The Menu: Pie Pushers’ ‘Durham style’ crust is a winner

Website: piepushers.com

Twitter: @piepushers

Originally reviewed by Greg Cox on 5/13/2016

The crust. Thin and crisp with a tender bite, the Pie Pushers crust strikes a happy balance between classic Neapolitan and New York styles. Mike Hacker, who owns the truck with his wife, Becky Cascio, started out with the dough recipe his mother taught him to make. He’s been tweaking that recipe for more than a decade, as he worked his way through culinary school and a career in restaurant kitchens – where, when it came his turn to make the staff meal, pizza was his go-to dish. Hacker calls his crust “Durham style.”

The toppings. Sure, you can get plain cheese or pepperoni. But Pie Pushers’ wheelhouse is the seasonally changing selection of topping combinations that take their cues from the local harvest and food artisans. Firsthand Foods sausage makes frequent appearances on the menu board, and I recently scored a vegetarian slice that celebrated the first local asparagus of the season against a backdrop of roasted potatoes, corn, mozzarella and mild, creamy feta on a pesto base.