I will be watching the game (I have to live through it with a rabid Kansas City fan) but my mind will be on my first encounter with pizza. (At the time I’d never had a taco, either. Or a Chinese soup dumpling. Or pad thai.
I was 16 or so, and on my one-and-only date with the grandson of Groucho Marx, a very nice young man with whom I had zero in common. He took me to MICELI’S (touted for years as “LA’s Oldest Italian Restaurant” until it recently closed.)
I was not impressed. I thought tomato sauce topped with mozzarella cheese was a terrible idea. What an idiot I was… since then I’ve definitely developed a taste. And Miceli's set the bar high.
My all-time favorite pizza was from THE VILLA ROSA, a little place walking distance from my house. Sublime New York style pizza (thin crust), crisp and slightly burned around the edges, tangy tomato sauce (not tomato slices), gooey mozzarella cheese, spiced with oregano and salt and pepper. OILY! YES!! Nothing fancy.
You grabbed a slice and you had to get under the tip which was weighted down with sauce and cheese and oil. When all that was left was the crust, that was crisp and riddled with moguls (crispy bubbles in the crust).
I was so sad when VILLA ROSA closed about 10 years ago. (It's been replaced by an Irish pub.)
Do you remember your first encounter with pizza, and what’s been your favorite place (still open or long gone) to have it?
