Bar Julian, Common Thread, Husk chefs team up for pizza and philanthropy with Knead to Know series

Nothing brings people together like the allure of a flaky crust, the satisfying pull of cheese and your favorite toppings galore. Just ask Thompson Savannah's executive chef Robert Newton who is partnering with different local Savannah chefs to bake pizzas and give back to the community.

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Knead to Know is a new pizza-focused chef series hosted by Newton and the team at Thompson Savannah's Bar Julian. The series, which launched Feb. 1, will showcase a different local chef monthly with each chef bringing a different pizza creation to the table.

$2 from each pizza sold at Bar Julian will be donated to a charity of the chef's choice. Newton said the inspiration for Knead to Know came from his new status in town and the desire to bring a philanthropic component to the series.

"Chefs are charitable humans, as a rule, so I felt like it would be a good idea all around to create something like this. Especially being new and inviting people to come in and see what we do and what we're about — do something good for the community, and then hopefully do something fun for our guests. It felt like a win."

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Common Thread's chef de cuisine Joseph Harrison will be the chef for February. Like Newton, Harrison is relatively new to the dining scene in Savannah having moved from Atlanta to Savannah in March 2021. For him, it's "utterly vital" to have collaborative relationships with other chefs and restaurants, especially with Savannah's tight-knit food and beverage community.

His curated pizza for February is a clam pie with a white wine cream base topped with littleneck clams, pecorino, chicories, tomato vinaigrette and lemon. A popular pizza up north, Harrison said he wanted his choice to be something different.

"He [Newton] kind of gave me free rein to figure it out," Harrison said. "I had a clam pie once a couple of years ago, and I haven't seen one anywhere since, and I feel like some attention needs to be brought to it."

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Proceeds from the purchase of Harrison's take on clam pie will go toward the charity of his choice, the Rootstock Community Foundation, which was established by the partners of FARM Bluffton and Common Thread. The charity offers services to address the mental healthcare of restaurant employees nationwide, a cause that Harrison said has long been ignored.

Newton said they plan to broaden the series to other parts of Georgia and will bring on an unnamed chef from Atlanta for April. Husk's chef Christopher Hathcock will be the chef for March. However, time and the success of the series will dictate how long the series will last with a possible pause in the summer months.

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"I think it's very important," Newton said of Knead to Know. "It's a win for the hotel and the restaurant. It's especially good to have some sense of community after we've all been in isolation for two years, and we're still somewhat in isolation and hoping for the best. I think it's a very, very good time for something like this and hopefully, everyone enjoys something out of it."

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Laura Nwogu is the quality of life reporter for Savannah Morning News. Contact her at [email protected]. Twitter: @lauranwogu_

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Bar Julian teams with Common Thread for charity Knead to Know series