Photo courtesy of Press
Tomato pizza from Press, located next to The Lucky Accomplice on S. Jefferson Ave.
Just when you thought pizza chains had exhausted the options for tossing, topping, stuffing, and segmenting the ever-versatile dish, along comes Logan Ely (chef-owner of Shift and The Lucky Accomplice) with a new idea: a pressed, smashed pizza served at his newest restaurant concept, Press. The 32-seat dine-in and takeout pizza and draft cocktails concept opens this Thursday at 2509 S. Jefferson, next to Ely’s other restaurant, The Lucky Accomplice, in Fox Park.
The Menu
For such a simple base product—a pizza—the description is involved. A 72-hour, long-ferment dough is rolled out, shredded cheese and ingredients are added, the dough is folded back on itself and topped with the same items, then it’s smashed in a flat-sided panini press until crisp. (Some of the cheese oozes out, bubbles, and cooks, caramelizing into a crunchy lagniappe.) Cold garnishments are added, then it’s cut into quarters and served. Ely describes the new creation this way: “Crunchwrap Supreme meets quesadilla meets calzone meets pizza.”
The 10-inch pressed pies ($22 on average) are substantial and deceiving in their thickness and density, Ely says. “Probably the same weight as a large thin-crust pizza,” he reasons. Customers can share and pair the pizza with sides, dubbed “Smaller Stuff.”
Photo courtesy of Press
Half a dozen pizzas are made using local produce, though out of season the restaurant will turn to house-made canned, pickled, and frozen iterations. “We’re also using local cheese that we grate ourselves and local duck,” Ely says of a likely signature pizza (pictured above), dressed with barbecue kimchi, scamorza cheese, and shredded cabbage. There’s also a focaccia and a dessert or two, beginning with “a really nice doughnut.”
Photo courtesy of Press
At the top of Ely’s side dish list is his take on lobster thermidor, made using sustainable canned lobster with egg, brandy, and cream that’s baked and served in a can with saltine crackers. Also on the inaugural menu: “Rancho Gordo beans, cooked barigoule style, with vinegar, lemon zest and parsley, and a cheese mornay at the bottom,” he explains. “Simple, right?” (like he expects us to agree). There’s a house-aged lonza with preserved vegetables, so the intense flavors of summer can be enjoyed until the season reemerges. Ely describes the entire menu as “simple stuff, fun stuff.”
The Beverages
Photo courtesy of Press
Similar to the development of Press’ food menu, bar manager Cory Moszer followed the same “no apologies, we’re going to do what we want” approach. A draft cocktail menu includes Melon Dew (using Midori, an '80s-era melon liqueur that’s having a moment again) and the Hemingway (with white rum, Pampelle grapefruit apertiif, and a Luxardo cherry). Several of the draft cocktails will also be offered in 375-ml bottles, sold at the restaurant (and ideally at retail elsewhere, Ely hints).
Also on tap are several nitro-based cocktails (including an espresso martini) which use inert, food-grade nitrogen as the driver. The end result is a layer of ingredient-based foam that magically cascades inside the glass.
Photo courtesy of Press
“No one in town is doing nitro cocktails that I know of,” says Moszer, who plans to “line price” the draft cocktails at $12. "All of Press’ cocktails are affordably priced, to drink here or take home,” Moszer says, to dovetail with the to-go pizza option.
To take the draft craft cocktails to the next level, Ely is considering buying a small beverage truck to dispense them. “I like having the option of drinking a cocktail or crafted N/A drink at an event or farmers' market, rather than some filling, high-calorie beer,” he says.
Canned and bottled beer from local craft brewers is available as well. There's also one draft beer on tap: Busch, a popular industry beer. “Busch is the king of beers, in my opinion,” says Moszer.
The Space
Courtesy of Press
The spartan, painted-white-brick shotgun space includes 32 seats, where dinner guests receive full table service. Six stools occupy a front window counter that overlooks Jefferson Avenue. A back hallway will be lined with local art. The walls of the shotgun space are white-painted brick. Hydroponic plants are situated along a short expanse, and a church pew banquette with dimmable globe chandeliers runs along the main wall. Asked about plans for the blank-slate area above, Ely deadpans, “White brick.” No further questions...
The space—a former “big, dirty, and messed-up” storage garage with multiple elevations and a ramp, as Ely describes it—had to be decluttered and leveled out, most of which Ely and his crew did themselves. "This one was a whole lot of work," he says.
The Concept
Ely describes the concept as elevated fast-casual. “We were having a creative talk internally—one of those ‘what if’ talks," Ely recalls of Press' origins, "and came up with this fun pizza riff that, depending on what you put on it, can appeal to everybody.”
By design, the concept requires only simple equipment: several panini presses, a top broiler, and a few induction burners—all of it electric and easily replicable. “Savage [the former Shift] had more than its share of naysayers,” he says, “to the point that I was practically asking people on the street if they wanted to invest. Then we proved the concept." With Press, the road was not so rocky. “We had a legit idea, we had the people, we found a way to adapt the nearby space, so we said, ‘Hey, why not?”’
Inaugural service is dinner only, Thursday through Monday. “Not much is open Sunday and Monday, and the places that are are packed,” says Ely about Press’ somewhat unorthodox weekly schedule, although expanded hours, including lunch, is always a possibility.
Takeout is an option, and Ely would like to limit delivery (if and when it happens) to the neighborhood, if possible. (When the motor scooter-riding author suggested delivery by scooter, Ely’s eyes lit up as he said, “You wanna job?”)
