SANS SOUFRE

Ashley Patino is the founder of Pizza Bones in Richmond, Virginia. She’s originally from Virginia but decamped for San Francisco in 2015, where she worked at Tartine Bakery and fell in love with naturally-fermented dough. After making her way back to Richmond four years later, she began the long process of turning a hot pop-up dinner series into one of the country’s best pizza shops. For our discussion, we sent her a bottle of Inconnu’s Sierra Foothills Rosé 2020 because something about it just screams pizza. Ashley compared it to pollinating flowers — and said she’s team burrata forever.

You left Richmond for San Francisco in 2015. What brought you back?

The community. As much as I wish San Francisco felt like ‘home’, the idea of buying a house and living there permanently felt far-fetched unless I worked in tech. Besides that, it was also always part of my plan to move out there, learn more of the trade, meet new people, grow as a person, and then bring that knowledge back to the Richmond community (and cherish the rest). Richmond is the perfect size, and it deserves more. More quality food and beverage, more attention, more love.

How did you originally fall in love with pizza? Was there a specific pizza that changed your life, or was it just a gradual thing?

Honestly, pizza parties had me in love with pizza. I’ve always enjoyed baking since the Food Network was at its prime, and somewhere down the line wanting to open a bakery morphed into wanting to open a pizza spot. It feeds so many people, it’s the center of a gathering, and it’s a vessel for endless toppings! Over time, the versatility and the practicality had me; it’s hard to beat.

It’s always fun to see how someone’s original vision for the tangible, physical parts of a project, whether that’s a business or a home or a work of art, differ from the end result. Can you tell us a bit about the build-out of your space? What did you want it to feel like in your mind’s eye and how does that compare to the Pizza Bones of early 2023?

The tangible side of Pizza Bones is/has been difficult. Before opening, I didn’t have the funding to pay for a designer and as much as I wish I was someone with an eye for concrete design, I finally had to admit to myself that I’m not. Currently, we’re at a place where we can outsource it and are doing so. (Shout out to Julie Nerenburg!) It is coming together, remaining and improving as a comfortable space for the community. FriendBar exists as our wine bar/retail side, while Pizza Bones exists as our casual pizza side, and the mission is to make them more distinguishable. Consumers have always treated one side differently than the other, and they serve different purposes so it wasn’t until after opening that we decided to brand it separately.

One of our favorite things about Richmond is the architecture. There are just so many beautiful buildings. When you were deciding both where to put your business and where to live, what were you looking for?

Agreed, Richmond has a glorious mixed bag of architecture. When it came to looking for a business space, it was about looking for something that either didn’t have a ton of work needed nor had been renovated and turned over with a high rental fee. Because I didn’t have a concrete vision, I was eager and ready to bend according to location and space. It was thanks to my then-business partner that I/we held out and was later very, very fortunate to have gotten the brilliant space we have now with the supportive Union Hill and Church Hill community surrounding us. It was originally a service station and has its own immense visibility along the Jefferson Avenue strip.

What’s a typical day off dinner look like?

My partner and I eat out more often than I’d care to admit (especially in the last few winter months), so day off dinners range. The circuit varies from chicken quesadillas at Bamboo, Yewon with friends, the rice special at Adarra, Edo’s if a friend is in town & we thought ahead. Otherwise, dinner at home is often Oro pasta with whatever veggies we got from Tomten Farm, in yesterday’s case: chestnut gemelli, green garlic, chard, chickpeas, parm, and Mayor Meats andouille sausage. Most days I plead to just stay in and cook something simple, especially while produce is at its peak.

We sent you a bottle of Inconnu’s Sierra Foothills Rosé 2020 because a) the winemaker, Laura, is a badass former tattoo artist/musician/itinerant poet turned winemaker and we love her, and b) we’ve always thought it would make a particularly good pizza wine. People don’t drink enough rosé with pizza. Anyway, does it work? What do you think?

Oh, it works. And, I’m especially honored you thought of me [for it]. I love rosé, but I get really tired of the one-note strawberry characteristic they often have, so when I am looking to purchase (or drink) one, I am looking for something else. Something deeper, or herbaceous, or citrus, or something. This is very obviously more elevated. It has a balanced richness, sharp (yet gentle?) acidity, a nice weight, and both the flavor and aroma aren’t just spelling red berry fruit; the palate spans the whole patch of pollinating flowers and clovers. It’s really lovely and thank you for sharing. I am admittedly sick of pizza unless it’s the last option, but it also pairs really well with the aforementioned Oro pasta.

You have to use one drinking vessel for all beverages for the rest of time. What is it?

Honestly, I love the wine glasses we use. They’re inspired by the tasting glasses that Brumaire had, which I believe were by extent inspired by European glassware. Short stem, 7.75 oz, narrow rim, yet durable. I honestly don’t drink much outside of iced coffee, water, and wine so just pass me the glass.

Fuck, Marry, Kill for pizza toppings: Burrata, anchovies, runny egg.

Ah! How divisive, but my current pizza gut says: Marry Burrata! Fuck a runny egg! Kill anchovies! This solely has to do with how much pizza I eat. It probably sounds silly, but anchovies were ruined when I ate a discard slice that I didn’t know had anchovies on it and the unwilled blindside’s had me in disgust since. Runny eggs, phew, taste great — but they just sit in the center and fight with the rest of the slices. Burrata though, burrata is just cheese baby! And we always welcome cheese on pizza. Forever and ever.