Ella's Wood-Fired Pizza, DC

Sometimes the best experiences come out of spontaneity, and in my case, things are rarely as exciting when you put too much effort into that pretty little picturesque evening you had planned.

Such is the case of the best Monday I’ve probably had all year.  Just a few days prior, I took a shot in the dark and asked my D.C. area brother is he’d be interested in seeing the New Jersey Devils @ Washington Capitals.

Now I, being a huge Devils fan since 5th grade, had a hard on for this trip all weekend and was stoked my bro would be interested in going (not to mention picking up the tab on both the tickets and the pizza we we’re about to have.

Enter, Ella Wood-Fired Pizza.

This place specializes in the traditional, Neapolitan style, thin crust pizza that is often so elusive in Richmond, save for Sette.  The verdict?  Ella’s is better.

Much better.

My brother ordered the Napoletana (tomato sauce, capers, anchovies, fresh basil and fresh mozzarella) and I the Margherita, which featured the mozzarella bufala.  Everything on my the Margherita was perfect.  The sauce, the cheese, the crust, the basil.  The perfect amounts of olive oil and sea salt took this pie from a 9 to a 10, easy.  You could taste every little nuance of effort that went into making this pizza.  Nothing was over powering, nothing falling behind.

The sauce had a tangy touch, something I’m not familiar with, but was definitely a highlight of how delicious this pizza was.  And the crust.  Ohhh the crust…  I was THIS close to ordering another pie to split with my brother.  We were both so engaged in the process of clearing our plates that we didn’t get to try eachother’s pizza.

You could even see the oven in plain view if you walked past the kitchen to th bathrooms.

And I don’t have to tell you how amazing it was to see the Devils come back from a 2-0 deficit to crush the Caps dreams of ending their losing streak.  Martin Brodeur played like it was 2003 and the Devils finished their first road trip of the season undefeated.

-gRant