Last year, the New York Times looked at essential restaurants across the country, naming the Webster in Iowa City one of the best nationwide.
Now the newspaper takes a stab at pizzas, looking at the evolution of the dish from Neapolitan crusts that took the country by storm in the 2000s to the pies that are leading the conversation now.
One out of the 22 pizza restaurants that made the list is from Iowa.
Lincoln Winebar’s wood-fired pizzas out of Mount Vernon join the ranks of pizza heavyweights Pizzeria Bianco with its wood-fired pies from James Beard winner Chris Bianco in Phoenix, neighborhood institution Roberta’s in Brooklyn, and Young Joni from James Beard award-winning chef Ann Kim in Minneapolis.
Lincoln Winebar owner Jesse Sauerbrie leans into local ingredients, from asparagus and hot honey sourced from area farms to chives grown on his grandfather’s farm and pepperoni made locally.
The restaurant’s website notes that many of the ingredients are found at organic farms near Mount Vernon. The menu features oyster mushrooms, beets, carrots, and greens, all locally grown.
The restaurant originally opened in 2000 as an ode to wine, but in 2012, James Beard Foundation semifinalist for Best Chef Midwest Matt Steigerwald added a wood-fired oven for making Neapolitan-style pizzas. In 2016, Steigerwald sold the restaurant to longtime employee Sauerbrie.
Look for a roster of classic and seasonal Neapolitan pizzas on the menu. Try a smoked salmon with goat cheese panna cotta base for a riff on the bagel and a nod to Wolfgang Puck, Beets Baby with a pistachio pesto base and baby arugula and goat cheese crown, or the Rocky Balboa topped with Italian meats, smoked mozzarella and Calabrian chilis for a kick.
