My trip to Europe: Le Festival des Pizzas in Grenoble, France

0

Each time we go to Grenoble, we go to the Quartier Saint-Laurent aka Le Quartier des Italiens or Italian neighborhood, named because of the important Italian community there. 

It is a nice area, located on one side if the Isère river and in the bottom of the Bastille that used to be a fortress, built in 1592 on the South end part of the Chartreuse mountain. It is now a ruin, with just few restaurants on top of the hill, where people like to go to get some fresh air, either walking or taking the "bulles", a spherical cable car. 

We looked at all the pizzeria there to try to find one with Saint-Marcellin, a soft cheese made of cow's milk, named after a small town nearby where they produce this divine cheese. Unfortunately, we could not find it, so we opted for Le Festival des Pizzas, simply because they were the only one proposing a five cheese pizza!

That is what I ordered in fact. Cooked in a wood fire oven for a couple of minutes, it had emmental, goat, reblochon, blue and mozzarella cheese. 

I really liked the crust, the outside being all puffed up

And the bottom having a nice char. 

This is definitely the kind of pizza any cheese lover would like, as they were generous in the quantity of cheese. 

Jodi ordered the goat cheese salad, as two pizza are too much. 

Well, the salad was big...

My mom got the Atlantico pizza that had smoked salmon in it. 

It was ok: I do not really like when smoked salmon is cooked because it releases the salt. 

Overall it was pretty good. I would definitely go back, maybe to try their white pies.

Festival des Pizzas
74 Quai Perrière
38000 Grenoble, France
www.festival-des-pizzas-grenoble.fr

Enjoy (I did)!

If you like this post or the photos, feel free to share it using the toolbar below or to write a comment! 

And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!

Continue Reading »

Grimaldi's Pizzeria in Dumbo, Brooklyn

0

Alright, I finally made it to Grimaldi's, on a week day to avoid the mass of tourists and New Yorkers who want to have a piece of the most famous pie in New York. 

It was probably a smart move as we showed up few minutes before opening time and there was already a line. Tourists for sure, from France, Germany or Japan, as well as a pizza tour.

This place is impressive, located right under the Brooklyn bridge, it is an old Bank building. But it is not the original location: it was originally at 19 Old Fulton, few steps from it, where now sits another pizza place, Juliana's, opened by the original owner of Grimaldi's, Patsy Grimaldi himself. Yes, because Grimaldi's was sold by Patsy in 1998 to Frank Ciolli as Patsy wanted to retire. Few years later, Frank Ciolli had to find a new place, his landlord refusing to renew the lease because, allegedly, of problems with rent and city taxes. Hence the new location. Few years later, regretting selling, Patsy decided to do a come back, opening Juliana's where Grimaldi's was first open. Needless to say that it started a feud between the two owners, that I am not sure is settled today.

We got seated pretty fast, in one of the tables on the left after entering the restaurant.

There, you cannot order a slice and have to pay cash. So, we looked at the menu and considered the many toppings they propose. We went for a small pizza (6 slices) with mushrooms, ricotta and meatballs.

After a short wait, our pizza arrived. Ok, let say that it is 6 large slices...

Not only it looked appetizing, but it smelled fantastic, freshly cooked in the coal oven.

I truly appreciated that they put a lot of the toppings we ordered (especially the ricotta and meatballs) and did not simple drizzle few of it. The crust was nicely charred, with a delicious crispness on the outside. The tomato sauce, that I believe is cooked in advance, had a wonderful taste and it was great that they put a reasonable amount of it on the pie.

This was a succulent pizza, the crust, cooked in the coal oven, being incredibly good. I understand now why Grimaldi's is considered one of the best in the US.

Enjoy (I did)!

If you like this post or the photos, feel free to share it using the toolbar below or to write a comment! 

And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!

Continue Reading »

Hot Dog Pizza at Ribalta in NYC, New York

0

Ok, I admit that the only reason I wanted to go to Ribalta, a restaurant located few steps from Union Square, was to try their hot dog pizza. Yes, you read right: a hot dog pizza. I do not see any problem about having such a pizza, having seen pizza made with cheeseburger, mac and cheese or vodka sauce. I guess it is a good way to show some creativity and have something on your menu that will make people want to try and, sometimes, talk about it...like me! 

There is one thing you need to know about Ribalta: it is owned by Rosario Procino, former founder of Keste pizzeria, and Chef Pasquale Cozzolino, former Executive Chef at Dellaroccos in Brooklyn Heights and Pizza Arte, who want to stay true to the Neapolitan pizza making. 

The place is pretty big, with high ceilings and a giant TV where people were watching the winter olympics in Sochi.

We decided to start with an appetizer and could not resist ordering the meatballs.

They were served in a Neapolitan ragu that was thick and had a very bold flavor, as well as some large slices of parmigiano cheese.

This was a delicious dish, the meatballs being perfectly moist. I admit that the star was the ragu though.

Then came the hot dog pizza:

Called the Americana, it was simply tomato sauce, mozzarella, French fries (crispy on the outside and soft on the inside) and a sliced hot dog sausage. 

Cooked in a brick oven, it had a nice char and the crust was crispy.

Overall, it was a very good pizza, all the components working very well together. Would I go back just to get this pizza? Maybe for fun with friends, as it sounds like a crazy dish. But I would probably go back to try other pizza such as the Nobile, made of mozzarella, gorgonzola, truffle sauce and truffle shaving, or to try pasta. 

Enjoy (I did)!

If you like this post or the photos, feel free to share it using the toolbar below or to write a comment! 

And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!

Continue Reading »

The Brick Pizzeria in Hoboken, NJ

0

We decided to try The Brick, a new pizza place uptown Hoboken. I am sure the stakes are high for The Brick considering the number of pizza places in Hoboken, such as Benny Tudino's, Johnny Pepperonni or Basile's. So I was curious to see what would make it stand out.

The decor has nothing fancy, but there is a bit of warmth from the bricks on the walls.

I decided to try their homemade mint lemonade.

It was delicious, not too sweet, with the right amount of mint, making this drink quite refreshing.


With it, they brought us some olive oil with basil, where they added a nice amount of parmesan.

We ate it with some bread.

Looking at the menu, they have interesting dishes such as their own version of chicken wings, made with siracha sauce. They also have salad, pasta and pizza.

For the appetizer, we went for their caprese bruschetta:

I was surprised to see 4 pieces of it.

It was composed of grilled eggplant, fresh tomato, basil, garlic, red onions, kalamata olives, fresh mozzarella and parmigiano cheese, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil. I really liked it, the bread being soft and not too chewy and I loved the mix of flavors that made each bite unique.

Then, we ordered the margherita pizza:

It was made of tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella and basil, drizzled with olive oil. This pizza being quite common, this is the perfect choice to compare to other pizzeria.

I liked it: the tomato sauce was good and the crust deliciously crispy, although I would have liked a bit more cheese.

The second pizza we tried was The Brick pizza:

This is not your regular pizza: it is made of prosciutto, pear, fresh mozzarella and Gorgonzola cheese on a white crust.

This was even better: there was a nice amount of gorgonzola that paired perfectly with the pear that added a delicious sweetness to the pizza, counterbalancing with the saltiness of the prosciutto. I would definitely reorder it!

I liked my dinner at The Brick and I am looking forward to go back there to try some other dishes.

Enjoy (I did)!

If you like this post or the photos, feel free to share it using the toolbar below or to write a comment! 

And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!

Continue Reading »

Lazzara's Pizza and Café in the Garment District, NYC, New York

0

I love pizza and with a city like New York, you can find so many different ones, each restaurant having its own way to make the crust, the sauce, to cook it...This time, we went to Lazzara's in the Garment District. You really need to know that it is there, as it is located off the beaten path and you may miss it walking on 38th street.

Opened in 1985 by the Lazzara's brother, Sebastian and Tony, the restaurant is located on the second floor of a townhouse.

The dining room has a warmth and reminded me some restaurants we ate at in Italy, especially in Venice that is in fact representing in a painting hanged on the wall.

When we sat, they brought us the menu as well as the special of the day written on a little chalk board.

There, they serve an all Italian cuisine: pizza, pasta, heroes...We decided to go for the pizza. What I like about Lazzara's is that they propose their specialty pizza in half portions. Of course, you can always add toppings on half a pie in most of the restaurants, but here, I am not talking about toppings, but the pizza itself.

As you can see on the photo above, the pizza is square; but it is not like a Sicilian pizza: the crust is thin. So, the top half of the pizza was the lasagna pizza:

It was made of ground beef, ricotta, mozzarella and some seasoning.

The second half was the margherita pizza:

It was composed of fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and basil.

I have to say that I love both: the tomato sauce was delicious and seemed to be made with fresh ingredients. There were in fact some slices of tomatoes and fortunately, it did not make the pizza soggy as it is sometimes the case. 

The lasagna pie was also very good, rendering perfectly what lasagna would be, replacing the pasta with the crust: it was very flavorful and they were generous in the quantity of meat and ricotta. I definitely recommend it.

The thin crust was on the chewy side, being crispy on the outside.

I was ready to get some dessert, but they brought us the check, making me feel dirty...I then asked if they had some homemade desserts, being interested by a tiramisu, but they do not and the waitress did not seem to be interested to tell me where they buy them. So I decided to pass...

The pizza at Lazzara's was good. It is a good spot if you want more than just a slice, although I prefer Capizzi located few block away.

Enjoy (I did)!

If you like this post or the photos, feel free to share it using the toolbar below or to write a comment! 

And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!

Restaurant Information

tabelog.us

	* Restaurant Name
	Lazzara's Pizza
	* Overall
	★★☆☆☆
	* Neighborhood / Cuisine
	Garment District / Italian / Pizza
	* Street Address
	221 West 38th St. (Between 7th Ave. & 8th Ave.), New York, NY 10018
	* Phone
	(212) 944-7792

Continue Reading »