Tuesday, April 10, 2007

I must be hungry

I have a couple new favorite things. Have you ever ordered something at a restaurant and it was so good you couldn’t stop thinking about it for days?

About a month ago I met a friend for lunch at Caffe Molise – one of the few restaurants where I order the same thing every time I go. I always order the gnocchi. It’s in a creamy tomato garlic sauce that is SO GOOD. But that day they had a special: spinach pesto gnocchi. I don’t think I’ve ever tasted anything so good. It was perfect. I can taste it right now. Traditionally, I eat half my gnocchi and save the rest for later, but I couldn’t stop eating it and it got better with every bite. When something tastes this good I like to tell whomever I’m with “you have to try this.” But this time I think I was selfish and waited to be asked. I allowed him a bite willingly, after all, he was paying for my meal. I wanted more the next day and the next. But it was a special. I need to call and see if the chef has a schedule where he makes that on Mondays or something. I want it right now.

What I need to do is learn how to make good pesto. Last summer my friend Dre invited a bunch of us to a dinner she won for a service auction. I don’t remember who the guy was that made the pesto but it was awesome. I need that recipe. I bet if I puréed some spinach in there I could come pretty close to a clone of what I’ve been craving.

Café Trio has been my favorite restaurant for a while. They make a great club sandwich (panini style). Their chocolate torte is to die for but what surprised me was how much I loved their chocolate pudding. My sister told me to order it and I thought, “Chocolate pudding? What kind of dessert is that?” It’s the best kind at Trio, if you ask me. It’s dark chocolate pudding with…ok, I’m getting off track. I didn’t mean to even talk about Trio. What I meant to say is that I have a new favorite place: Sette Bello on 260 South 200 West.

I ate there last Tuesday for lunch. They make what they call “verace pizza napoletana.” I prefer Neapolitan style pizza. There are all these rules that must be followed. The pizza is cooked in a brick oven at 800 – 1000 degrees Fahrenheit. So the pizza only takes about a minute to cook. You can read all about it on their website. It’s the same oven the famous Grimaldi’s in Brooklyn uses, but this pizza is just as good if not better. I might have to say better. I told my parents to go there and when I asked my mom about it later she nearly cried before she could say, “That was the BEST pizza I’ve ever had.” My dad went on and on about his Margherita pizza with pine nuts and mushrooms.

So if you haven’t already, get yourselves to Sette Bello before the prices go up or they start skimping on ingredients. And bring me.

4 comments:

Saule Cogneur said...

Is that the new place? Dan took his dad there a few weeks ago. He liked it so much they went back the next day.

My dad learned to make Neapolitan style pizzas a couple years ago (we went to Lowes for quarry tiles and everything). I agree with you that they're the best.

Laura Lee said...

I mentioned it to Dan last weekend and told him Joel (being a pizza snob) would like it because he would feel good about calling it pizza. Dan laughed and said he had been there twice that week.

Every time I mention it to someone who has been there, their face lights up. This one guy just about exploded when I mentioned it to him. We were eating at the Rio Grande Cafe and he said, "Why aren't we eating there?!"

Cynthia said...

Laura,
Ilene gave me your blog because this particular entry is about food. I will have to check out these restaurants on a 'trip' to 'the city'. I've never heard of any of them. I lead such a dull life.

We are also pizza snobs. In Provo there are no good authentic pizza restaurants so we too make our own on stones in the oven.

Joel said...

As much as you will never believe it Dan is much more of a pizza snob than I am. And me and Dan went there about a month ago. It was good.