We know what you’re thinking: why is Pope Francis dressed as a chef, and posing with a life-size cutout of himself outside Ella’s Wood Fired Pizza? That would certainly be the biggest blessing a restaurant could receive, but sadly for the Penn Quarter pizzeria, it’s just a trick of the eye. Chef/papal doppelganger Ed Hanson is so excited about Pope Francis’s upcoming visit to nearby St. Patrick’s Church that he ordered a faux Francis, and created a pizza special in the Pope’s honor.
Starting the week of Monday, September 21, Ella’s will serve a Vatican-flag inspired “Pope’s Pizza.” The thin-crust pie is emblazoned with marinated golden tomatoes against a backdrop of white mozzarella and ricotta ($15). For the everyman, a seven-inch version will be available during happy hour between 4 and 7 ($6). The restaurant is also running a social media promo where guests can take a selfie with the Pope’s cutout and tweet it to @ellaspizzadc with the hashtag #Ella’sPopePizza; the best will win a $50 gift certificate on September 27. We think Hanson has already won, hands down, but others should give it a whirl.
Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
