{"id":871,"date":"2016-02-06T20:55:15","date_gmt":"2016-02-06T20:55:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tmn.truman.edu\/detours\/?p=871"},"modified":"2020-10-21T04:14:41","modified_gmt":"2020-10-21T04:14:41","slug":"a-slice-of-family-tradition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tmn.truman.edu\/detours\/2016\/02\/06\/a-slice-of-family-tradition\/","title":{"rendered":"A Slice of Family Tradition"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written by Emily Wichmer<\/h4>\n

The family-run <\/span>Blues City Deli<\/a><\/span> in the Benton Park district of St. Louis is pulling from its roots as its owners prepare to open Melo\u2019s Pizzeria next door to the deli. <\/span><\/p>\n

Joey Valenza \u2014 whose father Vinnie Valenza owns the deli \u2014 said he decided to turn the empty garage behind the deli into a pizzeria that could draw in customers looking for another dining option. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a small space here at the pizzeria end, and we wanted to accentuate the deli\u2019s atmosphere with this space,\u201d Joey Valenza says. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Joey<\/a>
Joey Valenza created a pizzeria behind his family’s deli business to carry on his grandfather’s Christmas tradition.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Joey Valenza says he decided to open a pizzeria because of a family tradition \u2014 his Italian-American grandfather, Carmelo Valenza, spent Christmases making pizzas for the family. Joey Valenza says he decided to name the pizzeria after his grandfather as a tribute to the holiday tradition.<\/p>\n

Melo\u2019s uses a Neapolitan crust for its pizza, which Joey Valenza says he chose because of its texture. He said he spent weeks perfecting the recipe to get a perfect Neapolitan crust  that is crunchy on the outside but light and soft inside. <\/span><\/p>\n

Joey Valenza says the menu at Melo\u2019s is based on his Italian heritage. The Dom pizza packs a complex flavor, featuring fresh mozzarella and Grana cheese with basil, oregano, pepperoni and sausage, while the more simple Angelina pizza uses Grana and Romano cheese, green onion and garlic.  <\/span><\/p>\n

After crafting the dough and toppings, the pizzas bake in an artisan wood-burning pizza oven, dubbed \u201cSt. Louis the King.\u201d The oven is imposing, spanning from floor to ceiling in the building and taking up an entire corner of the garage. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The menu at Melo’s Pizzeria features Italian ingredients on a special Neapolitan-style crust.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Once the pizza has cooked, it\u2019s ready for guests to enjoy. Melo\u2019s has limited bar seating, but during<\/span><\/p>\n

warmer months pizza lovers can enjoy their pie outdoors next to the deli. <\/span><\/p>\n

Melo\u2019s isn\u2019t set to open for a few months while father and son see how crowds will work with the deli so close. However, the pizzeria has had a few soft openings to get everything ready for its grand opening. <\/span><\/p>\n

Visitors can check the Blues City Deli <\/span>Facebook page<\/a><\/span> for alerts on more soft openings during February and March. Melo\u2019s is slated to open officially five days a week by April. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by Emily Wichmer The family-run Blues City Deli in the Benton Park district of St. Louis is pulling from<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":878,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[188,20,33,56],"tags":[207,119,208,209,206,58,155],"class_list":["post-871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-destination","category-food-drink","category-missouri","category-tri-state-area","tag-blues-city-deli","tag-food","tag-garage","tag-italian","tag-melos","tag-pizza","tag-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmn.truman.edu\/detours\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmn.truman.edu\/detours\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmn.truman.edu\/detours\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmn.truman.edu\/detours\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmn.truman.edu\/detours\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=871"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/tmn.truman.edu\/detours\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2129,"href":"https:\/\/tmn.truman.edu\/detours\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871\/revisions\/2129"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmn.truman.edu\/detours\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmn.truman.edu\/detours\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmn.truman.edu\/detours\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmn.truman.edu\/detours\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}