Italian Food - Good, Fun, Filling
May 14th 2009 02:53
Pietro's Pizza, Pasta, Passion
Yesterday was a busy one, running into town, you know the one that's 50 miles away, shipping a painting, going shopping with Jerry, not a great deal of fun, and getting hungry. There we were in Longview (that's in Texas for those of you who don't know yet), it was after 3:00 and I'd forgotten to eat lunch, again. We were near a little Italian Pizzeria that we'd tried once about six months ago but hadn't thought about since. The sad part was that the first time we'd been there it was good.
So yesterday, with this blog in mind I really paid attention to my environment, the food, OK, I always pay attention to the food, but this time I took time to really look over what they offered, from pizza, real New York Style, cooked on a stone, not metal pans, in a great pizza oven, to rosemary chicken, and other temptations.
The desert case was to die for, Italian goodies that I grew up with, cannoli, tiramisu, toasted almond cream cup, Italian cream cake and New York Cheesecakes. They have Illy Cafe, admittedly the worlds finest Italian coffee, espresso, they even have frozen espresso.
They had a wide selection of Calzones, and I decided that the spinach looked good, very good, and probably abut two meals for me. Then I found it came with a salad and a drink, they had a fresh Caesar salad, with crisp greens, freshly grated Parmesan, (or perhaps, Parmigiano-Reggiano*, a king of cheeses), and unfortunately a packaged creamy Caesar dressing. The good thing was, it was Paul Newman's dressing, so it was good, but I like the regular, not creamy Caesar dressing. But for a small family restaurant this packaged dressing makes sense and they had the wisdom to use the best. The calzone was served with my choice of sauces on the side Alfredo or Marinara, I chose Alfredo but next time I think I'd like to try the Marinara, to see how it would taste with the tomato and herbs.
The Calzone was delicious, there was ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese and loads of spinach. The seasoning was subtle, but I think I caught a hint of nutmeg, which goes so very well with spinach, the rest of the herbs were so subtle that I couldn't identify them, there was something, but it was vague, however it made the meal wonderful. The salad, fresh iced tea, and it was fresh and made with a good tea, and made properly, strong enough to hold up with ice and dilution from same.
The environment is simple, a few tables with chairs, a few booths, all comfortable, there are counters along one side, with the salads, and some entrees, pizza, and calzone all displayed so you can see what you are choosing. The entrees and pizza are all heated before serving,. There boxes of Illy Cafe, Italian Imported Olive Oil, large jars of pickled banana peppers, and pickled vegetable salad, Pellegrino mineral water, one of the worlds best, at least I like it and some others, the labels of which I couldn't read.
I want to try their Oven Roasted Rosemary Chicken and their Chicken Parmesan, and I want to ask them if they can make Chicken Catchatorie, a dish you rarely see on any Italian menu any more but is a great one, matter of fact I think I'll hunt up my recipe for it and make some next week. I love it.
If you want to check out their menu you can go to their web site at www.pietros.net, and see what they offer. I haven't been in at night yet, but sometime I will. I like the place it reminds me of my childhood and my favorite area of San Diego, well second favorite, the Italian section. I recommend this restaurant to anyone who likes home made, good Italian food, the way it was made in New York and the Old Country. Nice people too, friendly and helpful, and extremely courteous.
*In order to tell you if it was Parmigiano-Reggiano I would have had to taste before I put the dressing on the salad, which I neglected to do, that's why I'm hedging my bets here.
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