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We love it when a concept gets turned on its head and results in something unexpectedly better. Detroit-style pizza, which comes to Nashville via Brooklyn, served at Emmy Squared in the Gulch, is such a concept.
It begins with soft, yeasty dough pressed into a rectangular shape, in Sicilian grandma fashion. Then comes the cheese, shreds spilling over the edges that will morph into crispy frico as it bakes. Toppings, which run the gamut of pepperoni, banana peppers, sausage, Calabrian chiles, caramelized onions, and even the controversial pineapple, follow. Sauce is last and, at times, applied after the pie emerges hot and bubbly from the oven.
And what a pie! The crust, while thicker than, say, Neapolitan, is not at all heavy. The edges have that compelling fricofried cheesecrust. (You'll be vying for those corner pieces.) The final embellishment, such as herbed ranch aioli, house tomato sauce, or creamy burrata, brings a fresher, lighter touch.
The Emmy and the Colony are E2 mainstays. The former is a white pizza, baked with cheese, red onion, and banana peppers and striped with that herby ranch post-bake. The latter is red, covered with mozzarella, pepperoni rounds, sauce, and pickled jalapenos. A surprising finish of local honey brings the right balance.
Executive chef Matt Hyland, who co-owns Emmy Squared with his wife, Emily, has designed a couple of pies for Nashville. Sweet and heat mark the Greenstoner, baked with green tomatoes, Hatch chile pimento cheese, and Benton's bacon. While it's not true Nashville hot chicken, his Plain Shame pizza of fried chicken, green onions, radishes, Kenny's blue cheese, and wing sauce is mighty good, especially with a cold brew.
It's not all about the square pie at Emmy Squared: There are three fresh salads (try the Caesar with radishes and shaved bottarga), a couple of killer sandwiches (Chicken Parm! Meatball!), and, to the ever-growing roster of great burgers in town, add Le Big Matt.
Emmy Squared began as a love story. Matt and Emily met in college. Pizza-lovers both, they fell in love over a slice. Ultimately, they took a chance opening their first restaurant, Emily, in Brooklyn, to share the pizza love. Highlighting artisanal wood-fired rounds, it became wildly popular, spawning another Emily and, then, Emmy Squared, for delectable Detroit style.
That Hyland would choose Nashville as the place for his first E2 outpost outside the New York area is not surprising, once you learn his background.
'Growing up, I'd travel to Tennessee at least once or twice a year to visit my aunt, uncle, and cousins, who live outside of Nashville,” he says. 'The city has always been a very personal place for me.”
In fact, in 2012, before opening Emily in Brooklyn, Hyland even thought about opening his first restaurant in Nashville.
'It's always been in the back of my mind to open a restaurant here, since the local culinary scene is thriving, and there's access to incredible regional farms and producers, like Bear Creek,” he adds. 'I'm excited we now have the opportunity to share our Detroit-style pizza in Nashville and join the talented community of chefs and restaurants in the city.”
404 12th Ave S, 615-248-2662; emmysquared.com