A Belated Beddia Bye-Bye

Is it me or did Pizzeria Beddia just somehow disappear? Seems like we lost one of the greats without a good chance to say goodbye. I mean, Joe Beddia did say he was closing, and good for him he did it on his own terms March 31st, but it seemed like it kinda flew under the radar. For all the pub it got while it was open, the closure just slipped by.

Pizzeria Beddia was a very simple spot, serving a limited number of pizzas, 4 nights a week, by a low-key dude who made em all, so I guess it's kind of a fitting exit. Sadly, I was never able to try it. The one time I was in Philly was brief and waiting in line at Beddia makes pizza-crawling impossible. That line has been there since it was named best pizza in America by Bon Appetit in 2015. I did, however, pickup his cookbook, Pizza Camp, many months ago and still think it is one of my faves. The recipes are creative and practical for the home pizza-maker, and what I really like about Beddia's pizzas is the way he still finds a way to sauce the white pizzas.

I often find white pizzas, those with no tomato sauce, pretty basic with several potential pitfalls. For example, without a sauce layer, you'll get burn spots in the middle of your pizza if it is not generously covered by cheese or toppings. At the same time, the cheese is more susceptible to burning without the protection and melding-action from the sauce. On top of all that, a pizza without sauce oftentimes lacks flavor so the risk-reward on white pizzas stinks. Of course there are plenty of things you can do to mitigate the risks, but the Beddia book provides white sauce recipes for the best solution.

So, to pay my respects to Pizzeria Beddia, here's a video of me making their rainbow chard and roasted garlic cream pizza on my Sicilian style dough (recipe coming soon).

I know, I know, it's not really a video it's a @forzapizzaathome Instagram story I uploaded to YouTube. Ha, how's that for low-key? Anyway, supposedly Joe Beddia is opening a second, larger location with an expanded menu sometime this year in Philly. Hope it does well and never closes. In the meantime, I guess all we can do is continue cooking through the book.

FORZA PHILLY, BRO.