Pitfire

Yesterday while I was out and about, helping my friend Thom hunt for a new dresser, we stopped for lunch in NoHo.  The place we intended to eat at, Phil’s Diner, was closed.  Instead we wound up at Pitfire Pizza (www.pitfirepizza.com).  Thom hadn’t been there in years, and his last experience there was lacking.  I assured him that I had been in the recent past and the food had improved dramatically (they had gone downhill several years ago – but I suspect they have new owners or management and it really got better). 

They offer a variety of Panini, salads, pastas, and of course, pizzas.  They also offer up seasonal specialties, one of which caught my eye:  braised short rib and farfalle pasta.  It sounded just too good to pass up.  The short ribs are braised in red wine….yum.   I also ordered a watermelon lemonade (they did away with their soft drink machine, which I find disappointing).  I could have had a beer as they do offer a nice selection of craft beers, but I would have wanted to nap after lunch then.

When the server brought my pasta, the farfalle was piled very nicely in the dish, with the short rib meat mixed in.  At first, it looked like there wasn’t a lot of meat in the dish, but once I dug in, I discovered how they had layered it throughout the pasta and had been generous with the serving.  It just melted in my mouth.  The meat was tender and had great flavor from the red wine.  The pasta was almost al dente, but broke up easily enough so I didn’t have to really work to cut the noodles.  This was a dish I could eat over and over again, and was priced reasonably at $14.95.

The watermelon lemonade, however, I did have some issues with.  While I did enjoy the flavor, the mouth feel on it was a little off-putting.  It coated my mouth and left an overly sweet aftertaste.  I don’t know if it was from the watermelon, the sugar, or some combo thereof, but it wasn’t how I like a lemonade to be.  Note to self – don’t order that again.

Overall, I can recommend Pitfire Pizza with no real reservations.  On Saturdays you can also hit the local farmer’s market just around the corner, too.