Napolese

114 E. 49th St.

Indianapolis, IN

(317) 925-0765

Napolese

I've been waiting to write about Napolese for a while. I wanted to get a few visits under my belt before formulating my opinion. My conclusion is that Napolese is my favorite pizza in the city. The service and the food has always been top notch. I also love the neighborhood. I have always loved the homes in the area, and the whole block at 49th and Penn just really comes out of nowhere. The businesses are really part of the neighborhood. The only issue I have is that it gets pretty busy and you often have to wait for a table, as they do not take reservations. There are two sides to the restaurant and a patio. I have only sat in the main dining room and the patio. When I walked in, the first thing i noticed was the pizza oven. I enjoyed being able to see how the pizza was being made from start to finish. There are a few bar stools in front of the cooking area. It reminded me of Noble Roman's pizza growing up where you could watch the pizza artists through the window. You get a sense of how fresh the ingredients are as you can see the chefs chopping, rolling out the dough, and assembling the pizza. The key to a good wood fired pizza is the movement of the pizzas in the oven. You do not want to keep the pizza in the same place as it will burn. On the contrary if you add a pizza to the oven, you do not want to place it where you removed the last pizza as it will not be as hot. It becomes an art and the chefs at Napolese are pros.

When you are seated, you are brought a mixed sampling of olives. Only within the past few years have I become a fan of olives. These are pitted and can be eaten by themselves or to accompany any part of your meal. Not only does Napolese have the best pizza in the city, I'm convinced their double chopped salad is the best as well. I always add a few olives to the wonderful blend of ingredients. It is a base of romaine lettuce. The salad also has shredded mozzarella, gorgonzola, roasted peppers, crispy pancetta, thick sliced pepperoni, white corn and chickpeas. It is dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette. Each bite has something different and each ingredient works well with each other. It is a symphony of flavors. The ingredients aren't listed on the menu, but believe me, you will not be disappointed.

I feel like the pizzas change season to season. We went in the beginning of summer and they had this pesto based pizza with ham, pineapple, and jalepeno. When I went a few days ago, it was nowhere to be found. Luckily the Hamaker's corner pizza is a regular on the menu. It is pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, and provolone. It is a pretty basic pizza in comparison to the others on the menu. The pepperoni is thick cut and has great flavor. There are pretty decent sized pieces of sausage which give the pizza a mild spicy taste. The button mushrooms bring a wonderful, earthy flavor. The other pizzas I have had are the broken yolk, which is the margherita pizza with an egg cracked in the middle. This might scare off some, but it is so unique that we had to try it. I feel like this pizza would be better around brunch time. Elliot's pie is pancetta, potatoes, and gorgonzola. This wasn't my favorite, but it was still very good. The potatoes dried out in the cooking process. I just enjoy how everything is so fresh, which is probably why certain pizzas are available depending on the season. Since Napolese has the same owner as Cafe Patachou, you know you are getting the best, freshest ingredients. This restaurant is a great example of farm to table dining.

"Want to learn to EAt a lot? Here it is: EAt a little. That way you will be around long enough to EAt a lot." -Anthony Robbins

Mama Carolla's

1031 E. 54th St.
Indianapolis, IN 46220
(317) 259-9412
Mama Carolla's

Mama Carolla's ranks near the top of my favorite Italian restaurants in the city. Just a forewarning, they do maintain special hours. They are closed Sunday & Monday, and only open for dinner which starts at 5pm. They do not take reservations and will not seat you until your entire party is present. The moral of the story is plan on waiting on the weekends and make sure you invite your punctual friends. There is also a lounge to wait with a few tables and a bar. Luckily for us, we went early on a Thursday (6:30) and my college friends are prompt people. We had a party of four; @RFSchaffner, LMH, and Jim Calhoun. No, not the famed UCONN basketball coach. Jim Calhoun is a girl. Its a long story, and I did mention these are my college friends. The hostess sat us upstairs, in a table overlooking a balcony. The restaurant is a 1920's transformed house with Mediterannean and Spanish style architecture. It has a beautiful interior with what seems like original fixtures. The restaurant has a very intimate feel, so it is perfect for a date night. There was a roaring fire near the hostess stand and you just feel welcome when you walk in. During the summer there is seating on the patio, and I believe I have expressed the need for more restaurants with outdoor seating in the city. Our service was good. Our waitress knew the menu and had many suggestions for us.

Heeding our waitress's suggestion, we started with the artichoke fritters and bruschetta. The bruschetta was large slices of Italian bread, similar to Texas toast size bread. The bruschetta was topped shredded mozarella and fresh tomatoes. It was a very typical bruschetta, with notes of garlic, basil, and vinegar. The fritters were the about size of a meatball. They were filled with goat cheese and had lemon aioli drizzled on top. I have been asked many times to define an aioli. In its simplest form, think of a fancy mayo, as it is usually a blend of garlic, oil, and egg emulsion. For my entree, I ordered the carbonara with a side of tomato bread soup. The flavor in the soup was something like I had never tasted before. It had a very thick texture, but not much flavor. I had to add salt and pepper to enhance the flavor. I could barely taste the tomato, I would not order it again. The carbonara was the star of the meal. Carbonara is one of my all time favorite dishes. The dish is comprised of fetuccini noodles with an egg based cream sauce, with a little added white wine for acidity. There are pieces of pancetta, mushrooms, peas, and a dusting of parsely for a fresh flavor. I think I like how there is an ample amount of pancetta in every bite. For those of you who don't know what pancetta is, think Italian bacon, so there is a nice salty flavor to acompany the creamy sauce. I think the peas and mushrooms are added so you can convince yourself that it is a healthy meal because there are veggies involved. In all reality it is a very heavy dish. This is the first time in a while I did not join the clean plate club as the meal was so filling. The problem with cream based sauces, is that it not great the next day. More often than not, the sauce breaks when you reheat the dish. I recommend you go easy on the appetizers, if you plan on finishing the entire meal.

I'm going to leave you with an exchange between @rfschaffner and myself during this meal. He recently became a homeowner and was talking about the previous owner's infatuation with the color red. The house had many different shades of red on the exterior doors, the garage, and the mailbox post.

@RFS: "Everything is some different shade of red on the house. I can't wait to paint it. This lady was really into the color red"

@RealEAtingIndy: "Yeah, now she's really into dirt and worms."

 

"It's difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while EAting a homegrown tomato." -Lewis Grizzard