Pizza is just one of those things. It brings out the crazy
in people. Whole guide books are devoted to the love of pizza, feuds are
started over who makes the best pizza, online food forums like eGullet and Chowhound
will argue to the death, and truly crazy people in NYC will pay 5 bucks a
slice! Now that is insane. I confess we have a touch of the crazy; we’ll drive
far for a good pizza. Ask anyone who has gone on a Mondriani experience with
us. Mondriani is above the teeny village of Calzolarro, way, way up in the
hills. Franco makes a fine pizza in his wood-burning stove and when you are in
the know, you get the good wine.
Our friend Bruce is the Pizza Guru. He’s the one you go to
when you are thinking about trying a new place, or when you’ve been somewhere
and you need his blessing that it was truly a worthy pizza. He breaks his down
by crust, topping, time to table and ambience. Crusts should be thin, and have
nice bubbles, with some with burn marks.
Toppings should be fresh and plentiful. Time to table should be: you’ve finished your
antipasto, sipped some wine and the pizza shows up, no lag in the conversation
where everyone looks at each other going, “Where’s my pizza!” Ambience is a
touchy thing, totally in the eye of the beholder, but like pornography, you
know it when you see it. 
Pizza in our parts is usually served whole, personal size.
It’s always served for dinner and at some places that cater to tourists, you
can get it for lunch. Eating with your hands or with your fork is entirely
optional and acceptable, depends on the toppings. French fries on top of pizza is actually acceptable, but
truly should be outlawed. Rucola
or arugula tastes good on just about every possible pizza combination.
So now you have the ground rules for pizza in Umbria. We
think we’ve been somewhere that even the Pizza Guru doesn’t know about! It’s
called
TriAngolo in the mysterious town of Pietralunga, back in the Carpini
valley. Due to a tradition in our family, Pietralunga is always referred to as
mysterious, but it’s just a little remote, that’s all.
We went a few weeks ago and the pizza
was quite good. But one visit does not a recommendation make, so we went back
last night…and the pizza was excellent. This place is now in our regular pizza
rotation. It gets 5 stars for a super thin crust. Another 5 stars for the
rucola quantity and quality. Time to table was fine. Ambience is a little weak,
depends on how much you enjoy watching the locals watch you eat pizza.
And bonus! There is an outstanding
gelato place right next door. What more could you ask for?
Oh, you want to know the price?
Jeff’s pizza was 3,50 and mine was 4.80 (I went for the anchovies.)
And for you guys lining up to pay $5 a
slice….put the five bucks in a jar every time you want pizza, and when you’ve
saved up enough money, come on over. If you’re good, we’ll even take you up to
Mondriani.
