Confession: I already have a few Christmas gifts in my closet.
I know, I know, but A, it’s not like I’m alone in this, and B, it’s really just organic.
During other times of the year, say, April or May, I might see something and think, “That’d be a great gift for so-and-so,” and move on. Once October hits, though, I become a woman of action.
Last week the action centered on East End Market, where amid the foodstuffs I’m constantly writing about, I also very much enjoy perusing the wares in places like Freehand Goods, The Owl’s Attic and for sure, upstairs at The Neighbors, where everything on the shelves and racks — from cocktail kits and jewelry to apparel and art — is made by small businesses right here in Florida.
The thing is, shopping can really work up an appetite. And that’s exceedingly convenient at East End Market, where you have near innumerable options. Shopping can also be stressful. This is where I point out that The Neighbors also happens to have a bar.
And, even more importantly (for me), one that serves pizza.
It didn’t always, but when chef Leah Cordova, a self-described “bread girl” (and Olde Hearth Bread Company alum), took the helm here some time ago, the bread she started with — a delicious version with salt-and-pepper butter — began to evolve.
We sampled some from The Neighbors’ special anniversary menu but then switched to the classics: margarita and dirty martini. (Amy Drew Thompson/Orlando Sentinel)
Then, a few months ago, I began seeing tantalizing posts. A “Secret Slice” speakeasy of sorts had opened alongside The Neighbors, where, using a QR code, pizza seekers could order one of several new pizza options or go all-in on the Secret, enjoying the surprise when a small, four-corner pan pie would slide from a lot in the door.
Pizza. It’s never not exciting. But on this shopping-centered visit to the market, we opted to sit awhile at The Neighbors, perusing the wares between sips as we sampled some tried-and-true bar classics (dirty martini, margarita) and specials linked to this upstairs nook’s fourth anniversary. Sigh. Man, time flies.
Stupendous for the season: Medjool dates filled with pumpkin-spiced tofu ricotta and topped with delicate, lovely fried sage. (Amy Drew Thompson/Orlando Sentinel)
Almost not fast enough, though, when I’m waiting on pizza. While that was cooking, we grabbed bar bites in the form of Medjool dates ($8), a seasonal prep filled with pumpkin spice tofu ricotta and topped with barely-fried sage leaves so flawlessly done, they appeared fresh, but instead cracked and dissolved like the world’s greenest, most delicate, Thanksgiving-laced tuille.
The filling, pastry-level perfection, is the plant-based black magic of chef Alli Sagastume, whom Cordova calls her “sister in culinary,” a beautiful thing, as Sagastume, who’s been here since July, is in line to take over shortly when Cordova takes her skills over to Quicksand natural wine bar in Mills 50.
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But more on that later.
The dates were sweet and slightly savory perfection with the cocktails, and will change with the calendar.
“We might do a jalapeno-cheddar-stuffed version,” says Cordova, or ricotta-persimmon. Once you have a template that people respond well to (the dates, no surprise here, have been popular), we can change them up. Vegan and vegetarian items, the ricotta, the muhammara, the whipped Feta, have done very well.”
Longtime Neighbors chef Leah Cordova, left, handles some high-hydration panned dough with her soon-to-be successor, Chef Alli Sagastume. (Courtesy The Neighbors)
And so the tomato jam, nearly gone, may soon be a Jimmy Nardello pepper jelly. Or in spring, zucchini jelly. Even as she plans her exit, Cordova knows she’ll be keeping in close touch with the team, all of whom are trained to handle the persistently cycling dough for that pizza.
Two arrived with our second round of drinks, and that’s the thing: The food here is perfect for bar bites. Light dates, griddled mushrooms, kale salads that complement the creativity of the beverage team, and pizza that’s strangely not quite pizza, I think, as I taste it.
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The nice-sized pan pies, each with four slices so everyone gets a corner (genius!), go for between $13-16 apiece and bring the feels, hard. There is bread artistry here — bubbles that tell the story of high hydration, flavor that speaks to impressive fermentation. I confirm both of these when Cordova and I speak.
There is also a wave of nostalgia for me, something that falls amid Friday’s pizza day at James H. Vernon Middle School and toaster-oven prepped Elio’s on babysitting nights. The toppings on the Grandma-style offering, with its beautiful green basil garnish, are light. The oil in the crust is there, but barely.
The Grandma-style pie at The Neighbors, upstairs at Orlando’s East End Market. (Amy Drew Thompson/Orlando Sentinel)
It’s not pizza. Not all the way. It’s more … pizza-ish. Bread first.
I wince as I say these words to Cordova. I mean them in the best way, but I’m nervous. And I exhale, big time, when I hear the smile in her voice.
“Absolutely,” she says. “I love that. Because for me, bread is the best.”
Chef Leah Cordova preps a pie in The Neighbors’ micro-kitchen at East End Market. (Courtesy The Neighbors)
The Regular, with its pepperoni and pesto and honey, the veggie-based offerings, she tells me, are all like pizzas, “but as you eat it, you start to realize that all the things on top, they’re like sprinkles. The bread is the awesome part. I’ve spent the most time perfecting it, celebrating it. So, you’re right. It’s pizza-ish. Because it’s like bread, with pizza toppings.”
I wouldn’t dismiss them, though, be it the veggie amalgam of the Supreme, the garlic cream of the Forager, or, on this day, the confetti-like assemblage of the special, dubbed the Pepper Party and featuring provolone, local Jimmy Nardello giardinera and Pecorino Romano.
You can’t take the cocktails to go at The Neighbors, which is why it’s best to finish ’em, but they’re happy to give you a box for the pizza leftovers. (Amy Drew Thompson/Orlando Sentinel)
Crunchy, crispy, bubby, savory. Light-as-air “pizza” that’s perfect to pair.
Sagastume and the rest of the team in this magnificent micro-kitchen are primed to continue the cycle of bulk fermentation that fridge chills for up to three days before it’s portioned, panned and pressed, pressed, pressed.
Meanwhile, Cordova is ready to move to even tighter confines over at Quicksand, where her ice cream pop-up, Sweet Thyme, has been making cool, creamy headway with guests for months.
Gorgeous dough produces crisp, bubbly crust for the Neighbors’ light, snacky “pizza-ish” pizza. (Courtesy The Neighbors)
“Again, I’ll be building a template, an awesome little storybook of snacks that make sense at Quicksand … a little French, a little Mediterranean. Jambon beurré and date-and-black-pepper ice cream, and I’ll be filling in the gaps a little bit. And, “she says, ‘I’ll still be ‘speaking bread.’ ”
Like love, like music, and beautiful and beloved as both, it’s a universal language.
Want to reach out? Find me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com. For more foodie fun, join the Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook group.
If you go
The Neighbors: (located upstairs at East End Market) 3201 Corrine Drive in Orlando, theneighborsorl.com
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/11/13/neighbors-pizza-east-end-market-orlando-review/
