Light sauce, extra cheese. Large. From Papa John’s.
That was the pizza order in my household growing up. I know, it’s not ideal. The ratio is off, the slices are heavy with dairy, and there’s virtually no tomato flavor.
Now, as a grown-up with a grown-up palate (I’m so mature!), I see how pizza is more than just fast food delivery.
Pizza is actually very simple: dough, sauce, cheese. As long as you’ve got the holy trinity, you’ve got yourself a pizza.
That’s how Travis Garrett, the owner of The PZA, a Greensboro-based pizza pop-up, started out making his pies.
He began making pizzas with a girl he was dating about a decade ago. Then, it became a cheap way to feed himself. During the pandemic, the act became a grounding ritual.
“It was a hobby that I never got tired of,” Garrett said.
In 2024, Garrett launched The PZA. Last year, he apprenticed with Abbiocco Pizzeria out of Black Mountain, where he learned about balancing ingredients, running a business, and crafting a menu.
He started out using an electric pizza oven, but eventually upgraded to gas, live-fire ones. He sets up at local businesses around the city most days of the week.
On Wednesday, I got to try one of his creations.
As I pulled into the parking lot of Terminal Tap, I could smell the cooking of cheese, the rising of dough.
“I only have one dough left,” Garrett said as I approached the tent.
Shoot. I had planned on getting one pizza for myself and one for my husband, but now I had to choose just one.
I knew which to get.
The House Tour, named after the Sabrina Carpenter song, is a strange but beautiful beast.
Sliced lemon (with the rind on), roasted garlic, crème fraîche, pecorino, smoked gouda, hot honey, pistachios.
The tang of the lemon cuts through the unctuousness of the cheese and creamy base while the hot honey and pistachios add a layer of sweetness and crunch. The whole thing is vegetarian but has a distinct meatiness that reminds me of bacon.
I can’t stop thinking about it.
Garrett started using The Flavor Bible to come up with ingredient combinations. That’s how The House Tour was born.
“Pizza is just a big plate,” he said. “You can do whatever you want on it. You can think of a favorite dish and think, How do I make it into a pizza?”
The result shows up in Garrett’s specials.They include The House Tour, an eggplant parm pizza and a chicken parm one. He’s got the classics too: cheese, pepperoni, margherita.
His personal favorite is the cheese.
“Because pizza is nothing but cheese, sauce, crust,” he said. “I want to make sure I have those three things down.”
Besides his unique flavor combinations, Garrett works hard to ensure the dough—the starting seed from which all pizza grows—is cooked well. Most places undercook it, he said, resulting in chewy, floppy slices. Not here.
He sources his flour from Lindley Mills, a Graham-based mill that’s been operating since 1755. Every week, he picks up a fresh bag, the flour made within the last week.
Working the dough is one of his favorite parts, he said.
“Dough is a living, breathing organism,” he said. “I make it everyday and make tiny tweaks, almost like I’m having a conversation with it.”
After I finished the pizza, I texted Garrett to tell him how much I appreciated his brain for bringing The House Tour into the world.
And how next time, I’m not sharing.
