Showing posts with label pizza. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pizza. Show all posts

Sunday, February 7, 2010

La Gloria Pizza Bar (Moema)

http://www.lagloriapizzabar.com.br/
Av. Macuco, 685
Moema

Although it's a pizza bar, La Gloria isn't just about pizzas. This restaurant that has it all -- good food, beautiful bar, and terrific ambiance.

The place is beautiful. This restaurant has a RETRACTABLE roof. Seriously. On a cool evening, the roof opens up to the residential skyline of Moema. Not extremely beautiful, but an ambiance that makes you feel urban and neighborly at the same time. Plus, when the wind blows just the right way, it's almost better than air-conditioning.

I love an open kitchen. It makes me feel a little safer to know that my food is being prepared for everyone to see...I watched pizzas being made in their wood ovens all night long from our upstairs table.

The food was good, too...surprising in a place that could get away with below-average tastes. The pizzas are fresh, the dough is spot-on. There are other options, too...but besides the bruschetta (huge, and lots of of variety on one plate) and the fried calamari, we didn't need much else to keep us satisfied.

Go for the roof, come back for the food.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Forneria Sao Paulo (Itaim Bibi)

Forneria Sao Paulo
Rua Amauri, 319
No website

I had been told that this place was kind of fancy for a pizza place, and Abby and I were freaking out just a little that our shoes wouldn't be up to par for an upscale SP crowd on a Saturday night. Not to worry, though...even though this hip and BUSY restaurant definitely attracted a trendy, young crowd, you can come as you are. Apparently, you can also bring your young children at 11 at night, too. And if you're 16 and your driver is with you, it's okay to hang out there late on a Saturday with a bunch of your high school friends.

Oh, and I don't think it's a pizza place.

I can't find a website, so you'll just have to go and check out the menu yourself. Not being a fluent Portuguese speaker (or reader, for that matter) I was looking for the PIZZA. But it seemed that there were just SANDWICHES. They are sort of like calzones, and there's 3 or 4 different kind of encasings for your 30 or so choices of "toppings". Being at the table with two vegetarians, we all opted to share two salads and one pizza-sandwich. The special salmon (grilled) salad was light and perfect. The pizza-sandwich split perfectly into 6 equal (if not small) pieces, but I really was missing a vat of marinara dipping sauce. Why can't this city get it straight that marinara sauce is delicious and should be put on everything Italian??! Especially something resembling a calzone. I am still on the search for a good red sauce to stain the front of my shirt as I slurp up spaghetti.

The prices were a little high, but the place is cool. Very modern...you feel hip just sitting there, like you are in on some cool little secret. It's a great energy, a wonderful buzz, and I am sure the place is packed until 2 am...we left just before midnight and there was a line out the door. (I also like that there's a Starbucks right across the street.)

Great dessert menu, too. We split a white chocolate mousse cake, which was served with fresh, warm chocolate sauce drizzled all over the top. I could have eaten the whole thing by myself (and then some) if there's hadn't been other people at the table digging in.

Saturday, February 14, 2009