Apparently, February 9th is National Pizza Day. Google isn’t sure why, but we don’t care. We will take any excuse to eat more pizza. Thursday is usually our weekly pizza night, so we shifted it a day. No complaints here.
To make this a worthwhile post, here is a list of our top five spots to get pizza in New Orleans. In no particular order…
Yelp! It is a platform that we’ve used for years, but have never really talked about on the blog. Why? It has always been a bit taboo, I suppose. Yelp doesn’t like their users doubling up their reviews. They see it as a conflict of interest. They have some control issues. As a result, we’ve always said no to their annual invites to be Yelp Elite. We play it safe by avoiding be too far in Yelp. Still, we love to use it for the following reason.
Hungry & Fit are typically on the wrong side of the Mississippi River when it comes to the fun, cute places to hang out and eat. New Orleans and even Metairie have most of those spots, with a few exceptions in Algiers. Fortunately, earlier this year, we received a covid-related blessing in disguise. A local pastry chef, who had worked in hotels, decided to open up her own cafe instead of fighting to find a job in the recently unpredictable hospitality industry. Feast your eyes on the treats inside Le Cafe Eblouir!
The pandemic has ushered in a lot of changes in a very short time. For many of us, social distancing, wearing face masks, and limiting exposure to groups of other people remain the norm. Many businesses are still mandating that employees work from home, and numerous schools are still using a distance-learning model.
Another change that’s happened, this one more positive than most, is that meal kits are flourishing once more. You heard about them first here on Hungry and Fit, and they’ve surged in popularity. That makes sense given the risks involved with simply going to the grocery store these days.
Where does the meal kit industry stand currently and what should you know? We’ll discuss all that below.
No need to add any fluff to this one; we’re getting right to the point. Tavolino’s, one of our favorite spots in New Orleans, is open for take-out. They re-opened yesterday and we were there to greet them. Alana has been craving their goods for quite some time and I don’t think anyone can blame her. They make some of the best pizza in the city, their drink selection is one-of-a-kind, and the atmosphere is hard to match. They have a few socially distanced tables available out front, but take-out was the most popular option, according to our observations last night.
Hungry & Fit started as a personal blog before it transformed into a food & fitness blog. We used it to document our cross-country trip to find a new life in a place we’d never been, but we’ve actually kept you in the dark about a lot of our own personal projects. Recently, Hungry started a new job, however, working for one of the most impactful animal welfare organizations in the world.
If you’ve been following him on Facebook or Instagram, you’ve probably noticed a whole lot of pictures of new dogs. These are shelter dogs from the adoption center where he works. Before, he was a manager for a feral kitten rescue, but now Hungry has the opportunity to work with both dogs and cats, of all ages, breeds and conditions. We’re talking about a lot of unique personalities here.
It’s with heavy hearts and loaded pockets that we are announcing some major news. Last night, we finally closed a deal with a European Union Media Mogul in his acquisition of the Hungry & Fit blog. Now, in full transparency, the agreement did not include the Hungry & Fit LLC company that we created and registered both federally and through the state of Colorado. It simply included the domain name (for this website) and all of the contents/publications on the site.
Back in January, we (probably) introduced you to Trusource and had some happy giveaway winners. [Do you want more giveaways?!] If you remember, we were blown away by their protein water product. Fast forward a few months and we find out that Optimum Nutrition (arguably our favorite supplement company) has their own protein water. What do we have to do? Obviously, we had to try it and let me just say that we were NOT disappointed. In fact, we even fought over it!
Yes! Another hiking adventure! One of my most favorite forms of fitness: the outdoors and exercise. It’s important to enjoy nature either by yourself, your loved one, or good friends. We have been doing a hike about every other weekend to improve our fitness and soothe our minds. If you haven’t checked out last time’s hike, look here. This time, Jamie, Dani, and I headed for the Pacific Palisades in thirst for a challenging hike. We certainly found what we were looking for. It was a workout. Probably the toughest hike I’ve done in a bit. We found our way to Los Liones Canyon and we trudged upwards.
The sun is down and it’s a cool night in early December. The allure of downtown Culver City draws us in and after parking, we walk Main Street. It’s a hip area for that demographic that loves small plates and craft beers but we LOVE food and we want a meal. After checking out a few menus and feeling the auras emanating from each location, we are seated at Cafe Ugo.
Service:
It was impeccable. 4/5. We wanted to sit outside and they brought us our own heating tower. It wouldn’t work so they got someone to fix it on the spot. We were slow to decide and our waiter put down the load he was busing in order to take our order when we looked ready. We didn’t even call him over. He had recommendations (and they weren’t based on price), he had patience, he had class, and he had a personality. My water was almost always filled, and if it wasn’t for a lapse near the end of the meal I would have given a perfect 5. When our heater went out, they immediately swapped out the propane tank for a new one. Just excellent.
Atmosphere:
A large restaurant with indoor and outdoor options, busy bar fronts and quiet back rooms. 3/5. The tables were just not a comfortable size. It was awkward but everything was clean and orderly. I didn’t love the makeshift walls for the patio but recognize their convenience for weather changes. While I had no major issues, there was nothing to set this place apart from a normal restaurant, dare I say, even a Cheesecake Factory.
Food:
There are always faults when you aren’t at a Michelin restaurant but they aren’t significant here. 3/5. The ravioli needed more sauce. They were dry and the spinach filling did not compensate for the somewhat dry pasta. Still, they had flavor. The pizza was a true delight to eat. It hit every flavor profile. Salty cheeses with acidic tones from balsamic that were tied together nicely on a well made crust. The structural integrity was questionable, but this is pizza from Naples and not New York so that can’t be taken into consideration. The fried calamari was well cooked but the sauces were a necessity because the breading was not seasoned.
Pricing:
Let’s just say they could have easily charged us more and while the portions were not massive, the food quality made it a good value. 4/5. It’s downtown Culver City, it’s a prime location, and it’s a specialty. Authentic Naples style pizza is not a common dish around here, especially with an 1000 degree oven and serving it uncut. We were more than happy to pay the price on the bill and tip accordingly.
We were glad that we stopped by Cafe Ugo that night. It was enjoyable, we were relaxed, well fed, and left happy. We recommend it to groups of 2, 4, or 6 that are passing by or in the area. It might even be worth a little drive in non-peak hours. We’ll be back if we’re in the area and we’ll bring some family next time. And as always, stay hungry and fit!
