Storyboarding and Pizza Tasting: Pino's Pizza, Brighton, and Presto Pizza, also Brighton

Thursday, July 22, 2010:

Eric:  How about using your affection for True Crime as a jumping off point for one of your blogs?

Me:  The only vegetarian criminals who come to mind are the Manson Family and Hitler, and those two subjects are really played out.  A blog about Victorian poisonings would also be unappetizing.  I don't like True Crime because I like glorifying criminals through food blogging.  I like it because I'm fascinated by detectives and lawyers.  Is Vincent Bugliosi a vegetarian?

                        Thanks to http://www.metnews.com/articles/2008/bugliosi_stovitz_12-69.jpg

Eric:  What about reviewing those pizza places in Cleveland Circle?

Me:  That's probably a better idea.

Pino's Pizza, Cleveland Circle, Brighton  

Eric and I walked out of the rainy Boston day, and into the relative calm and quiet of Pino's Pizza in Brighton. Although the outside of the restaurant boasted a gloriously tacky and obviously unrestored 1950's beach-boardwalk style sign, the inside of the restaurant was bright, clean and surprisingly contemporary.  We decided to order the 2-slice, 1 drink cheese pizza special.  We grabbed our slices and drink and headed to a booth.

The crust was possibly the crispiest crust I have ever tasted.  (Possibly because, as is standard procedure in most restaurants selling single pizza slices, the slices were taken from a pre-made pie and reheated to order.)  The cheese and sauce were both fresh tasting, but a little on the bland side.  It tasted better than the average Papa Gino's slice, but no flavors particularly stood out.  I took a quick bite, and added Parmesan cheese and pepper to my slice, as is my habit.  The slices were generous, and the pizza folded well, which made for easy eating.  I was also pleased to note the comparative bounty (for an unyuppified Boston-area sub shop) of vegetarian sub and pasta options on the menu. We left feeling relatively full and satisfied.

Presto Pizza, Cleveland Circle, Brighton 

The exterior of Presto Pizza is unremarkable, but the inside of the restaurant, with its gigantic tree, Tiffany lamps, and 1982 World Cup soccer posters, is a little reminiscent of the Regal Beagle.  Once again, we ordered the six dollar double-slice-and-one-drink special, and once again we retired to a booth table with various condiments.  I was impressed by the Parmesan cheese on offer, it was hard to get out of the container, but that was because it was fresh grated.  It had a wonderfully creamy, nutty taste that added to the general garlicy-olive oily*, just-a-hint-of-basilish flavor of the pizza. The slices were so big, they wouldn't fit on their paper plates and ended up touching the table in a way that bothered me a little bit.

Eric and I agreed: if Presto was busy, going to Pino's wouldn't spoil the night.  However, Presto had the better slice by far.



*Presto Pizza is noticably more greasy than its competitor.

Desi Dhaba, Central Square, Cambridge Massachusetts

It was a special night: Eric had just about finished his month-long job helming lights and sound at the Actor’s Shakespeare Project’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and I had had something go really well at work that day.  It was Friday.  We were both ready to cast away memories of a stressful work week and eat something delicious for dinner. 

We went to Desi Dhaba, near Central Square, and we were not disappointed with what we found.  Eric got there first, and ordered a basket of plain and garlic naan.  Both breads had a wonderful chewy-crispy texture, but my favorite was the garlic naan: steaming hot bread topped with garlic and cilantro, it took the immediate edge of my hunger (I had only had a peanut butter sandwich for lunch) in a most delightful way. 

The wine I ordered, an Undurraga Chardonnay from Chili, was a comparative disappointment.  Although the write up in the wine list said it would taste like apples, pears, and citrus, with an aftertaste of vanilla, I could taste only the alcohol.  Perhaps the wine was too delicate to compete with the spiciness of the food, but if so that makes it an odd choice of wine for an Indian restaurant.  But really, who cares?  Desi Dhaba is an under $20 an entrée restaurant, so I wasn’t exactly expecting a sommelier to work with me on the best possible selection of wine.  Moral: I won’t get the Undurraga again.

The most important part of the meal, the main course, was absolutely perfect.  Eric had decided to go vegetarian with me for this dinner, and so we ordered and shared the Aloo Palak and the Navrattan Makhani.

Aloo Palak is basically a creamed-spinach-and-potatoes dish.  Desi Dhaba’s Aloo Palak boasted potatoes cooked to exactly the right consistency, and fresh-tasting spinach, and was delicately flavored with ginger and strewn with cilantro. It was exactly the right compliment for the spicy Navrattan Makhani, which was an infinitely more exalted version of all the various mixed vegetable curry recipes posted on this website.

We finished all the food while watching Bollywood movies on the wall mounted television screen in the dining room.  It was a very good meal, and we’re looking forward to going back near Valentine’s Day.