Go Try the Wayfarer x Carmelo's Pizza Collab

While you still have time.

Regular readers of this weblog know that I am not a food blogger, but I happen to write a lot about the food I am discovering here in the tri-state.

If I won Powerball, I’d probably open up a Cassano’s franchise in an old Frisch’s and go full retro. Tavern-style pizza is probably my favorite of all time, dating back to childhood visits to Piqua and Sidney to visit my grandparents. Very much associated with Dayton, Ohio and neighboring Indiana, I went to a different Dayton to try out some new ‘za.

Dayton, Kentucky, to be precise. Why? Because Carmelo’s, recently ranked #2 in new restaurants by USA TODAY, did a collab with a neighborhood pizza joint I’ve long wanted to try.

You may remember Carmelo’s because my wife and I went there on date night last year. I did a post on it, and if you haven’t been, you must. The oxtail ragu? Amazing. Better than the oxtail ragu I had in Rome in November.

By a country mile.

So with that endorsement, imagine putting it on your favorite pizza style? Because that’s what Wayfarer and Carmelo’s did. But just this week.

Behold:

Here’s the story from the collaboration post:

This Carmelo’s x Wayfarer Collab is more than just two newer Northern Kentucky Restaurants bringing the best of what they do together to make a pizza that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Would you believe this story starts more that a decade ago in the mountains of Đà Lạt and on the streets of Saigon & Nha Trang in Vietnam? Brought together by our great friends Bao & Duy Nguyen and the Lang Thang Group, Billy Grise of Carmelo’s and Mike Dew of Wayfarer Tavern once were partners together in the restaurant group, where they took an amazing immersive trip all around Southern Vietnam. Now, years later after many twists and turns, we’re able to work together again - along with our talented culinary teams - to drop this awesome collaboration pizza.

This week’s pizza is a bold and savory combo of Carmelo’s sensational braised Oxtail & Osso Buco Ragu, Pecorino Toscano cheese, Black Pepper, with Wayfarer Tavern’s 5 Cheese Blend, House-made Red Sauce and Fines Herbs to tie it all together. It’s the perfect combo to pair with one of our excellent red wine selections (we’re particularly excited about a new Rosso di Montalcino launching this week 👀) and to shake off what we hope are the last chilly days of winter.

Of course I had to try it. And if you want to, too, you have until March 8th… unless this collaboration comes back or is made permanent, which, logistically isn’t likely or feasible. But after this taste test, I would love to see it come back seasonally at least.

Whether or not it ever returns, it’s a pizza that instantly made it to my top 10 pizzas ever consumed. And now I know I won’t have to drive all the way to Dayton, Ohio to get a great tavern-style pizza. Between St. Francis Apizza and Wayfarer’s, it’s never more than 15-20 minutes away.