Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Featured Restaurant: Dough Pizzeria Napoletana in San Antonio

This week's featured restaurant is San Antonio's Dough Pizzeria Napoletana. This place is the real deal...the first time we walked into the restaurant, my first thought was, "This ain't no Papa John's!". Dough serves San Antonio's only authentic Neapolitan pizza, meaning this pizza is made the way it's made in Italy. The restaurant opened last year and immediately started generating a lot of buzz among foodies in town. We tried it for the first time last summer and loved it. We've been back several times since, and the quality has been consistently excellent.

The food is made with excellent ingredients, many made on premises. Pizzas are made with house-made dough, fresh mozzarella and buffalo mozzarella, and San Marzano tomatoes. The pizzas are cooked in a super-hot wood-fired oven...it only takes 90 seconds to cook a pie! Besides pizza, Dough also features excellent appetizers, salads, and calzones. Coupled with a friendly and knowledgeable waitstaff, Dough offers a pleasant dining experience in a relaxed contemporary setting. Their wine list is extensive and excellent as well!

Our last visit to Dough was to have dinner with some old friends last month. We started out selecting two different burrata appetizers to share. I had never tried this dish before, so it was a new foodie find for me...I'm now a believer! Burrata is a fresh mozzarella cheese dome that has a creamy filling that oozes out when you cut it. The filling reminded me a bit of ricotta cheese. We had the caprese version pictured on the left as well as a fried version served with prosciutto and sun-dried tomato pesto...both were WONDERFUL!!

By the time we finished our appetizers, the pizzas arrived at the table. Michael and I ordered ours with prosciutto, speck ham, Italian sausage, pancetta, and basil...porky goodness for sure! Our dining companions decided to try a veggie pizza with sun-dried tomatoes and roasted mushrooms. Both of the pizzas were excellent. They were thin, crispy, and ever-so-chewy...with a few charred spots from the wood-fired oven. Neither version was the least bit soggy or greasy.

Since we had been sharing our food the entire night, we happily discovered that we still had a bit of room left to try one of their desserts. Our waiter highly recommended the vanilla bean panna cotta. He did not steer us wrong!! It was served with a caramel drizzle and macerated cherries and golden raisins. It was so creamy and yummy...not too rich, but very satisfying. It was the perfect ending to an absolutely wonderful meal! Authentic Italian pizza without having to buy a plane ticket or take time off work!!

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