Arts & Entertainment

The perfect slice?

Friday night family pizza tradition got rude awakening outside the Big Apple

Published

14 years ago

October 18, 2012

Growing up in New York, every Friday night was pizza night with my family.

Each week, a perfect New York-style pizza pie made its way to the kitchen table. Pizza that had the perfect crust; not too thin and not to thick; the right sauce-to-cheese ratio and not swimming in oil. I loved those Friday nights with my family and I still love pizza.

I thought all pizza was perfect, just like the ones that sat in front of me in my youth. The rude awakening arrived when I moved to Boston. My first Friday night alone I called the local pizza parlor and ordered a large pie.

“We don’t sell pie,” said the man on the other end of the line with a chuckle, “We sell pizza.” Before the man could hang up I asked for a large cheese pizza pie, but what eventually arrived at my dorm room didn’t even come close to the perfection I was used to. That’s where my quest for the perfect pizza began, and after 10 years in Boston I never found pizza that met my snobby New York pizza standards.

Now my quest continues in Washington and the perfect pie is still eluding me. Not a single jumbo slice comes close, but they aren’t supposed to; they fill a different pizza niche. Manny and Olga’s on 14th Street serves up a solid pizza, but not perfection. Places like Pi, Pizza No. 17, Pizzeria Paradiso and Matchbox all offer great gourmet pizza options but none are New York-style pizza. So when a coworker said he had some of the best pizza of his life at Menomale Pizza Napoletana (2711 12 Street N.E.), I assembled a group of people and we descended on the Brookland pizza spot on a Friday evening.

Menomale, which means “thank goodness” in Italian, opened this past May and is owned by Italian-born pizza-master Ettore Rusciano and self-proclaimed beer nerd Leland Estes. These guys put together a menu that consists of pizza, calzones and sandwiches made completely with ingredients sourced from the Campania region of Italy. The beer list is clever and constantly rotating with both bottles and drafts available for patrons.

The accommodating staff offered us a couple of seating options upon our arrival, since seven of us had arrived and the adorable 38-seat restaurant can sit a party of six maximum. However, a cozy option in the back corner allowed us all to enjoy our meal together. We started with the Formaggi Della Casa that had three artisan cheeses, dried fruit, nuts, honey and delicious pizza crust to serve it all on. I devoured the cheeses in minutes leaving very little for the rest of the table, including a “moldy” blue cheese that was exquisite, and I don’t generally like “moldy” cheese.

For the meal I had the Buongustaio Pannuozzo wood fired sandwich with sausage, prosciutto de parma and buffalo mozzarella. The name means tasty sandwich and it was exactly that. The pizzas we tried included the margherita (sometimes the best way to judge a place is with its simplest dish); the Diavola, which has spicy salami and red peppers on top of the buffalo mozzarella and tomatoes; and the Capricciosa, which is mozzarella, San Marzano tomatoes, fresh garlic, salami, artichokes and black olives. We also tried the interesting Patata, which is cream of potato, sausage, black olives, mozzarella and fresh basil. All of these items are cooked in the wood burning pizza oven that Rusciano brought to the U.S. This oven cooks the pizzas at 900 degrees and is one of the largest on the East Coast. It also kind of looks like a cool spaceship, at least to me.

Each of these pizzas is made with high quality, fresh ingredients. The flavor profiles are all interesting and the pies all come to the table piping hot and delicious. Menomale makes gourmet pizzas that are on an equal playing field, if not better than some of the establishments mentioned earlier. Sure, I will still be looking for my perfect New York-style pizza (and bagels, and black and white cookies, and deli sandwiches), but I will still return to Menomale for some gourmet pies every now and again.

Related Topics:Dining Menomale Pizza Napoletana Out & About

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FUND LGBTQ JOURNALISM

Sports

Jason Collins dies at 47

First openly gay man to actively play for major sports team battled brain cancer

Published

23 hours ago

May 12, 2026

Michael K. Lavers

Jason Collins (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Jason Collins, the first openly gay man to actively play for a major professional sports team, died on Tuesday after a battle with brain cancer. He was 47.

The California native had briefly played for the Washington Wizards in 2013 before coming out in a Sports Illustrated op-ed.

Collins in 2014 became the first openly gay man to play in a game for a major American professional sports league when he played 11 minutes during a Brooklyn Nets game. He wore jersey number 98 in honor of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student murdered outside of Laramie, Wyo., in 1998.

Collins told the Washington Blade in 2014 that his life was “exponentially better” since he came out. Collins the same year retired from the National Basketball Association after 13 seasons.

Collins married his husband, Brunson Green, in May 2025.

The NBA last September announced Collins had begun treatment for a brain tumor. Collins on Dec. 11, 2025, announced he had Stage 4 glioblastoma.

“We are heartbroken to share that Jason Collins, our beloved husband, son, brother and uncle, has died after a valiant fight with glioblastoma,” said Collins’s family in a statement the NBA released. “Jason changed lives in unexpected ways and was an inspiration to all who knew him and to those who admired him from afar. We are grateful for the outpouring of love and prayers over the past eight months and for the exceptional medical care Jason received from his doctors and nurses. Our family will miss him dearly.”

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Collins’s “impact and influence extended far beyond basketball as he helped make the NBA, WNBA, and larger sports community more inclusive and welcoming for future generations.”

“He exemplified outstanding leadership and professionalism throughout his 13-year NBA career and in his dedicated work as an NBA Cares Ambassador,” said Silver. “Jason will be remembered not only for breaking barriers, but also for the kindness and humanity that defined his life and touched so many others.”

“To call Jason Collins a groundbreaking figure for our community is simply inadequate. We truly lost a giant today,” added Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson in a statement. “He came out as gay — while still playing — at a time when men’s athletes simply did not do that. But as he powerfully demonstrated in his final years in the league and his post-NBA career, stepping forward as he did boldly changed the conversation.”

“He was and will always be a legend for the LGBTQ+ community, and we are heartbroken to hear of his passing at the young age of 47,” she said. “Our hearts go out to his family and loved ones. We will keep fighting on in his honor until the day everyone can be who they are on their terms.”

Photos

PHOTOS: ‘Studio 69’

Glitterati Productions hold party at Bunker

Published

2 days ago

May 11, 2026

Michael Key

'Studio 69' was held at Bunker on Friday. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Glitterati Productions held the “Studio 69” party at Bunker on Friday, May 8.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

Arts & Entertainment

Washington Blade’s Pride on the Pier returns June 13 to kick off D.C. Pride week

Pride on the Pier officially launches Pride Week in D.C.

Published

2 days ago

May 11, 2026

Staff reports

The Washington Blade’s annual Pride on the Pier celebration returns to The Wharf on Saturday, June 13, 2026 from 4-9 p.m., bringing thousands of LGBTQ community members and allies together for an unforgettable waterfront celebration to kick off Pride week in Washington, D.C.

Now in its eighth year, Washington Blade Pride on the Pier extends the city’s annual celebration of LGBTQ visibility to the bustling Wharf waterfront with an exciting array of activities and entertainment for all ages. The District Pier will offer DJs, dancing, drag, and other entertainment. Alcoholic beverages will be available for purchase for those 21 and older.

“Pride on the Pier has become one of the signature moments of Pride in D.C.,” said Lynne Brown, publisher of the Washington Blade. “There’s nothing like watching our community come together on the waterfront with live music and incredible energy as we kick off Pride week.”

Pride on the Pier is free and open to the public, with VIP tickets available for exclusive pier access to the Dockmaster Building. To purchase VIP tickets visit www.prideonthepierdc.com/vip.

Additional entertainment announcements, sponsor activations, and event details will be released in the coming weeks.

Event Details:

📍 Location: District Pier at The Wharf (101 District Sq SW, Washington, DC)
📅 Dates: Friday, 13, 2026

⏱️ 4-9PM
🎟️ VIP Tickets: www.PrideOnThePierDC.com/VIP