Baltimore may be known for crab cakes, but there is a kitchen in Remington that is fast becoming known for its pizza.
Every Tuesday in April, Duncan Moore posted a link on the Instagram page he created for his pizza, Dink’s Pies. People in the know signed up for a time slot, ordered the kind of pizza they wanted (cheese or pepperoni), and Moore texted them confirmation of the order.
On Wednesday, customers showed up at his house at their appointed time for the exchange of dough. Within two minutes of each time slot, the requested pizza was out of the oven and in the hands of the person who ordered it.
Friends followed Moore’s Instagram account, and word spread through mutual friends. Moore thinks his prices are competitive, charging $18 for a cheese pizza and $22 for a pepperoni pizza. The pizzas are about 18 inches around and he estimates they feed two to three people each. Of course, he can only make one at a time in his home oven, hence the sign-up sheet that goes up on Tuesdays.
An unconventional business model to be sure, but it has worked for Moore, and his growing customer base raves about the pizza.
Moore spoke with Baltimore Fishbowl about his pizza and was, shockingly, in no way intimidated by the fact that the person interviewing him is from Brooklyn, New York and has been eating real pizza since before she grew teeth, probably.
Like most kids, Moore had always loved pizza growing up, but his northern Baltimore County area didn’t have many authentic pizza choices to sample. In 2018 he traveled to Italy. Visiting Naples and becoming aware of Neapolitan pizza piqued his interest learning how to make it himself.
He combined that interest with his enthusiasm for natural building, built a clay Cob oven on the property he was renting, and set to work practicing the craft of pizza making.
When Moore moved to Remington, he didn’t have the space for a Cob oven. He adapted by using the highest temperature his kitchen oven allows, but using longer cooking times. This low-and-slow method is a go-to among many New York and New Jersey pizza makers.
His dough-making process also mimics the New York style, but with one deviation. Normally pizza dough cold-ferments for 72 hours, but Moore allows his dough to ferment for 96 hours, which he believes brings out more flavor in the dough.
Moore says he was and still is only interested in making pizza as a food blog-type experiment. The one-day-per-week schedule allows him to maintain his job as a professional bagpipe player, which is how he makes his living. He plays in Northern Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland, traveling as far as four hours round trip for gigs and events.
Professional pizza making is on hold for the month of May, but the sign-up sheet will go back up in June, when this writer might need to get her name on the list to put Dink’s Pies to the test.
