Sunday, September 16, 2007

The best Pizzeria in America?

Tonight I had yet another great meal at Two Amy's in Washington, DC. What makes this place one of the best casual Italian eateries in the country, and arguably the best pizzeria? I'm not quite sure. All I know is that the ingredients are all incredibly fresh, the space is simply and handsomely designed and has this incredibly authentic feel about it. Not surprisingly, 2 Amy's is always packed with a diverse group of diners who can't get enough. Tonight, over some delicious smoked mozzarella, sun-dried tomato, fried eggplant and toasted pine-nut pizza with my friend Emily, I realized that not only is 2 Amy's pizza on a much higher level than any other purveyor of thin crust, wood fire oven baked pizza, but they make other purported Neapolitan pizza specialists look foolish. In addition to the pizza, there is a wide variety of crostini, cured meats and pork (some of it, such as lardo, made in-house) sandwiches on delicious bread baked at the restaurant, and cheeses. The wine list only has wines from points south of Rome. It is chock-full of interesting varietal wines (it is Italy after all) by-the-glass including uva de Troia, pecorino, asprinio, four different Aglianico's . And none of these cost more than $9 for a generous glass; many are $7 and under. For any San Franciscans reading this, think A16, with better prices for wine and pizza that is much, much better. I encourage anyone who is in our nation's capital for a long enough time to eat a meal to go to 2 Amy's. It won't disappoint.

So now that I am properly nourished, I'm going to watch a little more of this Tupac thing on TV, read for a bit and get some sleep. Did anyone out there happen to see Kanye West on Jimmy Kimmel?? If you want to wear a t-shirt with a scarf, that's fine, but you ought to also have some really loud colored leg warmers, and be locking your fixed gear bike on your way into the coffee shop as well. And what's up with the four piece brass section and string quartet? Kanye has to be the single most over-rated performer and recording artist in hip-hop history. Tons of respect for dude as a producer, executive producer, and a seriously talented beatmaker - one of the most savvy and skillful in hip-hop's history. He may be self conscious and not afraid to admit it, but the self-confidence has simultaneously gone way overboard. Someone cut this guy off. I hope that his new record stops selling. Now.