Da Vinci Pizza and Pasta
It’s hard to imagine that it needs changing, but there is something new happening in our much-loved pizza world. For most of us, we grew up with places like Pizza-Hut and Dominoes, fast-food excuses for a pizza. Don’t get me wrong, these spots have their place and time, but if you care at all about craft and ingredient quality, you’ll be getting your pizza from a place like Da Vinci Pizza and Pasta. Calling it “new” may be an insult to Italians everywhere. This is the way pizza was meant to be made and has been for hundreds of years, but now places like Da Vinci are making pizza the right-way across America, and not just in big cities.
The Pizza
When I ate at Da Vinci, I had the special of the day, a Yellow Margerita Pizza. It was familiar and yet incredibly different in all the best ways. Right off the bat, it was visually appealing. The yellow sauce, made from yellow tomatoes instead of red, and the still-vibrantly green ribbons of basil against the pale and toasted crust was eye catching. The sauce was applied lightly and formed an ideal ratio with the soft burrata, and below the fresh toppings: a chewy and still crispy crust with all the right amounts of blackening, like a perfectly toasted marshmallow.
The Salads
Absolutely come for the pizza, but you’ll regret it if that’s all you order. Start with a salad (or two). I had the Barbabietola, a beetroot salad, and the Mista, a mixed salad topped with bruschetta tomatoes, gorgonzola, and balsamic vinaigrette. All my life I have been ordering my salads without blue cheese, but this salad made me rethink that habit. Good food is balanced, and this salad was a stellar example. The often-overpowering sharpness was cut right through by the sweet tomatoes and vinaigrette.
The Pasta and Meatballs
Da Vinci is dishing out a long list of other Italian classics. The Meatballs were tender, packed with flavor, and swimming in a tomato sauce made to be scooped up by the warm flatbread served on the side. If you’re not afraid of carbs (and you shouldn’t be) no trip to Da Vinci is complete without also trying the pasta. I had the pleasure of eating the Cacio e Pepe: a bowl of thick bucatini noodles lathered in a rich, cheesy, and umami-bomb of a sauce. The combination of black truffle, shiitake mushrooms, and black pepper made a bowl of pasta my table and I couldn’t stop eating.
The New Friday Night go-to
If you think about it, the key to making great pizza isn’t all that complicated. A wood burning oven, quality ingredients, and great pizza makers are all you need, and Da Vinci has all that and more. The next time you’re craving pizza on a Friday night in Bloomington, I hope you’ll make the right choice and head to Da Vinci. Or even better, head there on a Wednesday when they have half-priced bottles of wine or a Thursday when they have beers for $2.50. You won’t regret it!