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This Week News wrote Pie-maker gets his pizza hand ready again
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
By Gary Seman Jr.
Bill Yerkes is at it again. After a brief hiatus from making traditional Napoli-style pizzas, Yerkes is again ready to put a pie in your face.
Yerkes is subletting Eleni-Christina Bakery in the evenings for his latest pizza enterprise, bonoTOGO (as in “to go”) — just in time for the Gallery Hop on Saturday. Although the place’s address is 641 N. High St., the storefront actually faces Russell Street, about 60 feet west of the main drag.
What a great idea- bakery during the morning/afternoon and pizza joint in the evening. Menus for this place were taped above the mailboxes where I live last night. Selection and prices look great. I hope it works out for them.
I had this for the first time at Andrew Hall’s recent party. I thought it was good, though not enough to turn me into a BONO cultist of the caliber of some on this thread. Of course, my perspectives might admittedly have been skewed at that particular moment by having recently consumed some of Elena’s cooking, which set the standard pretty high. :)
Dude! I am so hurt.
Elena doesn’t cook. (Her Mom did the moussaka and baklava though.)
A.
Dude! I am so hurt.
Elena doesn’t cook. (Her Mom did the moussaka and baklava though.)
A.
Kudos to Andrew and Yaya!
Dude! I am so hurt.
Elena doesn’t cook. (Her Mom did the moussaka and baklava though.)
A.
Hah! You know, after seeing you try to show her how to use to dishwasher to no apparent avail, I really should have figured that out. Silly me.
Anne & I finally had our first dine-in experience last night. We figured that the early bout of rain would have flushed out some of the Short North, making the task of finding a spot to park less of a chore on a Friday evening at 7pm, but we had completely forgotten that the Greek Festival was going on just a few blocks away. We still managed to snag a spot with a bit of circling and a short walk though, so not a huge deal.
I introduced myself to Bill and Peggy, who were super friendly and nice. They set up a table and chairs for us on the sidewalk and Bill even rushed over to Lemongrass to borrow a high-chair for Desmo. The tablecloth and “knick knacks” were a nice touch. ;)
Anne ordered the Pepperoni with the addition of sun dried tomatoes and roasted red peppers. I went with the Bianca. Both pizzas were extremely tasty coming straight from the oven and into our mouths. I had complained previously about our “To Go” pizzas cooling off too quickly, and I completely agree with everyone who said that they’re best when eaten immediately. Perfect crust, great ingredients.
We also shared a Strawberry & Nutella Crepe for Dessert. Very tasty. Desi enjoyed all of our food too.
I think the ambiance is what we were greatly missing out on before when getting the pizza to go. Sitting on the sidewalk in the Short North, watching the cars and bikes and scooters and pedestrians roll past. Desi loves dogs, and there were plenty for him to point and squeal at while we ate. And the fact that you’re always going to run into someone you know there (RockMasterMike & CatnFiddle were dining when we arrived) gives it a very nice comfortable feel. I wouldn’t be surprised if Bono has broken some sort of world record in how quickly it takes to be considered a “neighborhood” joint. I’m sure most customers are unaware that they’ve only been open for three months now and would naturally assume they’ve been there for 20 years.
While I feel like I’m preaching to the choir here, I’d like to say that Bono is probably one of the best new “local” experiences in the Short North, and maybe all of Columbus. It’s a spot you’d want to take your friends and family from out of town to impress them with what Columbus has to offer. If you haven’t been yet, make haste.
Oh, and I feel like I should also make the disclaimer that Bill refused to let us pay. He thanked us for the level of exposure they’ve gotten through Columbus Underground and instead asked us to pass along our money to the next homeless person we encountered. Strangely enough, we haven’t encountered any since then, but will be making a donation soon enough. We did manage to sneak a tip onto the table though to show our appreciation for their warm hospitality. We’ll definitely be back, and will continue to send people their way to eat.
one of these days i’ll make it down for some pies…
Today is a good day for a Bono pizza! Open 5-10. My new favorite is a #3 Five Cheese with arugula and sausage.
Last night I had a no cheese loaded veggie pizza with extra garlic and a side of sauce. I also had a big hug from Peggy. Both were amazing!
The crust was a bit charred, the fresh peppers and tomatoes sinking into the melted cheese after baking for a minute in the 1,500-degree fire of the oven Yerkes designed.
But he wasn’t satisfied.
“This one, for the sake of a picture, is pretty,” he said. “But I don’t want to eat it.”
Yerkes’ custom-built concrete ovens always take a few pizzas to find a groove, he said, but once established, they cook a thin-crust Neapolitan-style pizza that retains the full flavor of the cheese and vegetables.
Read more
This is about Bill’s ovens for sale, not Bono, but I thought I’d share. I like his quote above – typical Bill (going off of the 5-10 cumulative minutes I’ve spent in the man’s company).
Had our first bono experience Saturday night after a loooong Scoot-a-Que ride, the microbrew festival, then Via Colori. Had the Barry White on the sidewalk table. Fizzy water. Don’t know if I’m emotional from this whole DFW suicide thing, but it was moving.
When somebody’s so IN to what they’re doing like they are, you can’t help but be IN to them. It’s hard to fake that. Passion. I mean the pie was obviously unbelievable, but the total experience itself — the interaction, the service, etc — it transcended the act of merely eating delicious pie.
It was BIGGER than that, somehow.
To paraphrase someone much smarter than me (Hugh MacLeod): ‘Product benefit doesn’t excite us. Belief in humanity and human potential excites us.’ The fact that people can do something like bono that’s so totally and unmistakably them and do it well is nothing short of inspiring, to me. Same thing with Jeni and Liz and some other folks here in town.
Makes you want to do it yourself.
The crust was a bit charred, the fresh peppers and tomatoes sinking into the melted cheese after baking for a minute in the 1,500-degree fire of the oven Yerkes designed.
But he wasn’t satisfied.
“This one, for the sake of a picture, is pretty,” he said. “But I don’t want to eat it.”
Yerkes’ custom-built concrete ovens always take a few pizzas to find a groove, he said, but once established, they cook a thin-crust Neapolitan-style pizza that retains the full flavor of the cheese and vegetables.
Read more
This is about Bill’s ovens for sale, not Bono, but I thought I’d share. I like his quote above – typical Bill (going off of the 5-10 cumulative minutes I’ve spent in the man’s company).
I was lucky enough to have a few slices from of a couple of pies out of that oven. Bill and Peggy were insistent that there is something just ever-so-slightly better about wood fired vs the alternative… and my first taste made me a believer.
I finally went there on Friday night after the Columbus Microbrew Festival with blakesell and WildmanDan at Dan’s enthusiastic encouragement. I forget what the first pizza was because the following Cherry Bomb pizza blasted my memory (edit: oh yeah, the Funghi). Peggy served us glasses of whole unhomogenized milk to quench the capsaicin fire. Definitely the hottest dish I’ve enjoyed since the Diablo Shrimp at La Casita. Bill had us play identify the singer while listening to a retro rock station, with a recognition of Question Mark & the Mysterians prompting Bill to point out a racy interpretation of the lyrics of 96 Tears. Lots of fun.
I swear I love this place more everytime I visit. We hit up the sidewalk around 830 last night…only two other diners eating outside which made things nice and chill. We got the Bianca which was smashing as always, the Napoli (because anchovies, olives and garlic together is just too good to deny), and finally tried the Capricossa (hard boiled eggs on pizza is silly yummy). The conversation with Bill and Peggy is always great, and Peggy surprised us with Nutella crepes on the house. YUM! Their new little pizza slice shaped plates are too cute. Life doesn’t get much better than pizza and a bottle of wine on a hidden sidewalk in the middle of the city. Yay!
Don’t know if this was mentioned in here before but I heard through the grapevine that they might be moving/looking into the space at Russell and Pearl (right next to the now-moving Columbus Leather Company).
I talked with Peggy on Thursday night and she said they were going to stay where they were?
Yep. Peggy confirmed last night that they are staying put and making changes inside to make winter seating possible. :)
I heard more recent news that they’ve decided to stay put and do some remodeling to support dine-in.
jeebus! That got reported quickly! :lol:
I’m all over the tubes today RoRo!!!! ;)
I guess that rumor was wrong. :lol: