Thursday, December 17, 2009

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The perfect pie By SHAVAUGHN MOSS ~ Lifestyles Editor ~ shavaughn@nasguard.com: It's possibly the best-kept secret on the Cable Beach strip, which serves up almost 80 pizza pies on a busy night to those in the know. It's a secret that I've been told about on a number of occasions, but, it wasn't until a 10-year-old child gave it her stamp of approval, did I walk through the doors to Milano Bistro, next to the Sandals Royal Bahamian Hotel. It was on a Wednesday evening if I recall clearly. At the time I got what has been named the Milano pizza — prosciutto, pepperoni, gorgonzola and mascarpone cheeses toppings — for no other reason than it just sounded delicious. As the store's manager Natasha Farah handed it to me, she boldly said I'd be back before the week's end. By the Friday I had a longing for another one of their pies, and on Saturday had darkened their doorstep, with a friend in tow. There is absolutely no going back after your first taste of a pizza from their kitchen, because no other pie will stimulate your taste buds quite like one from Milano Bistro. Thin, with a crust that's not too hard, and not too soft, but just right, with toppings that are fresh and plentiful, and without a ton of tomato sauce, it was a taste of true Italian hand-tossed pizza at its best. Best of all no doughy crust to leave behind. It was so light and delicious, I could eat the entire thing, but I held myself back. "In a lot of places, you don't eat the crust or whatever else, but here I assure you your plate will be clean," said Farah. "When you taste our pizzas, it's something new, and you will be back, and I've called it many times. If they come on a Tuesday, I'll say I'll see you on Thursday, and they look at me weird, and when they come on that Thursday, they say you told me I'll be back, and I say I know because I know what I'm serving." Curious as to how they got their pizzas to be so delicious, and light and crusty all at the same time, Farah says they make their pizzas like everyone else — dough, tomato sauce, cheese toppings, but freshness and the quality of their ingredients she says is key. She also says everything they use is authentically Italian. Farah says key to their crust, depends on the flour they use and the measurement of flour as well. They also cook their pizzas in a stone oven. According to what you order on your pie, it can take anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes to bake — taking into consideration how much extra sauce and how much extra cheese you want. Farah says the dough for their pizzas is made every day by 12 noon, so it can be set by 5 p.m., the "bewitching hour" for the firing of the oven. They have the basic pizzas from cheese to pepperoni, to a meat lover, and a vegetarian, but you can customize your own pizza, if they have the toppings. "We're not the gourmet-style pizza, we're a pizzeria where you can go and get a good pizza. Sometimes we would do a special pizza like the fresh broccoli, cauliflower and the carrots and whatever else . . . Hawaiian, but we try to keep it Italian, but on a lucky night you could get something different." And, they only do one size pizza, the Italian way, eight thin slices. Milano Bistro, which is owned by a Bahamian and her Italian husband who is the maestro in the kitchen actually making the pizzas, opened their doors in 2004, doing lunch specials, but customers kept coming in and wanting more things. They started getting the older crowd who wanted something to drink and who would ask for light food and not rice and chicken. The couple went to the drawing board and came up with meals like meat and a salad and bread, then the chef baked a Margherita pizza (tomato, basil and cheese) for his wife, they shared it with some the customers, and that's how they started making the pies. Pizza is now their biggest seller at night, and people drive from the eastern end of the island for one of their pies. "Pizza is a big seller, but also, I think it's the atmosphere, because it's also a networking place, the girls are nice, and I think we have the best customer service in Nassau," said Farah. Open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., with the kitchen shutting down at 9:50 p.m. Milano Bistro also offers lunch, and Farah would put her head on the chopping block because she believes their lasagna, which is made daily, is the best around. "I would say this with conviction that we have the best lasagna in Nassau and the best pizzas, and the best coffees. I can hold anyone to it." Café Milano also serves Italian sandwiches like Pancetta, Porchetta and Bresaola. They also offer pastries that are made on sight and from scratch. Milano Bistro is supposed to be decorated like an Italian bistro, but it's not. When you walk in the walls say Italian, but everything else is knick-knack, like going into your home. Farah says the owners wanted it that way because they wanted people to feel comfortable, come in, put their feet up, have a cigarette or cigar, laugh and joke. The tables are sans linens. You go in, pick the seat you want, and they walk over to serve you. So if you want to sit outside by the road, you can. Even your dogs are welcome in the outdoor seating area, and the chef may even make "Fluffy" a biscuit with the leftover pizza, and staff will give him a bowl of water to wash it down. "It's a family place and that's how the owners want it, and they treat you just like family. We talk to you just like you're at home. For some reason they keep coming back." Guess it's for those pizza pies, so I tried to get Farah to reveal the owner's secrets, but other than saying they use olive oil, she said if she revealed the secret she would probably have to kill me. "That would be like Kentucky giving away their 12 herbs and spices secret," she said. The only other person that knows the recipe to the Milano Bistro pie of goodness is the person that works alongside the chef in the kitchen. If you're heading to Milano Bistro for your first taste, beware that this stuff is good — very, very good and that you will definitely be back. And they also don't do pizzas in halves — that's a no-no. So if you're placing an order for two people who want different toppings, you have to order two pizzas. Farah's favorite thing about their pizza she says is that everybody likes it. In all of her years managing Milano Bistro she says she's yet to have a complaint about their pies. If you want a beer or wine or lemonade or other soft drink to go with your pizza, you can get that at Milano Bistro too. Wednesday, November 18, 2009