Continuing in the vein of dedicated posts, it seemed time for another Pizza extravaganza. This one I’ve focused on a bit more recently than burger posts, with five dedicated posts this year already. I do like my pizza.
La Pascana, Paraguay 5100, Palermo – A classic neighborhood Argentine pizza joint. I think this was one of those that got on my list from the twitter feed I mentioned awhile back where people shared their favorite neighborhood go-to pizza spots. Not always the best pizzas around, but the ones that for one reason or another, they go back to time and again. Cute waiters might be part of the reason.
The standard choice of sizes – individual, small, and large, respectively 4, 6, and 8 pieces. You can only get half and half on the two bigger sizes. Here, half calabresa and half anchovy. The crust, lovely texture and nice and thin underneath. It’s a touch bland, just needing a little more salt in the dough. The cheese is good, but no more than that. The sauce is quite good, nice and fresh and with some zip to it. The anchovies are fine, I mean, unless someone’s curing their own, I’m not sure there’s much difference typically. The longaniza sausage on the other side was good, and plentiful. Still, I think I’ve been spoiled some recent versions of calabresa that just had more to them – a little bit spicier sausage, and add-ons, albeit not necessarily traditional, of things like onions, peppers, and/or chili. Overall, good pizza, though not one I’d seek out again. Then again, cute waiters.
La Vicca, Cabrera 3301, Almagro – One branch of a half-dozen locale chain in the Almagro/Villa Crespo/Caballito area, I dropped in unplanned one day recently. The chain wasn’t on my radar, I haven’t heard anyone mention anything about it, but the pizzas always look interesting when I pass by. Normally I’d go for a chica, a small, rather than an individual, so that I could do a half and half, but both the menu and the waiter opined that that was more than one person wanted to take on. And indeed, given that the individual was the size of a dinner plate, I’d agree – I barely finished this.
Deciding to dismiss my usual standards of trying their plain or something close, and a calabresa, I went with one of their interesting house combinations (they have about a dozen unusual ones), the pino, a blend of bacon, spinach, mozzarella, and fresh ricotta. I didn’t realize it had no sauce, and it could have used something – be it a tomato sauce or a white sauce, as it was a bit dry, even with the spinach, which, rather than the surmised chopped leaves, turned out to be a sort of creamed puree, dolloped about. Had the puree been spread out, that would have made for an interesting sauce base, like a “white spinach pie”. It was good, but not a wow. Still, simply because of the unusual combinations, I’d go back and try some of their other options.
Pizzeria El Corte, Av. de los Constituyentes 4454, Villa Pueyrredón – I had headed out to check out a much recommended burger joint in Parque Chas, but even after confirming that they were open both on Google and in a direct message from their Instagram account… they weren’t. Very odd. But, I decided to just wander around the area and maybe grab a couple of bites in different nearby spots that are on my “to be checked out” map (soooo many places). One of those was this little neighborhood pizzeria, that, like La Pascana above, was a beloved local spot.
It’s takeout only, and with Covid precautions, they’re now not even letting people inside to order – it’s all done at the pass-through window. They do have a trio of high tables setup on the sidewalk – standing only – so I didn’t have to get pizza to go. I decided on my fave calabresa with longaniza sausage. Like the one above, there was just the sausage and cheese, no extras. I also ordered the mozzarella and egg. I don’t know why, my mind slipped into something more like some of the spots offering a carbonara pizza with a whole egg plopped atop and cooked to a gooey doneness. I’d forgotten that the old school, classic spots, often offer pizzas topped with chopped hard-boiled egg.
The crust, a spongy, bready texture – classic pizza de molde. Clearly pre-cooked, it was browned both below and above, and then virtually no sauce, just a layer of mozzarella, and back in the oven to melt that, and then the toppings, just long enough to warm them. I guess it’s the way they can offer their entire menu by the slice – they just precook the pizza base, slice it, and add toppings to individual portions to order and heat them. It was all… okay. Nothing special, but not bad. Pretty classic neighborhood spot, though particularly being a takeout only place, it seems awfully basic to be on a favorites list.
Los Patricios, Uspallata 2999, Parque Patricios – Somewhere back in time, two spots in this barrio got added to my list. I think it was when I did a search at some point, barrio by barrio, for what local neighborhood folk considered the best one or two pizzerias in their ‘hood. I had to be out that way to drop something off to a friend, and I talked him into a quick sampling of both spots. He hadn’t been to either, so didn’t have a preference.
This is a bit of a hole-in-the-wall spot on a corner off the park. The menu of pizza choices is pretty limited to the basics – plain, anchovy, ham, ham and peppers, calabresa, and not much else. All are available by the slice, or in medium or large pies. I ordered a calabresa and left the choice of a second slice to the waitress, she picked ham and peppers. Thin crust, a la piedra style, a bit tough to bite into, kind of like it had been sitting around, precooked, for awhile. Basically no sauce. Very little cheese. The slices almost came down to being a flatbread with some toppings. The sausage on the calabresa was good, the ham was basically a lunchmeat slice, and the peppers probably from a jar. Nothing about this place called to me to come back.
El Globito, Av. Caseros 3015, Parque Patricios – This spot regularly seems to appear at the top of the list for the neighborhood. And, it turns out, with good reason. A selection of a couple of dozen or more pizzas, all available in small, medium, and large, and while only a couple of the basic pizzas are listed as available by the slice, our waiter said that in reality, any of them are.
I was feeling the lack of sauce from the previous spot, so ordered up an anchovy slice, guaranteed to have a good spread of sauce on it. Zesty, flavorful, really delicious sauce, atop a spongy, tasty al molde type dough, and even a good quality anchovy. Since, while not listed, the calabresa turned out to be available, we ordered one of those. And, thank goodness, because it was absolutely spectacular. Knocked my previous favorite calabresa slice, from Los 3 Ases, right out of the winners’ circle. Beyond the really good dough and sauce, this was piled high, classic Argentine style, with really good mozzarella, a generous amount of longaniza sausage, and, to just put it way over the top, a plentiful scattering of pickled Italian frying peppers and a scattering of Provençal (garlic and parsley in olive oil).
To be returned to, to try a couple of other types, but this one just might make it to the top of my list for Argentine style pizzerias.
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