{"id":76515,"date":"2023-08-15T12:39:40","date_gmt":"2023-08-15T19:39:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=76515"},"modified":"2023-08-15T15:11:44","modified_gmt":"2023-08-15T22:11:44","slug":"long-beach-vegan-pizza-to-open-as-brick-and-mortar-mangiafoglie-on-retro-row","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/long-beach-vegan-pizza-to-open-as-brick-and-mortar-mangiafoglie-on-retro-row","title":{"rendered":"Long Beach Vegan Pizza to open as brick-and-mortar MangiaFoglie on Retro Row"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pepperoni pizza has long been a quintessential American comfort food, and the gospel of its cheesy-spicy flavor profile is sung far and wide. But for those who abstain from eating animal products, finding a vegan substitute is often a fool\u2019s errand\u2014especially in Long Beach.<\/p>\n

In 2020, Paul Reese and his wife Andrada Groseanu sought to remedy that after they found themselves nearly tempted by a pepperoni pizza left on the dining room table by a roommate.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Oh my gosh, that looks so good,\u2019\u201d Reese recalled thinking.<\/p>\n

So, they hopped online, determined to find a place in Long Beach that could deliver a vegan alternative, but failed to find any options.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is crazy,\u201d Reese remembers saying. \u201cThere’s like over half a million people in this city. And I can’t get a vegan pepperoni pizza, let alone just a good vegan pizza at all? I looked at her and was like, \u2018Let\u2019s do it ourselves.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

This fall, Long Beach Vegan Pizza\u2014a beloved pop-up since 2020\u2014will officially move off the sidewalk and into a brick-and-mortar under a new moniker and concept: MangiaFoglie.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s pronounced maun-gea-foli-yay,<\/i> and it translates to leaf eater, Reese said.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Paul Reese adds a balsamic drizzle to a proscuitto arugula pizza, a popular item on the Long Beach Vegan Pizza menu while working his pop-up on Saturday, Aug. 5. Photo by Cheantay Jensen.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Reese and his business partner Daniel Vesely will open MangiaFoglie, at 2300 E. Fourth St., where Portfolio Coffeehouse operated for more than three decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo pressure, right?\u201d Reese laughed.<\/p>\n

Doors will open at 7 a.m. with coffee and pastry offerings. At 11:30, lunch service will have a variety of items like panuozzo, an Italian street-food sandwich. Then, the eatery will close at 3 p.m. and reopen at 5 p.m. for a proper Italian dinner service: appetizers, salads, a la carte pasta\u2014plus beer and wine.<\/p>\n

That includes, of course, the wood-fired vegan Neapolitan-style pizza that Reese and his wife once delivered out of their home during the days of lockdown.<\/p>\n

\"\"
A rendering of what MangiaFoglie will look like when it opens within the old Portfolio Coffeehouse location on Retro Row. Courtesy photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be honest with you, I have no cooking experience. I\u2019ve never worked back of house before. I\u2019ve only worked as a server, but I learned to cook from selling food,\u201d he said, adding that he\u2019s worked for Michelin-starred restaurants and their chefs.<\/p>\n

Back in 2020, Reese and his wife, who both share a background in the restaurant industry, quickly assembled everything they needed to launch Long Beach Vegan Pizza. From October to May of that year, on their busiest nights, they would sell 40 to 50 pizzas, prepped in a small room in their home and fired in the backyard within four ovens Reese built himself.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Paul Reese stands outside Hi-Lo Liquor where his pop-up, Long Beach Vegan Pizza, frequents on Saturday, Aug. 5. Photo by Cheantay Jensen.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But everything came to a screeching halt when Reese\u2019s grandmother decided to sell the home they\u2019d been living in.<\/p>\n

By early 2022, Reese was managing a coffee shop in Hollywood, where he made pretty decent money, but Long Beach Vegan Pizza still tugged at him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just always felt like it wasn\u2019t done\u2014’This isn\u2019t how it\u2019s supposed to end,’\u201d Reese said. \u201cSo I quit the coffee shop and I bought basically all I needed to do pop-ups.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Paul Reese slides a raw pizza into a Roccbox oven while working at his pop-up Long Beach Vegan Pizza on Saturday, Aug. 5. Photo by Cheantay Jensen.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Soon after, Reese would get a job at the Hi-lo Liquor Market in Downtown, where he still works and sets up his pizza pop-up each week.<\/p>\n

Vesely entered the picture just a few months later, after trying Reese\u2019s pizza at Beachwood Brewing. In disbelief that Reese\u2019s pies were vegan, he was quick to partner up with Reese to help him invest in his vision.<\/p>\n

“I already know what space I want,\u201d Reese told Vesely.<\/p>\n

The pair hope to open new doors to the long-darkened Retro Row location in November, where Reese will offer the plant-based pies that got him here.<\/p>\n

\"\"
A rendering of MangiaFoglie, which will open on Retro Row this fall. Courtesy photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cYou would be amazed at the guidelines set forward to be considered Neapolitan pizza,\u201d Reese said. \u201cSo, we\u2019re \u2018Neapolitan-style\u2019 pizza, because none of those guidelines say things can be plant-based.\u201d<\/p>\n

San Marzano tomatoes, Caputo yeast, double-zero flour imported from Italy\u2014sans mozzarella di bufala, Reese\u2019s pizza checks off every other Neapolitan requirement for pizza.<\/p>\n

Reese makes his own vegan cheese and meats.<\/p>\n

“Right now, we’re just doing mozzarella, because I’m a one-man show,” he said. “The base of it is silken tofu, refined coconut oil, white miso, salt, lemon juice, carrageenan\u2014essentially dehydrated seaweed.”<\/p>\n

\"\"
Paul Reese, owner of Long Beach Vegan Pizza, slices up a fresh slab of homemade vegan mozzarella while working his pop-up at Hi-Lo Liquor on Saturday, Aug. 5. Photo by Cheantay Jensen.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As for the pepperoni, that’s made out of seitan. Then, for added visual detail, a small amount tofu is used to mimic the fat deposits of real pepperoni.<\/p>\n

And MangiaFoglie\u2019s menu will offer more cuisine from the region of Campania\u2014especially that of Naples, the Amalfi coast and the island of Capri.<\/p>\n

The name MangiaFoglie\u2014a tribute to leaf eaters\u2014is apropos for multiple reasons.<\/p>\n

The term \u201cis actually what the people of Naples were called in the 17th century, because their diets were so heavily based off of plants and vegetables.\u201d<\/p>\n

MangiaFoglie will offer menu items that non-vegans will be familiar with\u2014like the pork and fennel-stuffed tortellini or squid ink pasta.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we\u2019re using activated charcoal to basically be our squid ink,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd we\u2019re using vegan caviar and roe. So it\u2019ll be very familiar to someone who is not plant-based, being able to sit down and see words, ingredients that they\u2019re used to.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Reese\u2019s plans to continue his mission of bringing quality plant-based food to Long Beach and beyond, he doesn\u2019t want his customers to pigeonhole MangiaFoglie as plant-based mimicry of Italian cuisine.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not cooking from a vegan perspective, and I feel like one of my huge goals and one of the biggest undertakings for me is to break the negative stigma that people have against veganism,\u201d he said. \u201cThe fact of the matter is that it\u2019s good food\u2014oh, and by the way, it\u2019s also plant-based.\u201d<\/p>\n

Going forward, Vesely and Reese will keep the acronym LBVP, but Long Beach Vegetables and Plants will become the name of Reese and Vesely\u2019s new restaurant group. Together, they aim to open several more plant-based restaurants in Long Beach, something Reese feels the city has long lacked.<\/p>\n

But Reese dreams of much more than bringing quality plaint-based food to Long Beach. He wants to offer opportunities to the community and to inspire others.<\/p>\n

In 2020, \u201cwhen we started hiring people, I was like, \u2018Man, I\u2019m giving people jobs in the community.’ \u2026 And it felt good,\u201d he said, becoming emotional.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust being able to have a good meal is far and few between for a lot of people, so if we can, from our success, level out the playing field and give more opportunities for those who don\u2019t have it\u2014that\u2019s a win for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next Long Beach Vegan Pizza pop-up will be at the Hi-lo Liquor Market at 707 E. Ocean Blvd. on Wednesday, Aug. 16, from 5 to 9 p.m.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Long Beach Vegan Pizza, a pop-up that rose to local popularity out of a pandemic-era home-delivery project, is getting a brick-and-mortar under its new moniker, MangiaFoglie, at the site where Portfolio Coffeehouse operated for more than three decades.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":302,"featured_media":76324,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[32225,432,44],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[9454],"class_list":["post-76515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hi-lo","tag-plant-based","tag-retro-row","tag-vegan","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/302"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76515"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76515\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76524,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76515\/revisions\/76524"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76515"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=76515"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=76515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}