We pre-checked Settebello one night after spotting him across the parking lot from our frequent coffee spot and kids’ play spot, Kinderland. Its dim lighting and modern rustic style was just to our liking. From the entrance, we saw a private liquor room and a burning fireplace just past a bar. We took his high quality paper menu and business card to review until we got back.
Matt, our waiter was friendly and knew his stuff. He spoke every word in Italian with eloquence and explained the restaurant’s foundation, Napoletana, a unique type of pizza that he had never heard of before! It is a soft, handmade dough that is cooked in a wood oven for 1 minute at 900 degrees. We ordered their recommendations for Salad Romana ($12) and Pizza Pere E Jalapeno ($14), a “white pizza” meaning it excludes the usual tomato sauce and other toppings provide the “sauce”. We ordered our own choice as well; the Settebello pizza ($14) because it is the restaurant’s namesake and because it has chorizo. We drank delicious drinks and took photos of the happy hour menu while we waited. My fiance drank a “dark orange” mule ($10) in his classic copper cup and I drank a red sangria on grainy ice with an orange slice ($8).
Our salad was the perfect precursor to our heavy pizza meal, a spring mix based salad topped with goat cheese and pine nuts. It is these fine ingredients that justify the good prices on the Settebello menu. I think I’m getting good value here.
Our 11″-13″ inch pizzas (their only size) arrived shortly after we devoured our salad and first round of drinks after our long day. The special crust, Napoletana, reminded me of naan or pita bread. It was best eaten with a fork or folded over and was very delicious like the taste and smell of homemade breads. Despite having a bit of sauce on both pizzas, both were satisfying.
After a trip to the bathroom, which had brought out the rustic cool completely, I had returned to my fiancée’s dessert choice of some sort of mini donut filled with Nutella and topped with cinnamon sugar. It was as good as it sounds. I chose a lemon flavor which Matt explained comes from the lemon zest that is placed inside the dough before it is fried. This restaurant has no shortage of attention to detail in their food and that is what I love and look for in a restaurant! Our bill came to $80.00 and we both looked at each one and simultaneously said “it’s worth it”.
