Ghibellina

What: Ghibellina
Where: 1610 14th st. NW, Washington, DC 20009
When: 12/18/13


For our holiday pizza club night we decided to go to Ghibellina.  We were trying to go to all the pizza places on 14th (in the Logan Circle area) and this was our last one.  Courtney was the only one who have been to Ghibelina's before and the rest of us were excited to check it out.  We all had our own version of how to pronounce the name (often ending in a lot of nonsense syllables. for example, "ghibalanana") however, we quickly learned that it is pronounced "Gi-ba-lean-a." (Just in case you are having the same troubles as some of us did with the pronunciation.)

When I got there Courtney and Jenn were waiting at the bar with a beer.  The bar is right when you walk in and very inviting.  I joined them and ordered a beer as well.  The bartender was very nice and helped me pick out a beer that I would like based on the flavors I like in my beer.  The three of us quickly caught up on our past week and Becky joined us.   Becky had only a chance to order a beer before we were seated.  

Lets first talk about the atmosphere of Ghibellina.  14th street near Logan circle has quickly become a place were people go to dinner.  As a result, Ghibellina was packed-both the bar and the dining area.  We had a reservation and I would highly recommend that you get one if you go there. 

Jenn said, "Location is great, right off 14th...warm and inviting, good for dates. It can be tough to get a table here, even on an early week night. Highly recommend going on a Monday or Tuesday."


Courtney said, "Dark intimate lighting. Good for a date, but also was a fun girls night.  Waitress and hostess were great. We were sat next to the kitchen, but it wasn't that bad of spot."

I commented that the atmosphere was great and loved how the waiter was explained the menu.  I am the "picky" eater of the group so, asking questions about food is just a fact when you dine with me.  Luckily Jenn, Becky and Courtney put up with it ;) 

The best part is that they gave you scissors to cut your pizza with.  I wondered why no one else has implemented this yet, seems like such a logical way to slice pizza.  It was great to pick the size of pizza you wanted.

We ended up getting a salad ((INSALATA GHIBELLINA arugula, avocado, confit tomatoes, emmenthaler, pine nuts, pesto $9) and anchovy appetizer (ALICI MARINATE fresh, house cured anchovies, salsa verde,
crispy capers, garlic-rubbed crostini $8).

Courtney commented, "We had a salad and anchovy appetizers that were delicious. For desert we had gelato that was ok."

I, if you could guess, did not try the anchovy appetizer but the salad was delicious.  We decided to get the margarita pizza (of course) and the sausage pizza.  I must say that it was very hard to not order the pastas on their menu. We all had to remind ourselves that we were here for pizza club not pasta & pizza club.   


MARGHERITA DI BUFALA
tomato, basil and buffalo mozzarella $16

SALSICCE E CIPOLLA
sausage, provolone, wood-roasted onions,
oregano, peperoncino, grana $17

To date, I believe this is the most comments we had on the pizza we were eating.  There were several, "Yums" and "this is delicious."  I realized that next time it is my turn to write the blog I should bring a notepad to take note of the comments that do not make it to our written reviews.  

On the crust: 

Jenn: "I loved the crust here, it was soft and almost sweet."

Courtney: "The crust was thin but didn't get soggy. It was a bit charred but not very black so still delicious. The end piece was bubbled up and had good flavor."

Catherine: "Hmm...the crust was average. It was not the thing I remember the most about the pizza. It was good but not great."

On the sauce:

Jenn: "The sauce as perfectly portioned and wasn't too acidic."

Courtney: "The sauce was pretty plain. It tasted like tomato with no real flavor punch."

Catherine:"I loved the sauce. I felt like it was the perfect consistency. There was enough on the pizza to be noticed but not over power the cheese and toppings."

On the toppings: 

Jenn: "Both were delicious, but that sausage pizza was INSANE. Had a nice kick to it, which was a pleasant surprise."

Courtney: "The toppings were fresh and delicious. The Margherita toppings tasted fresh, but not that flavorful. The Second pizza was delicious. It had peppers, onions, and sausage that all worked beautifully with each other for an amazing combination." 

Catherine:  I apparently did not comment on the toppings so, I'm thinking they left me speechless (or most likely Scandal was coming back from commercial and I forgot to finish my review). 

Pizza 1: Margherita Pizza (Margherita de Bufala)
Catherine- Half pie
Jenn- Half Pie
Courtney- Half pie

Pizza 2: SALSICCE E CIPOLLA
Catherine- Half pie
Jenn- Pizza pie oh my!
Courtney- Pizza pie oh my!

We did get dessert, it was the holiday season after all.  We got the gelato and it was just okay. 

Overall we decided that Ghibellina is a great place for whatever you are looking for, whether it is date night, your family is in town visiting, you are meeting a guy you found on Tinder for the first time or you are watching Scandal on your couch.

Jenn: "Great service, awesome food in general, but not crazy expensive - good "go to" when you're not sure what you want."

Courtney and Catherine: "Date night." 

Radius

What: Radius Pizzeria
When: 1/14/2014
Where: 3155 Mount Pleasant Street NW, Washington, DC

Mount Pleasant St. is a cozy neighborhood stretch of businesses tucked just enough out of the way that I just recently realized it was there. Fellow club members however were well accustomed to Radius and suggested we go there for our January meeting. The restaurant is on the second level of a row house and immediately warm and welcoming. It felt more casual and neighborhoody than some of the other joints we have visited.  There is a small bar in the back of the restaurant and several tables and a counter area in the front towards the windows and the street. Catherine pointed out liking the rustic and simple decorations, including the mason jar lights hanging down from the ceiling.

The waiter came to take our drink orders, we each ordered a glass of beer, till he asked if we would like a pitcher instead. A PITCHER? Why of course! Thats the type of pizza place I'm used to. Radius was also the first pizzeria that had large pizzas, but we were up to the challenge and still ordered our mandatory two samples. 

The waiter was very helpful and described many of the pizzas for us. When we asked him which were the best he replied, "It's all Gucci" and then later "What you need is Jesus".

We ended up deciding on the Harvard and Ingleside. 

HARVARD
Truffle/Shiitake/Enoki/Mozzarella $19 $22


INGLESIDE
Fresh Mozzarella/Roasted Tomatoes/Roasted Garlic/Basil
$18 $21


We decided the Ingleside was our Margherita pick. 

As again, we were starving we ordered an appetizer of roasted cauliflower, which unfortunately came after the pizza, but they gave it to us free for the delay.

The Pizza turned out to be a tale of two taste buds.

On Crust...
Courtney: "Crust was crispy and stiff, great for eating with our hands. Flavor wasn't a stand out but it did its job of delivering toppings to my mouth."

Jenn: "I didn't really care for their crust, it reminded me of a cracker in a lot of ways...it was a little dry and crackly, not doughy enough for me."

On Sauce…
Catherine: "I loved the sauce. It is exactly the way I like my pizza sauce. Not chucky but smooth. They had enough sauce on the pizza that you knew it was there but it was not overpowering."

Jenn: "Sauce was also just ok, there may have been a little too much of it."

On Toppings…
Catherine: "I thought the roasted garlic was the perfect touch to the Ingleside. It was not overpowering but enough touch to taste it in every bite."

Courtney: "The Ingleside had chopped tomatoes instead of sliced. I liked the added dimension and flavor that added. There was plenty of basil that was sliced. There was ton of roasted garlic all over the pizza, which added a light garlic flavor, but it was not overwhelming. The Harvard had three types of mushroom flavor, including truffle oil which added a delicious taste. The shitake mushrooms were also delicious."

Jenn: "The margherita was more like a cheese pizza, it didn't taste that fresh to me and was super salty. The specialty pizza was better, a little more interesting at least."

Pizza 1: Margherita Pizza (Ingleside)
Catherine- Pizza pie oh my!
Jenn- Quarter pie
Courtney- Half pie


Pizza 2: Harvard
Catherine- Half pie 
Jenn- Half pie 
Courtney- Pizza pie oh my!


We all agreed that it is best for hanging out on a weeknight with friends, but couldn't put our finger on an It Factor. I say the pizza size!