 |
| John Linn |
| The central brick oven at Tucci's Fire N Coal Pizza smolders. |
This week's column had me trekking alongside local pizza blogger Lapp of
Worstpizza.com as we took on three pie-slinging joints in one night. You can
check out the article for my conclusions on
La Fontana Pizzeria in Coral Springs, Nino's Restaurant & Pizzeria in Boca Raton, and
Tucci's Fire N Coal Pizza, also in Boca. But here's a little visual accompaniment -- a side dish if you will -- a couple of pics each of the pies in question. Now get ready to set sail on the seas of cheese, my friends.
 |
| The simple "margherita" pizza at La Fontana -- crushed tomatoes make the sauce, though it's far too restrained a dose and could stand to be seasoned with some salt and pepper. But the pie is thin as a record sleeve, personal-sized, and less than $6. Not bad. |
 |
| An aerial view of that marg. |
 |
| Fontana's boungustaio marries Gorgonzola, red onion, mozzarella, rounds of sweet sausage, and, yes, French fries. In the review, I noted the pizza would've been better if the fries were replaced with roasted potatoes. Actually, if Fontana did that, this might be a destination-worthy pie. |
 |
| The upside-down Sicilian at Nino's in Boca Raton has the cheese sleeping peacefully beneath a blanket of sweet sauce. The crust is amazing and the ultra-fruity olive oil on top beautiful. Nino's owner, Marco Tornabene, told me this Sicilian is not actually the family recipe: That pizza would be made with crushed plum tomatoes, capers, and anchovies instead of pizza sauce. Can't wait to try that. |
 |
| The surface of the Sicilian is craggy, like a planet barren of all things save deliciousness. Note the steam rising. |
 |
| Nino's New York-style Neapolitan pie has a thick, dense crust and a generous amount of sweet sauce and greasy-orange cheese. A very good slice. |
 |
| The saucy slice at Tucci's Fire N Coal finds dabs of tomatoey goodness painted on top of the cheese. You can see the crust bends slightly, but it's actually quite crisp underneath -- that's just a HUGE slice. Another reason I could eat only one. |
 |
| A somewhat blurry view of the top. My camera skills had been gunked up by a full belly at this point. |
 |
| A view of Tucci's from the safety of my takeout box. With bright-white cheese and pockets of brick red sauce, the pie looks pretty unusual -- and irresistible. |