CUCINOVA URBAN ITALIAN

Hailing from Columbus, Ohio, a new restaurant opened up in Kenwood this month, and it easily made its way onto my favorite tastes list. Cucinova moved into the shopping center near Half Price Books on Montgomery Road, and is serving up first tastes of the franchise in Cincinnati's northern suburbs.

Taking form in the popular walk-the-line, fast casual restaurant (similar to Chipolte), Cucinova cooks up custom creations in the form of personal Neapolitan pizzas, salads, and pasta bowls. Diners can opt for a chef-created specialty off the menu or build their own meal at each station. The best part: whatever you choose and however many toppings you pile on, it's only $6.99.

I visited Cucinova for a tasting night and sampled all three options, building each myself. I like to stretch the limits with toppings and was curious how the structural integrity of the pizza would hold up -- it succeeded! Made with hand-stretched, scratch-made dough, the pizza crust was full, fluffy and baked to perfection. If you like Dewey's pizza crust, you'll love this. Sliced into six pieces, I piled on plenty of veggies, seven to be exact, and opted for half red sauce, half creamy parmasean sauce, drizzled with balsamic. Both were spectacular, but the latter half was easily my favorite.

Next, the spaghettini bowl came with just the right amount of pasta and plenty of room to pile on the extras, plus sauce and cheese. I loved being able to fill the bowl with as much vegetables as pasta to even out the meal. Both the pasta and salad come in two sizes, small and large. The small was the perfect size to complement my other entrees; I could easily see doing a pick two with both a small pasta and a salad for lunch.

There's pasta under there somewhere...

I also built a salad with just as many veggies heaped on top of the lettuce, plus two kinds of cheese, and a plank of salmon. I'm pretty picky about ordering fish from quick service restaurants, and this one exceeded expectations. The salmon was fresh and juicy, not frozen and reheated, and flaked apart as if it were straight from the sea. I never thought I would pick a salad over pasta or pizza, but this was by far my favorite thing of the night -- and the bowl that I emptied first.

If you haven't been to Cucinova yet, here's a reason to give it a try:
I'm giving away a $25 gift certificate to the restaurant to one lucky winner! To join, leave a comment on our Cucinova Facebook post and I'll pick a winner October 31! Now that's a Halloween treat everyone can enjoy.

A DORK AND HIS PIZZA PARTY

My friend Jeff, author of the blog A Dork and His Pork, hosted a small rendezvous to share his new recipe: made from scratch pizza pies.

Each guest had personal sized pizza made from hand-tossed dough and freshly prepared sauce. Everyone was responsible for bringing their own ingredients. I selected sweet peppers, mozzarella, and bacon, while others brought specialties like fig, goat cheese, and pineapple. I was fortunate enough to try a few bites of each.

Like everything that comes out of Jeff's kitchen, the pizzas were extraordinary! He perfected the method of toasting the bottom of the crust in a frying pan, then baking it in the broiler for a few minutes. This resulted in a crisp, solid crust with molten, savory toppings.

Jeff also treated us with homemade gherkins that put all other pickles to shame. You can find the recipe on his blog.

PIZZA BOMBA

Mmmmm. Gourmet specialty pizza by the slice.

Think of Dewey's Pizza or Mellow Mushroom. Then think of being able to sample a slice of everything on their menu. That's PizzaBomba.

 

Pounding the pavement in their extreme pizza wagon, the Bomba team serves up four specialty pies daily, hot, fresh and wood-fired from their truck. Each has fluffy, buttery crust that puts other doughs to shame. Of course, the menu offers traditional cheese or pepperoni, but my taste buds like adventure.

 

Crab Rangoon Pizza: cream cheese, plentiful chunks of crab meat, sweet chili sauce, topped with mozzarella and provolone.

 

Oktoberfest:  creamy sour kraut spread topped with sliced bratwurst and mettwurst and covered with mozzarella and provolone.

 

Macaroni & Bier Cheese: dollops of beer cheese topped with cooked macaroni, provolone, mozzarella, and cheddar.

When you visit PizzaBomba, you'll find Bill chatting with customers on the ground and Terri slinging pies in the truck. With locally sourced ingredients, pizza by the slice or by the pie, and the most explosive eye-catching logo in town, everything you find at this food truck is da'bomb!

Find PizzaBomba at Fountain Square weekdays during lunch, Night Owl Market, City Flea, and weekend evenings around OTR.

Follow PizzaBomba on Twitter to see when they'll roll into your neighborhood.