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The Reheat Index takes one of the District’s favorite foods and sends it through the microwave. Some meals will rise again, delicious and transformed, others will fall apart when faced with electromagnetic radiation.
Where: District of Pi, 910 F St. NW
The Dish: The Bucktown deep-dish pizza ($17.95/$22.95) shines because of its cornmeal crust; it’s crunchy and a touch sweet. This deep-dish crust also has outrageous structural integrity—it defies gravity to hold together a deep mass of chunky sauce and mozzarella. On the other hand, the promised artichoke hearts, olives, and sundried tomatoes are afterthoughts, submerged in all the ferociously tangy sauce.
To go please! District of Pi started slinging its pizza in D.C. as a food truck, so boxing up half of a deep dish pie is no sweat. Each slice is lovingly wrapped in wax paper and tightly packaged in a cardboard box. According to the waitress, the pizza is “pretty good” when microwaved. But, “I always think it might’ve been better if I took the time and put it in the oven,” she muses.
Time Cooked: 24 hours later. One slice in goes into the microwave for two minutes uncovered; another hits a 400-degree oven for four minutes; the last one is served cold.
The Reheatening: Although the Bucktown pizza looks the same after 24 hours in the fridge, there’s no resuscitating that signature crust. The waitress is right though: best to stick it in the oven if you have the time. While cold, the crust and mozzarella merge indistinguishably to create the mouthfeel of sweet crumbly cheese. In the microwave, my slice seems to have gained substantial moisture at the center. (Too bad that moisture came directly from the now-solid crust.) Left to focus on everything else in the pizza, there isn’t much to celebrate. That bright tangy sauce at least mellowed enough to taste more like tomatoes.
Warm Up Points (1-5): 3. Within a day, this deep-dish pizza loses everything that made it noteworthy. The Bucktown deep-dish is still decent pizza, but this pizza is not food that you’ll be craving even 24 hours later.
Photos by Megan Arellano