Columbia Heights

It’s hard to believe it but Red Rocks is about to turn one year old this weekend. To celebrate the milestone Julian sits down with owner James O’Brien and discusses the changes to the restaurant, 11th Street and the neighborhood in general. Congrats Red Rocks!

Red Rocks is kind of like a friend’s house – its around the corner, its warm and inviting, and no matter who is at the door when you step in, they’re always glad to see you. Red Rocks was designed for the people by the people, and you can confirm that warm feeling with anyone, from the patron sipping a glass of wine in one of the brick-framed windows to James O’Brien, the owner who, like his business, is very warm and inviting. The neighborhood pizzeria celebrates its year anniversary this coming weekend, and with a happy hour from open to close and specials that’ll turn your salivary glands on like a Pavlovian dog, you’ll be ready to move in.

I sat down with Mr. O’Brien today to talk about his one-year anniversary – the things he’s learned, the things he regrets (or doesn’t!), and about what makes Red Rocks such a hit. I had fourteen questions to ask, but cut it down to the twelve best. So without further ado:

Julian: For those readers who aren’t familiar with your restaurant, can you tell us a bit about Red Rocks (concept/conception)?

James O’Brien: Well, it is a neighborhood restaurant, definitely based on providing the best possible pizza experience. Many people don’t know about the pizza process, or they like what they like, and that’s it. Here at Red Rocks, we’re all about traditional Neapolitan pizzas. We use the best flour, which is caputo flour, and the best tomatoes – we use only fresh mozzarella, and for our margarita pizzas fresh buffalo mozzarella. Lots of people get it mixed up and put fresh mozzarella on margarita pizzas. The oven is also fired between eight-hundred and nine-hundred degrees. I get people in here from Italy who say they can only have our pizza. On pizza.com, we have people who say that we’re the second best pizza they’ve ever had! Unfortunately, we have people who grew up eating a certain kind of pizza. They equate pizza with lots of toppings or overflowing with sauce or cheese, but that’s not the best quality pizza. Neapolitan pizza is a balance between the taste of the dough, the sauce, and the cheese. The point is not to overwhelm people. Every good pizza maker needs to know that its quality over quantity.

Julian: What makes you stand apart from other restaurants or pizzerias?

James: To reiterate it, what we do differently is we use the top top ingredients – top flour, top tomatoes, top mozzarella. Before I was really doing this full time and really tasting pizzas all the time, I would eat pizza and not really taste the differences. I don’t think you can taste the difference, but now that I’m in this business, I can really taste the quality of the tomatoes, the temperature of the oven – the quality of the flour. The taste of a brick-oven pizza can’t be recreated in a deck oven. You cannot recreate that pizza experience. The brick oven is a key element to the whole thing. The difference is immense. As far as atmosphere goes, its all very subjective, because people feel comfortable in different places. We’re trying to make this as comfortable spot as possible, with friendly service, and good food.  Interview continues after the jump. (more…)