Saturday, April 20, 2024

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Area Four has expanded again. After adding a food truck April 1 and a hot dog cart at 500 Tech Square, the Kendall Square restaurant has opened a second storefront, this one in Somerville’s Union Square.

The eatery, called A4 Pizza, opened today with a focus on wood-fired pies, antipasti and craft beer. The tone is purposely casual, down to the truck toolbox that’s been repurposed into a beer tap. It has “the feel of an old-school neighborhood bar dotted with hints of dad’s garage workshop,” restaurateurs Michael Leviton, Michael Krupp and Jeff Pond said in a press release.

“At its core, A4 Pizza is simply a neighborhood spot serving up straightforward food at an accessible price,” said Leviton, a chef and co-owner. “We wanted to approach A4 Pizza with the same fundamental ethos as our previous ventures – a commitment to quality ingredients, proper technique, attention to detail and hospitality designed to take care of guests in a casual atmosphere.”

The artisanal pizzas use house-made cheeses and sauces (tomato, clam, mushroom and others) and local, sustainable meats and produce, Pond said, with the hand-stretched pizzas having “the thin crispiness and cooked sauce of a New Haven pizza with the charred crust of a traditional Neapolitan pie.”

He highlighted four speciality pies: Wellfleet cherrystone clam and bacon with pecorino, hot pepper and parsley; white anchovy, Castelvetrano olives, capers and pecorino; corn, caramelized onion, arugula and basil; and basil walnut pesto, zucchini, olives, goat cheese and pecorino.

Appetizers and salads are seasonal, but start with mozzarella with green olives and walnuts; and orzo and wheatberry salad with house-smoked bluefish, red onion, scallions and capers. The beer list will also rotate seasonally, the restaurateurs said, with 24 brews ranging from small-batch craft to mainstream favorites. A4 Pizza will also serve some wine and have a whiskey and Fernet Branca selection that changes monthly.

It has 36 seats inside and, weather permitting, a patio with another 15 to 20 seats.

Though freshly fired pizzas are only served by the whole pie, cold slices are available at half price from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m.

A4 Pizza, 445 Somerville Ave., Union Square, is open seven days a week from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. For information, call (617) 764-4190.

This post took significant amounts of material from a press release.