Pizzando
301 Healdsburg Ave.
Healdsburg
(707) 922-5233
Pizzeria Plus
Lunch and dinner daily
Entrées: $14-$16
Beer, wine, bottled cocktails
Settled inside the former Café Newsstand space at Hotel Healdsburg, Pizzando is a joint effort between Spoonbar chef Louis Maldonado, consulting chef Liza Shaw and chef Ben Davies (formerly chef de cuisine at Petite Syrah), who runs the day-to-day operations. And while it’s a pizzeria at heart, it adds a modern twist with its rather eclectic menu of appetizers, grilled meats and fish, and sides to round things out (when we visited, only one pasta dish was on the menu).
The space itself is also modern and sleek and, though small, it has an airy feeling with picture windows facing the street, an open kitchen, two flat-screen TVs and a wood-fired oven. The wine list is short but sweet, with lots of Italian choices. The beer list offers Wipeout IPA on tap, so we went for that as well as a Bardolino Classico Superior from Veneto, Italy (smoky, earthy, food-friendly).
A salmon-colored ocean trout mousse came in a small jar with mustard seeds and chives on top. We enjoyed piling the salty, tasty spread on the thin-sliced rye crostini that accompanied it.
A burrata, arugula and roasted lemon marmalade pizza sounded too good to pass up. The toppings were plentiful atop the 12-inch pie, which had a perfect, very thin crust with charred edges. Everything was very fresh and the lemon flavor was subtle. It was served with chili oil on the side, which is quite hot—if you shy away from spice, skip that little extra. (Then again, if you’re like me, put a bunch on!)
Coriander-rubbed lamb was thin-sliced, tender and smoky (great with the wine) and served with large pieces of flatbread hot out of the oven with a hint of mint and plenty of butter lettuce. We found folding and eating it like a taco was the easiest way to tackle this fun-to-eat dish. A side of bite-sized, “crushed” marble potatoes (not mashed, just pressed) came in a small, cast iron pot, tossed with garlic aioli. They were crunchy on the outside, buttery inside and absolutely delicious.
For dessert, we thoroughly enjoyed the house made salted caramel ice cream. Full disclosure: I have a special place in my heart for Bi-Rite’s version (San Francisco), and have tried many others (pretty much every time I find it). Nobody has ever matched my enthusiasm—until Pizzando. There were three delectable scoops of the perfect balance between salt and caramel—I seriously wanted three gallons of the rich, creamy, gelato-like awesomeness I had before me. Somehow I was able to hold back. What a great way to finish up the night.
