The new year brings fresh starts as Chef Aaron Lau of Easy As Pie, Piece Of Cake welcomes 2024 with an impressive cast of pizza, pasta and dessert creations along with savory dishes to his current menu. Here's a quick peek...
For many loyal customers of Easy As Pie, Piece Of Cake, the signature Detroit style pizza selections by Chef Aaron Lau remain high up on the list of the metro's best. But Chef Aaron has been busy developing, formulating and improving his menu to start the year with a bang. Ready for a bite?
How can you make garlic bread better? Start with a fresh-baked homemade batard, add a generous dab of EAPPOC Garlic Herb Compound Butter with just a hint of Pecorino and serve crisp and hot from the oven. The EAPPOC Garlic Bread (P 160) is a deceptively simple offering, yet Chef Aaron takes it to the next level with his own elegant take. Delicately soft and lightly crisp, the homemade batard becomes the perfect vessel for the luscious layer of Chef Aaron's garlic herb compound butter blend. Fresh off the oven, each bite of the warm batard is announced by an audible crunch followed by the richness of the butter and the deep nutty hints of garlic and herbs. Great as is, or better yet...
...pair it with the Meatball (P 440), Chef Aaron's savory spin on a classic made with Certified Angus Beef blended with premium short ribs draped with fortified marinara, vegetable mix and Pecorino. And yes, these balls got some serious game.
The bold beefy notes of the savory and juicy meatballs deliver flavorful and savory bursts complemented by the fresh tartness of the fortified marinara combining for a savory combo with layer upon layer of richness. Top it on the EAPPOC Garlic Bread with the fortified marinara for a comforting and satisfying meal in itself. And don't forget to mop up the sauce with the bread.
Chef Aaron then served his layered pasta dish, the EAPPOC Lasagna (P 530) with tender braised beef and casserole cheese slathered with Sauce Mornay and tart fortified marinara. Rich and indulgent with full on and unrestrained flavors, the EAPPOC Lasagna with its lightly charred and caramelized top brings contrasting textures along with intense notes.
Chef Aaron masterfully weaves all the different components from the soft yet firm springy sheets of lasagna pasta to the savory braised beef, medley of cheeses and flavorful duo of fortified marinara and Sauce Mornay in one solid pasta dish. The sauce itself becomes one of many tasty highlights in the dish adding an elegant richness to an enduring classic. More EAPPOC Garlic Bread? Absolutely.
From Chef Aaron's existing menu, the Hasselback Potato (P 330) is another elegant take on a popular staple made richer with a luscious layer of cheese "fondue," smooth garlic cream and EAPPOC spiced powder. A tasty side fresh from the oven, the soft potato with its charred and lightly crisp ridges brings a delectable play on flavors and textures with its toppings of cheese and garlic cream perfectly finished by the sharp hints of the EAPPOC spiced powder.
The cast of new pizza creations were then served featuring "improved" upgrades on their existing variants like the All Clammed Up (P 555) from their Pizza Alla Noona line of "Grandma Pizza." Loaded with succulent clams with white wine garlic sauce, aonori or dried seaweed and Pecorino, each bite drapes the palate with a lingering briny salty sweetness.
The rich flavors from the clams and white wine garlic sauce on a crisp and rustic "Grandma" crust is a savory and timeless combo with the Pecorino completing the flavors but Chef Aaron goes a step further with the addition of aonori for that briny finish. The seafood-based pizza is a refreshing option with its fresh and clean flavors, and Chef Aaron piles it with mounds of clams for for real flavors. Each bite is accompanied by just the right amount of salty notes to complete the flavors.
With more intense notes, the All Clammed Up offers more robust flavors than the original. And that's just one of the many new and improved pizza offerings at Easy As Pie, Piece Of Cake.
Also from the Pizza Alla Noona line of "Grandma" pizza is the improved Tartufo (P 585) with truffle mushroom ragu and Mozzarella for upfront nutty and earthy flavors smoothened by the Mozzarella on a crisp crust sprinkled with sesame seeds on the edges. The truffle and mushrooms combine for a double dose of richness, adding a flavorful depth with each bite.
The pronounced notes from the truffle and mushrooms fill the palate with a deep nutty and earthy richness, gaining in intensity with another bite. The creamy finish from the Mozzarella completes the lavish play of flavors. But it's the crust that almost steals the show for another excellent pizza rendition from Easy As Pie, Piece Of Cake.
Bring on the hype. Chef Aaron then presented one of two new Detroit style pizza creations from The Purist Pies selection starting with the aptly named Hype Green (P 850), an EAPPOC Green Spinach pizza with its vibrant color. The rich green hues become a visual clue to the unique flavors of the new Hype Green, and this one's definitely worth all the hype.
The fresh, clean flavors of the layer of spinach with cheese offers a whole new way of enjoying pizza with alternative toppings. The heaping and fully loaded mound of toppings deliver all the flavors at its most lavish and indulgent, and you'll want more after that first slice. The creamy texture of the green spinach and cheese becomes a decadent savory combo for what could be the best rendition of the spinach pizza in the metro.
And that crisp crown on the edges of the rectangular Detroit style pizza clearly shows how Chef Aaron has perfected this iconic style from Motor City. Lightly crisp and soft, Chef Aaron continues to raise the bar with his inventive pizza creations at Easy As Pie, Piece Of Cake. But Chef Aaron isn't done just yet...
None of the usual proteins are highlighted in the next new pizza from The Purist Pies menu of Easy As Pie, Piece Of Cake yet it's packed with serious flavors in the all-out unrestrained style of Chef Aaron. Topped with caramelized onions, green olive tapenade, anchovies and shaved Pecorino, the French Tryst (P 820) features the fresh and clean flavors of vegetables along with anchovies and Pecorino on a Detroit style crust for a savory punch. The subtle sweetness from the caramelized onions and the sharp bursts from the green olive tapenade and anchovies come together with a seemingly contrasting yet balanced weave of rich flavors.
The toppings deliver complex yet clean and refined flavors, bold yet refreshing notes. And just like the Hype Green, the Detroit style crust with its crisp crown on the edges completes the pizza experience. It's the perfect vessel for the assorted medley of toppings piled high on the crust with each ingredient complementing the other in a flavorful tryst.
It's inventive and even unexpected flavors like these that differentiates Easy As Pie, Piece Of Cake from your usual options. The new pizza offerings reflect Chef Aaron's continuous commitment to quality anchored on the perfect crust, baked fresh daily at Easy As Pie, Piece of Cake for you to enjoy.
For dessert, Chef Aaron takes a nostalgic staple weaving his own colorful palette of flavors with the Granny Smith Pie (P 330) with tart and sweet apples in a buttery crust with just a pinch of cinnamon and black pepper for a flavorful layers and depth.
Not too sweet, the Granny Smith Pie has that enduring rustic flavor profile draping the palate like a comforting hug. Simple, familiar and real flavors made with the freshest ingredients executed with meticulous perfection, the Granny Smith Pie hits all the right notes to cap your feast at Easy As Pie, Piece of Cake.
Chef Aaron then breaks down another dessert staple with his creative rendering of Cookies and Cream (P 220) that's meant to be shared served with miniature Penny cookies, coffee cream and colorful sprinkles. The bite-sized Penny cookies bring a playful element for that perfect sweet ending rounded out by the bold nutty hints of coffee cream.
Known for his artisan pizza, have you ever wondered how Chef Aaron imagines banana bread? His creative crack on another bakery staple presents another tempting option with the wittingly named Banana Goes Bananas (P 310). Imagine soft and moist cake mixed with banana nut crunch and topped with Banana Foster, and you have a triple dose of banana goodness on a plate. The textural contrast from the banana nut crunch and the indulgent sweetness of the Banana Foster completes the triple play on a soft and moist banana cake.
After a sumptuous feast, Chef Aaron pulls out one more tasty treat from his endless bag of tricks. The Not So Aglio Olio (P 440) is an EAPPOC signature with fresh and briny tobiko and lumpfish caviar on pasta. The sheer elegance in its simplicity is a lavish experience in itself with the vibrant pops of flavor from the tobiko and caviar, smoothened by the nutty aglio olio.
The new year presents a tempting roster of dining options to your list. At Easy As Pie, Piece of Cake, Chef Aaron reimagines pizza and more with a purposeful, single-minded and purist's approach centered on the perfect crust. It's time for you to rediscover pizza, pasta and desserts inspired by one chef's culinary journey from Singapore and New York to Manila. At Easy As Pie, Piece of Cake...
EAPPOC Pizza and Booya Bagels are located at at LPL Suites, 112 Legaspi Street, Greenbelt, Makati or call 0917 183 8817 for details. You can also check out their website at https://www.eappocpizza.com/, their FB Pages at https://www.facebook.com/eappocpizza/ and https://www.facebook.com/getbooyabagels/ as well as their IG Feed at @eappocpizza and https://www.instagram.com/booyabagels/ for more information and updates.
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