When I die and go to Heaven I hope there will be a pizzeria on every corner with a great wine list. I think I found a little Heaven on Earth last night at Grimaldi’s at The Bell Tower Shops in Fort Myers. Yes, it is the world famous Grimaldi’s from Brooklyn! The pizzeria has been serving up award winning pies for more than 100-years and has finally opened its first restaurant in Florida. Thank God they picked Fort Myers!
The dough is hand tossed and cooked in a coal-fired brick oven to get that perfect crispy, smoky crust. You’ve probably heard New Yorkers say the secret to making the best pizza crust (and bagels) is in the water. Apparently Grimaldi’s thinks so too. They hired a chemist to analyze and recreate the mineral content of the water in their Fort Myers restaurant to match the exact composition of that in New York
The menu is simple: Pizzas, Calzones and Salads. The wine list for a pizza joint is VERY impressive with names like Ferrari Carano, Gaja, Treana, Prunotto Barolo, Cakebread and Sonoma Cutrer among others. We enjoyed a carafe of the house Montepulciano for $15. It was better with food than on it’s own but that's typical for most Italian wines.
Wine decision made, food decision not so easy. Faced with so many mouthwatering options we couldn't decide on just one pie! We ordered 4 personal sized pizzas: a classic Pepperoni, a traditional Margarita, a White Pizza (with Calamata olives and basil) and a Pesto Pizza (with artichokes and sun dried tomatoes). Each was fantastic, fresh and flavorful; the crust lived up to it's reputation and then some! I can't wait to go back and try more combinations!
One of the secrets behind a scrumptious pizza is the oven used. For me, a pizza made from a coal-fired brick oven is more delicious than that of a pizza baked in an electric oven. I prefer the traditional way because you get to achieve a real smoky crust and taste all the flavors.
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