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.
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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