Gabriella's Pizzeria and Ristorante

     OK, I know in the last post I said that I wouldn't be going out to eat for a while due to my recent string of restaurant visits, but this one couldn't be avoided. When Don and I started talking about the different pizzerias in the area on Thursday evening, which is an oft-visited topic of post-surf conversation, I knew it was only a matter of time. I hadn't eaten pizza in at least a month, and I know Jeannine hadn't in longer than that, so we were due. You'll be proud to know we held out and suffered. Until Friday. While I was surfing after work, I felt like one thing for dinner: pizza. When I got to the car and there was a text message that read "Do you want to make something for dinner or do you want pizza," I knew it was fate.
     So we went to Gabriella's Pizzeria, in the Kmart plaza in Manahawkin, in the strip-mall slot that used to house Trupia's. I hadn't been there since it was Trupia's, so I didn't really know what to expect. It wasn't crowded at all, and the waitress came right over and took our drink order. For food we ordered a half dozen order of garlic knots and a large pizza with broccoli rabe and sausage.
     We didn't wait long for the garlic knots, with dipping marinara, which upon first sight assured me that this pizza joint already had something going for it. The knots were big and covered with garlic and sesame seeds, and you could tell by the browning that the outside shell was going to be a bit crispy, kind of like a bagel's outer texture. Biting into the knots revealed a chewy, doughy, delicious center that is crucial to garlic knots. Firm and a bit crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. This is how I prefer my garlic knots and how the should be done. Sometimes "pizza" joints make garlic knots that are nothing more than glorified rolls with a few sesame seeds sprinkled on and some bland garlic taste (see Joey's in Manahawkin). When I get garlic knots like that, it's going to take some ridiculously good pizza to make me want to go back. I don't think it's happened yet. But at Gabriella's, the garlic knots were perfect. What a way to start.
     The pizza came out just as we were finishing the knots, and it you could tell from the slight browning on the crust that it was cooked perfectly. Another reassuring thing on first sight: the sausage was the crumbly ground sausage that some places use for their topping (Panzone's comes to mind), not sausage slices. I prefer the ground sausage on pizza, not that the slices are worse, just different. I think it comes down to texture.
     Picking up a slice of pizza can reveal a lot. Does the point of the slice droop down when it is folded, or does it hold true? If it stands firm, that's a good sign, and Gabriella's slice did just that. Another thing you notice when picking up a slice is the amount of grease that drips off, which in this case was pretty minimal. Another good sign. Then comes the first bite. Delicious. The undercrust was crisp and chewy, but doesn't show any resistance to biting, like some overcooked pizzas do. The combination of broccoli rabe and sausage was really, really good (I have to hand it to Jeannine for the addition of the broccoli rabe, it was her idea). In all, a perfect pizza. And I'm not just saying that because it was the first I had eaten in over a month. It really was cooked to perfection, right down to the crispy, chewy, crunchy crust. And the price wasn't bad by today's standards: two sodas, one half-dozen garlic knots, and a large pie with two toppings came to about $25.00. More than I want to spend on pizza really, but it seems like most pizza is like that nowadays. The pains of a palled economy.
     So, in the end, I will go there again, especially since we decided that we don't get pizza enough, and plan to get it at least once a month. Keeping it sparse keeps it special. But if we will go to Gabriella's again next time, or go to some joint we've never been, only time will tell.