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…
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.
Check this out… a $4 meal.
In the past, you’ve seen us deliver recipes in the form of recipe cards. Today, we’re trying a new (and very easy) approach called Recipe in Pics. These are incredibly simple recipes that might involve some chopping here and whisking there, but nothing too complicated. The biggest mistakes you can really make with this dish are overcooking your pasta and/or not salting your pasta water enough! Do not be scared of the salt. Also, make sure you rinse your kale/beans and remove all the onion/garlic skin!
If you have any questions, as always, feel free to ask in the comment section below! We were both stuffed and felt pretty darn hungry and fit afterwards!
At this point on our journey of discovering the best food in LA, we’ve gone a bit out of order, but bear with us. This was the first time that we went somewhere “on our list” that left us disappointed with the overall experience. With that being said, I wouldn’t call it a bad dinner, there were just a lot of areas for improvement…a lot.
(Note: We would like to apologize for the poor quality of the photos. Even though we brought the good camera, as we mention soon, the lighting quickly went from bad to awful, so we had a hard time capturing the food.)
When we started this project (Must-Visit Restaurants in LA), we knew there would be challenges depending on our schedules, but we vowed to keep the wheels on the wagon and here we are for our third installment. While we didn’t order our top 40 list, The Ponte definitely would’ve fallen into the top 10. With Food Network celebrity chef Scott Conant behind this high-end Italian restaurant and considering his reputation for pasta mastery, our expectations were high.
But then, we were thrown a curveball. When researching The Ponte, it seemed as if they had a slew of entrees in the $28-32 dollar range, which is in our $$$ range. However, I didn’t consider that my Valentine’s Day reservations might have come with a third wheel on our date: a fixed, four-course meal. Still, as we valeted our car and walked through their enchanting entrance at the back of the restaurant, we decided that our entire focus would be on enjoying this experience.
And. we. did.
Is anyone else extremely skeptical about all of these new National (Holi)days that have been popping up? Am I the only one who thinks that there were actually four National Donut Days and five National Pizza Days in 2017? Could this all be a huge scheme by major industries to get us to buy more of this and that? Is the illuminati behind all of this?
Seriously though, we’re all about trying to find a way to create balance in your life so that you can eat your pizza and look/feel great, but there are some serious challenges that come with all these days being created. While certain pizza might not be “bad” for you, they aren’t going to be the “best” source of nutrition on any given day. The same goes for donuts, ice cream and every other day that revolves around eating foods that are often considered cheat meals or guilty pleasures.
Sugo all’arrabbiata. The angriest sauce in all of Italian cuisine. It might not be as angry as your nonna when you don’t listen to her, but it can pack quite a punch. Hailing from the Lazio region (think Rome) of Italia, like my ancestors, you’d think that it’d be blasphemy for me to even consider altering the thousand-year old recipe, but… I can’t help myself.
You see, this is a simple sauce that doesn’t quite hit the spice level of fra diavolo, but compared to commercial Italian pasta sauces in American grocery stores, it’ll make your nose run a bit. Typically, its made from striking the perfect balance of tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and red chiles (most use red chili flake), but we’re really going off the walls here and using a much different source of heat.
No, we’re not talking about Calabrian chili oil; we wouldn’t dare use ingredients from Southern Italia. We’d rather take a near 7,000 mile plane from Rome to Jakarta, to pick up some SAMBAL! I hope we haven’t lost you, yet, because this is about to get tasty.
When you’re going out to have a nice, romantic meal for your 1-Year Anniversary, we weren’t expecting to be Hungry & Fit… just Alana & Chris, but we all know it can’t be that easy. If you put food in front of us, we’re probably going to return the plates to you clean, but we’re always going to have a strong opinion about what we just ate. We can’t help it!
You’ll notice that this review is missing something that we normally try to flood you with…our own photos. There are two reasons for that. First, we didn’t bring the fancy camera we use for our reviews. Second, it was extremely dark and every picture that I took with my phone was just blurry, no matter how many filters we applied. We could have used the flash for better results, but that would have taken away from the dining experience of the other guests, and when you’re paying this much for food, you expect an amazing dining experience. Bright lights flashing in your face isn’t the nicest way to enjoy a meal.
When I originally wrote out quick Yelp review for Barrique, I started high… mainly because there was this sense of… it was our anniversary dinner and we were so happy to be together, etc. As I started to think of everything we ate, those feelings faded and that mysterious veil disappeared. All that was left was the service, atmosphere and… the food. So, as always, let’s look at those factors and see just how high-end Barrique really is.
Right smack dab in the middle of Koreatown is Anima Pizza & Pasta, a restaurant that seems imported directly from Italy. It’s in walking distance of our apartment (think near Wilshire & Vermont) and we are so happy that it is! It’s actually in the same strip as another favorite restaurant of ours, so it’s twice the greatness. We discovered this gem late one night (think near 10pm) and we’ve been going back weekly ever since. The quality of the food far surpasses the dollar signs on their menu–it’s excellent food for a bargain.
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!
