Settebello Pasadena

And here we are with the last of our Settebello visits! We didn’t start out intending to visit all of their locations, but our road trip destinations worked out perfectly to eat at them all and in hindsight, it was a lot of fun to be able to compare and contrast each of them.  

So without further ado … the next Great Neapolitan Pizza Quest Post!



Settebello Pasadena

The Pasadena Settebello is located in the Playhouse District at 625 East Colorado Blvd.

 

As per usual any time we can, we sat at the bar right in front of the pizza oven. I could even feel the warmth coming from the fire … love it!

 

Our pizzas cooked in a quick 49 seconds, and they were as follows:

Margherita, DOC version: “Crushed Tomatoes, Bufala Mozzarella, Basil, Parmigiano Oregano, Extra Virgin Olive Oil"
Marinara: “Crushed Tomatoes, Garlic, Oregano, Extra Virgin Olive Oil”

 

The Quick Stats (erik’s notes)

Oven: Stefano Ferrara

Cook time: Just under 50 seconds. 

Dough: Average hydration level, most likely 57-62%. Flour was 70% Caputo blue, 30% Caputo red. The pizzaiola explained that the 30% Caputo red was used to prevent over rising in Pasadena’s climate.


Taste: Taste was very good. I’m not a big fan of Caputo red, and it wasn’t hard to tell that the dough was just a bit heavier than what I prefer.  The pizza, though, was executed perfectly and the cheese tasted very fresh.

We really enjoyed these pies, probably just as well as the delicious Settebello Las Vegas!

Sage Organic Vegan Bistro

And so it continues …

I’ve been trying to blog each day to keep up with all the photos we’ve been taking and all the places we’ve been going, but yesterday I decided not to. So here I am playing a little catch up! We’re all the way up in Oregon now, and it was a beautiful drive through the Redwoods and along the coast!  But first … a little catch up from a few restaurants in Southern CA.

Sage

We didn’t spent a lot of time in LA because of the horrendous traffic in between there and Lake Elsinore (where my friend lives who we were staying with), but one place we ate at was Sage, an “organic vegan bistro”.



Sage is located at 1700 West Sunset Boulevard in LA. Their hours are as follows:

Sun 9am-4pm & 5pm-10pm
Mon-Wed 11am-10pm
Thu-Fri 11am-11pm
Sat 9am-4pm & 5pm-11pm
Brunch:
Sat-Sun 9-4

They have a very extensive menu that includes wonderful desserts, and a dipping cabinet full of KindKreme ice cream.



Our dinners started out with a delicious salad:



I got the French Grain Vegetable Bowl, which is “served with basmati rice, quinoa and lentil with seasonal farmer’s market vegetables”



And Erik opted for the Chipotle Bowl: quinoa, grape tomatoes, chipotle pepper, grilled onions, black beans, sauteed kale, avocado and baby corn topped with pico de gallo, sunflower sprouts and battered, deep fried jalapeño and served on an organic corn tortilla served with a side of nacho cheese”



The verdict?

More often than I’d like, I feel like vegan meals out can easily be rather boring, with little thought to presentation of depth of flavor. The kind of meal where you leave feeling as if it was just okay. At Sage, we were pleasantly surprised. Our meals were presented beautifully and weren’t just a bowl of flavorless mush. They were both very flavorful and satisfying. If we lived in LA, I’m sure we would eat here regularly … yum!

We got an ice cream sandwich for dessert, but silly me, I was so anxious to eat it, I didn’t even snap a picture!



More road trip posts coming soon including a look inside our whale watching tour, and more delicious Neapolitan pizza!

Pizza e Vino

Moving right along on our pizza journey! If you’d like to catch up … visit this page and read the introduction.



Pizza e Vino

Our journey next brought us to Pizza e Vino, located at 31441 Santa Margarita Parkway in Rancho Santa Margarita. We arrived pretty early for lunch, not long after they had opened.

  

Naturally, as we’re doing at each pizzeria on our journey, we got two classics: Margherita with bufala, and Marinara. Our pizzas cooked in approximately one minute, and forty-three seconds.

Margerhita: San Marzano tomato sauce with Mozzarella di Bufala, Basil, Olive Oil



And Marinara:  San Marzano Tomato Sauce, Chopped California Garlic With Oregano, Olive Oil.

 

Pizza e Vino is also a VPN Certified pizzeria.



The Quick Stats

Oven: Valoriani

Cook time: Approximately 103 seconds.  Again, we had an early lunch and were the only people in the restaurant. Had it been a peak meal time, the oven would likely have been warmer, and our pies would have likely been done more in the typical 90 second timeframe.

Dough: Pizza e Veno said they recently switched over to the red bag of Caputo flour after attending the recent Pizza Expo in Vegas. The Caputo red was given a three day cold rise followed by a two to five hour warm rise. Caputo red, with its high gluten content makes a denser pizza, and it’s not my favorite. But Pizza e Veno executed it very well and no doubt has great skill!

Taste: The bufala mozzarella was not the freshest we’ve had, but we realize that really all depends on a million factors almost all outside of the actual pizzeria’s control. We especially enjoyed the olive oil on these pies, it was delicious. Overall, these pies tasted very good!

It's Vacation Time! Part V: Southern California

The road trip continues.

Well, we’ve spend the last 4 days or so in the LA area staying with one of my friends, and one of my family members. Yesterday, we ventured up Highway 1 into Monterey.  We have an exciting adventure ahead of us today that I’m super excited for (besides The Great Neapolitan Pizza Quest, of course) but for now … some photos from Southern California and Highway 1.

laguna beach

 

 

 

me and friend, danelle after eating at Settebello Pasadena (coming soon)

 

 

some highway 1 travels

 

 

See you soon with more delicious and fun adventures!

Settebello Las Vegas

Onward with the pizza! Again, if you don’t know what’s going on … read here to get caught up!

Next up on The Great Neapolitan Pizza Quest …

Settebello Las Vegas

Having just eaten at Settebello in Salt Lake City, we were excited to see how these two locations may differ. Settebello in Las Vegas is located in the District in Henderson at 140 Green Valley Pkwy.

Once again, we sat as close to the oven as we could!

 

We arrived at pretty much the prime of dinner service, the beautiful pizza oven was roaring, and our pies cooked in approximately 58 seconds. And just as every other pizzeria on our quest, we ordered two very classic Neapolitan pies; the Marinara and Margherita. 

Margherita, DOC version (above): “Crushed Tomatoes, Bufala Mozzarella, Basil, Parmigiano Oregano, Extra Virgin Olive Oil"

Marinara (below): “Crushed Tomatoes, Garlic, Oregano, Extra Virgin Olive Oil”

I just have to stop here and say … Settebello Las Vegas has been our absolute favorite pizza so far … we absolutely loved every bite of it!
 

 

The Quick Stats
 

Oven: Acunto

Cook time: Approximately 58 seconds. 
Dough: Appears to be made from 100% Caputo blue. Shon (the sous chef, who was taught under Carmine D'Amato the head chef of the entire Settebello franchise) commented that they don’t go by an exact hydration ratio but more by touch. (Side note, he also said he’s working on a wood fired pizza food truck so if you’re in the Vegas area … be excited! I know I’m excited for it, and I don’t even live there. Another side note … check out this video of Shon making a Pizza Napoletana!). Dough rose very nicely, crust very light and airy. 
Taste: This was the best pizza we’ve had so far! The cheese was extremely fresh and flavorful. Every component, from sauce down to olive oil was executed perfectly making for a wonderful pie.

We love you, Settebello Las Vegas!