Where Does Bunk’s Tommy Habetz Get a Slice When He’s Not at Pizza Jerk?

We caught up with the chef to ask about his Cornucopia pizza before Pie Harder this Tuesday

(Rachael Renee Levasseur)

Tommy Habetz is an East Caoster at heart, and so it was probably just a matter of time before the Bunk Sandwiches impresario opened up a Jersey-style pizza spot—and within the year, Bon Appetit named Pizza Jerk one of the best new restaurants in the country, even when while it was still closed by fire.

At Pie Harder on Tuesday, August 29, the Ecliptic Brewing patio will fill with six pizza ovens baking up deep-dish pies you've never see—meatball-stuffed Motor City slices, basil-and-tomato bruschetta slices, and meaty, giardiniera-topped Chicago-style slices.

And one of those will be a deep-dish ricotta garden pie from Pizza Jerk. We asked Habetz about his pie, and where else around town he likes to get a slice.

What pizza will you be serving at Pie Harder?
We're serving a pie featuring vegetables that we grew in our garden at Pizza Jerk. It'll be a Cornucopia Pie w truffled ricotta and a late summer pesto.

What makes for a good pizza?
Good dough, properly dressed and fired right.

What was your favorite pizza parlor when you were a kid?
It was a place in Bridgeport, CT called Jennie's. [They've since moved a bit north to Monroe.]

5. Where do you get a slice around Portland, when not at your own shop?
I'm a big fan of Bridge City on Woodstock but I don't think they do slices. Hot Lips, Baby Doll or Ken's at Pine Street are my favorite slices

Pie Harder will offer up deep-dish pie slices from Baby Doll, Ex Novo, East Glisan, Pizza Jerk, Ranch and Via Chicago, plus sweet pie from Baker & Spice, Petunia's Pies and Pastries, and Ecliptic. It will take place later this month, at Ecliptic Brewing, 825 N. Cook St., 503-265-8002, eclipticbrewing.com. 5-9 pm. $27. Tickets at bit.ly/Pieharder.

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