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| - Cafe Porta Alba is a traditional Neapolitan pizza restaurant adjacent to Hilldale mall. The interior is simple but traditional, with a very high ceiling, polished concrete floor, marble tables, and slightly battered wooden chairs and benches. In the rear, a huge wood burning pizza oven made in Italy dominates. Silverware, glasses, and plates are all basic and sturdy, but not cheap -- everything comes off very traditional and authentic.
The food was just was traditional and pure. I had a small plate of marinated Cerignola olives and salami to begin. The salami was good but unremarkable and a few of my olives were a touch overripe. There's not much in the way of seasoning in the marinade, so the flavor of the fat olives comes through.
The pizza oven is at 900 degrees and the pizza cooks in just 90 seconds, so don't expect a long wait. My pizza Regina was perfectly prepared and delicious. The toppings are crushed San Marzano tomatoes, buffalo milk mozzarella imported from Italy, fresh basil, and a drizzle of olive oil. the crust was moist in the center and dry and puffy around the edge, just as it should be. The char on the bottom was minimal and did not interfere with the pizza's flavors in any way. Excellent.
The recommended wine as a chilled and slightly fizzy red from Italy. It was an excellent complement to the pizza and worth the $8.00 charge for a glass.
The menu had quite a few pizza options, 3 or 4 simple pastas, and several salads. All looked good and the salads I saw others had were quite large. The dessert menu had traditional desserts and a good spread of Italian aperitifs, both with good explanations of what they are to the uninitiated.
It's obvious the owner takes a lot of pride in his work. I'll be back with a friend to split a salad and a pizza. It would be a perfect lunch or light supper with a date or a friend.
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