I never find myself craving pizza. Along with
fried chicken, Italian food was one of those things that I didn't know could be so delicious. It wasn't until I went to Italy when I was shocked at how amazing fresh pasta and pizza could be. I grew up thinking Italian food was endless breadsticks at Olive Garden and pineapple pizza at Pizza Hut. I completely fell in love with authentic Italian food when I studied in Florence and yet, I never crave pizza because it's just so filling and I get bored by the bready crust and the same toppings on the whole pizza. Tonight, however, I set my mind on going to Zero Zero for dinner with a friend. I was craving fresh pasta and I'd heard this restaurant does a fantastic job. Upon walking into the restaurant, we were definitely glad we made reservations; it was busy! We sat upstairs and although it was only around 6:30pm, the bar scene was happening and I couldn't hear the music with all the noise.
To eat, we shared the radiatore pasta with veal shank "ossobuco", lacinato kale, marrow butter, and gremolata. When I get pasta at restaurants, I always order one that I wouldn't necessarily ever make at home. I loved the radiatore pasta shape (because obviously interesting pasta shapes definitely make it more fun to eat) and the richness from the marrow butter. We were conflicted on which pizza to order as they all sounded good, but decided on a vegetable-centric one to counter the rich pasta dish. We ordered the market pizza with pea tendril and basil pesto, summer squash, taggiasca olives, ricotta, caciocavallo, grana padana, fresh garlic, and chili flake. We went with the right choice because it was delicious, light, and made me realize I actually do like pizza. Well, pizza that has the right number of toppings and has a crust that is thin and not so bready.
But the true showstopper were the ricotta doughnuts. I thought the doughnuts at Wayfare Tavern was amazing but after having these at Zero Zero... WOW. They came to the table piping hot and I could see the steam rising after taking a bite. The ricotta gave the doughnuts the fluffiest texture. Zero Zero has a build-your-own-dessert menu so along with the doughnuts, we also got Straus vanilla soft-serve topped with olive oil and sea salt. My mind was blown with this combination. It was so decadent and delicious, it's amazing how ice cream and olive oil can actually taste so good together. I'd come here again just for the dessert. Left totally satisfied.
