Purple Potato Pizza in CT! Get Yours at E & D Pizza Company in Farmington Valley

Eleven years ago, Michael Androw was at a crossroads in his hospitality career. Getting his first taste of the industry making pizza at his grandparents’ Italian bakery in New London, he then worked in nearly every food and beverage setting as an adult: casual dining, fine dining and bars and nightclubs.

As a married father of a toddler and an infant, he woke up one day and realized something needed to change. He knew he couldn’t be the best father and husband he wanted to be if he was working until three or four in the morning, he said. 

“But (I said) I don’t know anything else,” he said. “I’m not going to become a plumber tomorrow, I’m not going to be a heart surgeon. This is all I know. So what facet of this business can be conducive to a healthy family life?”

The answer was a full circle moment for him: Pizza. In 2014, Androw opened E&D Pizza Company in Avon, a casual, family-friendly pizzeria with classic and gourmet pies, salads, pastas and grinders. The name came to him easily, choosing the first initials of his sons Enzo and Dario.

“E & D,” whose young faces are immortalized in black-and-white photographs on the pizzeria’s walls, are now 14 and 11. In the past decade, their dad’s business has cemented itself as a favorite spot for families in the Farmington Valley, and it’s earned accolades around the state for its thin-crust specialty pies with unique presentations.

Androw initially opened the pizzeria in a smaller space on Avon’s West Main Street, but outgrew it quickly and later moved to a larger building right next door. The new space initially offered a dining room with about 50 seats, with beer and wine on the menu. But just a few years later, another external force would change the restaurant forever.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, Androw was busier than ever, selling takeout pizzas and family meals to locals quarantining at home. But the initial “two weeks to flatten the curve” dining room shutdown guidance stretched well beyond 14 days, and he began to grow more frustrated, seeing the wasted dining room space compared to his overtaxed, overwhelmed kitchen area. 

He called his builder almost impulsively, asking him to rip out all the seating.

“He goes, ‘You’re going to ruin your business,’” Androw recalled. “And I said ‘I might be. But come do it right now before I change my mind.’”

Five years later, Androw said the move to a takeout and delivery-only model was the best thing he could have done for E&D Pizza’s financial outlook. It allowed him to expand the kitchen and counter space and cut other associated costs – and, he said, he found his profit margins tripling. He still mourns the loss of the dining room sometimes, he says, but he’ll never go back.

As for the pizza, Androw calls it a neo-New York style, its thin crust starting from a 48-hour cold rise that slows the fermentation process and “naturally creates a wonderful flavor of dough,” he said. He’s fastidious about the quality of ingredients across the entire menu, sourcing premium options and taking the extra step to offer items like chicken tenders that are hand-breaded in house. Marinara, bolognese and nut-free pesto sauces are also freshly made in the E&D kitchen.

The pizza menu ranges from classic to creative, with traditional Neapolitan, margherita and Caprese pies and others featuring fresh vegetables, grilled chicken, Philly-style cheesesteak and hot capicola. The Positano white pie spotlights Black Mission figs, red onion, goat cheese and Mike’s Hot Honey, while a Thai chili chicken pie is a sweet and subtly spicy creation with roasted red peppers. A fiery Vesuvius pie with a red sauce base has fresh mozzarella, cherry peppers, basil and hot Italian sopressata, and buffalo chicken fans will enjoy the Pollo Diavolo, with grilled chicken, cayenne pepper sauce and Gorgonzola. 

The most recent addition to the menu is borrowed from one of Androw’s friends and mentors, West Coast pizzaiolo Tony Gemignani. The World Pizza Cup champion, who owns several pizzerias in California and Nevada, created a purple potato pizza with a white base, with thinly-shaved vibrant violet spuds, bacon, pesto, feta and scallions. Androw loved it and asked Gemignani for his blessing to add it to the Avon menu.

“I see so many people in Connecticut doing the mashed potato pizza,” he said. “But this is something different and unique, with a similar flavor profile but presented much differently.”

Beyond Connecticut, Androw lends his expertise as a restaurateur and pizza maker, writing articles for trade publications like Pizza Today and PMQ. He’s vice president of The World Pizza Champions organization, which is dedicated to promoting pizza making as a respected craft and viable career choice, according to its website. (The organization also supports the Make-a-Wish Foundation through charitable donations and fundraising events.) 

His Positano is in Gemignani’s book “The Pursuit of Pizza,” which spotlights recipes from the group’s members, and he travels to pizza shows and conventions to host cooking demonstrations, workshops and seminars. (He jokes that he’ll never allow his wife to come along, wanting to hide how nerdy he gets about the pizza industry.) 

And back at home, he said he wants to give back to the community as much as possible, frequently donating pizzas to local school events and sponsoring Little League teams. 

“We’re not some big multinational conglomerate,” he said. “I know it’s the families in town that are spending their hard-earned money choosing us. At the end of the day…it’s about community, and community means working together.” 

E&D Pizza Company is at 200 West Main St. in Avon. 860-255-7360, https://www.eanddpizzacompany.com/.