Edible Eats

Pizza on the Go: Rolling in the Dough

By / Photography By | April 01, 2015
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Pizza Being Sliced

“You can taste it in the first bite. You can taste the love,” says Danni Bleil, half of the duo who recently rolled into town to roll out dough for our community.

Perhaps you’ve seen the Polpo Pizza Co. truck lately, as it has made quite a splash since its October debut, collaborating on events with well-known local chefs, feeding faces at the Phillippi Farmers’ Market, and I’m sure your favorite food-loving friend has just hired Polpo to cater her next affair. Word is out and people near and far are bellying up to the pizza bar to marvel at the attractive farm truck all dolled up with a slick paint job and a downright cool true Italian wood oven nestled in its side.

Taking Pizza out of Oven
Pizza Pans
Drizzling Oil on Pizza
Pizza Toppings

The story is a well-known one. After Bleil and her husband, Tom Baril, spent years escaping the frigid northern weather to enjoy a few weeks respite in Sarasota’s welcoming sunlight, eventually making the permanent move over a year ago. But unlike many who seek our city for retirement, both Bleil and Baril looked to put their impressive culinary and arts backgrounds to work on a new venture. Bleil, a food stylist from the Big Apple, and Baril, a fine-art photographer, knew our city would be the perfect place to build their next creative endeavor.

Front of the truck
Menu Board
Pressing the pizza dough
Polpo Pizza Truck Company

Polpo focuses on a few main ingredients: quality, authenticity, and uniqueness. “The most important thing for us to is to be hands-on with every step of the process, from selecting ingredients to serving the food. We just don’t believe in taking shortcuts,” Bleil says, her culinary passion just as apparent in what she says as what she serves.

So how does pizza equal octopus, you ask? Polpo, the Italian word for octopus, is a tip of the hat to the Italian-inspired food they serve, and although they produce a seasonal pizza with the namesake topping, Polpo is more of a nod to Sarasota’s nautical nature than simply a standard menu item.

Grating cheese over the pizza
Tap
Pizza Oven
License Plate

This is not a pepperoni-by-the-slice pizza parlor. This is a perfectly charred, farm fresh, house made, honey drizzled, mozzarella made daily, Neapolitan style pie creator replete with organic ingredients, artisanal cheeses, craft beer on tap, outstanding appetizers, and desserts made with imagination. We’re talkin’ toppings like garlic cream, pickled watermelon, spicy calabrese, chile-infused honey, porcini ricotta, char- donnay-infused raisins and roasted fennel. Oh, and those imaginative desserts? Don’t miss out on Frangelico Fig, Limone, and New England Apple Pie pizza to name a few.

Folks, forget everything you thought you knew about pizza because once this pie maker gets its arms around you, it won’t ever let go.

Check out Polpo’s website for information regarding upcoming events, seasonal menus, and how to lock them down for your next event.

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