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Varasano's

Varasano's has been open for about two months.  Their menu is purely pizza---even if you want something as Italian as chicken parmesan, you're out of luck.  This dedication is entirely appropriate for a shrine to pizza.

The pizza is more like those I've had in Italy.  The crust is thinner than even a New York pizza.  There is also somewhat less cheese on it.  Remember, in Italy pizza is regarded as a snack while in America it is a meal.  The crust is outstanding---I'm tempted to say that my favorite part of the pizza was eating the edge.  The edge has a slight burn, which is exactly what a handmade pizza is supposed to have.  The cheese and sauce are both very delicate.  The pizza was a medium size, but because the ingredients were so light, I ate the whole thing without feeling stuffed.

I also had a Caprese salad (tomato, mozzarella, basil).  Its presentation was interesting, with small pools of olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette on the side.  That did make it a little difficult to get the dressing on the salad, but I guess I could get used to it.

I had the Italian donuts for dessert.  They didn't call it zeppole, which is a staple of the pizzeria.  It's just fried dough sprinkled with sugar, if one can refer to fried dough as simply "just".  A typical zeppole is a fairly nondescript blob, but these were healthy-sized bars.  They came with a raspberry dipping sauce.  Mine were served hot out of the fryer.  They were very light and a great end to the meal.
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  1. carlosmessiMay 15, 2009 at 6:06 AM

    For myself I really love pizza. But it's not all that we want as Italian. In fact I really love Italian food, if they could make it totally italian it would be better, I would go thereif I'm passing by. Thank you.

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