Last night Chef/Owner Ruth Gresser declared that proceeds from all her Pizza Paradiso locations would go to help a journalist who had been imprisoned in Iran. We felt this was a worthy cause and a good excuse to head to their newest location just 5 minutes away in Spring Valley.
The staff here is super friendly and when Will asked for some help with the beer our server Chantal actually brought over tastes of the ones he asked about; he settled on Dynasty and declared it yummy. Samuel loved the sparkling lemonade and I was very happy with a glass of Montepulciano d'Abruzzo La Fera to start and moved on to a fuller red with Le Duc Arbie Chianti Superior from Dievole. The wine list is short, but the wines are excellent and almost all available by the glass.
We looked at the specials and the Sesame Kale salad with radish, celery and carrot with soy-sesame dressing sounded yummy and chose that along with the Insalata Romana of escarole, marinated artichokes, sundried tomatoes, white beans, Grana Padana and a creamy garlic dressing. Sam would have no salad(he eats them always at home) so he had the Bruschetta loaded with fresh tomato, but Will and I split the two wonderful dishes. The Kale was simpler, and the Romana dressing was creamy but never overpowering or too much.
One, of course, orders pizza here and Sam went with the Quattro Formaggi of Mozzarella, Gorgonzola, Pecorino, Grana Padana, garlic & parsley insisting on the 12 inch, but still could not finish it. We decided to share the special Nebraska Rueben of corned beef, swiss cheese, and sauerkraut which was a dream. The special pizzas these days are named for various states (US of Pizza) and specifically dedicated to women in the restaurant industry and our lives in general; a nice touch as the menu indicated in 2018 more women were elected to political positions than ever before in history! the Rueben was amazing with yummy corned beef pieces and sauerkraut but dressed just right so nothing was too much. Our other pizza was the Paesana of spicy garlic pesto with Paradiso Chicken sausage, sautéed red peppers, roasted escarole, broccoli rabe, mozzarella and ricotta. Me, liking my pizza spicy, shook some of the red pepper flakes on top before I tasted and the pesto and sausage were spicy so it really was on fire, but still delicious.
Two desserts arrived in the form of chocolate almond cake which was delish, but the souffle-like Tiramisu was divine. We went home VERY full, knowing that NW DC's Spring Valley and surroundings welcomes and embraces Pizza Paradiso(the place was virtually full by 8pm!) and we are thrilled to have such hi quality pizza 7 minutes away!
