The last stop on my DiCarlo's pizza tour - for now - was Glen Dale. And, it was by far the most different of any DiCarlo's location. They have packaged pepperoni rolls, a giant "Home of the Original Big Box" rug - not sure what that is, but apparently they also have big boxes AND AND AND they have booze. See that cooler of beer off to the bottom left? You can buy beer. Beer and pizza, what's better?

The main waiting area is large, and there is a dining space off to the right side. Since this was the last trip of the day, I wanted to take home some pieces, so I got 8. Two to eat immediately, six to take home and eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner the next day.

The first thing I noticed was that the pepperoni is UNDER the blanket of shredded cheese. Odd. The crust is very crisp on this one and thicker. The sauce, though, was the biggest difference. Instead of the slight spice and tomato flavor, it was very heavy on the pepper. And there may have been actual peppers or hunks of tomato in the sauce - not sure which. Not that it was bad - it just wasn't what I was necessarily used to. And it could be because I had literally just had another location's pizza. Not sure I would notice the stark difference had I not just eaten them back to back.

Overall, it was a good bit different. And if you like a peppery, stronger sauce, this is your pizza. But still great.

 


Grade: A

This health store, Sunflowers, is located in Chelsea Square on VanVoorhis. I had never noticed it before, but they do carry health- and diet-related items, as well as some food. It is different.

While still searching for a new location for a restaurant, Chef Ohlinger has scheduled his Appalachian Global Dinner Series in a collection of area restaurants where he will be serving as a guest chef for the upcoming year.

Three Cities has a nice little piece on him, as well as a tentative schedule for the upcoming year. I don't know about you, but I want to attend all of these. But there are about six that I MUST go to. They are reservation only, and if you want to keep up with what he's doing, like his page on Facebook. He'll have more details on when/where these dinners will be later on.

Ohlinger was the owner/chef at Richwood Grill (formerly Solera), and he's probably made the biggest impact on me of all my time learning about the West Virginia food culture. He schooled me really quickly on why he didn't serve ketchup or pop. And also that meat should not be crazy tender because that means they lived in a box their whole lives, as he would say, instead of out roaming around like happy cows. I think the most important thing I learned from him is that not everything has to, on the surface, just taste great. He wants to give you an experience and make you try things you haven't and push you out of your comfort zone and open you up to new flavors. Anyway, crazy amazing chef. And here's an opportunity to have some of his food while he continues the hunt for a new restaurant.

January / 10th Anniversary Rum and Chocolate Dinner–Single-Origin Heirloom Chocolate Dishes Paired with Small-Batch Rums

February / The Maritimes–Cuisine of Newfoundland, Labrador, and Nova Scotia

March / The Cuisine of Yemen–Portuguese and Indostani Influences in the Coastal Middle East

March / West Virginia Craft Beer and Global Artisan Cheese–Pairing Local Craft Beers with Rare Handmade Cheeses of the World

April / Appalachian Ramp Lollapalooza–Ramps Thirty Ways: This Ain’t Your Grandma’s ‘Church Social Ramp Dinner Pot Luck Fundraiser’

May / Scottish Keiseki–Japanese-Scots Fusion Featuring a Scottish and Japanese Whisky Pairing

June / Pre-Colonial Appalachia–The Native Cuisine of the Seneca, Shawnee, and Cherokee

June / Edible Music–Twelve Iconic Food Songs Re-imagined as Small Plates Paired with Libations from Twelve Classic Drinking Songs

July / Bolivia: Where the Pampas Meets the Andes–Traditional Bolivian Cuisine Featuring a Pit-Roasted Alpaca and a Spit-Roasted Rhea

July / Highway 61 Revisited–Mississippi River Soul Food: Cool Beer and Haute Tamales

August / Before Myanmar–Historic Cuisine of British Burma

August / One Mile Meal–Pop-Kitchen on a Local Farm: Preparing an Entire Meal Using Only Ingredients From Within One Square Mile

September / Flogging a Dead Horse–The 7th and Absolutely Last Ever Appalachian Deconstruction and Molecular Gastronomy Dinner

October / Wild Appalachia–Modern and Traditional Cuisine Prepared Using Only Wild Fish & Game and Foraged Ingredients

October / 10th Annual Day of the Dead Celebration–Traditional Oaxacan Cuisine Paired with Single-Village Mescals

November / Georgia Meets Georgia–The Cuisine of Asiatic Georgia’s Caucasus Mountains Crossed with the Southern Appalachian Mountain Cuisine of American Georgia

November / Bourbon and Beef–The Terroir of Appalachian Beef: Grass-Fed Beef from Diverse Regions of West Virginia Paired with Single-Barrel Bourbons

December / Sugar and Spice–Following the Global Foodpath of Sugarcane and The Spice Islands Through History

To round out the DiCarlo's tour, I dragged Lisa to the Wheeling area for two DiCarlo's locations I had never been to: Sherrard and Glen Dale.

The Sherrard DiCarlo's is located on Fairmont Pike. I had a little trouble finding it at first, but once we just drove a little further back the road, it was right there. We walked in and ordered our slices -- they actually call them "cuts" here. "1 cut pizza," which confused me, is how they describe their "slices." Anyway, I ordered two and then went to the right side seating area to wait.

There is a good little bit of seating here. In the ordering space, there were a few chairs. The room off to the right has a few tables, but it also is a little shabby looking. It looks like maybe they began to paint but didn't finish. The outlets don't have covers, the walls are different colors, and it could probably overall use a nice shining.

But to be honest, this didn't bother me at all. I was focused on my pieces of pizza. After a little while of waiting, our orders were ready. We took our boxes to the car and dug in.

This pizza, as you can see, has tiny little bits of cheese - not shreds - and the sauce tasted just like I remembered. The very bottom of the crust was a thin crisp and it was poofier above. I really, really liked it. It's similar to what I am used to, and better than most of the pizza I can get locally.

Grade: A

Did you know the Morgantown Farmers' Market is still running in the winter time? They've just moved locations -- up at the top of High Street at the Wesley United Methodist Church. It's open on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jan. 17, Feb. 7, Feb. 21, March 7, March 21, April 4 and April 18.

There aren't quite as many vendors - but there's still a good bit! DeBerry Farm, Evans Knob Farm, Hawthorne Valley Farms, Sickler Farm, Stewart's Farm and Greenhouse, and Two Cow Farm were all there most recently. AND, there's a new addition - a cow cheese farmer! High Country Creamery is new and has been traveling from Maryland with fresh cow cheese - feta, mozzarella, aged cheddar, curds and havarti. Delicious.

So, go! There's plenty of parking around. There's construction on the side of the church, but see that entrance up there? Go there!