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If summer 2017 has an official drink, it’s trendy frosé—a glorious adult slushy made with everyone’s favorite pink wine. We’ve been getting our fix at White Pie since it opened in Uptown on May 18. The New Haven-style pizza joint does frosé oh-so-well (as well as other things that we’ll get to in a moment). Co-owner brothers Jason and Chris Wallenta (the family behind Dos Santos) won’t divulge all of the ingredients for the proprietary, not-too-sweet recipe, but Jason confessed that White Pie’s rendition contains rosé, strawberry purée, a bit of sugar, and the unexpected (and brilliant) addition of vermouth.
The true secret ingredient, however, is White Pie’s “legit slushy machine,” a $4,000 piece of equipment essential for achieving frosé’s thick, slurp-able, semi-frozen texture. (The Wallentas use a second machine to churn out frozen Negronis, making White Pie one of our favorite places in the universe.) “It’s an investment,” Wallenta says, “but we’re betting on frozen drinks. They’re just so fun.”
Also fun are the pizzas, which arrive hot from the wood-oven with the thin, well-charred crusts characteristic of pies from New Haven, Connecticut. The Porky Porkerino, with red sauce, mozzarella, soppressata, pickled chiles, and hot honey, is somehow rich and light, with a deft balance of salty-sweet flavors. Pastas are also worthy of your time. Classics such as lasagna Bolognese, cacio e pepe, and gnocchi are all executed with a graceful hand.
With its comfortably hip space, easy-to-love Italian eats, and slushy drinks, White Pie is already gold in our books.
1702 Humboldt St., 303-862-5323