For an appetizer, we ordered the braised pork belly, kale pesto, roasted potatoes and currants. I took my first bite and almost broke out in song. Every once in awhile I eat a dish that reminds me that I’ve barely scratched the surface of what the culinary world can do. This is one of those dishes. Pork belly is basically bacon that hasn’t been smoked or cut. It’s notorious for being tough when cooked. Enter braising. The belly is cooked on low heat with liquid and spices for a long time. A very long time. This breaks apart the connective tissue and turns any tough cut of meat into pure magic. Such was the case with this dish. The combination of the slow-braised pork belly, perfectly roasted potatoes, kale pesto dressing, and currants was out of this world. This dish has also inspired me to go buy some currants and start experimenting.

*Side note, I love when a restaurant spreads out the courses. Each plate was brought to us 10-15 minutes apart, and we were able to enjoy it and not feel rushed. So many places bring everything out at once and your table is overflowing with proof of your gluttony. You almost feel ashamed as you take spoonfuls from 5 different plates of food in as many bites. But when they bring each plate out on its own, you have time to enjoy every bite. The flavors linger on your tongue and you start really appreciating that plate for the work that went into it.

Back to our dinner. Is there a better combination than blue cheese and bacon? You’d be hard-pressed to find it. Any time I’m looking for a salad, if there’s an option with blue cheese and bacon I go for it. One of the other ingredients could be cockroaches for all I care, I’m still getting it. Fortunately for us, the butter lettuce wedge salad did not have cockroaches in it. If you’ve never had butter lettuce, you need to try it. It’s tender, creamy, yet crisp- try and figure that one out. All I know is it’s amazing and so was this salad.

As we sat and contemplated how awesome the salad was, our pizza slid onto our table. I wanted to give Jules a high-five when I saw it, but she had already started eating. We were like wolves. It wasn’t until after we were finishing our first pieces that we realized we hadn’t taken a picture. *shutter sound- ok back to eating. The name “Pizzeria 712” was inspired by the way they cook their pizza- in a 712 degree oven. High heat is crucial when cooking pizza and this place nailed it. The sausage was made in house and matched perfectly with the caramelized onions and fresh tomato sauce. In my opinion, any sauce made from tomato should not be ashamed that it’s made from tomato. Sometimes you’ll eat a spaghetti or pizza sauce that is filled with spices and other things trying to cover up the fact that it’s made from tomato. Whenever possible, use fresh tomatoes and let it sing. The pizza sauce at Pizzeria 712 is both fresh and flavorful, and was not apologetic.

Most often when we hear someone talking about strawberry shortcake, what they are referring to is angel food cake topped with macerated strawberries and whipped cream from a can. When a cake or bread is referred to as “short,” what that means is there has been something added to the mix to shorten the gluten strands (gluten is the protein found in flour, and just like protein in meats, it forms long, elastic strands). Things that shorten gluten strands include crisco (also referred to as “shortening”- did I just blow your mind?), oil, and butter. The fats get in the strands of gluten and break them apart, creating a crumbly texture. The strawberry shortcake at Pizzeria 712 was a true shortbread cake. It was a little detail that told me these people cared about what they were making. The shortbread was topped with fresh strawberries, fresh whipped cream, and cracked red pepper corns. Outstanding.