a guy and a bee

a collection of random thoughts and ideas from me, her, and sometimes us

Tag Archives: pizza

saturday in DC

Leave a comment Posted by on April 16, 2012

a few weeks ago after baseball promotions came out for all of the local teams, my buddy and i circled the april 14th bobblehead night for strasburg of the nationals. everyone who follows baseball knows that he is a flame thrower and has really brought the fans to the stadium. well, as time went on, he found out that he couldn’t make it so bee said she would go with me. she’s really gotten interested in baseball the last few years now that we have a partial season ticket package to the orioles and i think it makes her happy to see me doing something i enjoy.

since the game didn’t start until 4:05, we decided to do something else we enjoy, check out some great art and with one of my favorite artist’s having a special display at the national gallery of art, we made the trip down earlier in the day. not to mention, we had to  get to the stadium early to ensure we got one of these prized bobbleheads. so anyway, we got down there and checked out the Picasso drawings exhibit. the detail and intricacies of his works are incredible and something i really appreciate about his work. the variety of this collection was also large and spanned several decades. there were many different techniques and not just the usual cubism or blue period drawings that one might expect. the detail on some portions of the work versus the other pieces make you wonder what he was thinking or if he was working on his early skills. unfortunately, i didn’t take any pictures in exhibit to post and one guy got yelled at for being on his phone so i didn’t want to be that guy. as we finished with the Picasso drawings, we walked through some of the Degas, Monet, and some Rodin. we didn’t get much time after that to move through many of the other exhibits and there were a ton of people checking out the japanese scrolls exhibit, but we didn’t want to wait or really have time. after we left, we stopped by potbelly for a quick bit to eat and then headed over to Nationals Park to take in a ball game. ps… you can see a full size version of the thinker at the BMA and you won’t have to leave baltimore.

this was bee’s first trip to nationals park and my first one of the season. i made a couple trips down last year to see the orioles play as well as one game against the braves when her dad was in town. once we got there and got our tickets, we waited in line for about 20-30 minutes. we probably could have gone in earlier via the centerfield gate, but didn’t want walk around. plus we were calming down from almost blowing through a red light that i never really saw. those stoplights on the right and not in front of me get me every time. that’s neither here nor there but needless to say, we had a good time after not getting in an accident. we got to see edwin jackson pitch a great complete game. hopefully he signs with the orioles next year. we liked the open air feel of the stadium and the different food selections they have. we got some nachos and a couple free sodas. after the game ended, we went over to bee’s father’s favorite pizza place in rockville. when we called him about it, he recited the phone number exactly even though he now lives in nebraska. giuseppe’s makes a really tasty pizza and has a great crust. it’s more doughy then any other local pizzas that i have had. we left full, happy, and with a burnt roof of my mouth. all in all, we had a great day. enjoyed several of our favorite things to do and even ate some pizza.

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food review: always up for pizza

2 Comments Posted by on February 3, 2012

for the last couple of weeks, we’ve been trying to go to coal fire over off of 108. we have been several times and always enjoy it but the last few times we went over there, the wait was over 30 minutes so when we called last night and it was already 25 minutes at 615, we decided to pass. we had decided we were going to go to chicago uno and swing by LL Bean afterwards. bee’s coat got screwed up so she wanted to see if they would fix it. as we left the house, I suggested we try Luna Bella in the hickory ridge village center. we always see it when we go to that village center and hadn’t ever been so we figured now was the time.

luna bella (photo from yelp)

the restaurant is a small and intimate italian place that serves brick oven pizza. it was voted as one of howard county’s best in 2011 for pizza and italian so I was excited to try their brick oven style. after waiting more than the estimated 25 minutes, we finally got seated. I figured it was worth waiting to spend money at a local small business instead of a chain place and the place and line were packed. I saw someone from work who decided to not wait as several others did as well. there were also plenty of people getting carry out.

we started with the fried mozzarella which was a nice size appetizer. it could easily be for 3 or 4, but we just split it for ourselves. haha. bee got the eggplant parmesan and she enjoyed it. I, on the other hand, went for the main attraction, pizza. I’m always one for a meat pizza and went with the Pizza Carne. a nice blend of pepperoni, sausage, salami, and canadian bacon. the crust was a little thicker than I expected for brick oven pizza but it was crispy and held all the toppings nicely. they offer their pizzas in 10 or 12 inch and have several prepaid options as well as the choose your own toppings. the gourmet options as they refer to them had a nice variety and also looked tasty. our friend, steve, pointed out that the pizza finito is also real good. meanwhile, the build your own toppings seemed endless. anyway, the pizza and toppings on the pizza carne worked wonders together and i ate the whole thing!

howchow did a post on luna bella a few years ago and had different thoughts on the crust but my experience was that it held up well.

we certainly enjoyed it and will be back to try the other pizzas and menu options. afterwards, we stumbled over to the meadows original frozen custard. it’s a franchised ice cream place but the proprietor of this one is a fantastic guy. we walked in at 810 and they were actually closed, but “since they were there, they were open.” the frozen custard is made fresh daily and they only make select flavors each day so you know it will be good. we ended up getting a cookies and cream ice cream sandwich, which we split since it was pretty large for just $4. well worth it. we’ve been several times and have their club card. if you are looking for a new ice cream place, check it out!

hocofood@@@

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where to eat

4 Comments Posted by on November 29, 2011

I don’t know about y’all but it feels like lately we have been eating out more than usual and it is usually the same old haunts every time. This is probably a result of my back injury and my wife being out of town on a semi regular basis for the last few months. It is also partially my fault because I mainly eat American and Italian foods and it’s easy to stick with what you know. I am not a fan of beans or rice really and try to stay away from spicy foods so it eliminates alot of options.

So to try to help spice things up, I am looking for something different than my regular haunts. Any suggestions out there? Preferably in Howard County, but anywhere in the close proximity would be fine. If you follow my blog on its somewhat regular basis, you will know that I am certainly a fan of pizza!

hocofood@@@

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dinner and a movie

1 Comment Posted by on November 15, 2011

image

But not together. Last week my wife was out of town ruling the world and doing a great job at her job. Meanwhile, I was home making the bacon as we like to joke especially since she doesn’t eat bacon. Sometimes on my off Fridays I will catch an early movie and this past Friday, I caught Tower Heist. It stars Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, and a host of other characters. It’s a cross between a comedy and a heist movie. The basic premise is the same as the Bernie Madoff case. The Madoff like character doesn’t sell any of his assets and gets to say in his apartment on house arrest. Ben Stiller’s character and his co-workers break into the apartment and the movie continues from there. It was probably a B movie. Entertaining and some what light hearted but semi serious at other times.

Meanwhile after a week of dinners out, I continued my gluttony and caught dinner at a new pizza place for me called Pazani. It was suggested here on my blog and since we all know I love pizza, I went and checked it out. It’s off of Marshalee Dr. by Timbers of Troy Golf Course. The restaurant is a nice family friendly atmosphere and is like Trattoria da Enrico or many of the other local pizza places; however, they have a larger selection and a catering menu. The restaurant was a little smaller than I had expected from looking at the menu and there were about 5 or 6 other groups there, mostly with families, and they filled up the majority of the restaurant. Anyway, I got the small pizza with sausage… a standard for me. It was pretty tasty and had a nice crisp crust. It seemed a little greaser than some other places but it didn’t really sway me away from going back if I am in the area.

As a lone wolf that night, I enjoyed my pizza and caught a look at what others were eating. Many people had different varieties of pasta meals which also looked good and others of course had pizza. One group had the calamari which was a generous portion and others had the cheese steak and salads. The regular menu and the catering menu had a large selection so you could go often and get something different to eat there or for a party at your house. I will definitely go back again.

Also, thanks to @howchowblog for linking to my other pizza article earlier in the week.

hocofood@@@

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favorite pizza in hoco?

7 Comments Posted by on August 16, 2011

lately i’ve been on a pizza binge. i’ve probably had pizza almost once a day for the past week and a half. and although, i really do enjoy a good slice, it got me thinking, what’s my favorite pizza in HoCo? Most recently, it’s probably the pizza from Coal Fire over off of Rt. 108 near Rt. 100. they have a great selection of pizzas as well options to make your own. you can choose from different sauce and different toppings. we enjoy the sweeter sauce with the ground beef on top. they also have a warm char-grilled warm caesar salad that is tasty too!

it seems like there are a never ending supply of options in howard county though for pizza. there are the standard carry out and delivery places like papa john’s, domino’s, and jerry’s subs and pizza. for a quick pizza, my wife and really enjoy the trattoria e pizzeria da enrico in the king’s contrivance village center. they make a great pizza and is nicely priced. we usually get half sausage and mushroom. that is usually the same we order at three brothers as well, although, we also enjoy the square, thick crust pizza as well. the square pizza was a standard of her childhood.

recently we also tried facci. another wood fire restaurant like coal fire but a little fancier inside and a wider menu variety. even though it’s on the east side of howard county and on the way to fulton/216, it’s worth the drive to it check out for those on the other side of the county.

so my question to you is, what is your favorite pizza in HoCo? with almost at least one pizza shop in each village center and/or shopping center, there are lots of options!

there is even pretty decent pizza at oriole park these days!

hocofood@@@

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food review: coal fire pizza

1 Comment Posted by on November 14, 2010

Last night, the wife and I went out to get some dinner and wound up at a relatively new place called Coal Fire in Columbia. It’s right off Rt. 108 and Rt. 100 in what is called Shipley’s Grant. Their pizzas are “charred to perfection.”

We ended up choosing our own toppings and went for ground beef and their classic sauce. The pizza was cooked in a wood/coal burning oven and is a thin crust style. It’s not your standard cheese covered pizza with ground beef. The sauce and cheese combo was pretty good; however, I could have used some extra ground beef but maybe I’m just being greedy. Crust was nice and crusty, but not burnt. Though it was a smaller menu, they had some nice selections including a very good looking Baked Crabby Mac.

The restaurant appears to have a good local following and also has a small bar with a few high top tables, which made it have a fancier feel than your standard pizza joint. We didn’t have to wait, but there was a line shortly after we got there. For less than $20 for dinner, we will return. A 16″ pizza can easily feed two and next time we might get a side or a salad as well. Check it out if you are in the area and let me know what you think!

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