pizzas (which I wrote about a few days ago) located Under the Big G Food Truck Pod; Open Fri-Mon, 3-7pm.

  

  The Margarita from Fornax Pizza Truck in Garibaldi.

Make/Bake Your Own

Wild Manzanita carries frozen pizza dough rounds from Blue Scorcher Bakery and Café in Astoria. It’s delicious. I’ve used it on a large baking sheet and stretched it into a thinnish crust. I’ve also used it more like focaccia or sheet pan style baked at a high temperature in my 12” cast iron skillet.

My pizza creation sitting on top of the Blue Scorcher Cafe dough. Includes fig jam, mozzarella, pear, prosciutto, arugula and goat cheese.

Happy Pie eating.

P.S. You can usually find take-and-bake pizzas at Fresh Foods and Little Apple unless the out-of-town visitors have beat you to the grocery store.