FINALLY .... Good Italian pizza Lakeside

Had lunch with friends at Hosteria del Arte this afternoon and we ordered a couple of different pizzas.

The crust is excellent and very authentic, tomato sauce and cheese are good quality and they're properly baked. Prices range from 135 pesos for pizza margherita to 155 for pizza with prosciutto. Ingredient quality is good, not great but it's certainly among the best, if not the best, pizza available at Lakeside.

The ambiance is pleasant too, but the beverage scene is not good. On the plus side, they're now offering the very good Berber beer from Guadalajara, but an Italian place with no wine program is a sad thing. They have a barely passable Sicilian Shiraz for 265 pesos a bottle, and everything else was over 500 pesos. No wine list either - you have to ask the owner. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to go to Costco (or for that matter just down the street to Vinos Americas) and buy a few bottles of 90 peso Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, but they haven't figured this out, thereby missing both a major profit center and an opportunity to have something that goes with their food.

The rest of the menu is also all carbs, with the exception of a couple of not-very-Italian chicken dishes, and prices are on the high side (e.g .115 pesos for lasagna, 135 up for pasta).

I like La Taverna's pizza too, David, and though that restaurant has seen better days and the owners seem burned out it's still a much better overall experience, with a good range of dishes, respectable wine program and competent service.

Seems to me the business opportunity for Hosteria is for someone with a motorbike to start doing pizza delivery!

We had a pizza there yesterday (just pepperoni) and I was going to get around to writing virtually the same thing. Like everywhere else, the crust is very thin. But unlike most places, it isn't a cracker and had a nice chewy texture even though it was well-cooked. The sauce was very good, and the cheese quality was far better than others locally. Anybody who wants a ton of meat on their pizza won't be happy with this one, but the pepperoni that was there was tasty.

I talked to her about it and let her know precisely why we liked it: the quality of the ingredients. I hope they keep it up.

Oh. I noticed somebody at another table ordered a Pizza Margharita and I could swear I saw, miracle of miracles, fresh basil on it.

They forgot the basil on ours Rosa Venus but remembered right after and brought some to the table. I forgot to mention that the friendly owner is from Modena, which is known for its balsamic vinegar, Reggiano parmesan and prosciutto but certainly not its pizza. Clearly the over at Hosteria and the whole pizza project there are labors of love, and I hope they make it. No delivery in their plans, but they're happy to do take out.

Coffee Guy wrote a spot-on description of Osteria del Arte pizza and he hadn't even tried it: ".... the crust will be thin and charred in spots, ingredient quality superb and toppings minimal but excellent."

just reading this thread, i had to make some from scratch.  I can only get our oven a bit over 500 degrees, really need dh to build me a wood burning pizza oven to perfect it, I think I've earned it.

We had a cast iron pizza pan NOB that is unfortunately in storage. 45 minutes at 500 degrees made that thing a darn fine substitute for a real pizza oven.

The Naples video is nice but the guy FOLDS his pizza - which will get you a one-way ticket to Brooklyn (if you're lucky). This collection of recipes and techniques will really inspire you:

http://www.saveur.com/article/hubs/Pizza-Guide

See comments on Perry's, then go buy one. If his pizzas remain as consistent as the other threads seem to indicate, you will not be disappointed.

Perry's Takeout & a Movie...





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hockables wrote:Perry's Takeout & a Movie...  





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Watchin you eat Pizza on UTUBE? Anchovies? Lucky guy.

Currently 16 degrees (Fahrenheit!) and blowing snow where I am typing, and you guys are torturing me with your photos.