Critics and foodies are blogging all over the internet about his little Italian storefront on Garfield Avenue. So I had to try it with a group of folks from Pleasure Palate. Cristiano Bollini, the chef/owner has it all figured out. First you import a special wood burning pizza oven all the way from Italy. Fire it up with cords of wood to a whopping 800 degrees. And turn out pizza like your grandmother made in the old country. Granted, selling pizza one slice at a time is not the way to get rich quick, but it IS the way to hook people onto what some think is a different kind of pizza. It is, actually traditional, Neopolitan-style pizza, the kind they like to eat in –you guessed it- Italy! What is that? Think thin, hand-tossed, crispy crust with toppings of wild mushrooms or smoked chicken and parmesan sauce. What this means is, if your favorite pizza is thick crusted, laden with red sauce and tons of toppings and veggies, then go no further, Neoplitan may not be your style. His menu actually recommends that you not have more than three toppings because the thin Neopolitan-style pizza won’t cook properly under excess toppings.
Dining in this little joint is a lot like eating in a long, narrow formica hallway. But it was worth it! We started with tastes from his entire menu. Fire Roasted Stuffed Mushrooms, the size of ping pong balls that were laced in a delicate sauce. Then came a delicious gongonzola three leaf salad with little chunks of corn and bacon. The Wild Mushroom Fettuccini was every bit as good as you can find on Melrose, and the Pasta del Postino, farfalle with chicken , wild mushrooms and asparagus in a gorgonzola cream sauce was good enough to write home about. I asked about the sweet fennel sausage featured on The Nonna Pizza. “It’s a secret!”, a family recipe that the chef has specially prepared for just his restaurant. They hope to expand in the next few weeks to add more tables. On my driving scale of 0 –10 miles I give this a 20. Because I sometimes get a craving for Bollini’s pizza and that’s how far I drive!