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A running list of press coverage on Burnt Mouth Pizza. For interview or media requests, use the contact page.

Orlando Sentinel

"Burnt Mouth Pizza: the highlight of my year thus far"

Critic Amy Drew Thompson spent two Fridays and a Sunday chasing Julian De Garden's tent around Orlando — and came away calling the crust the most exciting thing to happen to the city's pizza scene in years.

Burnt Mouth Pizza's pineapple pie with pancetta, pickled jalapeño, red sauce, mozzarella, aged gouda and basil Photo: Lisa Wilk / TasteCookSip.com, courtesy of the Orlando Sentinel
Written By

Amy Drew Thompson

Published

August 6, 2026

Section

Restaurants, Food & Drink

Read It At

orlandosentinel.com

Thompson eats with her eyes first here — drawn in by the color on the pineapple pie before a single bite, then closing them entirely once her teeth hit the crust. Most of the review lingers on that crust: the structure, the blister, the aged gouda Julian grates over everything, a technique borrowed from watching Philadelphia's Joe Beddia work. Julian sums up his approach in one word — artisan.

Aged gouda being grated over a Burnt Mouth Pizza pie at an Orlando pop-up Photo: Amy Drew Thompson, courtesy of the Orlando Sentinel

"Charred and absolutely cherry."

— on the classic pepperoni

The piece also traces the road here — Prato, The Ravenous Pig, the Culinary Institute of America, stages at Eleven Madison Park and Roberta's, The Smiling Bison, and the Michelin-recognized Coro — and touches on why Burnt Mouth exists at all: a leap Julian took this year, on his own terms, after losing his mother the year before.

A slice of Burnt Mouth Pizza by candlelight at Quicksand Wine in Orlando Photo: Amy Drew Thompson, courtesy of the Orlando Sentinel
Orlando Sentinel · Facebook

Announcing the pop-up from longtime Orlando chef Julian De Garden

See the announcement post on Facebook

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