Wood-fired pizza
Craig Batchelor has good reason to be both “excited and proud” about RPK — Rappahannock Pizza Kitchen — which following a major renovation of the Sperryville Corner Store officially opens tomorrow, Friday, April 14.
Batchelor, who with his wife Caitlin and brother Clay owns the country store, Thornton River Grille, and now RPK, traveled
with Sperryville pizzaiolo Aaron Oyster all the way to California’s Sonoma wine country, where he picked up a world famous Mugnaini wood fired pizza oven and Aaron got some valuable cooking lesson from Andrea Mugnaini, founder of the Mugnaini Wood-Fired Cooking School.
“These are neapolitan style pizzas — thin crust — baked in a wood-fired oven,” explained Batchelor, pointing out that the neapolitan variety of pizzas are made according to strict rules.
Indeed, at RPK’s soft openings this week, the deck temperature of the oven stood at 700 degrees fahrenheit — and a beyond toasty 900 degrees on the dome. With these temperatures, Oyster had his pizzas baked in 75 seconds flat.
Pizza selections on the 2017 spring menu will include Classic Marinara, The Greek, The Prosciutto, The Farmer, Spicy Soppressata, and House Italian. Or you can build your own pizza, choosing from house made sauces, veggies and mushrooms, cheeses and meats. All pizzas are 12 inches.
RPK will be open for lunch and dinner on Friday, Saturday and Sunday; for lunch on Monday, and dinner on Thursday. It will be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday.