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| - Thank you San Gennaro for starting off my Pizza Week 2015 on a high note!
From the moment I walked in and heard soulful blues licks on the radio, I knew it was going to be a good experience.
San Gennaro isn't making an entire pizza as their special for Pizza Week, instead they specialize in Pizza al taglio, or pizza baked in a rectangular tray and sold in slices.
For Pizza Week, they're offering a roasted cauliflower pizza, using both white and purple cauliflower, sprinkled with paprika and grated parmesan, lemon zest, and a little parsley.
While it's not my favourite combination of toppings, in the spirit I ordered one piece, and also tried the Breakfast Pizza (eggs, fior di latte mozzarella, cherry tomato, and basil), as well as the marinated vegetable pizza (zucchini, eggplant, and peppers).
I immediately noticed that San Gennaro doesn't use a standard pizza dough, it's more crunchy and crumbly-feeling. The dough is an important part of the flavour of the pizza here, unlike other places it has a distinct flavour and adds to the overall experience.
I found the special pizza to be a bit too "busy", I couldn't really enjoy all the different components, a few were drowned out. That's not to say it didn't taste good, just that I felt it's perhaps too ambitious.
I really liked the Breakfast Pizza however, and I'm looking forward to finishing the vegetable pizza later on.
I tried an imported Chinotto soda as an accompaniment (think Brio, but better :) ), and finished off with a small plate of bombolones, an Italian fried donut sort of pastry, filled with vanilla cream or Nutella (I had both!). The bombolones were pretty awesome, if you like sugar (check!), pastry (check!), things that taste good (double check!), and don't forget sugar (check!).
The staff were very welcoming and eager to answer all my questions. I really enjoyed the ambiance and the experience, and I think you will too!
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