It has taken me sometime to come here but as they say it's better late then never. Appetito is the Italian trattoria down in Hamra, facing The Plaza Hotel and next to Ferdinand.
This street restaurant, known in France as a restaurant de Quartier (Il Ristorante di quartiere), occupies a small street in Hamra. Inside, warm yellow chandeliers set under a low white ceiling light a cozy space. The oven faces the entrance decorated with walls of bricks over a floor of concrete. It clearly looks like an Italian spot forgotten somewhere in the mountains of Sicily.
A bar, the pizza furnace and tables covered with white cloth and red squared decorative stripes. I like it where the Pizzaiolo works: Marmites pend from the ceiling and wood logs await to be thrown in the oven.
The menu has it all, five pages of choices. Starters, salads, pizza and main played as well as dessert of which a special dessert pizza.
Tonight I came here for the pizza and the pizza only. I am surely visiting again for the rest of the menu.
The pizza: Thin dough, with black spots on its bottom from the oven, surrounded by a toasted and grilled border and a heart spread with tomato sauce and filled with dried tomatoes, chunks of goat cheese, mozzarella and decorated with basil leaves. Truffle oil adds a boost and a certain finesse I loved. I enjoyed this pizza especially the sauce, which can be asked to be prepared with or without garlic. It’s good.
This is just an overview of Appetito down in Hamra. Expect another visit soon.
