&pizza

&pizza’s Marion Barry-Themed Pizza Knots Inspire Protest Rally, Call for Boycott | Eater DC

"I found &pizza’s U Street location at the center of a backlash after the chain unveiled a dessert called the Marion Berry Knots at a reveal party at Hotel Hive; the knots used the same pizza dough as their other knots but were marketed with heavy powdered-sugar imagery and jokey lines—“enough powder for you and your friends,” how the “knots will blow you away,” and a reference to the DEA—that explicitly played on former mayor Marion Barry’s drug arrest and many people in D.C. found cruel and racist. Councilmember Christina Henderson called the marketing “tone deaf and hella disrespectful,” Barry’s widow Cora Masters Barry said it was “racist and disrespectful,” and Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White and activists led by Ronald Moten urged a boycott of the chain’s 10 D.C. outposts; chef Erik Bruner-Yang, who helped develop &pizza’s garlic knots in 2019, also slammed the campaign as racist, insensitive, and a publicity stunt. The chain’s CEO David Burns initially issued a cheeky statement about marionberries but then acknowledged the mistake, removed the Marion Berry Knots from the menu, apologized, and said he would reach out to community leaders to identify how the brand can make a positive impact." - Emily Venezky