You know those people who are born with a name that ends up being indicative of their profession? Well in a weird way, Wylie Dufresne lives up to just that because while it may be spelled differently, he is wiley when it comes to food. And his new venture with Breads Bakery, Stretch Pizza, is a testament to that.
His fans know him as the mastermind behind WD-50, a molecular gastronomy restaurant that was one of the first of its kind and Du’s Donuts, a not quite as avante-garde but still pretty daring donut venture, slinging flavor that are as tasty as they are indulgent.
His most recent venture started a few weeks ago and any foodie will have seen it strewn across the platforms of their favorite NYC-based food influencers’ pages.
Dufresne has teamed up with Breads Bakery, another NYC-native with stores across the city, that serves incredible Israeli-inspired eats that are anything but average. High on the list are their 6 flavor round challahs and incredible babkas, one of which is cheesecake flavored this month.
What’s the collab?
Wylie Dufresne and Breads Bakery have teamed up to present a menu of various pizzas, both normal and less so, with Dufresne at the helm of the kitchen—the day I was there, his relative showed up to see him and was sent to the kitchen. The menu and cookery is entirely in his hands and they are some deft ones.
According to Breads’ PR team, the collab came about when, “through a mutual friend, he [Wylie] met Gadi Peleg, Breads Bakery’s owner and they started meeting regularly at Breads Bakery during the pandemic… They started discussing ideas to get Wylie into the bakery, which was, during the pandemic, one of the few neighborhood spots still open.”
She noted that “like countless New Yorkers, Wylie was mostly home during the pandemic and, like many, started to explore new interests. In Wylie’s case, the new interest became New York style pizza, and, unique to Wylie, it became an obsession. After much discussion and many pies, Wylie and Gadi decided that New York Style Pizza was a perfect way to collaborate.”
What do they offer?
Orders have to be placed on Tock for pickup only and there are limited available orders each day, so you have to be quick!
On the menu are 4 pizza flavor offerings including:
1. Classic New York – which includes red sauce, aged mozzarella, and parmesan
2. Couch Potato – which includes fingerling potatoes, sour cream, aged mozzarella, parmesan, rosemary, and scallions
3. Everything – which includes cream cheese, aged mozzarella, everything bagel spice, and chives
4. Sketches of Spain – which includes romesco sauce, aged mozzarella, parmesan, and grilled ramps
They also have one calzone flavor on their menu which is made with a filling of scrambled eggs, muenster cheese, American cheese, and scallions
How do they taste?
Breads’ generous PR team hooked me up with a look at the menu and some treats, but that has no effect on the love I had for these eats. Believe me, my friends will tell you I am a pizza snob!
While I didn’t try everything, I did get some treats in the form of the Sketches of Spain pie and the Calzone.
I don’t think I’d ever tried romanesco before and let me tell you, if you’re like me and haven’t, you’re going to want to—especially if you like nutty flavors. I’m a fan of nutty cheeses and the mix of almond-y romanesco with the parmesan alone created a phenomenal blend of flavor. The ramps gave it and earthy and sort of sweet element and the mozzarella some saltiness to combine into a pretty exemplary bite.
I was told to wait a bit on the calzone as it was too hot to bite into, which while likely saving me from burning my mouth, may not have been the best choice as when I did eat it, the crust had gotten a bit moist and soggy. The filling, though, totally made up for it. It was the taste of an omelette with the creaminess and added flavor of cheese which, if you didn’t bite into it and taste the incredible flavor, meshed well enough to make it look as if there was no cheese at all. So good!
Any other details?
The pop-up/collab is only taking place at the Union Square location at 18 East 16th Street (between 5th Avenue & Union Square West) and only on Tuesdays-Thursdays. But the good news is, you have plenty of time to refresh that page since there is no end date in sight just yet.
Make sure to get in there and snag a pie! You won’t be sorry!