Hash Over: The Pits, Pizza for the Soul And Free Wings

Clay Pit in Addison expected miracles from chef Vijay Sadhu when they hired him in June. Five months later—or “awhile ago,” according to a manager—they tired of his antics and unceremoniously canned the one time savior.

Hey, he called around cajoling critics to review the place. And Bill Addison gave him a relatively decent (using words like “uplift” to qualify words like “unevenness”) write up. But those in charge demanded the nearly impossible, a sudden turnaround—“miracles,” as they put it.

Guess they wanted Clay Pit to line up next to, oh, Abacus, Stephan Pyles, The Mansion…More likely they hoped for a steady flow of traffic. Whatever. Didn’t happen. Next.

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On to some rare good news: according to Jay Jerrier of Campania Pizza, the Southlake joint earned certification by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana. Essentially the process requires filling out an application. Oh, and complying with a few guidelines set down by mysterious guardians of an ancient writ—believe me, I’ve seen parts of the Da Vinci Code (as much as I could stand, or about 15 minutes) and breaking the rules of true Neapolitan pizza would be much worse. Those who reveal the secrets of simple flour-water-salt-yeast dough making, the crushed Italian tomatoes, very fresh fior di latte (or at least mozzarella di bufala) and basil must suffer the…uh-oh. Well, at least I didn’t mention the wood-fired oven bit. Once the association officially lists Campania with other recipients, it will be the 26th pizza place in the U.S. to achieve certification—the second in DFW, joining Irving’s highly acclaimed Cavalli.

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On the wings of the Dave & Buster’s announcement earlier this week comes another blockbuster chain opening. Yep, Buffalo Wild Wings fires up in wing-starved Carrollton on Monday, November 24, at 11 a.m. And if that’s not enough, the sports bar—“wall to wall HD TVs,” or so they tell me—promises free chicken flappers for a year to the first 100 guests in line for the big event.

OK, so it’s more like a voucher for one 6-wing order a week over the next 52 weeks. It’s like a free appetizer before you move on to dinner at one of Carrollton’s fine dining…um…Nevermind.
--Dave Faries