Osteria Procaccini, Pennington

Oh how I do love pizza. All kinds. Every kind. But even better than just pizza? Perfect pizza. And folks, I believe we have found it.

Matt and I stumbled upon Osteria Procaccini's original location in Kingston, NJ last year, and fell instantly and deeply in love. Their pizza is nothing short of amazing.... crispy crust, luscious sauce, high quality toppings. Their salads are giant and full of interesting things.The staff was friendly. It was a true delight. The only problem was the place was tiny. Teeny tiny. Itsy bitsy teenie weeny tiny. We're talking about 8 tables for two, in a single line. This made us hesitant to go as much as we wanted to, since we would often have to wait (in cramped quarters, no less). And then the magical happened. A second location! Triple the size! Equally close to us, in Pennington! YAY!

As soon as we found out, we were on our way. Our friend Meesh joined us for our maiden voyage, which was wonderful... more people= more food= more things for me to try. We kicked the meal off with an apple, walnut, and gorgonzola salad and an appetizer special simply entitled "Mama's Meatballs". The salad was lovely... not over dressed, nice and fresh, every apple bright and crisp, loads of crunchy walnuts, and of course a heap of tangy gorgonzola. They certainly did not cheap out with the ingredients...I hate places that throw ya a slice or two of apple... gee thanks. The salad was enough for all three of us to have a decent size serving.

The meatballs were amazing. The sauce they were in was so full of flavor, so tomato-y and perfectly seasoned, and yet still let them meat shine through. I am almost positive we were dealing with a veal, beef, pork mixture (we know for sure it was at least beef and pork, we asked, because Meesh is anti piggy) but no matter what it was it was tasty. Darned tasty. The balls were nice and dense, but didn't feel too heavy. Adorned with little dollops of goat cheese, this was a wonderful start to our meal.

Dinner was three pizzas, as they only do one size (a 12" personal...  large for a personal, I know, but woo pizza!) I opted for the pesto pomodoro pizza... it was basically bruchetta pizza. Delicious. Crispy, thin crust topped with mozzarella, pesto soaked tomatoes, and then drizzled with a thick balsamic reduction. It was beautiful to look at and delightful to eat. I am often wary of balsamic reductions, usually finding them too acidic or too sweet. Osteria Procaccini had perfected the art of the balance, and it was pleasing to everyone. The pesto was very subtle, which allowed for the flavor of the tomato to really shine. Yum.

Matt went tried and true with the Margherita D.O.C. pie. Simple, classic, and perfectly executed.  For those that don't know D.O.C. stands for 'Denominazione di Origine Controllata', and is a measure of authentic pizza standards. It requires certain things to be true of your pie to be able to label it as such. 1. It must be cooked in a wood burning oven. 2. It requires the ingredients to be fresh, non processed, and all natural. 3. The dough must be kneaded by hand or low speed mixer. No mechanical dough shaping allowed! All of these things lend for a truly authentic, Napoletana style pizza. This was just that. Picture perfect, classicly executed, as tasty as all git out.

Meesh went with the pizza vongole... clam pizza! They offer it in red or white, and she opted for white. The pie was piled high with clams, garlic, and shaved parmigana cheese. While it was a touch dry, as it's a sauceless pie, there was a ton of flavor. The clams were sweet and plump, the cheese plentiful and slightly salty and nutty, and the dough was chewy and wonderful.

This new location also offers wine! Who knew!? It's so rare to find a restaurant that has a wine menu, with no full bar, so we were surprised. The wine was pretty reasonably priced (bottles ranged from $18 -$30 I believe), and a decent selection was available.

Osteria Procaccini is a serious gem. The menu is somewhat limited in that the only offerings are pizzas, salads, and sandwiches (the meatballs seemed to be a rare treat... we had never seen them offered before at the other location). That being said, you can still find something for everyone. With fresh ingredients, a beautiful new space, and interesting and unique takes on old favorites I think everyone will enjoy this place.

Osteria Procaccini
www.osteriaprocaccini.com
7 Tree Farm Road
Suite 101
Pennington, NJ 08534

or

4428 Route 27 North
Kingston, NJ 08528

Za, Pennington

We needed a new spot for date night.... somewhere not too fancy, not too far away, not too overpriced, but not boring. What we came up with is Za, a hip little place in Pennington, and it is exactly what we were hoping for. It doesn't seat too many people in the dining room, so it has an intimate feel. The back patio area is beautiful (and dare I say romantic!)... plants hang all around you.... it's almost sukkah- esque. It also doubles the seating, but clearly that is only helpful for part of the year. There is some funky modern art on the walls of the indoor space, and the outdoor tables are adorned with candles. Based on looks alone we deemed it 'perfect for date night'.

First thing out was the bread. This was no ordinary bread, my friends, this was special. Glistening buttery triangles of flat bread, sprinkled with herbs and salt served warm... AWESOME. I am all about bread... I just love it. I crave bread the way some people crave chocolate, and this was downright indulgent for me. A bit crispy, a bit chewey, this was the perfect way to start the meal.

Matt decided to go with a standard house salad... nothing wrong with that, but nothing super notable, either. My salad, on the other hand, was a flavor experience. It was a warm spinach and lentil salad, mixed in with raisins, tomato, and pistachio nuts. The lentils were seasoned with cumin and corriander, so they had that warm, smokey, foreign taste to them. With the sweet raisins and the salty pistachios, the unusual spices in the lentil really made for a crazy contrast. I enjoyed the different textures... crunchy nuts, chewey fruits, hearty lentils... it was all different tastes and feels at once. So delicious, but also crazy filling!

For dinner Matt went with the 'Za-Kabob' (not such a clever name, but a very tasty dish!) Two huge skewers of sausage, steak, mushrooms and roasted red pepper came out atop a large bed of sauteed spinach and pico de gallo mashed potatoes (more on those in a moment!) The sausage was tasty, with a snappy skin and serious grill marks. The meat was good... a bit dry if I had to complain, but otherwise super tasty. No flaws in the peppers or mushrooms, but seriously,I have never met a grilled vegetable I didn't like. The spinach was delicious... a little garlicy, very yum. The pico de gallo mashed potatoes were freaking insane. Imagine you're just sitting there, eating a bowl of mashed 'taters (as I am sure you often do) when all of a sudden someone walks by and drops a very chunky, kind of spicy salsa into the bowl! At first you're confused and a little mad, but you're soooo hungry so you eat it anyway.... BEST. DISCOVERY. EVER! This is genius. Mild, creamy potato, spicy onion and jalapeno, tart tomato, all together! YAYYYY!!!

I ordered the black truffle and goat cheese ravioli ('cuz I'm fancy like that!). These were insanely rich... a serious decadence overload! Thumb sized, paper thin slices of black truffle adorned the plate of silky, creamy ravioli. The sauce was heavenly... cheesey, thick, salty, flavorful, gooey... everything I dreamt it would be. The goat cheese stuffing in each piece of pasta was a bit sparse, but I guess any more would be a cheese overload. These were so rich that I couldn't even finish them.... Matt had to help me out and eat several (poor guy).

We loved Za... seriously. It was perfect for a date night (even a double date, but I would say to keep away with big parties!) An intimate setting with delightful food for a reasonable price... such a pleasure! Some fun things to note, there is 5% discount off of your check if you pay in cash, all of their food is cooked to order (which may mean waiting a bit longer to eat, but certainly means fresh fresh fresh!), and they have over 25 kinds of tea and 20 kinds of coffee! I cannot wait to get back here... seriously... it's November and I already want to make reservations for Valentines Day. THAT good. Yay, Za!

Za

http://www.zarestaurants.com/

147 West Delaware Ave

Pennington-08534

609 737 4400