Dishes We Love: Pizza, Pizza
The Odessa at Piola
What do I love more than good food? New good food. For this reason a call from Capital Cooking to join her for dinner at Piola did take much convincing where the restaurant just opened its doors on the 14th street corridor. Excited, I almost skipped to 14th street for much needed pizza and pasta on the brain. I get there and after spending two hours of my life that I cannot get back, my initial thoughts of Piola left me feeling like I had spent time with the sweet, considerate date that just could not get the end of the night kiss right.
After about a 25 minute wait at the table, the waiter came over to take our drink orders. Though the waiter was extremely nice and pleasant, the drink orders came back wrong and the appetizers we had ordered were preceded by the main entrée, pizza that we had ordered. Now do not get me misunderstood, I am not a blogger complainer (*someone who totally b****es about small glitches in the service or restaurant). These were just things that would have been more fluid had the staff been communicating a little better.
Piola’s Beet Salad
The food, despite the glitches in the matrix, was pretty good. The beet salad is my new favorite summer salad. Every restaurant needs a healthy combination of roasted beets, oranges and goat cheese. The pizza followed with wheat as an optional crust and not taking away from the traditional pizza pie flavor I crave. The Odessa keeps it simple with the flavors of authentic Italian fare: Prosciutto crudo (*Translation: raw prosciutto) and goat cheese rule this dish. The Carbonara lacks the eggs I was fantasizing about beside the bacon and grated parmesan cheese. The Carne & Compagnia was perfection. It is the meat lover’s pizza that is necessary after a night spent on U Street.
I like Piola because despite the meal imperfections, the staff was so accommodating and patient. As I have spoken about this in many Etiquette Tuesday posts, service is one of the main keys to a successful restaurant. Even when your carbonara fails the test of the night, a smile and a kind gesture will bring that taste tester back for another round. I guarantee Piola will see me soon and it might even be as soon as this week…every dish on the menu is 50% off until Monday. Dinner anyone??
*Deets: Piola, 2208 14th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009, (202) 986-8729, website
Category: Announcements, Pizza, restaurant reviews, Washington D.C.
About the Author (Author Profile)
Johnna French is a Harlem NY native with deep roots in Panama, Washington, DC and North Carolina. All four places have heavily influenced her life and the foods she loves today. After graduating Howard University School of Law and beginning her life as a young professional in the city she was led to start Johnna Knows Good Food in November 2007 to keep family, friends and colleagues updated on where to go and what to eat while dining in the nation’s capitol. French, who still practices law, leads a team of three writers to cover the ever expanding Washington, DC food scene. French has been featured in print and television, appearing in Washingtonian Magazine and is a regular contributor to various local TV affiliates including WUSA 9, FOX 5 DC and WJLA (ABC Affiliate) News Channel 8. During the 2016-2017 football season, Johnna aired on Comcast Sports Mid-Atlantic (CSN) show, Redskins Life, as the weekly tailgate host. Johnna is currently a regular contributor to the FOX Baltimore Weekend morning show.Subscribe
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