Thursday, February 25, 2010

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Potato and mushroom pizza — something to make you go hmmm! By Shavaughn Moss: Ever wondered what a potato and mushroom pizza would taste like? Well — I never even thought about the combination before three weeks ago, but after my first bite of a pizza with just those toppings the only thing I could think about was the big "O" word. The Yukon Gold Pizza with potatoes, mushrooms and white truffle crème atop a thin crust pizza at the Wine Lounge Tasting Room & Retail is to die for. A fan of thin crust pizzas — and I've had some thin crusts during my lifetime, this was absolutely the thinnest crust bar none I'd ever had. Wafer thin, it didn't have me filling up on bread, but rather enjoying the toppings. Suffice it to say, the crust, the potatoes, the mushrooms and the white truffle crème combination turned out to be the best pizza I've ever had in my life. Actually I'd put my head on the chopping block with this statement. I perused the Wine Lounge Tasting Room & Retail's pizza menu, there were three pizzas on the six-pizza menu that really got my attention — the Yukon Gold, the Napa Style, which has prosciutto, goat cheese and figs poached in a Syrah wine and the Frutti di Mare, which it said had scallops conch and shrimp. Suffice it to say, we had gotten there a bit on the late side, and they were out of the figs for the Napa Style much to my disappointment, so we . . . or should I say I ordered the Yukon Gold and Frutti di Mare, because Garnell tends to just go along with whatever I say. When it arrived I took a stab at the Yukon Gold first, because if it happened to just not suit my taste buds, I could kill the taste with the Frutti di Mare that I was sure to love. At the end of the evening, every slice, every morsel and every crumb that could have fallen off the Yukon Gold pizza was gone from the platter. A couple of slices of the Frutti di Mare were still left, but I guess you can see where my interest was. I have yet to try the Napa Style pizza offered at the Wine Lounge Tasting Room & Retail and am looking forward to doing so on my return, because I've enjoyed fig pizzas in the past, but I'm intrigued to find out how the Wine Lounge Tasting Room & Retails pizza will stack up on such a delightfully thin crust. For pizza lovers who simply aren't adventurous and love to stick to the tried and true, they also offer a classic Margherita with fresh buffalo mozzarella, cherry tomatoes and fresh basil; The Classic pizza of cheese, tomato and pepperoni and the Biancaneve which simply means plain cheese. On the night I visited I noticed someone ordering The Classic and couldn't help but offer my opinion and steer them to the Yukon Gold, which everyone that tried that night fell in love with. The Wine Lounge Tasting Room & Retail, located in the Villa Florence on East Bay Street, has only been open for three weeks, it's got my vote as one of the best places to enjoy thin-crust, gourmet pizza, and I'm looking forward to going back to enjoy them again and again and again. Actually the next time I darken their doorstep which is going to be very soon, they had better not be out of figs, because that would definitely set me off. As I said that's a pizza I'm dying to try, and the Yukon Gold is a must have on any visit that I make. The Wine Lounge Tasting Room & Retail offers a little more than just pizza. It also has a selection of tapas that you can indulge in while enjoying a glass or bottle of boutique California wines. Marinated olives and French baguette, assorted salumi like prosciutto and salami, assorted cheese plates, smoked Gouda spread with bread, salads, soups and paninis, and bites from the grill make for luscious small bites to nibble on with friends while enjoying a glass or bottle of wine in their open-air courtyard. Not to forget my sweet tooth, on a visit, I finished the evening with their homemade sorbet trio — mango, raspberry and coconut cream — the mango and raspberry won hands down. Coconut just does not happen to be my thing. They also offer a guava rum cake with homemade pineapple coconut ice cream which I saw delivered to a table next to mine and which looked so tempting that I just wanted to take a spoon and dive into it. But I shook it off. There is also a chocolate panna cotta with caramel and roasted pecans for those that want to get their chocolate fix and homemade ice cream in vanilla, chocolate and pineapple coconut. Wednesday January 27, 2010