Campfire Pizza, 9633 Prominent Point, an eatery in The Homestead Collective complex, is scheduled to open Friday. This new Neapolitan pizza parlor uses executive chef Joseph Bonavita’s recipe for sourdough pizza dough. His unique touch is the use of sesame seeds on the crust, making for an added level of deliciousness to the pies. The seeds toast as the pizza bakes in the superhot, wood-fired oven, creating a rich, nutty flavored crust.
At a recent sneak peek and tasting of the menu, we were impressed with the 10 signature pies on the menu. Our favorites included The Campfire ($21), with smoked elk sausage, jalapenos, red onion, smoked mozzarella and barbecue sauce, and the Mortadella ($19), with freshly sliced, creamy delicious mortadella from Italy, house-made ricotta and a unique lemon pesto. All pizzas are 10 inches.
The Vodka Chicken Parm sandwich is on the menu at the soon to open Campfire Pizza in The Homestead Collective restaurant hub.
Teresa Farney/teresa.farney@gazette.com
There are three sandwiches offered: Meatball Parm, Vodka Chicken Parm and Italian Hero. All are $18 each. The sandwiches are made like a deconstructed calzone. Instead of the filling ingredients tucked into a dough pocket and baked, Bonavita’s version is a huge round of baked pizza folded over the sandwich fillings. The fillings peek out around the charred edges of the crust. The massive sandwich is cut into sections for easy sharing.
We shared slices of the Meatball Parm and the Vodka Chicken Parm, which both were over-the-top delicious.
“The meatballs are made daily using my Siclian recipe that has been passed down through my family,” Bonavita said. “The secret is not to pack the meatballs. Just toss the ball of meat gently from palm to palm to lightly form the balls. Then they are slowly braised several hours in a tomato sauce.”
The result is a light, fluffy-like tender meatball. The chicken was a generous serving with meat fork-tender and juicy.
Hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Details: 719-282-8804, tinyurl.com/bddmwpc4.
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James Africano, owner and chef of the Warehouse restaurant, 25 W. Cimarron St., hosts special menu-tasting dinners to introduce his seasonal menus. At his recent “Taste the Good Life” spring menu sampling, we got an early preview of the surprises you can find at Africano’s restaurant now.
New appetizers to check out are the ahi tuna ceviche (cubes of ruby-red fish seasoned with spicy serrano chiles, garnished with cilantro micro greens; cucumber agra chile (Asian spicy cucumber salad), tomato, pickled red onion; and lime-spiked avocado wedges.
The short rib “Frenchiladas” was Africano’s play on French savory crepes stuffed with braised Wagyu short ribs in a mixture of caramelized onions and ginger and covered in melted Gruyère; it looks like an enchilada when served.
“It’s a play on crepes, French onion soup, and an enchilada,” Africano said.
Diners raved about the hearty dish and made notes to order it at happy hour when the appetizer is $14 instead of $21.
Roasted yellow tomato and fennel soup is a new spring menu dish at the Warehouse restaurant.
Teresa Farney/teresa.farney@gazette.com
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The roasted yellow tomato and fennel soup shouted spring with its lovely pastel yellow hue and the promise of summer tomatoes in our near future. Africano served the soup individually at the table, pouring the piping-hot soup over bowls of shredded fresh fennel, crispy croutons and basil.
“I use frozen yellow tomatoes imported from Italy for the soup base,” he said. “They have a wonderful flavor and color.”
The classic spring dish Africano calls “Peas & Carrots” was amazingly flavorful house-made carrot tagliatelle, topped with an almond cream sauce with freshly shelled English, sugar snap and snow peas, and seasoned with ginger, shallots and marjoram. A few of the snow pea pods were slivered and added, which gave a crunchy texture to the dish.
“This is a vegan dish because it’s made with almond cream,” he said.
The entree, grilled venison chops, was simply served with Amarena cherry jus with Gruyère potato gratin and fresh haricot vert topped with almonds.
The showstopper was lemon ricotta bread pudding with blueberry foam, lemon curd and crème anglaise, and garnished with mint and basil.
Africano’s seasonal menu-change dinners are a treat and worth keeping an eye on social media for the announcements. Restaurant hours are 4-10 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Details: 719-475-8880, facebook.com/whcos.
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The AMGOC Ladies Philoptochos Society of the Archangel Michael Greek Orthodox Church, 2215 Paseo Road, will have a Philoptochos Bake Sale 11 a.m.-3 p.m. April 12. The ladies of the society have prepared a variety of Greek pastries and home-baked goods, like tsoureki (sweet Easter yeast bread), baklava (crispy phyllo dough layered with chopped walnuts and soaked in honey syrup), buttery kourabiedes (almond butter biscuits) and savory spanakopita (spinach pie), which will be available at the sale to support the local charitable endeavors of the AMGOC society.
Spring events
The Margarita at Pine Creek, 7350 Pine Creek Road, has a couple of not-to-miss dinners coming up. Reservations at 719-598-8667. Here’s a look at the events:
• The “All Things Crab Weekend,” Thursday through Saturday. For $82 (plus tax and tip) you get a four-course crab-focused dinner.
• The “Moments in History” wine dinner series reboot, which will spotlight Neolithic Revolution (aka the Fertile Cresent), an era marked a pivotal shift in human history from nomadic hunter-gatherer societies to settled agricultural communities, starting around 10,000 BCE, and leading to the development of civilizations. The dinner will be at 6:30 p.m. April 10. For $85 (plus tax and tip), you get a multi-course dinner featuring cuisine from the Neolithic Revolution, with wines paired by Dirk Stamp, owner of The Wine Seller.