Margherita; Ceviche

Eastside Road, September 1, 2017—

BEING IN BERKELEY for the day again — the fourth time this week -- it seemed reasonable to return to Summer Kitchen for a pizza. I felt a little guilty asking someone to work a pizza oven; it was 102° in Berkeley, probably a record — but the oven was going anyway; might as well make use of it.

I haven't looked back over these posts, but I'd guess I must have eaten well over a dozen Margherita pizzas in the last three years — in Naples, Rome, probably northern Italy, and up and down the Pacific coast. This one is still the best, the standard by which I'll judge all the others. There's a perfect balance of flavors of tomato, mozzarella, and basil. The crust couldn't be better: you can taste the wheat and the yeast. There's a very discreet use of olive oil. And the pizza is baked perfectly.

     🍷Amarone, Palazzo Della Torre, Allegrini Veronese, 2010: generous
•Summer Kitchen and Bakeshop, 2944 College Ave, Berkeley, California; 📞(510) 981-0538

The contessa had an egg salad sandwich, and bought a corn salad to take home, which we had for supper tonight — corn stripped fresh from the ear, barely cooked, with flecks of tomato and chive. With it, I had the remains of the ceviche I made myself for supper yesterday: Tombo tuna sliced thin, marinated in lime juice with chopped tomato, jalapeño pepper, shallot, and cilantro, and not cooked. Delicious.

     🍷White wine spritzer: Cheap Pinot grigio with sparkling water

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