StretchLab

Wylie Dufresne Opens Stretch Pizza in NYC

"Last we saw Wylie Dufresne, he was engineering Creamsicle doughnuts at his Williamsburg shop, Du’s. When it closed during the pandemic, he found himself with some free time and lots of restless energy. “I have a pathological curiosity,” he says. “I mean, it’s a bit of a running joke that on the last day of wd~50, I changed a recipe.” He turned his attention to a new pursuit — pizza — first cooking at home with his family before, in 2021, launching a six-month Stretch Pizza residency at Breads Bakery in Union Square, close to the apartment where Dufresne grew up, using the ovens during their off-hours for carryout pies and a small sit-down setup. Next week, on March 17, Dufresne (along with Breads owner Gadi Peleg) will turn the pop-up into a permanent pizzeria on Park Avenue South, where the chef’s commitment to tinkering remains intact — one senses he’ll never stop tweaking the dough recipe — even if his embrace of wild flavors has softened. (Don’t expect any aerated foie gras here.) In addition to carbonated negronis and ice cream with a Mister Softee–style “shell” made of hot honey, the most recognizably Dufresnian item may be “potato chip salad,” where herbs, greens, and olive oil are mixed with Greenmarket chips dusted in homemade vinegar powder — re-creating the effect of traditional vinaigrette while ensuring everything remains crunchy." - Tammie Teclemariam