Pizza Napoletana

The Dulcinea relayed to me her refusal to cook dinner yesterday afternoon and, since we were going to head downtown for the evening, she suggested we hit one of the many dining establishments there. Her first suggestion was sheer mockery as it was Ian's Pizza about whom I've written before and which is also the object of one of my many boycotts. Instead we went to Café Porta Alba which serves authentic pizza Napoletana. By this I mean that it has been certified to do so.

The restaurant's interior is new & shiny yet has a relatively homey atmosphere with all the wooden tables & chairs plus a fireplace. And the comforting orange glow of the oven adds to the comfy feelings.





Our server was a tall thin woman with an olive complexion who actually looked Italian. She was casual, friendly, and knowledgeable. We began our meal with caprese which is a series of tomato slices alternating with those of fresh mozzarella cheese laid out all pretty in a row. They are given the olive oil-balsamic vinegar treatment and garnished with fresh basil.



The flavorful simplicity of it was not betrayed by the price of $7.50. Don't get me wrong, Café Porta Alba is not an extremely expensive restaurant but neither is it cheap. But I suppose one must pay for good quality ingredients. As for the pizza, we went with the Margherita con Prosciutto.



This was my first time eating pizza Napoletana and I was impressed. The crust was nano-thin and, biting into the thick, chewy edge, a bit on the salty side which worked well with the sauce which was unseasoned. Fresh, unadulterated tomatoes are always good and our meal was full of them. I thoroughly enjoyed the mix of mostly unassuming ingredients which were allowed to stand on their own rather than having things seasoned and thrown together. The rich, smoky flavor of the prosciutto provided a nice contrast to the sprightly tomato sauce. I should mention that the pie was 10-12" in diameter and can easily be a meal for one person, although The Dulcinea and I split ours.

For dessert, we indulged ourselves with tiramisu.



The dish was certainly rich and not sickeningly sweet, but I thought that it was perhaps a bit too mellow. It could have used a bit more espresso as I like my tiramisu to have a strong rather nutty flavor from the cocoa and coffee that is balanced by the custard. Still, it was tasty.

Lastly I'll mention that I had a Caffe Frappe which was excellent. It is a sweet iced coffee with a foamy head that is as thick as molasses.