Eeva, ReAnimator Coffee’s New Pizza and Wine Bar, Opens in Kensington

The pizza oven at Eeva | Photos provided

The plan for Eeva was simple, because everything Mark Capriotti and Mark Corpus do is simple. They are the guys behind ReAnimator Coffee, a local roastery with cafes in Fishtown, Kensington, Rittenhouse (that one called Res Ipsa Cafe), and South Philly. Each of those shops — their decor, their business model, their offerings — is an exercise in minimalism and restraint. Their new restaurant, Eeva (310 Master Street) would be no different: a 35-seat pizzeria with a small menu and a short list of good wine. The heart of the restaurant is the wood burning oven, manned by Greg Dunn, who’d bring even more naturally leavened pizzas to Philly. His baking and bread skills would extend into the Reanimator space next door with pastries, cookies, and sourdough loaves. All the baked goodies they introduced us to last year with their weekly pop-ups. 

But that was the pre-pandemic plan. Eeva opened yesterday with a new plan, retooled and paired-down for the COVID era. “We’re scaling all the way back and making sure we can make the product well,” says Capriotti.

The pizza will still be naturally leavened. Neapolitanish — bubbly and charred. But the dining room will remain empty for now. Eeva will start out takeout-only. The bar is more of a bottle shop now, with natural wines, beer and canned cocktails available to-go, and they’re getting the permits for outdoor seating, but Capriotti says all the nearby construction makes it tough. Once they’re settled, maybe in a month or so, they’ll do a pre-order bakery program. You’ll pre-order your sourdoughs and pastries, and pick them up a day or two later. 

Hours are Thursday through Sunday, 4 to 9 p.m. Scroll all the way down for the opening menus.

Eeva from the outside

Bianco pizza at Eeva

Yukon Gold potato pizza

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge