This year with all the stress and uncertainty
has been a moment where we need all the comfort food we can get. And while I adore my beloved southern comfort
foods, sometimes you need to call in a ringer to deliver some clutch vittles to
remind you that as crazy as life is, abundantly delicious calories makes it
all seem better. This week that ringer
comes from the Midwest.
Enter
Rosati's Pizza and
Sports Pub, newly opened in Buckhead on Roswell Road and Wiueca. An outpost
of an iconic Chicago deep-dish institution, Rosati's started making pizza in
1964 and now they are in 15 states including now Georgia.
Enter the "friendly confines" of the location in Buckhead and expect a
Cheers-style atmosphere with indoor tables and sports on TVs everywhere. Blues Brothers murals, Wrigley Field signs and other Windy City symbols abound and for the COVID-careful, a large covered patio
with heaters.
Start
off with some fried ravioli (actually, a St. Louis, not Chicago invention but who the hell
cares). Ravioli are dredged in
breadcrumbs, fried, and then served with a marinara sauce. Also, I get asked a lot where to get *real* Chicago-style
hot dogs—look no further. These are Vienna®
all-beef hot dogs on steamed poppy seed buns with sweet green pickle relish, pickled
onions, sport peppers, and a dash of celery salt. Their Italian Beef, too, is the real deal, luscious sliced marinated beef served au jus on perfect French bread.
But
the star of the show is the behemoth deep-dish pies; pan-cooked monsters with a
tall buttery crust, stuffed to the gills with multiple cheeses, chunky tomato
sauce, and whatever meats and veggies your heart desires. They shove it all in the dough and then bake
for 40 minutes. The result: a food so molecularly dense that a "small" 10'
pie probably weighs easily 10-12 pounds in the box.
The average calories per slice:
460-580 depending on the size.
But again, in a year like 2020, the last thing we need is calories. What we need is flavor and Rosati's delivers
in spades. My kid had never tried real deep-dish pizza and when he did his pupils grew to the size of large pepperonis and he said: "Dad, how did they do this!?" Yes, it's that good.
And
if you've just had the most rotten of all years, just order up the "Rosati's
Monster," a deep-dish gargantuan goliath of gluttony with sausage, pepperoni, ground
beef, bacon, mushroom, onion, green pepper, black and green olives. The caloric total: 3260-8050!
But, in for a penny in for a pound, I always say!
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