News

Haywood Road pizzeria promises new taste, new shape

By Lightning Reports, Published: January 31, 2016

Hendersonville has a new dining choice with the opening today of Pi-Squared Pizza, a family-friendly restaurant featuring world-famous, authentic Detroit-style pizza.

Detroit-style pizza was inspired by American servicemen returning from Europe after World War II, who had developed a taste for the deep-dish variety while stationed overseas. To answer demand, Detroit speakeasy owner Gus Guerra used his wife Anna’s Sicilian family dough recipe to create a new style of pizza, whose crust was layered with pepperoni, baked cheese and then finished with sauce on top, making it soft inside and crisp around the edges. Guerra utilized the same steel pans used by Detroit’s auto industry to bake his pies, creating the signature thick, chewy dough and square shape. In fact, similar steel pans are still used today.
While Detroit-style pizzerias have become ubiquitous across the US, Pi-Squared Owner and General Manager Karen Rampey saw a need to improve on the Motor City marvel by offering a return to fresh, wholesome ingredients for better taste, nutrition and variety.

“Our dough is handmade fresh daily, and we use only the best mozzarella and Italian cheeses, plus organic local produce when it’s available,” Rampey said in a news release. “Freshness is one of the key ways our pizzas are leagues above others in both taste and quality.” The merging of flavor and nutrition makes Pi-Squared a smart choice, and this gastronomic wisdom lent itself to the restaurant’s name. “The rounded number for Pi is 3.14, which is Einstein’s birthday,” Rampey said. “We thought this represented a perfect name for our ‘Pi’s.’”
Variety and flexibility are key features of the Pi-Squared menu, which lets customers customize their own Pi’s by first selecting the crust, which comes in the authentic thick, square Detroit style, as well as three round crust options: traditional, thin and gluten-free. Diners can pick from a wide selection of fresh and cured meats, all- natural cheeses and fresh vegetables, even fruits like mango, pineapple and fig for a unique and exciting pizza experience. The menu also offers signature Pi’s like the No Brainer, composed of fresh homemade pizza sauce and mozzarella and the Detroiter, which is the classic featuring spicy pepperoni and Italian seasoning. There are also artisan compositions like the Kickin’ Kale, BBQ Mango and Fig-et About It, with gorgonzola cheese and mission figs drizzled with honey. “Traditional to nutritional, we offer plenty of choices,” says Rampey, “as well as a range of fresh salads, custom calzones, sub sandwiches and buffalo wings so everyone can find something they love.”
Pi-Squared will be open weekdays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and weekends from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Pi-Squared will have room for up to 42 dine-in guests amid a fun, information-laced décor featuring images of Einstein and Detroit, of course. Pizza lovers can also order take-out and or delivery.