Sometimes, you start eating a dish and it brings up a bunch of emotions. I know I talk about weeping over food a lot on this blog, and believe it or not, I’m not exaggerating. But I had a different kind of emotional experience with the pizza at All-Purpose Pizzeria, a new restaurant that just opened in D.C.’s Shaw neighborhood.

I went today after work and ordered the Ferraro pizza with artichokes, ramps, stinging nettles, pistachio pesto, smoked scamorza (which sounds terrifying, but it’s just cheese), and feta. When the waiter brought it out and put it in front of me, it was already a feast for the eyes. Then I took a bite.

The overwhelming emotion I felt was comfort. Even though I never ate smoked scamorza, pistachio pesto or stinging nettles when I was younger, the pizza reminded me of home. The ingredients were inventive but the effect was simple: I felt reassured. I could have been at a dining room table with my family. But I was sitting at a bar in downtown D.C. surrounded by businessmen and other solo diners reading the newspaper or checking their phone.

Writing about the pizza makes me miss it, but the restaurant isn’t too far from where I live now. I’m sure I’ll drop by again soon for some beer and pizza after work. All-Purpose is the kind of place that you’ll want to keep coming back to.

Here’s a song I’ve been jamming out to lately.