A fellow forum member and good friend decided that it was way past time to get together, have lunch, schmooze, catch up a bit, and solve the world's most pressing problems.

We live almost an hour apart, so the logical meeting place was a small city in Central Florida that's just about halfway between us.

The downtown "Main Street" area is all up-scale and yuppified and has a great selection of eating places. We settled on a building that has an open floor plan with plenty of indoor and outdoor seating, a microbrewery, and quite a few place to grab food.

We decided on the fancy schmancy pizza place. We'll split one. Sausage and mushrooms all over, plus anchovies on my half.

"Sorry, we don't have anchovies."

You call yourself a pizza place? What? At the prices you're charging, $$$$$ for a pizza, you don't have anchovies? This is beyond belief.

ps: I would have enjoyed a bit more tomato taste, too, but that is probably easily remedied next time, when ordering. I'll also remember to have a can of anchovies in my pocket.

If a pricey pizza doesn't grab me on the first go round it's not likely to get a second chance.

We have had a lot of "fast casual" pizza places pop up....the "pizza" is a cracker with cheese and sauce on it at a premium price....went once and now unless it is a strip amll hole in the wall with an old school pizza over I'll pass

I was in Orlando not long ago and happen to go to an exceptional place (not pizza) I'll mention just because maybe you've enjoyed it or maybe you will in the future! We went to Columbia in Celebration, on Front St. It's Spanish and Cuban food, and boy it was a delicious lunch. And it was actually quite reasonable!

On that note, I feel the pain with these pricey, gourmet pizza places. We have one here and they split our pizza cravings with another place that's run by an old, local Italian family and they've been making great food for over 50 years. The hipster place is always crowded. Pizzas take 30-40 mins for thin, cracker crust. The toppings are lean for a $25 pizza. The appetizers are ok but nothing special. But put pear and prosciutto on pizza and people think it's the best ever. One time I got the seven cheese pizza, another $20-30 pie. There were seven cheeses all right...one slice had all seven, but the other slices had some random amount of cheese. I think that's the gourmet part...

Me personally - I hate anchovies. Now with that said, if I ever did open up a pizza joint, I would always have a can or two (or however they are sold) on hand for the V-Tail type customer. The classier the joint, the higher quality bait-fish to go on the pizza.

Hell, might even give the pie away for those who actually eat it with fish on it.

So you relearned a fine lesson,no yuppie joints in the future.
B T W anchovies make a great topping for the folks that have never tried them.

One trick I've learned about anchovies is that if you use the canned variety, soaking them in milk for a few minutes removes some of that nasty, oily, over-salted taste, and allows one to actually enjoy the taste of anchovy.

quote:

Originally posted by bigeinkcmo:
Columbia in Celebration, on Front St. It's Spanish and Cuban food

I have not been to that location, but there is (was?) a Columbia restaurant in St. Augustine, and one in the Daytona area. I assume that they're all part of the same organization. We liked them.

If you really like Spanish food (as in Spain, very different from Latin American "Spanish," there's a great place in the Orlando area. Not sure whether it's Orlando or Winter Park, they are adjoining cities and I'm not sure where the city line is in that area, it's all one metroplex, but the restaurant is El Bodegon. Moderately pricey, outstanding food. My wife and I spent a year and a half in Barcelona, we loved the food there, and El Bodegon has a typical Spanish menu, the chefs are from Spain, and they do it right! Also a great selection of Rioja wines. Mmmm...

As far as pizza goes, I grew up in the NYC general area. The pizza at hole-in-the-wall places, frequented by mob guys, is the best you can get!

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

As far as pizza goes, I grew up in the NYC general area. The pizza at hole-in-the-wall places, frequented by mob guys, is the best you can get!

Amen to that!

In 1973 I spent 8 weeks in NYC attending basic training for (Major Computer Company).

I found a pizza place named Goldberg's pizza run by a Jewish family.

They had the best pepperoni pizza I've ever had.

My personal choice for pizza is: cheese, pepperoni, more cheese, more pepperoni, more. . . well, you get the idea!

Passing through Estes Park, CO some years back I got a pizza at a local pizza joint. I'd have sworn they reheated me a cheap frozen pizza from the local grocery store.

Best pizza I have ever had is when I lived in Branford, CT, near New Haven. Enjoyed eating at Pepe's and Sallys but Modern Pizza was just as good without the long lines.

quote:

Originally posted by fpuhan:
One trick I've learned about anchovies is that if you use the canned variety, soaking them in milk for a few minutes removes some of that nasty, oily, over-salted taste, and allows one to actually enjoy the taste of anchovy.

Ha! Just ordered a pizza with anchovies on the side because of you. Wife thinks I'm crazy.

I wanted to try the milk thing....and it worked!!

I ate an anchovie without the milk and it sucked (I can eat anything, and it just wasn't appetizing with the overpowering fishy salty flavor).

I then put a bunch of anchovies in a cup of milk and soaked them for a few minutes. Top of the milk had the yellow oil floating on it.

I tossed some of the milk ones on my pizza, and ate an anchovie by itself....what a huge, tasty difference!

Thanks for the tip! I wasn't an anchovie guy before, but I am now!

One of the best pizza places I went to was in Orland, FL next to some Bingo parlor.

Share a pitcher of beer with friends. Good times.

Did you go to the Plant Street Market?

If so, there's a great burger place in there called Five Thymes Five. They have a burger there with pineapple on it that is great!

Bad news is that their last day of business is on December 30th.

If you like seafood, Bates in Ocoee is pretty good. Their clam chowder is awesome!

I grew up on the Jersey shore.
My wife and I moved to central Florida over 18 years ago.
I had a customer that owned a pizzeria.
When he heard I having a hard time finding good pizza in Florida he mailed me a pizza from New Jersey.
That was the best pizza I have had in Florida in over 18 years.

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:
Did you go to the Plant Street Market?
They have a burger there with pineapple on it that is great!

Plant Street, yup.

Um, burger with pineapple. I don't even know what to say. I'm at a total loss for words.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:
Did you go to the Plant Street Market?
They have a burger there with pineapple on it that is great!

Plant Street, yup.

Um, burger with pineapple. I don't even know what to say. I'm at a total loss for words.

The word you're looking for is "yum". A burger with pineapple and teriyaki sauce is fantastic.

But then I like pineapple on my pizza too.

quote:

Originally posted by bobtheelf:

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:
Did you go to the Plant Street Market?
They have a burger there with pineapple on it that is great!

Plant Street, yup.

Um, burger with pineapple. I don't even know what to say. I'm at a total loss for words.

The word you're looking for is "yum". A burger with pineapple and teriyaki sauce is fantastic.

But then I like pineapple on my pizza too.

Nope. A healthy slice of onion (vitamin C!), a bit of mayonnaise, some ketchup, and if you happen to have a Clausen's garlic dill pickle handy, throw that in too.

Pineapple? Best used in a glass, with rum and stuff.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by bigeinkcmo:
Columbia in Celebration, on Front St. It's Spanish and Cuban food

I have not been to that location, but there is (was?) a Columbia restaurant in St. Augustine, and one in the Daytona area. I assume that they're all part of the same organization. We liked them.

If you really like Spanish food (as in Spain, very different from Latin American "Spanish," there's a great place in the Orlando area. Not sure whether it's Orlando or Winter Park, they are adjoining cities and I'm not sure where the city line is in that area, it's all one metroplex, but the restaurant is El Bodegon. Moderately pricey, outstanding food. My wife and I spent a year and a half in Barcelona, we loved the food there, and El Bodegon has a typical Spanish menu, the chefs are from Spain, and they do it right! Also a great selection of Rioja wines. Mmmm...

As far as pizza goes, I grew up in the NYC general area. The pizza at hole-in-the-wall places, frequented by mob guys, is the best you can get!

Yeah, I think it’s of the same family/organization. My friend who lives nearby suggested we eat there. I don’t have a lot of experience with traditional Spanish food but have enjoyed some various tapas places over the years. I like mediterranean food enough to make my own dishes from time to time. Barcelona would be fun!

There is something to East Coast pizza. I like it better than Chicago style. Though we did have a Giordano’s pizza by our condo by Magic Village that was pretty good. Not quite the same crust, maybe a tad salty.