Pizza Wine, a sparkling red wine that is made to be paired with pizza, announced its Rhode Island expansion into Newport this week, led by Mother Pizzeria and Mission.
Pizza Wine will be the first and only canned wine at Mother Pizzeria, which opened last month. The restaurant, by the same owner of award-winning Italian restaurant Giusto, chef Kevin O’Donnell, will soon serve cans alongside their sourdough pizza at their newly launched quick-service to-go counter and in their sit-down dining room.
“Lauren, Kyle, and I are really excited about the momentum behind Mother. It’s been fun designing a more casual menu, which feels very different from Giusto but with the same passion and non-stop hunting for awesome ingredients. It’s also given us a chance to work with new partners like Pizza Wine,” said Kevin.
Anna Burnley, a Newport local, hospitality veteran, and co-owner of The Mission Group, which includes Mission and Thames Street Kitchen (TSK), was quick to snag the cans too. Despite the fact that Mission is focused on burgers, she knew that Pizza Wine would fit with the vibe of the restaurant and their new retail experience next door, Utility.
“I loved the idea of throwing a pizza party with Mother in a continuation of our Utility Sip and Shop pop-up series. It’s been a fun way to get together with friends and celebrate what the community is building,” she said.
The Pizza Wine expansion marks the start of a new relationship between Providence and Newport: two cities with a shared love of food and dining that offer very different Ocean State experiences. This was part of the reason why the team felt so strongly about making the move into Newport within their first year.
“We wanted to create a brand that could celebrate experiences across Rhode Island,” said Alaina Andreozzi, co-founder of Pizza Wine. “Utility is the perfect place to celebrate the start of our Newport journey — a space for every chef, host, and guest. We share their vision of making elevated dining feel accessible and bringing the community exceptionally great products.”
The Mission team was at the forefront of this; bringing bold, thoughtful concepts to Newport before there was even a real food scene. The Pizza Wine crew, which includes Rhode Island hospitality locals like Robert Andreozzi and Jesse Hedberg of Pizza Marvin, Liz McDonnell of Fortnight (now closed), and James Davids and Marissa Stashenko of Anchor & Hope, shares their vision and hopes that Pizza Wine can do the same.
“The most rewarding part of owning a wine bar in Providence was to work with other hospitality folks to push ourselves to be as good as we could possibly be,” said Liz McDonnell, co-founder of Pizza Wine. “We realized very few of the industry people in Providence knew the folks in Newport, and vice versa, but that each group is driven by the same goal: to build a city we want to eat and drink in. We’re so excited to be part of closing this gap, and I can’t wait to see how strong we can be across the state when the forces of Providence and Newport are combined.”
The pizza party will be hosted by Utility (58 Aquidneck Ave, Middletown) on September 11th from 6-8pm. Mother Pizzeria will be serving free slices alongside free Pizza Wine pours and cans to purchase. Utility will be giving 10% off the entire store during the event and Pizza Wine will be selling a limited number of coolers with 4 cans at a discounted price.
Pizza Wine is now available across Rhode Island and distributing through Wine Wizards with initial placements in Pizza Marvin, Courtland Club, and Campus Fine Wines.
About Pizza Wine:
Pizza Wine is a lightly sparkling red wine and your favorite pizza’s new best friend. It’s a highly crushable, insanely delicious, lightly sparkling red wine made to drink with pizza. The team combines the award-winning hospitality trio Robert Andreozzi, Jesse Hedberg and Liz McDonnell behind Pizza Marvin and Fortnight Wine Bar and branding duo Alaina Andreozzi and Christiana Guzman with 20+ years of experience in hospitality and ecommerce. For more information, please visit: https://itspizzawine.com/
About Mother Pizzeria:
Mother Pizzeria is the latest project from partners Kevin O’Donnell and two Giusto alums, Chef Kyle Stamps and Lauren Schaefer. His first restaurant, Giusto, opened in 2020 and earned a Best of Rhode Island “Editors’ Pick: award for “Italian” from Rhode Island Monthly magazine. For more information, please visit: https://www.motherpizzeria.
About Utility:
Utility is a vibrant, and immersive retail experience that celebrates the chef and host. Started by Anna Burnley, Tyler Burnley, and Chad Hoffer, owners of the Mission Group (aka Mission and Thames Street Kitchen), Utility is located in the space next to Mission. They offer a curated selection of tools, while nailing the balance between aesthetic and function. For more information, please visit: https://www.shop-utility.com/
