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red checkered window 		RE$TAURANT$

Prize-winning pizza moves
to Westerville
By Doral Chenoweth FOR THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Prize-winning pizza chef Michael Evans is back in business.

Last week, he cut a strand of spaghetti - his version of the grand-opening ribbon - on Michael's Pizza, An Italian Kitchen, at 15 E. College Ave. in Westerville.

The menu includes that prize-winning pizza, the hallmark of the Maize Road shop on the North Side that he since has sold, and a number of additions. Drawing from his Italian heritage and family recipes, the restaurant offers stromboli, Italian beef and even chicken wings, he said.

The road to reopening, he said, has been a tortuous one, marked by construction delays, equipment failures and repeated permit inspections.

"This has to be my last pizza hurrah from scratch," Evans said. "My wife (Cyndi) said so."

Evans' new shop is in the former Rosa's Deli, a place that did not require the grill venting or extensive plumbing needed by a full fledged restaurant kitchen. He said he sank more than $75,000 into making the necessary modifications. He has a three-year lease on the 42-seat restaurant.

The new menu items aside, Evans' pizza is expected to be a destination dish. His Traditional pizza (pepperoni, sausage and sweet onion) was declared best among U.S. entrants at a contest in 2001 held in Italy. He also took top prize in 1998, 2000 and 2001 at the MidAmerica Pizza Pizzazz competitions. The plaques and awards are on display in the restaurant window.

Inside, the prize-winning pizza still is made with a beer-batter crust and brand-name ingredients that were around in his parents' day: Robin Hood flour, Red Pack tomatoes, Candy King sweet onions and Pecorino romano and provolone cheeses.

Evans said he added An Italian Kitchen to the restaurant's name to call attention to being a lunch and dinner operation.