I love randomness.  It’s what makes life what it is, and it’s usually awesome if you allow it.   I embrace it.  I want more.  Speaking of which…

I look a long drive passed the Maryland State Line into the underrated and sometimes unappreciated state of Delaware.  I cross into Newark for no specific reason at all, and find myself doing a few errands and crossing a few things off my list that were nagging and needed to be taken care of.

While I’m here I got the itch and the inspired thought to track down a pizza place.   I’m so grateful for this one.  I was literally in the shopping center where one of the better pizza experiences I’ve had took place.

Amalfi Pizza brings some creative pies.  And that’s an understatement.   The top of this post shows two very distinct and stand out pies.   I will get to those shortly. And to counterbalance I also got a a cheese slice. More on that too momentarily.

The lady working the counter charmed the heck out of me.  I wish I had gotten her name but she sold me on the menu without selling me.  She was kind and I could have found myself ordering every slice in plain sight.  But no, for the purposes of this discussion, I narrowed to the three I referenced.

They’re near the University of Delaware campus so that may explain the cheaper price, but by no means cheaper quality.  Nothing could be more contrary. This was a great time.  The energy inside the ristorante was vibrant, exuberant, and some other big words.   And most important of all, tax free!  Woohoo!

While in there, there were a few students but mostly locals who all seemed to know each other and it felt down-to-earth and humble.  I loved it.

Altogether I think I only paid $10 for all those slices you see.  Seriously. That’s only going to make this taste better.  Here we go.

I’ll start with the cheese.  This was a basic yet solid slice.  I find it fascinating how no plain slice has ever tasted exactly the same to me.  In all the pizza sampling I’ve done, it just doesn’t happen.  I find that sound so fascinating.  And a lot of the ingredients are the same.  It could be the supplier, whether or not it’s homemade, oven temperature, cooking implements, and most important of all, the person behind it.

I can tell there was a good soul behind this and the other slices.  It may not have been my favorite cheese, but still very good.  And if you look close, they gave me an extra slice for free.  I didn’t ask for it, but they did.  World class treatment right there and it was something so simple.

Next is the chicken caesar salad.  The crust is thicker to allow for the salad to exist and be presentable.  It was a bit too doughy for me but I loved the salad.  I picked the pieces off and had a grande old time.  The chicken tasted fresh and better than the generic stuff you might find elsewhere. These were genuine chunks of lean protein.   I think a lot of people are going to do adore this one and their crust.

Finally, it’s the buffalo calamari.  This was ambitious and truly something special.  Again, the crust had to be big enough to make room for all this.   And I say this might be the first time I’ve had this in buffalo form period. This was quite the random indoctrination process.  I could eat about a hundred of these but then I may not live to write about it.   It was grilled so it was a tad healthier than fried.  Or maybe I just tell myself that to make myself feel better.

I will be back here.  They have so many out-of-this-world pies that  break the mold of your usual possibilities.  Alternatives are good and I’m so thankful to have discovered a gem in this small town.

Take good care,

Ideen