Serving 700 pies daily, cooked at 1,000 degrees, Carluccio’s is off to hot start
Pizzas here possess a unique flavor and texture. More important for us, this is, in Carluccio’s own terms “pizza well done” as in cooked thoroughly, yet also with astonishing rapidity. That combine allows for serious structural integrity, one of the keys to elevated pizza-making.
As the grandchild of both Sicilian and Neapolitan grandparents, I feel well qualified to expound a bit on that subject. In fact, it’s both a fascination as well as a pet peeve of ours.
Some pizzerias, and lots of consumers too, just don’t get it.
Pizza, like much of the world’s greatest cuisine, is simply the product of a culture of poverty. Its greatness relies upon simplicity. Mucking it up with too much cheese or toppings denigrates the product.
Extraordinary pizza begins, and ends, with crust.
And the crust available via that intense, smoky heat is unimaginably good.
But pizza isn’t the only item benefiting from coal cookery here. Chef/manager Michael Laurenzo, born and educated in Naples and a veteran of several notable Atlantic City area fine-dining rooms, speaks glowingly about his jumbo wings.
Marinated in a lemon/EVOO/garlic/rosemary blend, they are roasted in the incendiary glow of that domed, bright-red kiln then served with caramelized onions and focaccia.
Lots of other menu items like roasted vegetables, eggplant rollatini and al forno pastas similarly spend short amounts of time in the furnace.
Standard pizzas are also still available.
We sampled a terrific vegetarian option, the Garden of Eden, with sautéed spinach, chopped tomatoes, mushrooms, black olives and fresh mozzarella.
If there is any one quality that defines great cooking, it just might be courage. Restaurateurs are largely by nature risk-takers, willing to push and prod their enterprises forward.
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