Who’s Behind It Co-owners Mike Lange and Leslie Lamont
What’s on the Menu Impeccably made pizzas in a casual, retro-styled space
When Noble Pie launched as a pop-up inside Eighty-Eight Brewing Co. back in 2018, owners Mike Lange and Leslie Lamont (pizza and life partners) never expected the immensely positive reaction it got.
Despite his lack of formal kitchen experience, Lange has been making pizza for nearly 17 years. “I had been trying to figure out what to do with pizza — I was obsessed,” he says.
That obsession eventually led to the pop-up. Business was good, but when the pandemic hit, things really started to pop off. Lange and Lamont could only make about 80 pizzas for takeout a day, and the pair could barely keep up with the demand, with each day’s pizzas selling out within minutes.
Fast forward and the pair opened Noble Pie proper in 2022. Decked out in the retro stylings of a New York pizzeria, Noble Pie feels unironically kitschy in the best way. That strong vision, combined with some of the best pizza in the city, makes this a restaurant that needs to be experienced.
Of course, the pizzas are the big draw here. The pies are simple, but meticulously made — large-format pizzas with a unique crust that, according to Lange, is “bigger, bubblier, fermented longer and baked at higher temperatures than what you find in New York.” Thought and care are also put into the ingredients. For The Roni, Lange insists on bringing in Ezzo pepperoni — which curls to form cups as it cooks — considered by many pizza lovers to be the gold standard of pizza pepperoni.
The wine list also adds to the charm. It may be small, but it’s full of interesting wines made with little-known grapes, meant to push people out of their comfort zones to try different styles they may not have heard of before.
Noble Pie’s success hasn’t stopped its innovations. Lange still tweaks the timing and temperature during fermentation to ensure the consistency of the pies, especially as the weather changes. For a pizza nerd like him, perfection might never come. But, for the rest of us, it’s already there.
Back alley entrance, 720 11 Ave. S.W., noblepiepizza.com, @noblepiepizza
