You can do a lot in 72 hours, especially if you’re pizza dough. Like a well-rested person, well-rested dough is more relaxed, balanced and easier to work with. Seventy two hours is a magical number for how long it takes the fermenting process to reach the optimal flavour and texture of a delectable crust.
For Roger Honeywell of JR’s Bakehouse Pizza, it’s all about the crust.
“The sourdough crust adds a really complex base to the whole thing, and it starts a communication between the toppings,” he said.
All the ingredients of the pizza are held in place by a crisp and airy undercarriage with a delicate crunch. The difference is immediate and unmistakable. One bite, and one can never go back to a soggy, floppy crust that has no crunch and no flavour. The sourdough gives the pizza that added depth that elevates it to a new level.
There has been an under-the-radar buzz since this pop-up artisanal pizzeria, JR’s Bakehouse Pizza, came on the scene in Stratford last summer. The cognoscenti knows that on Monday nights the place to be is outside Downie Street Bakehouse, waiting in the queue for the most delicious take-out pizza this side of Napoli.
There is an interesting story here. Honeywell, an opera singer and actor, began baking sourdough bread while on the road. He opened a mini-bakery during one production in Des Moines, Iowa. Back home in Stratford, Alan Mailloux, owner of Downie Street Bakehouse, saw pictures of Honeywell’s breads on social media, and offered him space to work upon his return.
Friday nights are busy for Mailloux’s team. One evening, Honeywell offered to bake pizza for them. It was so good that he had requests to continue every Friday night. Mailloux then had the foresight to suggest to Honeywell, “What do you think about doing a pop-up out of here?”
Honeywell turned to the adept hand of his friend and esteemed thespian, Juan Chioran, whom he calls ‘an inveterate foodie’ to join him.
Sharing their passion for quality, they developed a menu to appeal to a range of discerning palates. One fan-favourite is the Alba, named for Chioran’s mother. It is crackling crisp with a wholesome layering of roasted potato and red onion, a handful of fresh arugula, a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of asiago.
The Opera, is a mellifluous rhapsody of ingredients and textures from the passata of San Marzano tomatoes and the mozzarella, to the salami, mushrooms, roasted red peppers and kalamata olives.
There has been a revolving door of great actors working with Honeywell and, just like in the theatre, there is a social and preformative aspect to the evening.
“It feels like opening night every Monday. We’ve joked that it would make a great musical or a hilarious TV show,” he said.
Sometimes they even sing, Honeywell enthuses. Outside, repeat customers and friends gaze through the window in anticipation as Honeywell throws pizzas up in the air, and they relish the wafting aromas until their order is called. A simple order system on the JR’s Bakehouse Pizza website schedules fifteen-minute windows in which to pick up the pizza. Inside, the pizzaiolos churn out 12-13 pizzas every fifteen minutes. If you’re late, you’re late, but if you’re early, it won’t be ready until the scheduled time.
It all starts with starter, which is the basis for all of the fantastic breads from Downie Street Bakehouse, but finding the right balance for the hand-made, small batch sourdough is trial by fire.
“The nature of sour dough is very mercurial,” says Honeywell. “You never really know exactly what it’s going to do, because environmental forces change it drastically. The recipe is only a guide - it’s really all about touch and feel; and each Monday I just hope it works, because I’ve got to make 120 of these pizzas in two hours.”
There has been such growing interest in Honeywell’s pizza dough that it is now sold at the Bakehouse throughout the week. Beginning this summer, Honeywell is also going to be inaugurating ‘JR’s Home Slice’ for at-home pizza parties. He has purchased two portable pizza ovens so that he can cater at his customers’ homes.
“We could bake up to sixty pizzas in a night,” shares Honeywell. “I can teach people how to throw pizzas, how to stretch out pizzas, and it’s fun.”
Enthusiastic and industrious, Honeywell says, “You’ve got to act on your ideas. You’ve only got one kick at it.”
Just throw the pizza dough up in the air and give it a whirl.
