La Rustica

This evening, I had the pleasure to visit an authentic Pizza Napoletana in La Rustica, a nice cozy pizzeria owned and run by a Saudi Couple in Riyadh.
The restaurant is relatively small, and it lives up to its name with simple and rustic surrounding. My guess is that some of the furniture and decor were imported from Napoli, not to mention the Neapolitan style wood oven with the name of the restaurant on. Despite being small and not located on a main street, there is a constant stream of customers, and we were lucky to find a table after 35 minutes waiting, but it was worth it.
Now, to the most important part, the food. The menu is fairly simple as with every Neapolitan style pizzeria. After a nice bite of the bruschetta (correctly pronounced with a K, Brusketta), I had to go with the usual main pizza, La Margherita. I have to say that this is by far the most authentic and beautifully made Neapolitan style pizza in Riyadh compared to all other restaurants including the famous Rossopmodoro. You can immediately tell that this is the real deal with the char spotted and puffy crust, the buffalo mozzarella, the runny tomato puree,the rich and silky olive oil. The taste was just phenomenal and light.

My Margherita taken with a smart phone camera. Not the best photo with the dim lightening of the place.

After wiping our plates clean, I had the honor to meet Mr. Sultan Al Shammasi, who owns and run this beautiful place with his wife, and one can sense how enthusiastic they are about Pizza Napoletana.
Hopefully, we may meet again and have a more detailed chat about La Rustica, and better photos of course!
Great job, keep it up guys.

My first Neapolitan Pizza

My first taste of an authentic Neapolitan Pizza was during a visit to Dubai in the only international branch of the famous Brandi Pizzeria, the Neapolitan Pizzeria acclaimed of creating the first margherita pizza for the Queen of Italy. The testimony from the Royal official " taster", Camillo Galli,  is still posted in the main restaurant in Naples.I think Dubai's branch is the only branch outside Naples so far.

The service was great, and my margherita was out of the world with a tasty buffalo mozzarella. The staff were very courteous and they let me video the whole pizza making process of my first authentic margherita. My passion being very obvious to the staff, the waiter handed me copies of documents available to customers from the original restaurant in Naples.

The next day, I came again for coffee and the same waiter from last night intrigued me to try their tiramisu, I'm glad I agreed as it was the best tiramisu I've ever had.  I couldn't finish it though since the portion was family size.

What about you? do you remember when did you had your first authentic Neapolitan Pizza?

At Rossopomodoro

Yesterday I had my first Neapolitan pizza experience in Riyadh, and it was quite a satisfying one. We had lunch at Rossopomodoro in Riyadh, a branch of the famous Rossopomodoro restaurant and pizzeria who has its HQ in Napoli with many branches worldwide.
The location, ambiance and decor were all good and comfortable. The staff and service were good (wasn't busy at the time), and the food was better than I expected.
Once inside,one could see the signature gold tiles wood oven which is special for Rossopomodoro, which made me go and see the pizza making as I usually do enjoy that.
I was a bit anxious about having the first authentic margarita in Riyadh, but I wasn't disappointed. The dough was light and charred, although the crust could be thicker if you want to be strict about the standards. The tomato was not too sour, and the mozzarella was delicious. I suspect it was San Marzano tomato and buffalo mozzarella since it had a unique taste compared to other pizzas I had.
We had also the eggplant parmigiana which was delicious and quite cheesy, and a tomato sauce penne for our young guest who enjoyed eating it with her hands!
This is the best Neapolitan style pizza I had in Riyadh so far, and I suspect many visits to come whenever I wanted to enjoy one.
Thumbs up Rossopmodoro!

So..why Pizza Napoletana!

Those who don't know much about Pizza Napoletana ( Neapolitan Pizza), find it hard to understand the reasons behind all this fuss.
When you hear people talking about it you will immediately feel the passion that usually stands the test of time, and I guess all of us who share that initial obsession can explain some reasons behind that.
The first thing that hooked me  even before tasting one was the simplicity of the ingredients, the dough making and the quick baking process. However, simplicity doesn't necessary translate to easiness in this regard, as someone said, simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
Then, it was the emphasis on the quality  that attracted me. So much emphasis that in order to be a certified Neapolitan pizza maker, you have to use certain ingredients from Napoli, starting from the flour, the tomatoes, and the mozzarella. In addition to the specific type of oven that maintain high temperature necessary to get the best outcome.
Because of that stress on freshness and quality, and the minimalism in making it, and the cooking process, it's a much lighter healthier style than many other types of pizza out there. Another big bonus.
After reading and watching YouTube vids for a while, I became to know the huge culture and tradition behind pizza making in Napoli, when it all started, the first margharita, the oldest pizza shops in the world, how sacred pizza making and pizza makers are treated in their society, the people who try hard to maintain the same tradition for centuries, and even the way it's eaten!
In summary, there is pizza, and there is Neapolitan Pizza !

How it all started ?

Part of a continuous quest of having healthy diet, me and my wife have stopped buying fast food from the well known food chains, and instead making our own healthier versions at home.
After succeeding with burgers, subs, noodles, and other lines of sandwiches (still struggling with shawerma though), it was time for one of my favorite comfort food, Pizza!
Some time during April or May this year, while looking for authentic italian pizza reciepies on YouTube (which drives my wife crazy when I do that), I came across the Neapolitan style of pizzas, and I got hooked for no obvious reason, and the rest, as they say, was history.
From that moment on, it's been a continuous journey of trying to make the best home version of this pizza style. During that journey, I came to know the history, the reciepies, the  biggest names in Naples and around the world, the societies that try to maintain the tradition, and of course, lots and lots of pizza youtubes!

What about you? Can you remember when it all started?