There are all kinds of pizza places…read more
If Ann Arbor has a pizza style, it's thick, cheesy, and really meant for the college crowd. Detroit's pizza was conceived with auto workers in mind. In New York, slices are for folding and eating while on the go, because... well... I guess that's what capitalism does to you.
Pizza Replicator is replicating none of these pizzas. Nope. It's just a Star Trek TNG inspired pizza concept where Max Sussman gets to have a little bit of fun with seasonal ingredients, dough, and some portable pizza ovens.
Personally, I love to support pizza innovation. Max's pizza is about as good as it can be considering it's cooked up in the back of a coffee shop on any given Sunday. More than anything, I want Max to get a permanent home here in A2 with a legit Neapolitan oven where he can really get some better color on the bottoms of those pies.
I've had a few of these so far.
Italian sausage with pepperoncini, provolone, and broccoli rabe.
Brussels and guanciale with aged gouda, fresh mozzarella, and garlic.
Soujouk and Za'atar with onion and green zhug.
Asparagus and gruyere with meyer lemon, caramelized onion, and pine nuts.
Spanish Chorizo, manchego, roasted peppers.
My favorite one to date was the meyer lemon. Dang, that was deliciously unexpected! But those crispy nuggets of guanciale were dynamite too!
Ultimately, these are designed to be take out pies, and I'm just not a take out pizza kinda guy. Because I believe pizza is best when it's fresh hot now, I grab my pie, b-line to my parked car, and eat the pizza in the driver's seat like a savage beast. Even when I have shown up early for my scheduled pizza pick up, I have had little luck in getting super hot pies with crisp edges and well colored bottoms.
Recently I learned that one can request the pizza "well done" and I am looking forward to giving that a try. But I love the culinary creativity and I am happy to keep trying Max's new pies when my Sunday schedule lines up with available pizza slots. One has to keep an eye on the Pizza Replicator Instagram page and move quickly, because these things sell out.
I have gotten over my FOMO, and am happy to simply sample these pizzas when the stars align. Which, you know, is why I'm comfortable to share this with the Yelp Community. Max's efforts are hardly a secret as they were just recently covered in the food press. But yet there is no listing on Yelp?