Ronan’s Chimpin’ Ain’t Easy cocktail made with Diplomatico, Appleton 12, macadamia, banana phosphate, lime and spice
Our city has developed quite an obsession with Neapolitan-style wood-fired pies, with spots like Pizzana, DeSano Pizzeria, Lodge Bread Company and Cosa Buona flourishing, despite what out-of-towners may think about our fear of carbs. We’re such fans that even Napoli’s L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele—you know, the one from Eat, Pray, Love—opened its first international outpost here. So while New Yorkers can stake claim on being the go-to destination for foldable slices, when it comes to blistered dough, it’s arguable that we’ve got a leg up. Exhibit A: Ronan, a new restaurant on Melrose Avenue from industry veterans Daniel and Caitlin Cutler, who met while working at another pie-con, Sotto. Chef Cutler takes an obsessive approach to his doughs, which extend beyond pies to house breads, for which you’ll definitely want to put in an order alongside your burrata. As far as pies go, if you’re into Roberta’s classic Bee Sting, go for the Sweet Cheeks, made with guanciale, a mixture of ricotta and goat cheese and cacio e pepe honey. There are also excellent shareable market produce plates like leeks with bottarga, lemon, garlic and chile, or carrots with spiced yogurt, honeycomb and coriander flowers. Sea bass is cooked whole in the zarandeado style, a regional method from Nayarit where the fish is spatchcocked and grilled over a live fire. All of those hearth-y flavors impart nostalgia in the cooking and vibe for the now-shuttered Sotto, which continues with the bar program crafted by Nick Meyer, a young mixologist who cut his teeth at now-shuttered restaurant Pico Boulevard. For a town that lamented the loss of a longtime staple, this may well be the next best thing. 323.917.5100
From top: Sweet Cheeks pizza made with house guanciale, ricotta forte and cacio e pepe honey; sea bass zarandeado served banchan style.
Photography by: Sean Patrick Sullivan
