By Tom Sietsema
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 8, 2007

James O'Brien sounds as if he was born to serve pies.

"I grew up on the Jersey Shore, which has a lot of pizza history," says the 39-year-old Washington entrepreneur and musician. He's also lived in New York and New Haven, Conn., cities known for their "high standards of pizza."

These days, O'Brien is a regular presence at RedRocks (1036 Park Rd. NW; 202-506-1402), the latest in a batch of fresh pizza sources around Washington and the latest in a crop of new places to eat in Columbia Heights. The former owner of Staccato Lounge in Adams Morgan, which he sold last year, O'Brien isn't relying only on fond memories to make sure his signature dish hits the spot with discerning customers. Edan MacQuaid, a former employee of 2 Amys and Pizzeria Paradiso, is tending RedRocks' Italian-made, wood-burning brick oven.

The new pizza parlor unfolds on two floors of a renovated townhouse that is simply dressed with hardwood floors, exposed-brick walls, a small granite-topped bar and tables that O'Brien and friends built themselves. Outside is a patio; the basement holds the kitchen. Until an interior stairwell is finished, servers are required to walk outside to ferry orders from downstairs to the multiple dining areas. The arrangement is amusing until there's a mix-up and food has to be returned. (Our entrees came within minutes of ordering, followed shortly thereafter by our appetizers.)

The focus is pizza, but you don't have to eat crust to fuel up here. The kitchen also makes bruschetti, panini, salads and a handful of main courses, including a roast fish of the day and golf ball-size meatballs served on runny polenta. And the bar pours refreshing chasers in the form of Chimay Triple and Allagash White beers on tap -- among RedRocks' 30 or so available suds.

A guitar player and singer with a seven-piece band, O'Brien doesn't plan to feature live music in his new restaurant. "I'm bartending, hosting -- doing a little bit of everything," he explains. But the name of his group could be applied to our early encounter with the headliner on the menu: O'Tasty.

Sandwiches and entrees, $6.95- $14.95.