Pizza So Good, You'll Drop Your R's Too

Nicolitalia Pizzeria in Provo, Utah is steeped in Boston pride. Founded by a Boston native and dedicated to Boston-style pizza, even the menu is spelled out in Bostonian with words like “peppahs” and “lahge.”

Nic's Boston-style pizza is smaller than a New York-style pie, with a crispier crust, a little more sauce, and far superior toppings than anything I've had in NYC. When it comes to the Italian discus, Nicolitalita does not disappoint. Fourteen kinds of eye-and-mouth-dazzling pies fill the menu, each one heartier and more original than the next. The Mahgarita is the undisputed staff and customer favorite, and hearkens back to its Italian roots with fresh plum tomatoes, fresh garlic, romano cheese and basil. And the Strada di Roma has grilled chicken, artichoke hearts and spinach on mozzarella and creamy alfredo sauce.

If you’d rather “build yah own,” as the menu says, there are two crusts (thin and deep dish), three sizes (8” 12” 16”), and endless toppings to choose from, like feta cheese, teriyaki chicken, pastrami, salami, fried eggplant and buffalo chicken just to name a few. My favorite combination so far is pastrami and eggplant. Each ingredient is fresh and piled high, and the marinara sauce is hearty, not too sweet, and doesn’t get in the way of the flavor smorgasbord of the toppings.

In addition to pizza, Nicolitalia serves zacos for lunch. Imagine if a calzone and a salad had a baby. Zacos are flatbread filled with chicken, steak or meatballs, which are folded over, baked, then filled with lettuce, onions, and thick slices of tomatoes, then served with a cup of creamy Italian dressing. The smell is transcendent, and the flatbread is warm and savory, although it does have a tendency to break and spill the contents.

Cannolis are Nicolitalia’s featured dessert, but the ricotta cream inside is not sweet or creamy enough to complement the chocolate-dipped shell.

As long as you come for the pizza, you won't be disappointed. Nic's is definitely the best in Utah. It's less greasy than The Pie, and there's a much better selection of ingredients. And while the quality if comparable to Pizza 712, Nic's doesn't suffer from its cheeky hipness, and totally kicks its butt in menu variety. There is truth to the staff’s t-shirts: “Pizza so good you’ll drop your R’s too.”

+++++
Nicolitalia is located at 2295 N. University Pkwy in Provo, UT. Open Mon-Thu 11AM-10PM, Fri-Sat 11AM-11PM. Closed Sunday. (801) 356-7900. Limited free delivery in Provo and Orem. www.nicolitaliapizzeria.com

Bible Food

I learned quite a bit writing this paper. Who knew there is an entire scholarly book about the diet of John the Baptist? And how about a company who sells Bible Bars? Come with me, fair reader, as I share some very interesting discoveries in Cooking Religiously: Biblical Food in Antiquity and Today [.doc].

Eat-a-Burger or Two

The late 90s marked the fall of Utah’s retro diners. Within two years, statewide chains Eat-a-Burger and Galaxy Diner switched off their grills and unplugged their jukeboxes. Only national chains like Winger’s and Red Robin survived, growing since thanks to the booming population and less competitive 50s diner market.

Nostalgic for my childhood haunt, I went to Hollday to the last remaining Eat-a-Burger, which still serves it up like the glory days. With its 50s tin can style, Eat-a-Burger would look like any old diner if it weren’t for the massive turquoise and hot pink custom sign jutting from the roof. The drive-through ushers through an endless flotilla of hungry burger buyers and inside thrives an endless army of diners and their kids. Walking in I felt like I had wandered into an elementary school field trip.

The attraction of kids to Eat-a-Burger shouldn’t be a surprise to me who, back in the day, was floored that the contents of my meals were served cardboard classic cars. Mr. Burger drove and Ms. Fries rode shotgun! Ecstatic, I even took my retro car containers home to play with later. While the cardboard cars were discontinued years ago, the $1.69 price of a kids meal might still floor parents.

The flagship sandwich, the Eat-a-Burger, comes wrapped in butcher paper and towers at about six inches tall. Run through the garden, the lettuce and onions are piled high. Pickles and the local specialty fry sauce also dress up the nothin’ special beef patty.

At the sight of the menu board’s boast “UT’s best fries” I was skeptical. But they came so freshly cut that I could taste the starch. The skins are left on and they come with a cup of fry sauce as thick as concrete. If you bring some friends and order a “bucket” size for only $2.49, you can stuff yourselves silly and still laugh all the way to the bank next door. Suffice it to say, the sign don’t lie.

Besides the usual battery of chicken fingers and bacon cheeseburgers, Eat-a-Burger offers pastrami, mushroom, and seasonal burgers like the teriyaki bacon and swiss, the bacon ranch and cheddar cheese, and a raspberry halibut sandwich. Chicken sandwiches include the “Phoenix” with jalepenos, salsa and swiss, the “Avocado & Bacon Chicken,” and the “Teriyaki” that’s topped with cucumbers and sprouts. A fair variety of malts and shakes completes a meal, like Oreo, Butterfinger, raspberry and peanut butter.

The real dessert, though, comes when your cashier brings out your meal to you on a tray complete with complimentary Andes mints.

Summary: the fries make it

Rating: awesome

Details: Eat-a-Burger is open Monday-Thursday 10:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. and Friday-Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. It’s located at 4735 Highland Dr. in Holladay, Utah. (801) 272-5249.

Elk Steak Pizza with Garlic Butter Sauce

When my brother-in-law took down his first elk, I had all I could eat meat for a year. Wanting to make a something like a Philly cheesesteak, I made this very easy and satisfying pizza. It's like Philadelphia meets Idaho. This recipe won a $250 prize for Best Entree on Brickfish.com.

DOUGH INGREDIENTS
.25 oz active dry yeast
1 ½ tsp sugar
4 ¼ cups flour
1 ½ tsp salt

Put 1 ½ cups warm water in a bowl and add yeast and sugar. Stir and let foam for 10 minutes. In a separate bowl, add 3 cups flour and salt. Add yeast mixture and stir with wooden spoon. Transfer to floury surface and kneed for 8 minutes. The dough should be smooth and stringy. Lightly grease a clean bowl and place dough in it. Let rise until doubled (1 ½ - 2 hrs). Cut into thirds and freeze two of the three for a later day.

TOPPINGS INGREDIENTS
4 oz. mozzarella cheese
8 oz. elk or beef steak
½ green pepper
½ yellow onion
1 clove garlic
2 tbsp butter
McCormick’s Montreal Steak Seasoning

Begin cooking the steak on medium heat in a frying pan. Cut the onion and peppers into 1” strips. When the steak is about halfway browned (but still somewhat red), sprinkle on McCormick’s Montreal Steak Seasoning, and add pepper and onions. When the steak is done, cut it into ½” x 1” strips, roughly mirroring the size of the peppers.

Chop the garlic clove and place in a sauce pan with butter. Sautee over medium heat for 1-2 minutes.

Spread out one third of the prepared dough into a 14” diameter on a lightly greased cooking or pizza sheet. Brush the garlic butter on the dough and sprinkle basil and oregano on top. Sprinkle on mozzarella cheese and steak, peppers and onion. Cook at 350° for about 15 min.

The Best Doughnuts I've Ever Had

It's midnight in Hagerstown, Maryland. I drive my car through the lightless alleys trying to remember where it is. Finally, I find it. Standing in an unmarked alley shines a doughnut shop, a beacon of light and decadence.

Krumpe’s Donuts began in 1934 with a real guy named Krumpe—Rudolf Max Albert Lewis Krumpe to be exact. The former German merchant marine opened his first doughnut shop in Harrisburg, PA. But with food rationing and the boycotts of German establishments during World War II, Krumpe's outlets were forced to close and Max enlisted in the Coast Guard.

In 1950 the Krumpes bought a home on Maryland Ave. in Hagerstown. They set up shop again in the garage behind their house, where they’ve sold doughnuts nightly ever since. Although Max passed away in 2000, his three sons continue the Krumpe’s tradition.

Krumpe's has the best doughnuts I have ever had—not a declaration I take lightly. I've always thought that the lighter-than-air glazed of Bountiful, Utah joints like Dick's Market, Parson's Bakery, and Carmack's (RIP) were second to none. Maybe it's because I was raised on Utah fare, but the offerings of East Coast chains like Dunkin Donuts and Krispe Kreme have always seemed like heavy and over-labored.

While a Krumpe's glazed is heavier than Utah's best, eating one is unlike any other experience I have ever had. After the initial bite hits my tongue with delicious sweetness, a second wave of delight hits the back of my tongue every time I chew. I can't explain the physics, but Krumpe's tastes better and better as you eat them.

There are other flavors that the locals love, but I’m a one flavor kind of guy—glazed is synonymous with doughnuts. And Krumpe’s octagonal delights are the only doughnut I want to eat for the rest of my life. Driving away I was literally banging my hands on the steering wheel, unable to believe what I was tasting.

Did I mention that they're dirt cheap? About $2.50 for a half dozen. Good thing, too, because I can’t eat less than three at a time.

Summary: If you find yourself in MD, PA, or VA, make the trip to Krumpe's.

Rating: The best. Really.

Details: Krumpe's is open from 7 P.M. to 2 A.M. and, yes, it really is in a dark alley.

Website: http://krumpesdonuts.com/

Sugar Sweet Sunshine

Logo: Sugar Sweet Sunshine

Not since "Snakes on a Train" has a product's name captured its essence so accurately as Sugar Sweet Sunshine, a gourmet NYC cupcakery. The cupcakes of Sugar Sweet Sunshine (can just call it SSS? S3? S cubed?) look like you'd expect from a chic bakery: tasty looking morsels with cute, colorful sprinkles. Thankfully, the cakes are full-sized - not minis. That might be more cute than a man could handle.

Eating a Sugar Sweet Sunshine cupcake is like getting hit in the mouth with a bag of sugar, a pound of butter, and a bottle of vegetable oil all at the same time. The frosting is sweet. Saccharine sweet. S3 scientists must have discovered how to compound sugar into a new element on the periodic table. I admit, I'm not much of a frosting fan, and S3's is more bakery decadence than I can handle.

The cakes themselves are excellent. All of them are light and spongy. The vanilla is particularly light, though the frosting literally weighs the dome of the cake down in the middle. The chocolate would certainly ring the bell of any dark chocolate fan with its bitter edge. The standout for me, though, is the pumpkin with its winning, toothsome flavor.

Summary: heavy hyperbolic sugar blasted frosting gets in way of perfectly good cupcakes
Rating: fair

Details: Sugar Sweet Sunshine is located in the Lower East Side of Manhattan at 126 Rivington St. Cupcakes run $1.50. Their website is at http://www.sugarsweetsunshine.com/.

Nina's Argentinean Pizzeria

While interning in New York City my culinary goal is to find authentic Argentine food that reminds me of growing up in Buenos Aires. I'm looking for the real deal, not some allegedly Argentine Soho fusion. So after reviewing their menus online, I'm hitting up Argentine restaurants with the most authentic looking ones first.
Photo: Nina's
First on my list is Nina's Argentinean Pizzeria at 1750 2nd Ave. One look at Nina's website and I knew it was a must with its comparatively small prices and very authentic menu. Pizza and pasta are as much part of the culture in Buenos Aires as in the United States as most Argentines are second or third generation Italian.

I had high hopes for the Provoleta appetizer. In Argentina they grill one inch thick slabs of provolone cheese with herbs that are to die for. Unfortunately, I was disappointed as Nina's was by far the thinnest I had ever seen. The flavor was good, but it's centimeter depth left little room for the cheesy explosion I am used to and I regretted throwing down $6.50 for it. And while there was nothing intrinsically wrong with the pre-meal bread and its eggplant olive oil dip, I'd never seen anything like in Argentina.

The Wild Mushroom Ravioli was neither dressed with nor stuffed with any mushrooms that I could see. In fact, my ravioli seemed to be meat instead. Luckily I'm an omnivore. It was nice to be able to order "salsa rosa" (Pink Sauce), and I found it adequate. The Linguine con Pesto was also good, but not outstanding. Most of Nina's pasta dishes run $11-14.

There's a lot more Nina's I'd like to taste. I'm particularly interested in how the milanesas are - they have quite the impressive selection. The pizzas also look good, through only a few hearken back to Argentina (namely the Chanfle, Portena and Fugazzetta). But that's probably for the best. Toppings like heart of palm, seeded green olives and "salsa golf" (think 1,000 island dressing) are best left back in Buenos Aires.

Authenticity: moderate
Rating: not a bad place for some pasta
Would I go back? maybe if I'm in the area - if I do, I'll try something else like pizza or milanesa