Famoso

Back in Baltimore, my husband and I had all our favorites - favorite pizza, favorite Thai, favorite Mexican, etc. But now we're in a new city and have to discover new favorites, pizza being the top of the list. You just need to have a go-to pizza place.

First stop on thelist: Famoso Neapolitan Pizzeria. I read some good reviews of Famoso online, plus there happens to be a location right up the street from our apartment. We tried to go out to dinner there one Thursday night, but the hostess informed us of an hour-long wait. I took that as a good sign.

Luckily, Famoso also does take-out. Our order: one Siciliana pizza, made with fresh mozzarella, fresh Basil, Italian sausage, Italian ham, and baked prosciutto. I forgot to take a picture of it at the time, but captured a leftover slice the next day:

Not the greatest picture, but you can see this slice is loaded with meats and basil on a thin and delicate crust, with a little crunch at the end. So good! The thinner the better for my pizza crust. The pizza is on the smaller side (and only comes in one size); one pizza here might not be enough for two hungry people.

We also ordered the Tapenade Trio, which is listed as an appetizer on Famoso's menu and described as Roasted Kalamata Olive Tapenade blended with garlic and feta cheese; Roasted Artichoke Tapenade blended with reggiano parmesan cheese, capers, and fresh garlic; and bruschetta with garlic, red wine vinegar and fresh basil. Served with flatbread.

Again, I have some day-after pictures to share.

The hands-down winner here is the Olive Tapenade - I could eat entirely too much of that. The bruschetta is pretty standard, but good. I'm on the fence about the Artichoke; I think the flavor of the capers overpowered everything else. I still ate the whole thing, of course :)

While Famoso serves their tapenade on flatbread, I put my leftovers on these baguette crackers instead:

If you see these in your supermarket, go by some asap! Crunchy, spicy and delicious - the tapenades were perfect on them.

We finished our original meal off with a scoop of Famoso's Creme Brulee Gelato, which basically tasted like caramel and was ridiculously good.

We were happy with our Famoso experience, and I'm looking forward to eating at the restaurant at some point. However, while I have no complaints about their pizza, we still need to try a few more places before our 'favorite' is established. My heart still belongs to Baltimore's Tutti Gusti!

--R