Former Revelstoke Café Co-Owner Brings Detroit-Style Pizza to Downtown Peterborough With Soft Opening of The Foundry

Detroit-style pizza has arrived in Downtown Peterborough, as former Revelstoke Café co-owner Jeff Clarkin has soft-opened The Foundry at 379 Water St.

Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The new eats feature Detroit-style pizza and stuffed sandwiches.

Detroit-style pizza is known for a thicker, chewy crust with a buttery flavour. The cheese is cooked right to the edges, caramelizing and crisping up. Sauce can be applied at the end of the cooking process rather than baked into the pizza for a fresher taste.

Clarkin explains that his pizza goes through a long fermentation process of at least 80 hours (72 in the fridge and eight at room temperature) to get the desired taste and texture.

“It's really about how long to get that dough to that light fluffiness to make sure it's nice and airy, it's not heavy and it comes out with a sourdough flavour,” he said.

His stuffed sandwiches are a small cheese pizza cut in half and stuffed with toppings.

Clarkin had formerly owned businesses such as the Revelstoke Café (with another location in Toronto) and The Revelstoke Bake House so he is no stranger to opening up a new restaurant.

The inspiration for The Foundry came from the Bake House’s experiences at the local farmer’s market, when a customer suggested Detroit-style pizza after eating Clarkin’s product.

“While we were doing the Bake House, we were doing the Farmer's Market and there, I was bringing focaccia bread,” explained Clarkin. “The farmers wanted something more substantial so I started doing focaccia pizza. That’s what my focaccia pizza reminded them of (Detroit-style pizza).”

Clarkin also wanted to add to the diversity of food options in town with The Foundry.

“I felt that Peterborough was missing this type of pizza in the city,” he explained. “There's nothing near us that sells Detroit-style pizza and I feel it's one of the best styles of pizza available.”

The pizzeria’s name connects to the City of Detroit, giving his restaurant a rustic, industrial atmosphere.

“When you think of Detroit, you think of the Motor City, the machinery and that's where we kind of came across 'The Foundry,’” said Clarkin.

The Foundry is open from Tuesday to Saturday from noon to 8 p.m. (or until sold out. Customers can order in-house, online, by phone or for delivery with Uber Eats.

A grand opening is expected to occur in early January.

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