A Look at Niles Peacock Kitchen & Bar, Edmonds, Washington

Key Points:

• • A bar-management background shaped a distinctive pizzeria built on craft sourdough technique, cross-mentorship, and a strong foundation-first philosophy.
  • Intentional long-fermentation dough and an inventive, multisensory cocktail program combine to deliver a high-quality, memorable dining experience.

Most pizzaioli spend years perfecting their craft, only worrying about the bar menu as opening day nears. Niles Peacock, meanwhile, had a career as a bar manager before joining the pizza community. To serve alcohol, Peacock’s business license required that he offer a full food menu. In response, he became laser focused on creating outstanding craft pizzas, mentored by master pizzaiolo Will Grant of Sourdough Willy’s.

“I became his bar consultant, and he became my pizza consultant,” Peacock says. “He came over and trained my employees, and I went and trained his employees.”

Kitchen Lessons

Working as a bartender in a Colorado restaurant, Peacock would help with prep work in the kitchen, where he was able to pick up knife skills and learn about flavor combinations. The knowledge not only helped him build cocktail menus but eventually Niles Peacock Kitchen & Bar.

Today, Peacock offers 12-inch and 16-inch round sourdough pizzas made with dough proofed for three to five days. He says the extra time results in a well-developed, delicate and digestible crust. “A house is built on the foundation, so if you don’t get the foundation right, it doesn’t matter what you put on it,” he says.

In Peacock’s case, the foundation includes items such as My Hot Date, featuring crumbled gorgonzola, roasted dates and balsamic glaze, as well as Kraut Pleaser, a pie topped with 1,000 island dressing, shaved pastrami, sauerkraut and fresh scallions.

Five Days in Detroit

Peacock also offers Detroit-style pizzas made with five-day dough: two days of cold fermentation, followed by pressing dough into pans on day three. The pans are covered and proofed into the fourth day, when dough is par-baked.

“We get that nice, 80% bake on there … and then we take it out and we cover it and we rest it for another day, which is what artisan bread bakers do with their sourdoughs,” Peacock says. “On the fifth day, we make pizza with it.”

Peacock would love to expand into Chicago tavern-style and Roman-style pizzas, but he is hamstrung by space constraints. “I want to go down that road when I have enough room to do it,” he says, adding that he is remodeling a building up the street to open a sourdough bagel shop.

Cocktail Menu

At the pizzeria, Peacock created a program where staff can pre-batch fresh cocktail ingredients at the start of a shift, which allows them to access everything at arm’s reach and quickly complete orders. For example: The Weekend Special, a vodka cocktail, is topped with a bubble that contains encapsulated lemongrass and grapefruit essence.

“When it breaks, it releases the aromatics into the air,” he says of the bubble. “There’s a visual aspect that’s great, but the majority of our ability to taste comes through our olfactory senses.”

Smells like a winning combination of pizza and cocktails, just north of Seattle.

KATE LAVIN is Senior Editor at Pizza Today.