Atlanta pop-up Pizza Kusina uses unique ingredients – The Atlanta Journal Constitution
Pizza Kusina (instagram.com/pizza.kusina) made its Atlanta debut in 2022 at vegan market Bien Vegano, and has since popped up at events, breweries and coffee shops around metro Atlanta, slinging both traditional pies and some with unique combinations.
Asidao-Spence who serves as the pizzaiolo while her husband, Roger Spence, helps with the marketing and design, describes her 11-inch pizzas as “neo-Neapolitan style,” using traditional baking techniques but with different ingredients and flavors.
Credit: Courtesy of Pizza Kusina
Credit: Courtesy of Pizza Kusina
Though there have been different iterations of her dough, she’s settled on a sourdough hybrid cooked longer and at lower temperature than normal for a Neapolitan-style pizza.
Alongside the expected pepperoni, Margherita and cheese pizzas, Pizza Kusina serves a rotating list of specialty pies, many named after family members, including the Tita Editha with mushroom adobo, smoked gouda, mozzarella, parsley, Calabrian oregano and Parmesano-Reggiano; and the Lola Dana with mozzarella, smoked gouda, mascarpone cream, halloumi and Pecorino romano.
Pizza Kusina has also featured vegan pies using falafel and samosa filling as toppings. They have also collaborated with Gabriel Tungol of pop-up Barangay for a pizza that used longanisa, a type of Philippine sausage that’s a nod to the backgrounds of both Tungol and Asidao-Spence. Another tribute to Philippine culture is the pop-up’s name — “kusina” means “kitchen” in Tagalog.
Asidao-Spence said what appears on her pop-up menu depends on the venue or the type of event, and she’ll often tinker with different ingredients before landing on a winning combination, though the staples like Margherita will always make an appearance.
Credit: Courtesy of Pizza Kusina
Credit: Courtesy of Pizza Kusina
“It’s always a work in progress,” said Asidao-Spence, who is working on developing a gluten-free dough. “I’ve been happier with the results lately, but it’s such a learning process.”
The couple, who live with their four children, ranging in age from 5 to 20, in Cumming, have started branching out with catering services and a sister pop-up, Peoples Kusina (instagram.com/peopleskusina), to showcase Philippine and Jamaican baked items including ube cookies, turon and bebinca, a casava cake, as well as savory items like curries.
“The goal is being able to do this full time and incorporate our kids, whether that manifests itself as a food truck or trailer or something else,” Asidao-Spence said. “We don’t want to go crazy. We’re good with being our definition of successful and our definition of happy.”
Sign up for the AJC Food and Dining Newsletter
Read more stories like this by liking Atlanta Restaurant Scene on Facebook, following @ATLDiningNews on Twitter and @ajcdining on Instagram.
