Biscuits & Pizza. A Love Story.
Restaurant work is uniquely demanding. When you work in restaurants your personal relationships always suffer. You are late to or cannot make weddings, birthdays, brunches, or any other occasion important to you or the people you love. I missed the birth of my best friend’s daughter because she was born two days before Stomping Ground opened. I almost always miss holidays with my family because I am working to make the holidays special for other families. I have lost more relationships: romantic, friendships, and even colleagues because of never ceasing demands of Stomping Ground. I love my job, but it is not without real sacrifice.
I met Andy when he was opening his pizza shop, Andy’s Pizza and I was opening my, now shuttered, second location at the enormous food hall at Tysons Galleria. We became fast friends even faster confidants as we shouldered through the hell that is opening a restaurant. It was the first time I had met another human that shared my values; hospitality first, treating staff humanly, sourcing the best product possible, and a deep, all-encompassing love of all things food. Cooking it. Eating it. Serving it. The icing on the cake? His pizza was absolutely delicious. After months of working side by side, his pizza shop was growing week by week and Stomping Ground Tysons was, in a word, failing. When I decided it was time to call it quits, after months of strategy and trying everything I knew, Andy held me as I fell apart. I realized very soon after that I had fallen head over heels for him. <insert eye roll>
Fast forward almost a year later and Andy and I are working through yet another struggle. True to form, he has handled this stress with a positive attitude and grace that I am equally resentful of and inspired by. When quarantine started, Tysons Galleria closed its doors, and Andy’s Pizza Tysons was forced to do the same.
Never idle, he immediately started making bread and pizza every day at home, working on his craft. We have continued to bond and grow over our love of food and the work that we do. Cooking together and for each other has kept us both sane. About two weeks ago it happened. He figured out how to cook his pizza dough, typically New York style, in a pan and home oven, Sicilian style. It was so damn good. After giving a few test pies away to close friends I knew immediately I wanted to sell this pizza at Stomping Ground for myriad reasons; it would bring very good, unique pizza in Alexandria, it would help me solve my problem of offering dinner seven nights a week under my new business model, and it would give the man I love the ability to feed his soul by feeding others.
After another two weeks of testing, Andy is going to serve his Sicilian style pizza out of Stomping Ground. We are starting small, with two, maybe three days per week. He will start to add different toppings and options once he is up and running. The plan is for Tuesday nights, Thursday nights, and Saturday nights. Simply order online on our website and pick up any time between 4pm and 7pm on the date selected.
I’m so thrilled for you to try his pizza and I can’t wait for you all to fall in love with him as much as I have. (Wow this pandemic has softened me up.) 😉
- About the restaurant
If you wander down Del Ray’s, “The Avenue,” you won’t miss the farm-red building with a rustic fence bordering the patio. Stomping Ground opened two years ago and quickly became popular for its made-from-scratch biscuits and its neighborhood vibe. On weekends, excited guests line up before Stomping Ground opens hoping to be the first to get a just-out-of-the-oven biscuit or a fresh salad. Stomping Ground is mostly known for its fast casual breakfast and lunch but on Thursdays and Fridays they provide a full dinner service after 5:00pm. All meals are built from local, seasonal food that is organic whenever possible.
2309 Mt Vernon Avenue
Alexandria, VA 22301
703.567.6616
