• Reviews

At the Cucina, it's all about Family Traditions and great crust!

Dining Out section of The Day Newspaper by Elena Latici

For this Italian-American, a trip to Pizza Cucina was as close as it gets to time travel. OK, so my grandparents’ kitchen in Rockville didn’t have a coke machine and three men packing take-out boxes, but remove those details and what you’ve got is Sunday dinner with the relatives, circa 1953.

I love the way the little white cape house with its neon red flying tomato sign stands defiantly in the midst of Flanders Four Corner’s, daring us to recall a simpler time. Pizza Cucina owners Roberto + Naima D’Agostino have snatched something out of the ether with their unself-conscious recreation and it is lovely.

On a Sunday night, the little restaurant was getting slammed with customers. Nevertheless, we had a checkered covered table within minutes, right beneath the wedding portrait of Roberto’s Abruzzese grandparents, Tony and Hilda. The waitress arrived, unflappable in the face of chaos, taking our orders with smiles and efficiency and quickly returning with our house salads followed by a basket of hot, sliced focaccia bread with olive oil, garlic, rosemary and a sprinkling of Romano and Parmigiano cheeses.

There are side salads that accompany the pastas, but nothing like the big, gorgeous salad with Gorgonzola delivered to a neighboring table (next time!), but let’s talk about the focaccia, which is what they also use for the pizza crust. Baked in a traditional brick oven, it is Hilda’s recipe from Abruzzo and it is exquisite. A thin, crispy crust on the outside, moist and chewy on the inside, hot and fragrant from the oil and rosemary, with spice and tang from the garlic and cheese. This is why Pizza Cucina’s original pizzas have only crushed plum tomatoes and Romano and Parmigiano cheese as opposed to the (now available) N.Y. style pizza with red sauce and mozzarella. It’s all about the crust.

My husband had the Eggplant Parmigiano pasta ($9.95). The dish is served as a pasta, with the eggplant Parmigiano as the sauce instead of the usual slab of eggplant drowned in red sauce and smothered with enough leathery mozzarella to make a pair of shoes. The difference is delightful. The oven-roasted eggplant was fresh and tender as opposed to a fried fare-thee-well. There was just enough mozzarella to bind the dish, not overpower it. My choice of entree, the homemade ravioli ($10.95), were the plump little pillows they are supposed to be in true casalinga (home style) cooking, with none of those chewy edges you find in the mass-produced variety.

I had a fine glass of Montepulciano D'Abruzzo for $4.50. Of the three desserts offered — Italian ice in strawberry and lemon, Hagen Daz ice cream and Tiramisu — I chose the Tiramisu. It was the quintessential embodiment of its name, which means, "lift or pick me up." Light, sweet, but not too, with its combination of Italian cream and espresso.

The people of the Abruzzo region are known for their warm hospitality. They will take you right off the street into their kitchens. I know this because I’ve had it happen. This same spirit reigns at the white house at Flanders Four Corners. Tony and Hilda no doubt would be amazed and proud. If instead of dining out, you wish to take advantage of their take-out service, by all means do so. But do yourself a favor; forgo "The Sopranos" and rent "Big Night" instead.

Rating: Very Good
Cuisine: Italian from Abruzzo
Atmosphere: Your grandmother’s house, if your grandmother were Italian
Service: Friendly, efficient
Accessibility: Good, with great parking