Pi-Daho: Trailer clanis making good dough
Jeff Rowley, co-owner of Pi-Daho Artisan Pizza with his wife, LeeAnn, pose for a portrait. The food truck is located next to Post Falls Brewing Company. Jeff got his start when his brother Greg, a local Realtor, invited him to make pizzas for a real estate open house. “I have always been a fan of making food. It’s a lot of fun,” Rowley said. Photo by LOREN BENOIT/ BJNI
No matter how you slice it, Jeff and LeeAnn Rowley's pizza trailer business had just the right ingredients to be the perfect fit outside Post Falls Brewing Company.
The couple has connected with customers for the past year and a half, and their popular pizza and the brewery's boast-worthy beer go hand in hand.
"We didn't offer food when we opened, so we were reaching out to different food trucks," said Bethany Stokes, an owner of the brewing company. "When we came across Pi-Daho they didn't even have a truck — just a pop-up tent. But they were well-received and they were just getting started as well.
"They're now like a staple here. They offer fantastic pizza, have expanded their menu and are a good fit us. They're part of us."
Jeff said the name, Pi-Daho Artisan Pizza, came from his background as a self-proclaimed math and engineering geek from Idaho who loves puns.
"Our slogan is, 'irrationally good,'" he said, referring to pi, an irrational number that can't be expressed as a simple fraction. "There's a math teacher who thought she was going to lose her mind because it was so funny."
The pizza trailer business, open Wednesday through Sunday, is really moving the pies, which are named after cities and sites in Idaho.
"Not only is their pizza fantastic, but you get to go on a journey of Idaho’s history along the way," said Mindy Thorp, a customer. "I think I have tried all of their pizzas and each one has its own unique qualities, but my personal favorite is the Sun Valley."
That pie includes pesto, mozzarella, red onion, black olives, mushrooms, sweet peppers, artichoke and spinach.
If you think the ingredient count will drive up the price, think again.
Pizzas are priced by their size, not by their toppings. A 14-inch pizza is $15; 10-inch $9; and gluten-free 12-inch $17. Ten-inch dessert pizzas are $9.
A top-selling pizza is Hells Canyon, which includes pepperoni, salami, sausage and bacon. On the other end of the preference spectrum but popular as well is the Eagle, consisting of garlic olive oil, gorgonzola, caramelized onion, prosciutto, dates and pistachios.
"The choices are endless," Jeff said.
Thorp said the Rowleys work with specific tastes and try to accommodate dietary needs.
"Another fun thing is to try their monthly specials that are not on their regular menu," she said. "They have been part of many celebrations because they make our experience special."
Even the specials are named after Idaho cities. As a result, pizza names such as Dickshooter and Slickpoo have surfaced.
"I would love to see (Slickpoo) on their regular menu and who knew there was a city in Idaho called Slickpoo?" Thorp said.
Next month's special will be Beer Bottle Crossing.
"We were just discussing what to put on it," Jeff said with a laugh.
Jeff said he wants to print out a large map and put pins and pictures on it of the podunk towns to prove they’re real places.
"It would mean about 48 hours of driving in the four days we have off (to take the photos), so I'm not sure if that would be realistic," Jeff said.
LeeAnn said she thinks the handmade sourdough crust sets the pizzas apart.
"The dough is the secret," she said. "The crust is more neopolitan style, puffy on the ends. It's not a real heavy kind of pizza and the bottom of the crust is really crispy."
The pizza is baked on a rotating stone in a propane oven.
"A lot of people actually think that we own a wood-fired oven because they can't taste the difference," LeeAnn said.
Appetizers include chicken wings, mozzarella sticks, fried pickle chips, breadstick bites, fries and Idahachos (fries with cheese, bacon, green onions and jalapenos).
Stokes said the trailer works out well at Post Falls Brewing because her company has limited space for a kitchen and wants to focus on beer instead.
“This way people can come to enjoy both great beer and great pizza,” she said. “I’d rather us be known for both, and this way we can just concentrate on what we like to do.”
The pizza trailer became so busy that LeeAnn quit her job as a bookkeeper at the Kroc Center to focus on food business full time.
“She’s a people person and I make the food,” Jeff said. “It works out well. I come early to get things set up, and she stays late getting things cleaned up. We have a lot of fun and have met a lot of great people. We feel pretty blessed to be down here.”
