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Last week, The New York Times presented its annual pizza issue. Its food editors and reporters firmly believe pizza is one of the most important foods in Manhattan. It is also important in Philadelphia.
I love pizza and will go to great lengths to sample one of my favorite foods throughout the city.
My current favorite is still the white square pies with spinach square served up at Santucci’s near the Italian Market. SliCE offers good pizza as well.
The city’s newest pizzeria, La Scala’s Pronto located near the Community College of Philadelphia, is a very casual place where you step up to the counter and place your order. If it is not busy, a server will take good care of you.
Edward, Sandy and I drove over to La Scala’s Pronto right after Passover because I had dreams about pizza. We brought a bottle of wine and looked over the menu.
There’s pizza, of course, salads, pastas, appetizers, entrées, sandwiches and side dishes. Our server, Gianna, answered our questions with a smile. Since the ball games were over, we watched a “60 Minutes” tribute to the late Mike Wallace on the television during dinner.
Caesar salad ($5.75) was prepared with homemade baked croutons and came with sliced hard-cooked egg. The dressing was homemade, but I could not taste any anchovy, which I like. The chopped salad ($6.95) was akin to an antipasto because it contained chopped provolone and Fontina, along with chopped pepperoncini and imported Italian meats. Romaine and iceberg lettuce were added to the toss, as well as sweet bits of red onion and tomatoes. A good old-fashioned vinaigrette came with the salad.
Pizzas are available small, large and extra-large. Gianna advised two small pizzas would fill the bill nicely. The tomato and cheese pie ($7.95) arrived piping hot. La Scala’s Pronto adheres to the crisp, thin crust rule. Since we also like white pies with spinach, La Scala’s Pronto’s was on order, and it did not disappoint. This version ($8.95) was prepared with freshly chopped baby spinach, the right touch of freshly chopped garlic, tomatoes and ricotta cheese. This was an inspired choice. Sandy never tried pizza prepared with fresh ricotta. It brought a smile to her face after the first bite.
Several days later, I decided to place an order for delivery at lunchtime. Sandy and I dove into the portobello pie ($8.95) prepared on a whole wheat crust, which has become quite popular in a number of pizzerias and restaurants throughout the city. This pie was fresh with sweet caramelized onions, heady portobello mushrooms, sliced cherry tomatoes — which brought a bit of sweetness to the pizza — garlic, olive oil and mozzarella cheese. It was a winner with us, and we saved a few slices for Edward to sample at suppertime.
The arugula salad ($6.95) was tossed with slender strands of roasted eggplant, chopped radicchio, grilled sweet red onions, sundried tomatoes and bits of Gorgonzola with homemade white balsamic vinaigrette on the side. The salads are generous at La Scala’s Pronto and serve two to three people.
The Italian hoagie ($6.75) was okay. Although it was prepared with imported meats and cheeses, something was missing. I could not put my finger on it. Maybe it needed some seasoning such as oregano or more olive oil. Edward believes a hoagie needs to be packed with onions. I did like the use of sweet red onion in the hoagie, however.
My hunt for pizza will never end. I will try each new place to keep the readers apprised of the pies served up in the city.
Two tips of the toque to La Scala’s Pronto. SPR
La Scala’s Pronto
1501 Spring Garden St.
215-751-0200
lascalaspronto.com
Contact the South Philly Review at editor@southphillyreview.com.
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