Have you been to Etalia Pizza in Southern Pines, NC? It’s the place to go for artisan wood-fired pizzas and other Italian dishes.

We sat down with the owners of this Moore County restaurant to learn more:

MOORE EATS: Can you give us a mini introduction of who you are and a brief history of Etalia?

ETALIA: Believe it or not, Ryan’s first passion was music. When he learned that being a drummer in a band didn’t pay the bills, he got a job as a prep cook. He quickly realized that the kitchen was the place for him (not the stage) and traded in his drumsticks for chef’s knives. Mentored by lauded Minneapolis chef’s, Ryan quickly rose the ranks and became the executive chef of a James Beard Awarded restaurant, Lucia’s. He worked there for ten years before leaving to become a culinary instructor.

Susan’s culinary career started in high school as a restaurant host. She also volunteered at a culinary school to learn more about cooking and through her hard work and dedication was hired by the school as a co-instructor. Before the birth of their daughter Vivian, Susan had worked as a personal chef traveling the world from Alaska to private islands in the Caribbean. She has a love of hospitality and sharing her knowledge of food and wine with guests.

Etalia was founded by food lovers Stan and Jeri Herman in 2015. The concept behind the restaurant was Neapolitan style wood fire pizza and entrees made with the finest ingredients available. Ryan and Susan are longtime family friends of the Herman’s. After many family vacations to North Carolina the dialogue about moving to Moore County began.

Stan and Jeri’s vision of Etalia was always for the restaurant to be chef owned and operated. Their goals for the restaurant are now coming to fruition with the Lund family assuming ownership.

ME: What do you love most about Etalia?

E: People of all ages eat pizza. We love that Etalia is a dining destination for families, groups of friends, romantic dates or just Tuesday night takeout. The restaurant is small, which gives us the opportunity to interact with our guests and to get to know the community we are now a part of. It is such a treat for us to recognize our regulars and to create an approachable food culture for them.

ME: What makes your restaurant stand out?

E: If the heart of a home is the kitchen, the same can be said about the wood fire oven at Etalia. All the dishes have a component that has been prepared in the wood fire oven. Chicken is roasted in the oven for salads or used to make stock for soups and pasta sauces. When we start prepping food in the morning, the wood fire oven is still at 250F from the night before. We utilize the lower oven temperature of the morning to slow roast vegetables, pork, our signature meat balls and bake handmade crackers with sea salt and olive oil. As the dinner hour approaches, we stoke the fire with local white oak to 600F to make the traditional Neapolitan style pizza that is the backbone of our menu.

ME: What dish do you recommend the most? Why?

E: Ryan is a genius with fresh pastas. A customer recently asked us why the fresh pasta tasted so much better than boxed pasta. The best way we could describe the difference was to compare fresh out of the oven cookies handmade by grandma to store-bought cookies packaged at factory thousands of miles away. Fresh just tastes better! Ryan is having a lot of fun creating fresh pasta specials highlighting seasonal ingredients. Even the spaghetti on the new kid’s menu is handmade in house.

ME: What is something you want all your patrons to know about your restaurant?

E: We want all our patrons to know that we are honored to serve them. Our daughter calls the restaurant “Papa’s Show and Tell”. We acknowledge that there are dozens of dining choices in Moore County and we want them to feel at home at Etalia. We strive to make everyone happy, including guests with dietary restrictions. We offer gluten free pizzas and are currently developing a gluten free fresh pasta recipe too. Everyone is welcome at Etalia.

Watch below for an a video interview with the owner Ryan: