Matchbox Chinatown

713 H Street NW

Washington, DC 20001

202.289.4441

www.matchboxchinatown.com

When I think of pizza, I think of the unique way certain areas love to make them. I've tried pizza in Montreal where the sauce goes on last, sampled some deep dish from Chicago but my latest pizza experiences have centered around New York's versions from places such as Grimaldi's (Brookyln Style) and Lombardi's. It was with this mindset that I ate at Matchbox in Chinatown thinking that I would get a semblance of New York Style pizzas. What I got was something completely different but just as satisfying. I ordered half a Matchbox Meat and Coppa Italian Ham & Arugula pizza (as recommended by Jessica the bartender). I expected the MM side of the pizza to be heavy and greasy with plenty of savory goodness. It was savory but a tad spicy and a lot lighter than expected. The crust was thin and crispy with no hints of sogginess and hardly any grease. The coppa side seemed fordmidable at first since you can hardly see the pizza in the sea of arugula they top it with. But the combination of the arugula, tomato, coppa ham and pesto sauce was a wonderful surprise and a new take on pizza for me. While it was only my first visit to Matchbox, it really changed my idea of what a pizza should be. To me, without having tried it, Matchbox represents California's take on pizza or at least how I've heard it described. Substituting the traditional to make it more varied and slightly more healthy.