S2 Pizzabar
S2 Pizzabar (written S2pizzabar by its owner) was a wood-fired pizza restaurant at 558 State St., open from mid-November 2012 to March 17, 2013. It was the second pizza venture of Ian Gurfield, the founder of Ian's Pizza[1][2].
History
Gurfield had wanted a wood-fired oven since he founded Ian's in 2001, and left space for one in the first store on Frances Street that was never used[3]. In October 2012 he announced S2 for the former Opa Cafe and Lounge: sourdough crust, a wood-fired oven, seven to nine pizzas, counter service, whole pies rather than slices, and 76 to 78 seats. He hired Sarah "Biggie" Lemke, formerly of The Naked Elm in Blue Mounds, to develop the crust. The name came from his 96-year-old grandmother Sarah and his wife Susan[1].
The restaurant opened in mid-November 2012 around a 4,000-pound Mugnaini oven made in Italy, running at 750 degrees. The menu had nine 12-inch pizzas, from a four cheese at $8.50 to a soppressata at $7.75, with brownies from Batch Bakehouse, which Gurfield also co-owned. "Even in Naples, they only have five, six pizzas on the menu," he said[3].
On March 1, 2013, he announced that it would close on March 17: "The location just didn't work out." There were no plans to relocate — the oven "could make that difficult". Groupon broke the news early and refunded its vouchers[2].
Trivia
- 558 State St. was called "a restaurant graveyard": before Opa it had been the Afghan Maza Restaurant and the Mediterranean restaurant Saz[2].
Former Locations
- 558 State St. (mid-November 2012 to March 17, 2013).
See also
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Dean, K. (2012, October 10). "Table Talk: Ian's founder to open wood-fired pizza joint." madison.com.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Christians, L. (2013, March 1). "S2 Pizzabar to close March 17." madison.com.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Christians, L. (2012, December 27). "A sister to Ian's, S2 Pizzabar gets wood-fired up." The Capital Times. p. 9. Newspapers.com image 520751949.
