Organic Pizza Co. Debuts in Denver

Denver-based take-and-bake pizzeria now open in Highland neighborhood

I ordinarily wouldn’t devote an entire post to a new pizza place, given the fact that I am way behind because of this blog’s redesign. But the Organic Pizza Company, which opened yesterday, is not ordinary. Its watchwords are “organic,” “natural,” “sustainable,” “gluten-free,” options options for the pies and “community-oriented” and “charitable” for the company. But what sets OPC’s pizzas apart is that they taste so good.  Their slogan says it all: ”Taste the Difference/Make a Difference.”

The company hosted a media preview on Thursday evening, just as the new place was being readied to open its doors. The event took place in the Spire, a gleaming 42-story downtown Denver highrise across from the Denver Convention Center. A second Organic Pizza Company location is planned to open at street level there in early November, with another half-dozen or so in metro Denver within a couple of years. I mention this only because these pizzas were baked in home ovens in the penthouse where the party took place and also on lower floors and brought up in the elevator. I applaud the reality of baking them in home ovens rather than a fancy, high-temp pizza oven.

We sampled a dozen varieties — all thin-crusted, interestingly topped and cleverly named. The pizza people brought out two of each kind, one each on their own hand-tossed wheat and white crust that was cut into modest slivers and squares so that everyone could sample a bit of each. (They also offer a gluten-free crust sourced from Udi’s.( I’ll be that in terms of square inches, I didn’t eat as much as in three slices of a standard large pizza, but they were so satisfying that I wonder whether there is such a thing as pizza umami.

Kevin Mooney, a chef who also owns Brassica Catering, developed the pizzas. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois, which doesn’t matter in this context, and the Cook Street School of Fine Cook, which matters a lot. He previously worked in the Palace Arms at the Brown Palace Hotel and Aspen’s Little Nell, which are as good as they get, restaurant-wise. He’s is a certified sommelier, which explains the wine-pairing suggestions. Organic Pizza Company locations will have only a couple of tables and no liquor license, but they are teaming up to cross-promote with nearby liquor or wine stores with suggested pairings for each of their pizzas.

Chef Kevin Mooney

 Beer-pairing suggestions? No, I was told by one of the partners. People seem to have their own favorite brews and  don’t need or want suggestions.

Price check: Pizzas (9-, 12- and 14-inch sizes), $7.99-$19.99; salads, $6.99-$8.99, plus natural and organic beverages.

Organic Pizza Company, 4500 West 38th Avenue, Denver; 303-534-2223.