Once Upon a Pizza...

il 20 ottobre
Assisi

Mushroom pizza and a glass of red wine....a perfect lunch for a rainy Thursday afternoon. With the exception of a day or two during my first week here, my friends and I have gone to the same restaurant everyday after class finishes at 1:30. Why don't we change...well, if you ate the pizza at Il Duomo Pizzeria Ristorante, you would know why we are drawn back there day after day. I have eaten pizza in many restaurants in Italy; this country is, after all, known for its pizza (among many other culinary delights) and, for the most part, I've eaten a lot of good pizza. What makes the pizza at Il Duomo stand out is the crust; paper-thin and flaky and covered with any number of toppings, the pizza is light and always delicious. Margie and I go daily and share a pizza; we've tried just about all of them from today's mushroom pizza to one covered with very finely sliced potatoes the other day. The Francescana is a big favorite here-prosciutto and mushrooms with a thin coating of cheese. All of the pizzas have some cheese, but unless you order the Quattro Fromaggi (4 cheeses), the cheese is light and never too rich or heavy. (Even a "rich" pizza is light by American standards.)

Since we are regular customers, Il Duomo has become a bit like home and we're always welcomed with a warm greeting. The last couple of days, I've been talking with Marino, the owner, who advised me that the best way to start speaking Italian more fluently is to find an Italian man to spend some time with...well...perhaps. Andrea, the young woman who makes the pizza, is from Rumania and most delightful. Yesterday, Margie and I watched her working and, today, she and I spoke about the trials and tribulations of speaking Italian without one's native accent; try as I do, this is a big mountain to climb.

The menu at Il Duomo is varied with lots of primi and secondi piatti; we have gotten used to pizza for lunch, but roast potatoes and agnello sound very tempting...maybe another day.
http://www.assisiduomo.com/