Greer's OC

Parallel Pizzeria, the first New Haven, Connecticut-style pizza joint in Orange County just opened in Dana Point. It’s a collaboration between Chef Ryan Adams, owner/chef of Three Seventy Common Kitchen+Drink in Laguna Beach and former musician turned chef James Nunn.

What makes the pizza New Haven, Connecticut-style is its oblong shape and the thin, yet chewy, and charred crust. The dough is made fresh every day using organic flour, and to ensure that the dough was as close to the original in New Haven, they worked with specialists at UC Irvine to mimic East Coast water by adding a couple of drops of blue-green algae. The dough is then fermented for 72 hours. Each pie is baked in a hardwood charcoal pizza oven that gets as hot as 700 degrees, which puts the nice crispy edges on the pizza.

They are offered in medium or large sizes and include traditional choices such as Red or White Pie with mozzarella, garlic and olive oil and Killer Dana topped with Italian chicken sausage, sweet cherry peppers, garlic, parmesan and cilantro pesto. Flavorful pie choices include inventive Mashed Potato Pie and a Clam Pie with little neck clams, bacon, pecorino, onion, garlic, chile flakes, olive oil and parsley. Pies with a gluten-free cauliflower crust are also available.

In addition there's a more West Coast-like House Salad of organic mixed greens, pear, candied walnut, gorgonzola and lemon vinaigrette and a more East Coast-inspired Chopped Salad brimming with iceberg, radicchio, salami, artichoke, onion and more. Sandwiches include a fully packed “real” Hoagie, a Meatball sandwich and the Chef’s Seasonal Selection.

Chefs Ryan and James are dining-with-fun advocates. Parallel Pizzeria’s fun includes surprise switching up the menu with Chef Special pizzas and salads and a build-your-own personalized pizza with guests’ picks of toppings.

14 beers and four wines on tap are available letting pizza lovers switch-up drink choices from day to day. Popular arcade games add to the fun factor.

Parallel Pizzeria’s theme, West Coast meets East Coast, is featured throughout the interior, too. The design features California coastal modern with touches of 70’s East Coast grit translating to clean, simple lines with pops of color, warm wood tones, steel ducts and raw concrete floors. There’s also a great collection of 70’s and early 80’s vintage skateboards, regional surf images and punk band flyers adorning the walls.

Parallel Pizzeria offers take-out and delivery. Open 5 to 10 p.m. daily; opening from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily starting June 1st.

Parallel Pizzeria is at 34255 Pacific Coast Highway, Suite 101-102 in Dana Point. 949.441.7406.