Como’s Opens in Ferndale After Renovations With Square Pizza | Eater Detroit

"After a complete gut renovation, the longtime Italian spot at the corner of Nine Mile Road and Woodward Avenue in Ferndale has been reborn under Peas & Carrots Hospitality, whose team includes chef Zack Sklar, Jim Bellinson, and Josh Humphrey. The restaurant—whose reputation was tarnished after repeated health-inspection failures under the Grego family, which had operated it since the 1960s and eventually sold the building—retains little of the original beyond its signage and terracotta arabica tile floor, but now features a 100-seat dining room with wood paneling, mid-century style ceiling tiles, a Douglas fir bar with five custom banker’s-chair stools, pops of vibrant blue, book-lined walls, abundant plants, and an expansive patio getting an ’80s Miami Beach makeover. The updated menu centers on Zack Sklar’s take on square Detroit-style pizza: a focaccia-like crust made with a sourdough starter fermented for three days, a special gluten-free crust built from an Italian flour blend that yields a crispy yet flavorful base, a house red sauce made from Californian and Italian tomatoes, hand-cut pepperoni, and a crumble of Grana Padano that sweats rather than melts; the whole crispy-cornered pie is served on a metal tray with a cooling rack. Other offerings include brick chicken, baked spaghetti, Indian-spiced spinach dip, meatballs, and desserts such as soft serve, key lime pie, and several flavors of Italian budino custard, and Sklar calls the location “phenomenal,” noting it as perhaps the best location in Ferndale with one of the greatest patios in Oakland County." - Brenna Houck