Italian Piazza

Pizza outside Italy, who are we kidding? There is not such thing, not for an Italian at least. But I am brave, and while I make mean pizza at home (if I can say so myself), I need to eat pizza out on Friday nights after the movies. This has been close to impossible when I moved from Italy to Baltimore, where my honey and I would make do in a pizzeria that we nicknamed "The Losers" (obviously not a great one!), but it got much easier in Tucson, especially since Pizzeria Vivace opened in the St. Philips plaza (piazza, in Italian).

First of all, Italians need some harmony. St. Philips piazza has fountains and courtyards and restaurants, and even a riverside  (water optional). Second, the pizza tastes like pizza at Pizzeria Vivace. And last, but not least, they are kind and you feel like at home on your second visit.

As I said, I go there most Friday nights. I had been there with my significant other, most often with our friends after the movies, and once with several friends including a baby. Every time the host, manager, and waiters have been kind and fast. I highly recommend the front room and, if you are a party of six or more, and like to eat like everybody else in Tucson (which is, 6:30 on Friday and Saturday nights), do make reservations. We go after 9 pm, so no problem there. Actually the "late" hour brings another advantage: all drinks are half price after the nocturnal hour of 8 pm, including on weekends!

Speaking of drinks, the half-price policy extends to bottles of wine, and they do have a decent  selection for a pizzeria, which allows you to sample some fine Italian wines without breaking the budget. Pizza is thin but not too thin, hot, and very tasty. At Vivace they do not make too much fuss if you ask half a pizza without cheese (so my sweetheart and I can share), or if you make substitutions. While I never tasted the antipasto, it looks authentic and delicious. I wish they had sorbet for dessert, so I could have a vegan sweet bite at the end of a great simple pizza-salad-and wine meal. The way I see it, this is the perfect place to enjoy the subtle pleasure of having the work week over with, chat with your friends about a good movie you just saw, and have the simplest yet tastiest food and drink on Earth, pizza and wine!

Pizzeria Vivace
4280 N. Campbell Ave.
Tucson, AZ 85719
Lunch: Monday-Friday 11:30-2:30 pm
Dinner: Monday-Thursday 5-9 pm; Friday-Saturday 5-10 pm
$

http://www.pizzeriavivace.com/

Downtown in the desert

You are in Tucson and spent some quality time downtown, and now you like a cocktail or a bite. Or maybe you are driving back from the airport and your appetite does not quite hold until you go back home. Or, you just want a good meal and you like the Tucson skyline. I personally like to drive south on Stone at sunset, when the (few!) tall buildings of downtown have a special glare. Or, finally, it is late at night and after a show you want to listen to good live music (Thu-Sat only) with your favorite wine. Now finally you have a place to eat and drink that matches your expectations, go to Downtown kitchen and cocktails and you will be happy.

The setting is a open space with kitchen in view. Maybe too much in view? I prefer to seat farther from it. The bar goes on forever and it is a good-looking bar at that. Hostess and waiters are kind and well trained now, and the noise level conversation-yileding. The music only starts around 10 pm, and by that time you had finish dinner and, possibly, exhausted most of the interesting topics of conversation, so it is a welcome change of pace.

The place is vegan-friendly. On my last visit I had a main course of delicious Asian noodles with a fantastic mix of raw and cooked veggies, and nuts, filling and especially tasty. On other visits I extensively asked if they could veganize some dishes, and they could. My companions were thrilled by the Chinese duck and a cheese appetizer with mushrooms. We also had African soup, and ahi ceviche. I tasted this last one and it was just about the best chevice I even eat. The mix of tastes in each dish was complicated and spicy, but never tasted like a mess, it always stopped short of too much. The chef-owner, Janos, knows his craft, obviously.

The wine list is good, not great. The good think is that they sell a lots of good wines by the glass as well, so you can easily ask for a taste if you are not sure before ordering a bottle. We tasted a couple before ordering our Argentine Merlot, which was very good. On another visit I had a cocktail, a Manhattan, which was top of the shelve. The bar is an ideal spot also to dine solo, it is informal and looks bright and safe. The reason why I attach the lone dollar sign to this place is not because it is super cheap (you can read the prices in the restaurant link below) but because the quality-price ratio is so high that it almost seems inexpensive. I highly recommend this place. You will relax, enjoy, eat well, feel well afterwords, and you will contribute to bring some business to downtown Tucson, which is sorely needed.


Downtown kitchen and cocktails (Janos)
$
135 South 6th Avenue
Tucson, Arizona
(520) 623 7700

Open Monday to Sunday
late night Thu-Sat, bar open until 2 am
http://downtownkitchen.com/

Morocco in Paris

Paris in winter is magic, yet cold! You absolutely need to nestle in a warm, welcoming, scented place where you can snuggle with your honey or relax with your friends. All the other bistros offer the usual Parisian fare of "steak frites" or "salmon a la unilaterale" (more about those in future posts) but today you need a good vegetarian meal in a charming place. Maybe your travel companion(s) need a good carnivore meal in a charming place? Think no further and go to "Le Marais" to eat at 404, the best Moroccan restaurant in Paris.

You will be welcomed by attentive and smiling waiters, they will take your coat and direct you to the very belly of this enveloping place. The floors are carpeted, but the feeling is that your whole world is carpeted and you feel pure comfort. You will get shoe-horned into your table, so if you need a lot of space with your meal don't come here! I generally do need space, but the style of this place was so perfect that I feel I did not mind the intimate closeness with the other (mostly Parisian) diners. If you need to be in control when you dine, don't come here. You will be served slowly and be in a very small space for a long time. On the other hand, if you enjoy to approach your meal and wine with abandon, you will be very happy. Sip your wine or mint tea (my best ever) and look around, beautiful people and gorgeous food and earth-ware will come by, you can catch up with the latest fashion and chat with your dining companions, or just get lost in the scent and color of the place.

Order red Moroccan wines: they are way cheaper than the French ones, and they are fully satisfactory. We are talking about top of the line French winery in Morocco here! I had a perfect appetizer of fried sardines, but fried veggies were also available. The sauce, tomato-y and simple, was pure bliss. The main course for me was a vegetable pastry-encased dome, a similar concoction but filled with seafood or meat was also available. The pastry was flaky and tasty, the filling delicious. When I asked if the pastry was butter-based, I was very kindly told that it was not, and that it was a vegan option. My companion had a dish of lamb and vegetables which was, in his opinion, perfect (and he is a man of taste!). The bill was quite steep in the end, but well worth the food, atmosphere, and decor. This is a perfect spot for a cold, elegant winter night. You will go back to your hotel or apartment quite happy, the mint tea flavor lingering, and you will long to be back there!

Restaurant Le 404
69 rue des Gravilliers
Paris 75003, France
open:Monday through Sunday
$$