Fresh cod fish sandwich. Doesn’t get more basic than that. The basics of fresh cod and a good fry job make this either an easy dish to screw up or a simple one to churn out. In Dopo’s case, the latter. Good sandwich, good fish, good fry job, quality bread. I was happy.
The pizza I had on a slightly overcast Saturday afternoon on the patio at Delarosa was as close to what I remember eating several times at La Bussola in Florence, Italy. No other pizza I’ve had recently comes close. Could it have been nostalgia that day or just being in the mood for pizza? I don’t know.
I can’t speak to any of the other food, but the two pizzas I sampled, a prosciutto, arugula, and mozzarella, and a sausage and scamorza both were delicious, both had wonderful crust and flavors. The prosciutto pizza was my standard order at La Bussola along with a craft beer from Tuscany. Same order at Delarosa, pizza and beer.
I wouldn’t hesitate to go back to Delarosa (or La Bussola)
Chicago Pizza is the best! No wait, New York. No, Me'n Ed's in Fresno. The debate will rage on with no end in sight. In fact, I'm a bit tired of all the arguments and comparisons between New York or Chicago pizza. Frank Pepe's in New Haven, Connecticut was some of the best pizza I've had outside of Italy. Since 1925, Frank Pepe's has been making pizza in New Haven, CT.
Shaherazade and I ordered two specialties, a White Clam Pie (pic below) and White Spinach, Mushroom, and Gorgonzola Pie. While basically a round pizza, each pie is served in a more typical 'old-school' Italian square pizza pan (just like I serve at home). Any pizza restaurant can slap toppings all over a pizza, clam and garlic is no exception. But where the pizza debate gets interesting is the dough, the crust, and the cooking process.
The heat of the oven is a big deal at Frank Pepe's. They use coal, that's right coal to fire their ovens. It burns hot and dry and can maintain an even higher temperature than wood. This heat blisters the skin and areas can burn around the crust. It's a fast process. The result is a crackling crust and a moist inside. If too hot, the middle won't cook. I remember that phenomenon in Naples; the oven was so hot it burned the edges and the middle of the pie never cooked. Frank Pepe's got it right on both of our pies.
As for the flavor of the dough, I can't say I've had a pizza dough so tasty. I'd compare the dough to the finest baguette I've ever tasted. Or the difference between boring bread in Florence and fabulous bread in Locorotondo.The bread becomes the star of the show rather than the backdrop for toppings. It enhances the flavor of the meal, compliments it. I think we chose wisely in not topping our pizza with tomatoes, the dough just worked well with our toppings. We were both very pleased with our choices.
So enough with the pizza debate.The Cured Ham thinks Frank Pepe's in New Haven should have a seat at the Greatest Pizza on Planet Earth table. It's that good.
Pizza my Heart in Capitola Village was a pilgrimage each summer growing up. A culinary memory that will never die. Getting two slices, one thick, one thin and eating on the sand was three slices of heaven! Did it matter that sand could blow onto your pizza? Was that really dried oregano in the communal shaker? Did it worry me that the hygiene back in the 80’s probably wasn’t up to standards with that care-free kitchen crew at Pizza my Heart? I was 16, I was invincible, hygiene wasn’t concern. Cheap fuel was. The best pizza! Sure, Pizza my Heart seems a little more corporate now, less choice, but I still show up at the counter whenever I’m in Capitola or Emeryville.
So what pizza's do I like? Well, the one pictured above with olives, tomato, and feta is tasty. However, the pesto pizza is still the reigning champion. I have grown to like the thin crust only. The thick crust, especially with pesto, absorbs a bit too much oil and makes the thick crust greasy and unappealing to me.
Sometimes the staff doesn't heat the pizza up enough on the first go-around, so make sure when they serve the pizza of your choice, that it's hot enough to make the journey back to your spot on the beach or the benches just 50 yards away.
Enjoy The Village!!
We've all heard of the "last, honest pizza", but what about the "grammatically incorrect pizza"?
Me-n-Ed's Pizza, the most famous chain pizza restaurant in the Central Valley of California, started in Fresno over 50 years ago, is truly one of my favorite places to eat. So why did I title this post "The Grammatically Incorrect Pizza?" A friend of mine, who's not a regular eater of pizza, didn't know why I made such a big deal about Me-n-Ed's, especially when the business name seemed so grammatically irregular.
First of all, I grew up on this pizza (no disrespect to Grandma and Mom, this is a restaurant review, not a homemade pizza review). I will always love Me-n-Ed’s unless they do something drastically different to their pizza. How many baseball games ended at Me-n-Ed’s? How many times after a high school football game did I plow down a large pizza with the team? The memories, the flavor, the $3 off coupon. There is no substitute for the grammatically incorrect pizza. My favorite locations for Me-n-Ed's are Bullard and West, The Tower District, or the one in Los Banos all are great. Me-n-Ed’s is the best pizza in the Central Valley, poor grammar and all.
So let's start with the critical food review of take-out pizza from Me-n-Ed's. $3 dollar coupons in hand, my friends and I purchased two large sized pizzas, the Classic Pepperoni and the California Veggie with chicken and red sauce. The CalVeggie normally comes with a creamy garlic sauce which no one is a fan of. The creamy sauce tastes something like caesar salad dressing and bechamel sauce combined. Foul tasting from the first bite right through the 4 hour lingering aftertaste. Please DO NOT ORDER the creamy garlic sauce, your friends will appreciate your avoidance.
Me-n-Ed's Pepperoni Pizza is pure heaven. The hard crack crust is made complete with individual cornmeal granules spread evenly across the underside of the circumference, a sheen of pepperoni grease floating on top of a mix of mozzarella and cheddar cheese, and just enough red pizza sauce so as not to taste too much of the pizza dough, all make Me-n-Ed's delicious bite after bite. My process for eating pizza is to select exactly two slices per visit to the cardboard box, methodically eating the crust of each slice first. Then a swallow of wine. A moments respite as I attack Slice One's Core. I love the core. I want the last bite of each slice to be pure cheese, pizza sauce, a piece of greasy pepperoni and finally a minimal amount of crust; but just enough for texture. For tonight's pizza, only one element missed, enough red pizza sauce. I tend to like a little bit more pizza sauce than is offered on the average pizza.
The second pizza, the CalVeggie was a non-standard order for me. I'm not eating pizza for my health frankly. Topped with a variety of fresh vegetables, this pizza was a surprise. I'll thank my hosts that evening for their insight into this pizza and the optional red sauce. Think of the CalVeggie as an updated, 21st Century Combo, substituting heart healthy white meat chicken for the Other White Meat, Pork Sausage. I sampled two pieces of the 21st Century Combo and was pleasantly surprised.
Once again, Me-n-Ed's has lived up to its legendary reputation. It's not just about the nostalgia, it's about a consistent product that I've consumed for over 30 years. The fact that the pepperoni tastes the same, the sauce tastes the same, the crust tastes the same; you've got to give them credit for consistency. Think about eating a McDonald's hamburger in Moscow or Florence or Phuket; you want it, you need it to taste just the way it did when you were six years old. Well Ed and the pronoun "me" have done a wonderful job offering a consistently satisfying pizza, even if their name reads grammatically strange.
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