A preview of Backspace

Backspace is just what the name suggests, a little cozy nook of a restaurant nestled in the space behind Parkside. Chef Shawn Cirkiel, of both ventures, is diving into the world of brick oven pizza with his newest eatery. The menu features sourdough pizzas, antipasti, salad and dessert.

Antipasti

Pizza (gluten filled)

Now why is a gluten free girl covering a pizza place you might ask? Well I love everything Chef Cirkiel touches. We had our rehearsal dinner at Parkside, and I love the food and atmosphere he creates in his restaurants. In addition, I'd heard rumblings of a gluten free crust sometime in the future, so I had to get the scoop on that. Here is the run down.

• The restaurant is going to attempt a good, handmade gluten free sourdough crust. This would be the first place in Austin that I know of making their own gluten free crust.
• There are several gluten intolerant staff at Parkside, so the team at Backspace is familiar with gluten intolerance, and they realize the need to avoid cross contamination.
• If a gluten free crust does come together, it will likely be offered on only one night a week so as to protect from cross contamination issues like shared knives.

I will keep you updated of course. If you end up at Backspace with gluten eating friends, there are still options for us GF folk on the menu. Much of the antipasti is gluten free. I did not get to sample all of it, but I did try the potatoes, romaine salad, cardoons, olives, and charcuterie & cheeses, all of which were gluten free. There are other choices as well, including a GF dessert, so please ask your server when you get there.

Other interesting tidbits:

• The brick facade of the oven was built from bricks from an old church
• The oven reaches temperatures upwards of 900 degrees inside, so the pizza only needs 90 seconds to fully cook. It was amazing to watch.
• My gluten eater friend said this was the best pizza she'd had in all of Austin.

Dinner service begins at the official opening next Thursday 12/16/10. Lunch service will start in March.

Good luck, Chef Cirkiel! I'll be checking in on that GF crust soon!