It was William Shakespeare who wrote; “to err is human, to forgive divine. It was a lesser literary giant who wrote; “get down, boogie oogie oogie. These statements come from different eras but their messages transcend time. Food is transcendent in this same way. The one entrée that went from novelty item to Americas #1 staple over the last century is pizza. There are very few people who do not LOVE pizza so when I find a place that serves an extraordinarily good pizza, of course I want share it with you, the faithful reader.
It had been a while, but seeing as how we are into the holiday season I recently went out to lunch with my good buddy Noel. Or As Peaches and Herb might say; “reunited and it feels so good”. Noel, believe it or not, is a man who had his name legally changed to reflect his passion for Christmas. In addition, due to his on going battle with dyslexia, it was a natural and obvious switch from his birth name of Leon.
Father Christmas and I met at a new restaurant called A TASTE OF TUSCANY at Roseville Road and Antelope - not to be confused with A Taste of Honey, the authors of the aforementioned boogie oogie oogie.
A Taste of Tuscany offers several pasta dishes, some great sandwiches and for dessert, make sure to try the pumpkin gelato. Really! You can trust me on the gelato. But the real reason for eating at a Taste of Tuscany (or as we call it amongst my restaurant review friends, ATOT) is the pizza. What kind of pizza? I will leave that up to you. You can create your own or try one of their creations, in either case ATOT tosses an exceptional pizza.
Though it is tough to find a bad pizza, it is equally difficult to find one that is truly outstanding. You know you can head over to little Caesars’ and pick up a $5 pepperoni and that might suffice, but an ATOT pizza is in a whole different league. Noel was in full agreement.
Is it odd for a grown man to meet you for lunch sporting a poinsettia and a sprig of mistletoe?
As great as the pizza was, the most impressive thing ATOT has to offer was the young lady who served us. I assumed she was part of ownership or at least management. Rarely do you ever run into an employee this conscientious and committed to the success of their employer. …. I salute you.
Well, on behalf of Noel and myself, we wish you and yours a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. And say a prayer for Noel. Sure Christmas is to Noel the most wonderful time of the year, but I have to be there to pick up the pieces on December 26, when he realizes it is all over for another year.