Casa Bonita

July 18: Casa Bonita, address undisclosed, La Verne

We make pizza, too. Sauce? Best ever, recipe courtesy of Peter Reinhart (if you think you like pizza, it’s worth looking him up). Cheese? Fresh mozzarella that could have stood a bit more meltmelding with the sauce. Basil? Applied both pre-bake and post – genius move, and again, thanks, Pete. Drizzle of oil infused by Calabrian peppers? Absolutely! Parm? Yes. Crust? Well, this is the work in progress: given triple-digit temps and our oven that peaks at 500 degrees, we did a par-‘bake’ in the cast-iron and finished the pie off under the broiler. Time to buy a grill with a pizza kit attachment!

Summary: four hundred degrees shy of perfect.