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| - Finally. An Italian restaurant that got it right!
In any random neighborhoods around town, you'll find multiple Americanized eye-'talian joints doing Italian all the same. Boring red sauced dishes, meatball subs and mediocre pizza. Each of these mom & pop parmigiana shops seem interchangeable. Very few leave any sort of lasting impact. Very few are daring enough to put their own take on a food that we've come to take for granted. America as a whole seems to be over-saturated with this type of cuisine. So, of course, it goes without saying that a new take on traditional Italian favorites would be a welcome thing, right? Introducing Eddie's Pizzeria Cerino....
First off, the concept: As an option, you have the ability to order a half or full order of just about every appetizer, soup, salad or pasta. This both maximizes value and allows you to sample a bigger portion of the menu.
Next, I must mention the house-baked bread. It's a salty, peppery, oily focaccia that would put the finest artisanal bakeries to shame. Save some to mop up leftover mussel broth.
To eat, we shared a half order of the Eggplant & Roasted Garlic Ravioli w/ red pepper pasta filled with eggplant, served in a sweet vermouth sauce with wild mushrooms, spinach and parmesan. Woah. Good shit! Tender pasta, well balanced in flavor and the sauce. Oh, the sauce! A perfect accompaniment to the dish.
Next, we each ordered our own pie. A tough decision considering there are close to a dozen specialty varieties to chose from. In the end, I ordered the "Salumi" w/ red sauce, thin sliced salumi, prosciutto ham, sun-dried tomatoes, mozzarella and asiago cheese. My accomplice, the "Mediterranean" w/ white sauce, mozzarella, goat cheese, artichokes, black olives, spinach, roasted red peppers. Wowzers! Thin, tasty, wood oven charred crust, high end toppings and a very attractive looking pizza to say the least.
In a seemingly everlasting journey to find the best pizza around, we were both in agreement that this was among the best pizza in town. Next to Crostatas in Highland Heights, this pie ranks right up there.
Eddie, you've done well. Can't wait to come back and sample the rest of the menu!
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