January 19, 2012: Pizzeria Barbarella! And such!

Last night, I had dinner at Pizzeria Barbarella, a new restaurant down on East Broadway owned by a friend (of a friend).  The place hasn't been open long and still has a few bugs to work out – chiefly, on this night, a lack of dessert.  And heat.  To be honest, I missed the dessert more than the heat.  According to my friend Jodi, the owner is very particular about his pizza dough and the ingredients used in his toppings.  His pizza is apparently a cross between Naples and New York style.  We sampled four varieties:

Simple is best no? The Margherita: tomato, fior di latte, aged mozzarella, basil, parmigiano reggiano and extra virgin olive oil. The best of the bunch. Bursting with basil flavor.

Something a little different. The Bianco Rosa: red onions, rosemary, pistachios, parmigiano reggiano and extra virgin olive oil. A close second. The pistachios give it a nice crunch.

The Salsiccia: tomato, fior di latte, aged mozzarella, fennel sausage, house pickled peppers, basil, parmigiano reggiano and extra virgin olive oil. Possessed of a nice, spicy kick but a little heavy on the parmigiano reggiano for my taste.

Diavola: tomato, fior di latte, aged mozzarella, spicy salami, kalamata olives, parmigiano reggiano and extra virgin olive oil. Surprisingly not as spicy as the Salsiccia. I preferred it over the former although I found it a tad salty and wasn't a huge fan of the olives.

Very good pizza.  Hopefully by the time we revisit, they'll have sorted out the lack of heat and dessert.  And, oh yeah, tea.  It wasn't listed on the menu and maybe they don't plan to feature it in the future, but it certainly wouldn't have been nice on this night.

Damn.  Didn't get any work done on the horror script today.  I remain at the top of page 30.  While NOT writing today, I did manage to: a) start playing catch-up with American Horror Story (six episodes down, six to go), b) picked up some trade paperbacks at my local comic store including Chris Roberson's I, Zombie and the latest (and presumably last) installment of Gail Simone's wonderful Secret Six – "The Darkest House", c) resumed my on-again-off-again-still-off-again workout regimen in preparation for my Tokyo trip, d) had a sit-down with my accountant, e) fielded a talk-down call from a friend, f) purchased ingredients for tonight's dinner and prepared same, g) started a new book: Stephen King's Nightmares & Dreamscapes, h) spent some quality time with the dogs, especially Maximus who hasn't eaten anything for over a week but today consumed an entire slice of bread!

Les chiens. Lulu (foreground) and Jelly (background).

My boy Maximus is quiet contemplation.

Akemi, all excited about her high ponytail.

So, what are the top three most exciting things you've all done of late?