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Boston Restaurant Blog -- April, 2008

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Sunday, April 27, 2008

A Tale of Two Pizzas

Those who know me realize that I have a near-addiction to pizza, which makes me enjoy even average, everyday pies. But I had one over the weekend that even I had trouble eating, and unfortunately it was at one of my favorite restaurants: C.F. Donovan's in the Savin Hill section of Dorchester. But the scales were balanced later in the weekend with my first taste of the wonderful pizza at Abbondanza in Norwood.

First, a brief description of the disappointing pizza at C.F. Donovan's--I ordered a bianco pizza there, which I assumed would be a tasty white pizza with a hearty garlic and basil taste to it. What I got, however, was a nearly inedible pie with a bland, undercooked crust and cheese on top that was dried out and burnt. And to top it off, the pizza actually had a layer of tomato sauce between the cheese and the crust. Looking back, I should have complained and returned the dish, but sadly I didn't. I'm really worried about C.F. Donovan's, as they have gone through a disturbing number of chefs over the past year or two, and the menu no longer has every dish that it once had (including the chicken curry, which I loved). Here's hoping they can get their act together and once again become the great neighborhood restaurant that it once was.

Now for the good--the day after my subpar meal at C.F. Donovan's, I was at a family gathering south of Boston that included several pizzas from an Italian restaurant in Norwood called Abbondanza. I wasn't really in the mood for pizza after the bianco disaster from the night before, but my mind changed the minute I took one bite into a slice of pepperoni. The pizza from Abbondana reminded me a little of the pies at The Paddock in Somerville, which is indeed a good thing. The pizza was more or less traditional Neapolitan, with a fairly thin crust and a good amount of tomato sauce under the cheese. The pepperoni was slightly burnt and curled on the sides, which is just how I like it, and the crust had a heckuva lot more flavor than the crust at C.F. Donovan's. I tried a pepperoni, a spinach and eggplant, and a cheese, all of which were delicious. This is a pizza I could definitely get into eating; if it were closer to where I lived, I would consider ordering it at least a few times a month.

It was indeed a strange weekend, beginning with lousy pizza at a place I love and ending with excellent pizza from a place I had never heard of before. Not that I'm completely pizza'd out, but I'll probably take a few days off from pizza before getting back into one of my favorite foods of all time...

Related Blog Entries: Boston pizza, pizza places

Posted by MH, Boston's Hidden Restaurants, on April 27, 2008.
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1 COMMENT:
mt said:
Try Tavolo on Dorchester Ave. by the Ashmont stop...mmmm pizza.
Posted on 3/8/09

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