Of Prosciutto and Pizza

-NoVA correspondent Dogburt

Devoted readers of The Marinara (and Mr. Bassett), in case you aren't already aware, the suburban sprawl is the mortal enemy of "The Sauce."** When you have to exist in this culinary temperate zone that goes on for miles and offers a never ending supply of Starbucks and Chili's (but to be sure, always revere the Dundees), there is high potential for your taste buds to become dulled. That is not to say you can't find pockets of sunlight or admit to enjoying the occasional chicken fried steak, free from the ire of your peers. The fact is, the proliferation of this ready-made food introduces a high level of sodium and sugar that weakens our ability to identify true gravitas in our cuisine.

This is all prelude to alerting you that when I find a place in NoVA that is not a TGI-chain-linked fence that keeps out culinary enjoyment, I will do my best to inform you that cooking chivalry is not yet dead. And so today I bring you two that I have found in the course of my daily living.

Cafe Antonios

If you live outside the Beltway, you might be familiar with the small suburb of Herndon, VA. It is an older area, one which more contemporary and wealthy communities were built around. That reality can cut both ways, but one positive is that it has retained a reasonable amount of restaurants and shops that are still owned locally. Sure, they're a little less polished than your 21st century McDonalds, but I'm at the point in my ever-increasingly jaded life where that's a positive sign, not a negative one.

To be sure, Antonios exists in a K-Mart plaza, and is part of a small shopping island. It is small and non-descript, but local reviews were positive so I took with me my lady and we checked it out. Inside, the dining area is not more than about 1000 square feet, with a bar area taking up a corner and most likely the kitchen in the back taking up an equal amount. It fits maybe 30 tables, and we were fortunate to beat the dinner rush. To the best of my knowledge, we were greeted at the door by the owner of the restaurant, who was constantly tending to every patron in the restaurant.

Regrettably, our dinner had time constraints on it, so we were not able to indulge in the full experience. My wife decided on a lobster bisque and salad. As for me though, I was a bit overwhelmed with the menu. For such a small place, the choices are vast. The categories are pastas, chicken, veal, and fish. Since the place is renowned for its veal, and as a rule of thumb I always try to at least for the first time order the one thing the restaurant is known for doing best, I defaulted to this part of the menu. Even then, the choices were daunting. But then, what was that? It was something called "Veal Bomba," described as: "Veal stuffed with prosciutto, fontina, parmesan, and asiago cheese, dressed in mushroom red wine sauce."

Prosciutto? In the veal? Oh gosh yes.

And it was amazing.

Because of my wife's and my general malaise toward NoVA dining, it is rare that she is surprised at a new venue. But I got a "good choice, my man," and that's how I knew that we would be returning soon to enjoy Antonio's once again.

Cafe Antonios
454 Elden Street
Herndon, VA 20170
Get Directions(703) 437-3307

Fireworks Pizza

Pizza. Seems easy, right? It's basically just bread, sauce, and cheese. So why is it that so many restaurants do it so poorly? I have elevated myself to what I would probably proclaim as a "pizza snob" since I've lived in NoVA. And it isn't because there is so much great pizza here. It is because there is so little. But when you find spots that really work hard to do it well, this simple dish imbues you. I daresay it creates a paradigm shift and you can never call 1-800-Dominoes again.

And so the hunt for great pizza has taken me far and wide across the continental U.S. As Mr. Marinara once uttered for time immortal, "I'm always hungry for great pizza." Yes, yes. That is it exactly. You find great pizza, you crave it regardless of time of day.

So did I find some? Early polling says, "Yes." As I mentioned earlier, Herndon is an older and mostly preserved community in NoVA. Downtown historic Leesburg is another. It practically feels like a different state, yet is only about 35 miles outside of the epicenter of the free world.

My wife, daughter and I were alerted to Fireworks Pizza, whose specialty is wood-fired pizza. Like Antonios, it was small on the inside, and focuses almost exclusively on the magical pizza dish. The aroma of real firewood and smoke soaks into your pores. The wait was agonizing. What we quickly learned was that we were attending on the same evening as a local high school's homecoming dance. Lined up were young men in ill-fitting suits hanging on to frigid debutantes wearing strapless gowns in the 45 degree evening autumn air. But the fact was, they were HERE, waiting next to me in my jeans and sweatshirt. That should tell you something.

When it was our turn, service was prompt in all regards. For appetizer, we ordered bruschettas on ciabatta toast, covered in either mediterranian eggplant and olives or tomato jam and mozzarella. The combination of the flavors was astounding. It was a wonderful contrast of salty (olives) and sweet (tomato jam). They did not last long.

For our pizza, we ordered my standby - the classic margherita. Bad pizza can sometimes be covered up with good toppings, so if I want to get a true gauge of their craft, I keep it as minimal as possible. Light sauce, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, roma tomatoes, drizzled with EVOO. This is my basis for all comparison.

I'm pleased to say that Fireworks indulged my demands without exception. The crust was very thin, crunchy on the outside but chewy on the inside, and full of flavor. the scent of fresh basil mixed with the scent of the smoke was most appealing. But what really made their pizza sing was their roma tomatoes, which were so sweet to the taste you would swear that they were glazed in sugar.

We left victorious, knowing we had found another hidden treasure, horded by locals, and ignored by people calling Papa.

That night I dreamt of tomatoes and basil leaves...

Fireworks Pizza
201 Harrison St. SE
Leesburg, VA 20175
703.779.8400
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**"The Sauce" is a figurative concept as well as a literal one. It could mean -actual- sauce that goes along with your chicken parm or linguini with mussels, but it can also mean that indefinable authenticity of a home made piece of mouth-watering bliss. It is cooked and served with love, each and every time. The source of my terminology dates back to college, when myself and several other guys opted to spend a weekend at Mr. Marinara's homestead, and the Matron Marinara had prepared "The Sauce," which in this case actually was sauce. The aroma pulled us into the kitchen, and it wasn't but a few minutes that we all bowed in humility to The Sauce, and had to stop one hippie-haired brother from stripping down and taking a dip in it. It beckoned us like the Sirens' call to Odysseus.