Wednesday, January 11, 2012.
Two Hours Lost Searching For Pizza.
The deflated tire on my car was indeed a lost cause. But it's only six months old! The guys at the tire shop said that my wheels are going bad. They blame it on the aerosol flat-fixing stuff that I have been known to use. So now I need four new wheels?
Now that I could, I drove the car to KT Automotive in Mandeville to have a host of issues repaired. All of them sound expensive: transmission, clutch, leaky oil pan. I figure I won't see my old flivver for a couple of weeks.
Mary Ann invited herself to dinner with me. How about Sorelli's, the pizza and Italian place in old Covington? I asked. She liked that idea. But the place was dark. A sign on the door gave thanks to all of Sorelli's two years' worth of customers, and said that the big party on New Year's Eve would be its last service. Aw. I think Sorelli's is the sixth restaurant to open and close at this location since we moved to the area twenty years ago. Mary Ann says it's because they didn't advertise enough.
We passed in front of another place that she thinks should buy her ads but won't: Del Porto, which may be the best Italian restaurant in the entire metropolitan area. They weren't very busy tonight, but some of that has to be blamed on the aftereffects of the LSU Massacree of two days ago. Still, Del Porto is too good not to have more tables full. We thought about going, but that's a bigger, longer investment than we were up for (or dressed for) tonight.
Our next idea was the new second location of Bosco's. All I know about the location is that it was in the vicinity of the I-12/LA21 nexus. It wasn't where either of us thought it was. We called the restaurant and got directions, at the end of which was the advice that they weren't open tonight.
We headed back into Covington and, with pizza still floating around in our consciousness, we wound up at Colonna's. Interesting story: the owner's family has roots in New Haven, Connecticut--a major homeland for pizza. The family still runs a pizzeria in New Haven, although the first generation is now retired.
Second and third generations are here, and tonight constituted the entire staff. There's been a buzz about this place since it opened a year ago. In fact, tonight is the first anniversary of the opening, although you would not have known that from the quietude of the place. We were the only customers eating in during our stay, although quite a few take-outs were taken out. Again, the LSU malaise and the cold weather must have depressed things. Nor does Colonna's location in the back of a strip mall help.
No salads, said son of chef. No unsweet iced tea, either. We ordered two pizzas: one cheese (for me), the other with practically everything (for MA). The crusts were well-made.The sauce wasn't much, but the cheeses were rich enough to make the plain pie a bit greasy. Strangely, Mary Ann's pizza didn't have that problem, and for once I had to say that hers was the better. Maybe this is a place that designs its pizzas to be loaded.
This entire odyssey around Covington took almost two hours. All for pizza!
Colonna's Pizzeria. Covington: 842 N Collins Blvd. 985-893-0910.
It's over three years since a day was missed in the Dining Diary. To browse through all of the entries since 2008, go here.
