Bar Fizz Quattro Formaggi Pizza

This pic is of the first pizza we ever had at Bar Fizz! And I hadn’t yet posted it here (I think). That seems somewhat amazing to me in my culinary hindsight. You can tell it’s early, because it’s a Quattro Formaggi (notice the Fizz usage of gorgonzola on their version of this standard Italian pizza) but it doesn’t have the cipolla addition that we grew so fond of during our pre-tirement:

Yummy. I think if I could afford it, I’d fly over to Italy tonight just to have one of these.
*See all Italian restaurants

*Note: We were on pre-tirement, and now we’re back. Want the full story? Start the pre-tirement journey here. Want to go backwards? Read the last pre-tired post here and scroll back. Or, just keep coming back for pretty Italy pictures.

TTITIM #8: Kentia Pizzeria

Number 8 on the Top Ten Italian Things I’ll Miss (you can catch up with more info on the Top Ten here as well as read all the posts here) is one I’ve written about once, and not too long ago:the Umbertide Kentia Pizzeria. Kentia is pizza al taglio, which means big squares of pizza cooked on large flat pans and sold in smaller squares by weight (want to learn more about pizza? Read my pizza article here). We’ve picked up Kentia so many times, when we wanted a quick, tasty meal or snack, that I feel when back in Seattle I’ll just expect to be able to get it when wanting incredibly tasty pizza in a hurry—and then cry like a baby in the backseat when realizing it’s not, actually, around the corner, with its welcoming green awning fluttering in the wind:

*All TTITIM

Pizza at Bar Fizz

I know I’ve mentioned Bar Fizz (aka, Restaurant Guliano) a number of times here, but it is our local eatery, and one we love, and one that’s owned by a swell Italian fella, and because of all this I feel I should mention it as much as possible—not to mention that we eat there about once a week. Enough, really, that I feel I’m a Fizz-icist (ba-dump-bump). Also, I haven’t (what’s wrong with me?) had any pizza pics here on the Six Month blog lately, so call is Fizz-met (ba-dump-bump again). Our Fizz evening started with a pitcher of the vino Bianca al Spina, or the white wine off the tap. It’s a lovely light crisp frizzante wine that even looks good in low light:

cause we’re hungry (and cause we hadn’t had it in a while) we started with a shared spaghetti al pesto, which (as usual) was great, with the pasta cooked just right and the sauce fresh and not overwhelming:

Then (and this is some sort of a modern Italian miracle), we had pizzas, and neither of us had our favorite (which Nat created): Quattro formaggi con cipolla. Instead, I had the Siciliana, senza acchuighe (or without anchovies). Pal Tasha had this first way back when, and she dug it, and I dig it too: peppers, onions, and salty delicious capers:

Nat went for another regular in our Fizz pizza, the Vegatariana (sense olive—neither of us totally dig the olives in their non-oil form), which has artichokes, mushrooms, onions, and peppers and a heaping helping of awesomeness:

You probably know us well enough by now to guess that we didn’t skip dessert. And if you’ve read this blog for a bit, you can guess what we had (cause I wrote a whole post about it): big tartufo with brandy. Go read about it, cause I was too full to take any more pics. Another smashing night at the Fizz (dang, I’ll miss having it so close).

*See more Italian restaurants: Capponi, Nestor's,Nonna Gelsa, Le Capannine di Sommavilla, Calagrana, Trattoria Il Saraceno, L Enoteca Wine Club, Mastro Dante, Bar Fizz, Da Cesari, al Frantoio, La Balestra, Lo Strattoio, Mencuccio, La Fortezza. La Tufa, Kentia Pizzeria, Il Feudo del Vicari, Buca di Bacco, Camino Vecchio, Quattro Leoni, Ottavius

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Pizza and the Good Life

Hey, pizza lovers! Not that I haven’t perhaps dwelled enough on the famous bread-topped-with-stuff that people seem to enjoy almost worldwide, and talked enough maybe (well, I don’t think so, but am giving a “perhaps” to cloak my true intent. It’s what people do, but hey, I’m being honest about it) about the servers of said food here in the Upper Tiber Valley that I currently live in, cause I suppose some could say I have done the above. But, I’ve done it again, in another place, in an article on pizza I wrote for the Good Life Report. The article’s called Liberating Italian Pizza, and gives a splosh of pizza history (want to find out where the Margharita pizza came from? Now’s your chance), a splash of the interesting pizzas many pizzerias are now serving, and a splush of my favorite pizza (yes! What you’ve always wanted—to find out my current fav pie). What are you waiting for—go read the pizza article. And then go have a pizza.

Three Days of Pizza: Day Three, Quattro Formaggi con Cipolla

I wanted to end our three pleasurable precious poppin’ days of pizza with another quattro formaggi varietal (after yesterday’s quattro formaggi con roket pizza). This one’s also from the Fizz (like our first pizza), and is one that Natalie created (I think I talked about it briefly in a past post), a quattro formaggi con cipolla pizza. The cipolla is thinly-sliced, almost paper thin, and spread liberally over the cheeses, which are a blend of Gorgonzola, and I believe mozz, pecorino, and chunks of stracchino. It’s our favorite pizza of the moment, one that when I get it Natalie wishes she would have, and when she gets it I wish I would have gotten it—pizza envy may be the best recommendation. The onion mingles so well with the cheese blend. This one’s super close up, so you can admire the gooey goodness at close range:

Three Days of Pizza: Day Two, Quattro Formaggi con Roket

For our second day of pizza I wanted to diverge a bit away from red sauce (represented with yesterday’s porcini pizza) and into a pure cheesy bliss. The below pie is from Nestor’s, taking their wonderful quattro formaggi  pizza and topping it with fresh (added after it’s taken out of the fire) roket, or arugula. The fresh greens (which deliver a bitter balance to the cheese) on top of the cheeses provide the best kind of culinary rollercoaster for your mouth:

Nestor’s Pizzeria Fridays: Quattro Formaggio and Radicchio, Veneziana Calzone

We had an exceptionally big day recently, hitting both the Arezzo Antique Market and the Citta di Castello Truffle Festival in one day (it was a big day!), and at the end of it we wanted to skip any lengthy dinner out, and certainly wanted to skip lengthy construction of a Cielo Chiaro Special, and decided to head to Nestor’s, instead. Nestor’s is always reliable (as you’ve probably picked up from past Nestor’s Pizzeria posts), and serves a very cold beer, making it the perfect topper to a big day. Before detailing particular pies though, I wanted to show off what makes all that pizza possible, the Nestor’s fire and oven. Sadly, I was taking the shot from across the room, and the first is serious, so the oven gets short shrift (but really, it’s that fire that makes all the difference):

Okay, on to the goods. We started with a Ensalata Aurora, which I should have pic’d up, cause it was bursting with greens, corn, toms, and fresh mozz. However, I ate it too fast. Sorry bout that. I also made another perhaps rapidly decided on turn: I had a calzone. And, I ordered one that is on the pizza menu, but not the short calzone menu, the Veneziana (which Nat had back here), cause I wanted to try a calzone, but was craving the delish onions on the Veneziana, as well as the parsley and other goodies. It was great (but I’m not sure adults every order calzones, as our friendly host did glance at me a bit askew):

Nat went for another classic, the Quattro formaggio with radicchio, where the oozing cheese is charmingly offset by the bitter red green:

Another amazing Nestor’s evening—my mouth is starting to water just thinking about it.

*All Nestor's Pizzeria