Is Freelance Pizza Making a Comeback?

Dave Quaile making pizza in his kitchen. / Screenshot courtesy of 6ABC

Howdy, buckaroos! And welcome back to the Foobooz food news round-up. We’ve got a few quick things to get through this week, so let’s kick things off by…

Doin’ Pizzas Like a Drug Deal

Some people thought the pandemic was going to kill Philly’s food industry. It didn’t. It was hard, it was dangerous, and it cost a lot of people more than just time and money, but what came out of it were a ton of clever ways people shared their love of food. This is just one of them.

Back in the Before Times, Dave Quaile was a culinary school dropout who really liked making pizza. He did it for himself and for friends. It was just his thing.

Then came COVID and everything in the city just stopped. To pass the time, Quaile started documenting his pizza experiments on Instagram. He also got it in his head that giving away slices in exchange for dry goods and clothing donations might be fun. Probably totally illegal, but still, you know, fun.

He started working out of his kitchen and gave away slices to anyone who showed up, but very quickly his Freelance Pizza project gained a cult following. People showed up regularly, which was something Quaile never really expected. So he expanded his operation, borrowing time in commercial kitchens abandoned by their regular crews, and eventually moving to after-hours street corner pop-ups that felt “like a weird, shady drug deal, but with pizza and clothes that I’d walk to @phillyaidsthrift on my way to work every day.”

He won a Best of Philly award. 6ABC found him and interviewed him and he said that he was just going to keep doing it as long as he could, but only so long as he was still having a good time. “I’ll just keep doing it until it’s not fun anymore,” he said, “and then one day it’ll just be gone.”

Which is exactly what happened.

Quaile did his last pop up more than a year ago. He did 40 pizzas, a couple tomato pies, sold out everything but the sidewalk he was standing on, and vanished. Freelance Pizza was no more.

That is until a couple days ago when, out of nowhere, the Freelance Pizza’s Instagram came back to life. Quaile said he was bored. He missed making pizzas and meeting the kinds of people who were down for trading charitable donations for experimental, probably illegal slices from a certified Philly Pizza Weirdo. And now, after a year gone, he is thinking about coming back. He’s even crowdsourcing ideas for exactly what ‘coming back’ might look like.

“I’m still figuring out the best method to keep doing this because I honestly love and miss it,” Quaile posted. “Here are my top ideas so far:

1. Free slices for anyone who is hungry at some south Philly staple like the park or the singing fountain (just like old times)
2. Take and bake frozen pies at locations to be named later.
3. Maybe a private pizza party at my house, a la @buckskin_scallion (just not as good)? but honestly I’m too socially anxious for that so maybe not?
4. Drop off large pies for slices at different places to sell or hand out or take cash only and give to their staff and then post clues as to where to find them the few days leading up.
5. Go back to making a few pies a day or a week and trading for clothing donations and canned goods. I still have a long running list of people who were scheduled to get one before the pandemic so I’ll probably reach out to you all soon.”

There were a few more ideas, a few more details, and LOTS of suggestions in the comments (some of which were genius), but what Quaile is looking for, really, is some way to bring back the fun and weirdness of those early days. What killed it for him was that it was starting to feel “normal” — like a job, almost. And no one wanted that.

So is Freelance Pizza making a return to the streets? I dunno. It looks like Quaile is definitely leaning in that direction, and I know there are lots of folks out there who’d do just about anything for another one of his slices, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

In the meantime, I’ll certainly be keeping an eye on his Instagram.

The Coolest Collab of the Year (So Far)

Chef Liz Grothe and chef Jason Peabody / Photograph by Samantha Schultz, PUNCH Media

In his list of things he was thinking of doing with Freelance Pizza, Dave Quaile mentioned throwing a dinner party “a la @buckskin_scallion,” which is the Instagram handle of Liz Grothe. Grothe, as some of you might know, is the organizer (and chef) of Couch Café, the semi-secret supper club-slash-dinner-party series she holds in her own living room. She also used to work in the kitchen at Townsend Wentz’s Oloroso and is being welcomed back with open arms by executive chef Jason Peabody for what sounds like a straight killer collaboration dinner.

They’re calling it “Boodle Fight Night,” which comes from American military slang for a kind of shared, communal meal. Like a kamayan feast. Think big tables, lots of food, everyone hanging out. Lots of fun. And on Monday, January 22nd, Grothe and Peabody will be getting together to do a HUGE family-style Filipino/Spanish feast. Check out this menu:

Warmups:
Lumpia Shanghai with sweet & sour
Empanada with giniling
Cheesesteak Croqueta with banana ketchup
Mains:
Garlic Rice
Collard Green Laing
Curried Squash Mussels
Max’s Style Fried Chicken
House Made Longanisa
Oloroso Cabeza (pig’s head)
Dessert:
Mango-Turmeric Chiffon Cake

What’d I tell you? That looks AWESOME. And that list doesn’t even include the add-ons: Jolli spaghetti, ube hand pies, wine pairings from Oloroso’s sommelier.

So remember: Monday, January 22nd. 5:30 to 8 p.m. Tickets will run you $85 each, not counting the add-ons. And because it’s a one-night-only kind of thing, you are going to want to make your reservations right now.

No, seriously. Now.

Okay, now how ‘bout some leftovers …

The Leftovers

Photograph courtesy of Bloomsday

It looks Like Bloomsday is bringing back lunch services and going back to its roots as an all-day cafe. Starting this Wednesday, January 10th, the café will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for coffee, sandwiches and pastries. The kitchen will close down at 2 p.m. every day, but the bar will stay open for all you neighborhood day-drinkers. Then the whole place lights back up again at 4:30 p.m. for dinner service.

For those of you who consider yourselves “sober curious” or are just trying to celebrate Dry January this year, I’ve got a bright spot in the calendar for y’all to look forward to.

Dry Vibes, which “lives at the intersection of wellness and non-alcoholic alchemy” according to its website, is coming to Philly on January 20th.

At Location 215 (a photography studio and event venue at 2nd and Spring Garden), there’ll be mocktails, a wellness marketplace, a meditation room, N/A cocktail demonstrations from local bartenders, one of the Real Housewives of New Jersey, a keynote speaker whose “wisdom and insights will empower you on your journey to a balanced and alcohol-free lifestyle,” and an alcohol-free afterparty where you can hang out with other sober strangers.

You can get your tickets right here.

I know I’ve already done my best to talk you into one collab dinner already this week, but Grothe is on a roll this month. In addition to the Filipino communal dinner, she’s doing a collaboration dinner focused on Western Sizzlin’, a steakhouse and buffet chain based largely in the southeast known for its steaks and giant salad bars.

This one is happening at High Street on January 28th and will feature Grothe (under the stage name “Ol Liz”) and High Street’s Christina McKeough working together to recreate the full Western Sizzlin’ experience. There’ll be a fancy salad bar, a High Street bread bar, chicken fried steak, sides and fixin’s, and dessert. I don’t have a full menu for this one yet, but I do know that prix-fixe tickets are $55 each, and that all the proceeds will be going to @phillycurehd. You can get more details and make your reservations here.

And finally this week, because it seems like I just can’t finish off a news round-up these days without some weird-ass beer news, I just HAVE to let you know that Bitchin’ Kitten Brewery in Morrisville is releasing a bunch of Girl Scout cookie-themed beers on January 18th.

They’re calling the new line “Adventures in Scouting” (which is a solid name), and it will include Cinnamon Roll Winter Warmer, Lemon Sour Ale, Chocolate Stout with Caramel and Toasted Coconut, and a Peanut Butter Brown Ale.

Want to know the cool part? Starting at noon on the 18th, Bitchin’ Kitten will be pouring samples, selling sixers, and will have some of the Girls Scouts from Troop #2888 on site selling boxes of cookies. And what kind of monster would go all the way out to Bucks County to drink some peanut butter beer and not drop a few bucks on some Lemonades and Caramel deLites?

As a matter of fact, BKB is making it easy on you, offering a four-pack of beers PLUS four boxes of cookies for $50 while supplies last. Oh, and there’s online ordering, too.