Monthly Archives: March 2018

Seeing The Good…

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GoodBurger&Pizza

This whole thing about neighborhoods, cities, and major metropolitan areas evolving is something that’s there.  It exists.  And we can look at it as, it is what it is and there’s nothing we can do about it; or it is what it is and we must adapt.  Can’t say either scenario is mutually exclusive if you see what I’m saying.

It is what…  Oh wait…

The Fells Point neighborhood of Baltimore is going through those changes, whether it’s for the better or something else is all based on interpretation, how long one has lived or spent time there, and just making observations of what’s going on in the world.  It might be bittersweet, but hopefully can be embraced somewhat, and the historic parts can all preserved in spite of everything else.  Or in spite of, aha!

While I recently wrote about one amazing new pizza place in the area, I go in a similar, yet different direction with what I write about now.

GoodBurger&PizzaFront

Good Burger & Pizza has been around for a little while, and seems to inconspicuous in its presence and its aura.  Maybe that’s just my interpretation.   Here is their menu, and online ordering info.

If you recognize the location, then yes, it was the old Little Italy Pizzeria, which was a mainstay for so many years and a stop for folks in the neighborhood and visitors, to grab a slice, a pie, and many other standard carry out items, day or night.  Yes they stayed opened past last call.

While no longer staying that late, Good Burger & Pizza does stay open into midnight on the weekends.  It’s just one of those things that echoes a change in the neighborhood.  It may not be that big of a detail, but it’s something I sense.

GoodBurger&Pizza1

What I honestly didn’t sense is a pizza that would be so good and at such a reasonable price.

I was happy to see a large square pizza for only $11.  And what you get for that is the equivalent of 5-6 meals.  Seriously, it’s fantastic.  And I ordered a half cheese and half pepperoni to share with friends.

And shared with friends I did…

I brought this to a holiday gathering a few months ago, and it didn’t disappoint.   This is greasy goodness at its finest.   This is not going to win any championships or awards, but this is a grower and on the lines of pure comfort food.

GoodBurger&Pizza2

That crust is cooked perfectly and the amount of cheese and toppings placed from above is all most people want from a pizza.   When you’re not worried about details, or even if you are, this is a pie that’s going to sell you without having to sell anything.  It sells itself.

And I really think the square slices are a nice touch.  Yes I know that’s no an original concept, (this place may claim that title, read about it here), but it’s their take and they did a tremendous job.   I must admit, I didn’t have high expectations, and it’s not that they were low whatsoever, I went in with an open mind and I feel good about the results.

It feels like a carry out spot that belongs in the neighborhood and has the aura of a place that’s been around for a long time.  And that’s the good vibes you get from a local business.

So while many local businesses are closing its doors, changing hands, and just moving on; it’s good to see many others thriving.  This is so important to the integrity, backbone, and character of not just this neighborhood, but many.

Here is my ever growing pizza history of Fells Point.

I look forward to writing about many more small, independent, and local businesses to come.

Have a Happy Holiday Weekend!

Best,

Ideen

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Elevate Me To The Sky

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UrbanPieTruffleAlfredoPizzaReady2

I’ll be the first to say it, but I’m really not.  I don’t care for winter.  I don’t get the excitement that others do, and I don’t think I ever will.   I respect everyone’s view and feeling about it, but it’s not for me.

Maybe it’s past memories, when I was a kid and maybe even more recent than that, of feeling trapped for upwards of a week, with little resources, no food, no one really around to hang out, and nothing but my thoughts.   And that can make someone stir crazy and a bit lonely.

So we had our first significant storm of the season recently, and those fears returned.  There’s trauma from the past rearing its ugly head, and those feelings of dread that might be warranted, might be justified, but are they really justified.   Sometimes you (I) just need to get out of your head and just appreciate things for what they are, what is, and what is being.  It’s all temporary anyways.

Just as this day (and it was only a day) of having nowhere to go, which in many ways can be a good thing.  I don’t need to worry about work, doing anything, and anything is the operative word.  I did absolutely nothing except relax, have a little food, enjoy some vino, and lay in my bed with my cat.   Saying it was needed is incorrect because ‘need’ implies lack.  So I’ll just say it was welcome, calming, and refreshing.

Where is all this going?  Well I did somewhat fall prey to the chaos of having to buy a few groceries in case the weather turned worse than expected (it didn’t come close), which lends itself to the perfect excuse to buy frozen pizza, which is something I would like to do more of for this blog.

So with that I present to you two from Urban Pie Pizza Co.

I had seen Urban Pie promoting and handing out free samples of their pies (sometimes whole pizzas) back in 2015 but it didn’t register and for whatever reason I didn’t let it resonate.  Well that would make sense right?

I love how their pizzas are inspired by various neighborhoods.  That’s different and that’s a draw alright.

Because of that this will have to be revisited again sooner than later, but for now the two that were available (bear in mind the pizza aisle was somewhat decimated to the pending weather situations) were the Truffle Alfredo with Shiitake and Crimini Mushrooms (North End neighborhood, don’t ask me where that is but I should know…) and the Pesto with Fresh Mozzarella out of Little Italy (yeah I know…)

Can you guess which one I liked and actually preferred much more?

I’ll go with the Truffle Alfredo first.  Actually I’ll explain that the crust on both is fantastic and was one of the true highlights of both pies.   However, something was missing with the Truffle Alfredo.

UrbanPieTruffleAlfredoPizza

I wanted more flavor and it just didn’t seem to come through.  And I wanted to make sure I heated this thing properly, and even if the timing wasn’t perfect (I’m giving the benefit of the doubt here but you’ll see the flip side on the next pie) I still expected some tremendous flavors, but it fell short.

In a way that might be good.  Truffle can be too rich for some.  I know it’s been too powerful for me to take on certain occasions, but I didn’t get much of anything.  And same goes for the cheeses, onions, and mushrooms.  It was a bit of a disappointment.

On the contrary, the Pesto Fresh Mozzarella is an absolute winner.

UrbanPiePestoMozzarellaPizza

And you see it may looked overcooked in some parts, and maybe the tomatoes looked under cooked, but it didn’t matter.  The pesto and mozzarella are gold and golden, like the crust.  Haha that was meant to be funny.   But regardless,  I got more enjoyment out of this slice than the previous pie of course.

UrbanPiePestoMozzarellaPizzaReady

The way the mozzarella goes from pre heated to becoming one with the pizza is a joy to see.   And I’m so glad the taste matches the visual.   Terrific stuff.  This is art.

And if it wasn’t for being ‘forced’ inside during a snowstorm, who knows when I would have gotten around to trying Urban Pie.  That sounds like a slight but believe me its not.  It was meant to happen this week.  And it will be meant to happen again soon.  When it’s supposed to.

To learn more about Urban Pie, here is their story,  contact info, and the link to find their pizzas near you is at the upper right hand corner of their page.

This was rejuvenating and I look forward to Spring, and what pies cross my path and what finds me, or maybe I’ll find some myself.  But for now…

Peace Be With You.

Ideen

Support Local

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PomodoroPizzaSlices

Which is what I always like to do.  And it’s safe to say that many of you feel the same.

We continue to see strip malls add more chains (or lose them), and along with local businesses fledgling, struggling, or choosing to close up.  We’re also seeing more national companies downsizing or closing their doors to the shock and sadness of some.  It’s an evolution and a changing of not just the guard, but of a lot of things.

This is no longer your mom and pops, mom and pop shoppe era.  Yes they do exist but you know what I mean.

However, people still need to eat and will always need to unless someone decides to change that.  I don’t see that happening anytime soon.  So people just don’t want to eat from the same places, the same chains, the same fast food chains, and sometimes we just don’t want to follow the herd.

I don’t like following the herd.

When I was in Northern Virginia last December, doing some adventurous holiday shopping, I ended up in one of these typical looking shopping centers.  Too much looked to familiar and lacked any authenticity or welcoming vibe.

PomodoroPizzeria

But in a sea of the sameness, was a magical place off in the distance.  Pomodoro Pizza of Sterling, VA.

It just stood out in a way that says everything is ok.  Places like this still do and will always exist.  Just the exterior of the place told me I was going to walk into something special.

PomodoroRestaurant

The interior had all he beautiful designs of what an Italian restaurant looks like.   And the energy in the place only felt good.  I felt like I was on vacation, even though I was a little over an hour from home.

When I venture out of the familiar confines at home, and discover a pizza place that I ordinarily wouldn’t visit, or even know existed.  But everything happens for a reason.

And then everything happens for a reason.   That was me repeating from dramatic build up, but that’s honestly where it stops.  The reason might be shown to me later, but the pizza itself was no quite as great as I hoped.

PomodoroPizzaSlices2

I ordered a cheese slice and a meat lovers, mainly because at the time most of their other slices were long gone, or there was a wait for new pizzas to come out.  Maybe I should have waited.  But I once again look at certain situations presented to me, and it felt like these were the slices I was meant to get.  Again, I honestly don’t know why, but that’s where I was.

PomodoroCheeseSlice

It’s not that the slices were bad.  It’s just that it lacked anything to be called amazing.  I can safely say the pizzas were average.  And my high expectations may have set myself up for disappointment.    I just know this place is capable of more.

PomodorMeatLovers

I don’t need to review either slice separately because they’re similar in quality.   The crust was fine, as was the cheese.   I’ve said before that I don’t love pepperoni or various red meats on my pizza, but that’s now how I judge pizzas with those toppings.  If it tastes good then everything else will fall into place.  That didn’t happen here.   And I know this place is capable of so much more.   I know I’m repeating myself, but I can feel it.  I can sense it.

PomodoroRolls

There was something funny about this day.  I ordered a couple of rolls, and I ended up with the family size.  Maybe I misspoke but I found this humorous.  There’s no way I had these all on my own.  They were distributed.  I promise you.   The rolls were solid, but again…

PomodorPizzaSlicesRolls

However, the staff was friendly and just being away gave me a feeling of rejuvenation.

I would love to get back here and get the real deal.  They have better pizza then what was presented to me that day.

PomodoroMenu

For more on Pomodoro, here is their story, their menu,  more about their pizza, and contact information.

Have a great weekend and support local!

Ideen

One Olympic Place

Posted in food, pizza, wine by

CunninghamFarmsHam&GoatCheese3

You know how long I’ve been wanting to use that as a title?  All of about two hours…

This came to me earlier today.  It would have made sense to write about Cunningham’s of Towson during the events of last month, yet I find myself having a bit of a laugh as I write this out.

For folks that frequent this charming restaurant, the title of this post will make sense.  I’ll leave the rest of the punchline to the audience right here.  Don’t worry, it’s nowhere near as an obscure reference as I might be implying.  Just look at the bottom of the page.

We were out for a good friend’s birthday, and at the halfway point of that winter event that goes on every four years.

I’ll tell you, if I lived closer I would be here on a regular basis.  I chatted with some of the locals, and got a good sense of community from the place.  The vibe is fantastic, the bar set up is tremendous, and the location is ideal.  It’s kind of like a village, but not the village I might be alluding to.  But still pretty awesome.

This is not how I thought this post would go, but I’m just shooting from the hip now.

cunninghamsrestaurant

I’ve been to their Cafe and Bakery directly below the restaurant before, and find their food outstanding.    And more about why their food is just that, can be found here.   The majority of their results come from their own farm just a few miles away.  How can you not love local and love food fresh from the farm?  Try saying that a few times over.

Which makes me surprised that their pizzas weren’t up to par.  I was pleasantly surprise to find pizza on the menu to begin with.  Like I said, this was my first time at the bar and restaurant, and loved everything so far.

We had some appetizers during happy hour, that were tremendous, but I think they were trying a little too hard with the pizza.

CunninghamFarmsHam&GoatCheese

The two we shared were the Cunningham Farm Ham & Goat Cheese,  and then the Carne Supremo.    A lot of meat and a lot of toppings going on with both.  That might be the culprit.

CunninghamFarmsHam&GoatCheese4

With the Farm Ham & Goat Cheese, the mozzarella and goat cheese is a great combination, but it might have been too much, in terms of being in your face.   The arugula and tomatoes tasted fresh, but the ham didn’t work for me here.  I’ve said it before, it’s a case of the whole not equaling the sum of its parts. Quite the cliche, but it applies.   I think less would be more.   The crust on both of these is fantastic by the way.  It’s comfort food bread that I would enjoy all by itself.    The brick oven really work here, I just wish the toppings did the same.

CarneSupremoPie

What was even more of a challenge was the Carne Supremo.   There’s too much going on.  Lots of meat (pepperoni, sauage, and soppressata) which is balanced by the veggies (onions and peppers), along with mozzarella and asiago.  You think this would be tremendous.  But it’s just once again, overwhelming.   It’s ok if the topping are falling all over the place, and at times can make the experience more fun.   I just didn’t love all this red meat here.  This is based on personal opinion.  A few of our party shared the same sentiment on both of these pies.

CarneSupremo

I think, or actually I know, that less is more here.  This crust is fantastic and would work better with a simple base of cheese, sauce, a few vegetables, and a lighter protein.  A simple chicken pizza would work perfectly here.

CarneSupremo2

This by no means is going to stop be from coming back.  I find an endearing spirit and energy in this restaurant.  If you want quite, peaceful, cozy, and maybe a little noise, this is the place for you.  It’s my kind of place for sure.

If the situation presents itself in time, I’ll definitely try another pie or two again.

In the meantime, for more on Cunningham’s, here is their story, menu, and online ordering information.

Here is my history of pizza in this area.  It’s a town I will always be a bit partial too.

We’ll see you in 2020, oh wait, I mean next week!

Have a blessed one…

Ideen

A Little More Lighthearted

Posted in food, pizza, wine by

VegetablePizza

And a little easier.  A little more simple is what I was seeking this week.  Nah, that actually isn’t true.  I wasn’t seeking or searching for anything.

I’m fortunate enough to have friends who embrace me, embrace what I’m doing, and share the love of food, wine, and good company as much as me.  It’s something I hold near and dear to me.

I’m overly sentimental.  I’m big on good memories, I’m big on the little things, and the simplicity of the important things are life.  For those little things are often the most important.  How many times have you heard that before?  It rings true.

What I’ve always found fun about dinner gatherings is not knowing what’s going to be prepared until the day of, or with as little notice as possible.  It’s the anticipation of not knowing.   There’s good anticipatory anxiety and then there’s just the excitement of it all.

For me, I would like to have some idea, as to know what wine to buy.  Sometimes being the in the dark can lead to peculiar pairings, which makes it more fun.

If you’re reading this, then you figured out by now what pizza was served.

PepperoniPizzaSliceWine

At first thought, I initially was going to ask where the pizza would come from, and what kind of sauce, toppings, etc.  That would dictate the kind of wine I may consider, which you can read about here.

But as I write about this, I don’t need to drive myself crazy.

Dinner yesterday was tremendous.  That’s the short story.

I could leave it at that, but I will say that it was a tale of two pizzas, and two wines (well sort of), and two or more conversations.  Actually the conversations went all of the place, but that’s what makes this so awesome, and therefore enlightening.

PepperoniPizza

The first pizza was a pepperoni, and it was unanimously declared, just a pizza.

PepperoniSlices

It wasn’t good nor bad.  It was as some people like to say, just kind of there.  But I may like it just a little more in hindsight.  The dough, the pepperoni, the sauce, and cheese all melded together, and came together quite nicely.

PepperoniSlice

A discussion about how to see how well made a pizza is came up.  And quite simply, turn over the slice and see what stays on and see what ends up strewn all over the place.  In this case, everything remained intact.   That’s the sign of a lot of care and spirit behind the operation.  And considering who was hosting, I would 1000% agree.

But the feeling is maybe a little more sauce and cheese, and this would have been a better pie.  But we save the best for…

VegetablePizzaTwo

You can just tell the vegetable pizza just glows and illuminates beyond words.  It just looks brighter doesn’t it?  I’m one that loves a simple cheese pizza, but also can appreciate and adore fresh vegetables.  It’s a matter of preference and that’s what I’m preferring right now.

I also think we tend to get the kink out during a trial run, or the first try of anything.  When we get to round two, quarter two, the second period, or whatever analogy you want to use, we tend to find our stride.   It’s happened to me when I cook, and maybe you can relate.

But this was truly art.  And knowing the brains and heart behind the operation, these are as fresh as veggies as you’re going to find.

The one thought was maybe adding basil.  I think less is more but I think basil would definitely have made this even better.  Every topping served its purpose.

VeggieSlice

Just look at the kale, the peppers, the onions the spinach, and all the other goodness that nature has provided us.  I’m grateful to my friends for providing such a magnificent pizza.  Twas truly a blessing to be a part of, to be thought of, and to be shared with.

And yes, pretty much everything stayed in place…

This is what life is all about ladies and gentleman.   We don’t need much.  Good friends, good food, a little vino maybe, and a spiritual experience that will help us grow as individuals and as spirits.

I can’t wait for the next one.   I’ll be waiting anticipation…

What did I say about being a little more lighthearted?  Oops!

Peace Be With You.

Ideen