Memorial City shoppers now have the option of dining on New York-style pizza and cannoli cupcakes. This week, the mall welcomed the arrival of Dolce & Cannoli Pizzeria, a new concept that unites chef Drew Rogers with business partners Jason and Michele Piltzmaker.
Rogers owned Drew’s Pastry Place in Vintage Park for 10 years before closing the cafe last year. He’s back in a prime location at the heart of the mall with a new focus on pizza and a slimmed-down menu of the Italian-inspired sweets that earned him wide acclaim.
The chef tells CultureMap that he spent months tweaking the dough recipe for his 10-inch pies. To get the proper Big Apple flavor, he’s using a filtration system that mimics the mineral content of the city’s celebrated tap water.
“We take the chlorine out of the water. We have the same ppm as New York water,” Rogers says. “It’s given us a crisp, nice crust. On top of that, we have the old school Blodgett ovens.”
He’s also pressing the pizzas, rather than stretching them by hand, to get the proper texture. So far, the pizza has been enough of a hit that the restaurant has had to make twice as much dough as it originally expected to need.
Other menu items include subs, soup, salads, and panini. Since its located away from the mall’s food court, Dolce & Cannoli has more a sit-down feel complete with a bar that serves beer and wine.
As the cafe’s name implies, Rogers’ signature Italian pastries are available, too. Dolce & Cannoli gives a new home to the chef’s cannoli cupcakes — made famous by his appearance on the TLC show Bakery Boss in 2014 — that are filled with cream and topped with cannoli shell. Other options include regular cupcakes, Italian cookies, tiramisu, and traditional cannoli.
Michelle and Jason Piltzmaker have been longtime Houston franchise owners of stores that included Cinnabon, Nestle Toll House Cookies, and others, but Dolce & Cannoli is their first start up. Rogers says his business partners are optimistic that the restaurant will be enough of a success that diners may find it in malls across the Houston area — and beyond.
Rogers perfected the dough for his 10-inch pies.
