Mike Easton is Opening a Roman-Style Pizzeria

The mastermind behind Il Corvo, Eater's Restaurant of the Year 2013, is getting ready to open Pizzeria Gabbiano (the Italian word for seagull) in Pioneer Square. Mike Easton says he scouted locations for the past 8 months before landing on a 1,000 square-foot space in the old Pacific Commercial Bank building on 2nd and Main.

Essentially, we're doing pizza that's really based off of the pizza you find in Campo de' Fiori in Rome. It's very focused on the bread itself, the dough, and it's 100% naturally yeasted dough that you use a sourdough starter for. The pizzas will be three-feet long and about eight-inches wide. We'll sell it by the half, quarter or eighth.

Like Il Corvo's dedication to housemade ingredients, expect pizzas like the margherita to feature handmade mozzarella and other toppings. Daily specials will include a cheese-based pie and some sort of meat-topped variety. The rest will be left up to the chef (Easton's got someone in mind for this role, but is not totally ready to divulge).

The next step for Easton is securing some funding. Thirty-thousand bucks, to be exact. And not through Kickstarter, either. Easton is going to be sourcing his funds through a local company called Community Sourced Capital. The campaign launches...now.

It's a lot like Kickstarter in the way it sources funding, but it's actually a loan and the people who fund it get paid back.

Want to loan Easton some money? Head over to his online campaign, where there's also more information about the company in charge of it.

Pizzeria Gabbiano will be a lunch spot, with the potential to open up before Sounders games and possibly 3 to 6 pm to cater to the after-work crowd who might want some takeout.

"There's no good pizza in Pioneer Square," says Easton. "Everyone's doing Neopolitan style pizza and it's great and I love it, but we want to do something that stands out a little bit from the wood-fired pizza that's currently popular."

Look for Gabbiano to open around June. The space is still being built out, but Easton is hell-bent on opening before summer.
· Pizzeria Gabbiano [Official Site]
· Il Corvo [Official Site]
· All Mike Easton Coverage [~ESEA~]