Amore Neapolitan Pizzeria

In my head, I heard Dean Martin singing his popular 1950's song, when I read the name of Nob Hill's newest pizza place. Amore opened its doors around the first week of July. It is located on the corner of Girard and Monte Vista, were Bailey's on the Beach once was. 

This was once a surf themed restaurant, but is now an Italian Neapolitan pizza eatery. On July 18th we decided to stop by and pay a visit.
We walked into a warm room and a long line to the front counter. 

Hearts and henna-tattoo style designs were worn on the back of employee uniforms and wall posters. From reading the back of our menu, we found out their big red oven had been shipped in from Italy. Front windows had to be taken down, in order to fit the oven inside. Local arborist provide reclaimed wood for the fire. 

Neapolitan style pizza originated in Naples, Italy and it takes about 60 to 90 seconds to cook in a 905 degree Fahrenheit wood-fire oven. Amore is the only Neapolitan style pizza place in the state of New Mexico. The owners certified in New York City as Neapolitan pizza chefs.
Our pizza order included one called "il Duke" and  a "Margherita." After receiving a student and educator discount we got our order number and walked upstairs. We sat out on the rooftop, where it was less packed. 

 Within minutes of taking our seats, we were served.

Charred spots lined the crusts of our personal sized pizzas. A majority of tomato sauce was visible as mozzarella cheese was only sprinkled on certain spots, and minimal toppings were scattered above. 

The bold burnt crust taste overpowered the light sauce and toppings. It was delicious. We were introduced to a new gourmet pizza flavor, that evening, and we enjoyed it.  With quick service, comfortable atmosphere, and excellent tasting pizza it would be extremely difficult to give Amore a bad rating. 

   http://www.amoreabq.com/

 

California Pizza Kitchen

April 30th. 

My boyfriend and I waited for my brother outside of the California Pizza Kitchen at ABQ Uptown. People dinned at the patio tables while couples walked down the store fronts holding hands.   

My brother arrived and suggested we sit inside. A man dressed in a black restaurant uniform directed us to a booth. I immediately noticed the open kitchen lay out and casual environment. The establishment's design was modern and posh.

In 1985 two attorneys, opened the first California Pizza Kitchen in Beverly Hills. The company's vision was to introduce a different kind of pizza that would give competition to the popular NY and Chicago styles.  

Menus were brought to the table by a waitress who offered to take our drink order. My brother and boyfriend went with a local draft beer and I chose a margarita. 

What sets California style pizza apart is size and toppings. These are personal sized pizzas and examples of their non-conventional toppings are avocados, BBQ chicken, peanut sauce, Thai veggies, and carnitas. 

Our pizzas of choice for the night were original crust Hawaiian, Pepperoni and BBQ Chicken. 

 

Toppings looked as if they had been carefully placed above the cheese and tomato sauce. The pizzas looked perfectly cooked. Sauce, spread out evenly on the soft flour-speckled crust.  We shared and tasted a slice from each pizza.  Instead of tomato sauce the BBQ chicken pizza was topped with BBQ sauce, giving it a very tangy flavor.

It was a different taste, one that needs some getting used to. 

Someday I'll be adventurous and try one of their uniquely topped pizzas, but that night I kept it safe and went with the Hawaiian. No complaints with the service either, our waitress did a good job. 

 My brother, who was in the process of purchasing a home,  discussed the topic of real estate, with my boyfriend. I sat listening in on the conversation, catching a small buzz off my alcoholic beverage.With the energetic atmosphere, we remained in our seats long after our dirty dishes had been taken, chatting the night away.

Before receiving a bill, It was explained to us that if we downloaded the California Pizza Kitchen app, called Pizza Dough, to our smart phone and clicked on the  "check-in" button, we'd receive our appetizers for free. So we did.  

http://www.cpk.com/