Address - Tapuach 12
Phone - 052 545-1907
Hours - Sunday through Wednesday, 12 noon to 12 midnight
Thursday - 12 noon to 2 a.m.
Friday - 10 a.m. to 12 hour before Shabbat
Saturday evening - 1 hour after Shabbat end to 2 a.m.
Kashrut -Rabbanut Yerushalayim, Mehadrin
"Food is our passion," says 30-year-old David Kaplan about he and his wife, Miri. Until two years ago, he was CEO running a company with a chain of cinema theatres countrywide; then he started doing construction, but when he left that position, he and his wife started playing with pizza at home.
"In the beginning, it was like a joke--let's open a pizzeria." Then about six months ago, it became more of an option.
They signed a lease on a store in Machaneh Yehudah, and Kaplan began to do all of the construction with his own hands.
For the interior, Kaplan says, "We decided to do what we liked. It is still in the trial period, but we will soon add our logo and paintings."
Two walls have bricks above and geometric tiles below, one wall above the work area is white. Two high black stools are at the marble-topped counter; 6 are by two marble-topped tables. That's it.
May 28 Craft Pizza opened.
Why Craft? The person who helped them was Tony Gemignani, "the number one person in the world in pizza making. He helped us a lot in technical information and recipes. The end of every email he sent us he would write: 'Respect the craft.'"
Using fresh ingredients from the shuk daily, Kaplan says the goal is to give people the best pizza they've ever eaten, "to touch people's palate in a way they haven't experienced." The experience is what they call "New York-style" pizza.
Right now cheese pizza is NIS14 a slice; the others are NIS17 a slice. Take away is now only by the slice, but this week they will have pizza boxes for whole pizza take away.
Every day the types of pizza will change. On the evening we did this story, they had made Spicy nectarine, Goat cheese and Hot pepper pizzas. By evening we were sampling three others.
The Greek style was roasted eggplant with feta cheese. The taste of the cheese was distinct but not overwhelming over the eggplant.
The second pizza we tried was Umami with Mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses and mushrooms. My companion is a real mushroom lover, so he was really pleased. I like them less, but the taste was very subtle, and I enjoyed every bite.
The third pizza was classical cheese with Mozarella and Parmesan cheeses, and I loved the creamy cheese and the crust.
Speaking of crust, the Kaplans work with a specific flour which requires long fermentation, so the process of readying the dough is three days.
On another day before we did this story, we just happened to stop in for pizza; while I had the Classical cheese, my companion had the Purple haze--beets, kalamata olives and red onion.
A few other selections which they make include: Sweet and spicy--sweet potatoes, onions and hot peppers; Sweet veggies--zucchini, varied sweet peppers and date honey; Caribbean--pineapple and goat cheese; Roasted veggies--zucchini and thyme, various sweet peppers and garlic and balsamic vinegar; and Empire--kalamata olives, red onion and cherry tomatoes.
Craft also has cold drinks for NIS10 and beer for NIS20.
Craft is just what it sounds like--a place to stop for a great piece of pizza and a drink while shopping in the shuk or a new place to try when you're hungry for a special slice of pizza and willing to travel to the shuk for it.
It’s well worth the time whichever way you decide to drop in! As pizza lovers, we think this easily ranks at the top.
The author and photographer were guests of Craft Pizza.
