I'd like to start by saying that I've been to +39 my fair share of times. I've had varying degrees of satisfaction but overall I've obviously been satisfied enough to continue to dine there. This isn't going to be about my collective experience though. This will be about my most recent experience and only that.
+39 is in a great location with plenty of parking available. It's in a new building with a very well thought out floor plan. The decor is sharp and the staff is friendly but not overly sappy. It's the kind of place you might expect to see everyone drinking wine, which is good because they have a lot of it.
One thing I never appreciate is feeling like you need to know another language to order. Either that or you need to read all of the descriptions to find out what an item actually is. If you are the kind of person to smugly and in a slightly nasal voice, tell me that everyone knows that Pappa al Pomodoro is tomato soup with basil and olive oil....please stop reading this now. This blog is probably nowhere near sophisticated enough for your tastes. While I don't think the menu should simply list the dish as tomato soup, I also don't want to read the ingredients of one dish after another to find what I'm looking for. It's not classic literature and should not be required reading.
We started with the Cavolini. Wait....you don't know what Cavolini is? Seriously? Everyone knows Cavolini is Brussels Sprouts, pancetta, parmesan, and truffle aioli! How have you lived this long without knowing that? But really....joking aside, the Cavolini is incredible. We order it every time we are at +39 and I credit that specific appetizer for Brussels Sprouts becoming one of my favorite vegetables. The dish will stretch for 4 people but easily feed 2 people as an appetizer. I think I could go there by myself, order just the Cavolini and something to drink and leave feeling satisfied with what I had. Too bad I didn't do that last time I was there. This review would have ended differently.
One thing I've never ordered at +39 is the pizza. I guess I just feel like I can get pizza at plenty of other places and that's what I should have kept in mind on this visit. I should say that I love pizza. I've had all sorts of different varieties at places all over the country. I looked forward to comparing the pizza at +39 to other outstanding pizzas that I've enjoyed. It was a short-lived comparison.
I ordered the San Daniele which is described as "Tomato sauce, Prosciutto, mozzarella, arugula, Grana Padano". Basically, it's a thin sliced Italian ham pizza with arugula on top. If I thought there was anything wrong with that I wouldn't have ordered it. 50 minutes later, the pizza arrived. I could have understood the delay if they were waiting for the arugula to finish growing or they were having trouble getting the cheese imported and through customs. I'm going to guess that wasn't the case though. We finally got our pizzas and they looked big. They were bigger than the plate and looked very artistic. I understand that the look and presentation of a dish is important. I also understand that some people see it as an art. I don't think, however, that the pizza crust should literally be looked at as a canvas. Therefore, you might want to consider using something besides a paint brush to apply the tomato sauce. It was as if the "sauce" was painted on in a layer just thick enough to color the crust orange but thin enough to still be able to see the crust through it. That meant almost no tomato sauce. There really wasn't very much cheese either. There was a respectable amount of prosciutto unevenly distributed and plenty of arugula to draw away from the fact that there isn't much on this pizza. The crust was very thin, soft and under-cooked. Each slice was a respectable size but what toppings there were all slid off the limp crust. The good news is that you could put the toppings back on, roll everything up and pretend you were eating an Italian burrito.
This pizza was bland and boring. It seemed like a lot of thought was put into how it looked and not much thought into how it tasted. My dining companion had a different pizza. She was satisfied with the overall taste but agreed with me on the other points. I ate 2 of the 6 slices and considered not even taking the rest of it home. I did decide to take it home with the idea that it may be better cold at a later time. I was right. It was better the next day because it firmed up. I ate 1 of the remaining 4 slices and threw the rest in the garbage.
The only redeeming experience of this particular meal at +39 was the Cavolini. I actually like this restaurant a lot and expect better from them. That and the Cavolini are the only reasons I'm rating this dining experience at 2 pints (out of a possible 5) instead of 1 pint. Of course, I will go back but I highly doubt I will order any of their pizzas again.
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