According to recent reporting in Orlando Weekly, chef Michael Collantes will be opening his new concept, Perla’s Pizza, next door to his sake lounge Bar Kada, in Winter Park.
Perla’s, which briefly existed under a joint partnership in 2021, used to serve up radically unique pies, as commented on by Orlando Weekly’s review at the time.
“So go ahead and scarf down a cheesy, red-sauce pie dotted with curled-up rounds of pepperoni, Calabrese peppers and bananas. That’s right, bananas. Call me bananas, but it’s a great combination. The only thing missing? More bananas. The fruity flavor was subtle at best, and I wanted to, uhh, taste the bananas in this pizza they call “It’s Bananas.” Speaking of, remember Bananas magazine? Man, I was bananas for it. That is, until they put Scott Baio on the cover. Blecch!” wrote Faiyaz Kara at the time.
Following up on the question of banana-laden pizza, Collantes tells Orlando Weekly, “All I can say is it’s Florida Man pizza.”
“We’re using pizza as a vessel to create something tasty and nontraditional. Really, it’s just pizza we like to eat. And, yes, bananas will make it onto our pizza.”
While no opening date has been set, the establishment is expected to be up and running by this fall at 959 W. Fairbanks Ave.
