What is Stop 50 Wood Fired Pizzeria?
Our specialty is the authentic Naples Style Pie prepared and cooked just as it was 168 years ago in a wood fired hearth oven at over 900° F. Our mission is to provide our guests authentic Napoletana pizza, house made gelato, and fresh salads using only the finest fresh ingredients, cooked using time honored traditions and served in a warm inviting atmosphere. We also offer the finest micro-crafted beer and wine.
What is Naples Style Pizza?
Naples, Italy is considered the birthplace of this style pizza dating back to 1839. This Style Pizza (Napoletana) is as much a method of rich tradition as it is a food. It is an art blending the heritage of dough making, the complexity of fire management and craft of maintaining fresh ingredients. This combination produces a thin crust pie that is crispy on top and bottom while chewy in the center, powerfully aromatic, rich in flavor and full of character. The pie will have slight blackening on the cornicione (outer rim of the crust) and the bottom. The cornicione color is from the flame "kissing" the top, while the bottom color is from the potassium rich wood ash adding flavor.
How will this be achieved?
First, keep things Simple. We have discovered a profound irony in focusing on the basic, rudimentary ingredients for all our recipes. Keeping the integrity of simple allows the unique flavors of truly fresh ingredients to maximize the entire dish. We feel there is something about these most basic, simple fundamental ingredients that is invigorating and cleansing. Our ingredients are not intended to "hide" anything, but rather to exploit their own distinct flavors, which is quite contrary to much of the food prepared today. Following we have listed these basic ingredients and how each participates:
Herbs – Our Herbs are grown both on premise and by locally owned farms to provide rich flavor that only a "just picked" herb can.
Dough – Our 20 year old vintage starter dough provides the foundation of flavor for all the pizza dough and breads, which are made daily. This starter is living, growing dough that we feed everyday with flour and water. Much like a fine wine or cheese, as it grows older it acquires more and more flavor; it is a process that cannot be rushed. All our dough and bread recipes begin by adding a portion of this starter.
Wood Fired Oven – The wood fired oven infuses the food with flavors of Oak, Cherry and Apple wood smoke at over 900° F. This oven bakes each pizza in 90 seconds and is capable of baking eight pizzas at a time.
Tomatoes – One of the things that makes Napoletana pizzas the best in Italy is the Tomato. For generations they have used tomatoes only from the San Marzano region of Italy. We have taken the same approach and sourced out the best tomato America has to offer.
Sea Salt – We use only all natural, course ground, pure iodine free sea salt from the Mediterranean Sea, which provides a great flavor and a little bit of crunch.
Flour – Extra fine "00" Florina flour imported from Italy, this flour helps give the dough a smooth creamy texture when mixing and great flavor after the bake.
Olive Oil – Extra Virgin Cold Pressed Italian Olive Oil gives depth to the pizza and intensifies the sauce.
Cheese – Only fresh Mozzarella, Ricotta and Parmigiano Reggiano cheeses are used.
Water – Double and triple filtered water is used in our recipes to provide a clean, pure transportation of flavor.
Wood – We burn Oak, Cherry and Apple woods that are locally harvested. All wood must be seasoned for at least 10 months, while most is over 12 months. Wood management is extremely important in order to achieve the proper balance between floor heat and dome heat in the oven. Coaling attributes of the wood heats the floor of the oven and the flame attributes heats the dome of the oven. Each plays a critical role in balanced food preparation.
Fire – The fire itself is more than just a means to cook. For centuries fire has served as a focal point of gatherings. Whether the source of energy was to provide warmth, comfort, conversation, or food, it brought people together. Just like beach fires we enjoy today, it is a reason to come together and celebrate family, friends and our slice of paradise along the lake.
So what in the heck does all this mean?
We are passionate about bringing a unique, authentic gathering place to the community focused on providing powerful, rich foods, born from simple, fresh ingredients; prepared using 178 year old traditions and served locally 4,864 miles from their birthplace, Naples Italy. We want a gathering place for families and their friends. A place to meet and relax, enjoy one another's company while experiencing this fine food with a story to tell, Authentic Wood Fired Pizza and uncompromising Fresh Food
