Sometimes the best places are the hardest to find. Buried deep in the recesses of South Park sits a great little Italian restaurant and pizzeria. Buona Forchetta. A friend of Kyle's recommended it and we thought we would check it out.
Keep in mind, my pizza quest stems from my hailing from near New Haven, CT-home of arguably the best pizza in the world. I suffered through a couple of decades of a pizza drought in San Diego, CA where people think Fillipi's is good pizza. It's not. It's average. It's doughy and its filling. Half way through the first slice and I'm done. It's not good enough to justify the calories. That's actually my barometer for good pizza. I'm not overweight but I could easily be. I'm very careful about what I eat. We avoid processed foods, eat natural, fresh local vegetables and limit our sugar. When I treat myself to pizza it had better be good. I know it's good if I say "screw it" and down more than two slices. I'm very good at quitting before I'm stuffed. I don't mind stuffing myself at Pepe's, Zuppardi's, Sally's or Modern in Connecticut. I still need to try Mike's in West Haven. In San Diego, so far, I'll pig out at Urbn, Bronx, Cafe Calabria, and now Buona Forchetta.
I need to try Pizzeria Bruno again. And there are many more. The drought is over. Landini's and Napizza in Little Italy do a good job.
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| I'm sure there is a story behind Buona Forchetta's authentic oven |
My New Haven pizza background does not make me an expert. I just know that I love it and I need it. I've never been to Italy, so I have no expertise when it comes to authentic Neapolitan pizza. I have had pizza in other countries in Europe. It was very good. The point is I have a bias. The bias is:
But back to Buona Forchetta. I have to believe this is close to what you would find in Naples. The owner is from Italy, as are most of the staff. Our waiter certainly was. We arrived around 6:00pm or so. There was a line of people waiting to be seated and every table was taken. The patio was full. We would be eating outside on the patio because we had our dog, Roo, with us.
I recognized an old co-worker from my Merrill Lynch days. We caught up. He highly recommended we order the artichokes as an appetizer. I have to be honest. That didn't particularly excite me. We had a 45 minute wait. In the meantime we talked to people, window shopped at the neighboring stores and took Roo around the block.
Seinfeld, party of 4! Actually it was Steve party of 4, if you count Roo. We were seated, outside. It was a beautiful evening. The sun was just going down. Jets were flying overhead were just off of the flight path. We watched the 7:00 pm daily British Airways 747 come in. The restaurant is far enough away from the flight path that the noise wasn't an issue.
Our Italian waiter greeted us. Took our drink orders and returned with wine and a Peroni for me.
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| The last piece of the Artichoke appetizer. We fought over this one. |
There were three of us; me, Kyle and her mom, Mary. We ordered the artichoke appetizer and two pizzas, the Regina Margherita and the Alexa. The Margherita came with
Buffalo mozzarella, Tomatoes, basil and extra virgin olive oil.
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| Regina Magherita |
The Alexa had rapini, scamorza, house made fennel sausage and EVOO. Rapini is a small, bitter broccoli. Scamorza is a smoky, cow's milk cheese similar to mozzarella.
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| Alexis |
Before the pizza arrived we got the artichoke appetizer. I don't know what that did to it but it was amazing. There were four artichokes. Pretty much the heart and the stem. It was soaked in an incredible olive oil and garlic mixture. Order the artichoke appetizer.
Our Italian waiter delivered the pizzas. I asked for grated Parmesan. He looked at me like "really dude?". I was like, "is that not done?" It was fun and light, but he let me know that this sacred pie really should not be desecrated with the scourge of this filthy condiment. I might as well have asked for catsup. He followed up with letting me know the customer is always right and he would be happy to oblige me. I relented letting him know I would accept his recommendation. I don't think it mattered one way or the other. I always put Parmesan on my pizza. I didn't this time. I've never heard of this. I googled it but can't find anything that says this is " a thing".
I loved the Margherita. Easily comparable to the pizza we had at Cafe Calabria the week before. The crust was a little bit better here. Again,the pizzas were the smaller, individual size pies. Three of us has no problem finishing the two pizzas. People who have bigger appetites are going to need more.
The Alexis was delicious as well. For me it was better with out the rapini. I found it bitter and not a great topping. I took it off and are it separately. The sausage was exquisite.
An unsung hero was the Peroni. It was perfect with the setting sun and great authentic Neapolitan pizza. Of course when you forgo New Haven pizza you forfeit your right to Foxon Park Birch Beer.
I'm really enjoying this explosion of quality pizza in this town. I still look forward toy pilgrimages back to Pepe's et al, but it great to know I don't have to go far to find a great pizza. I just have to look and work a little harder.
