The Soup at Sa-Za's Pizza

Wedding soup shown with garlic bread.

As an elite and expendable member of the recently formed Gump Guinea Pigs, I have had my eye for some time on the lunch time activities of one local individual whom I shall identify only as "Finicky Real Estate Lawyer." I have noticed that over time this Finicky Real Estate Lawyer walks to lunch most days in what has developed into a habit involving where he will eat lunch. Since he is a fastidious dresser and well-respected bon vivant, I thought today would be a good day to tail him to see what he has found within walking distance of The Alley downtown.

I am aware of the fact that members of this blog have had spats with the staff at Sa-Za's about triple parking in loading zones--especially on Sunday. They know who they are. But I cannot deny that Finicky Real Estate Attorney quickly ducked into the Alley Station--cut a glance into the new Deli in the Alley (undergoing a pre-opening run-through)--and then dashed briskly into Sa-Za's Pizza, rushed past the "greeter" and bee-lined for the Captain's table which separates the kitchen from the dining area.

Due to my size, I was not noticed scampering along behind. But from my observation point, I noticed that almost no words were spoken to the staff. They recognized the Finicky Lawyer. Immediately winks and nods were passed like some form of code and the meal was on.

What had this anal retentive attorney and counselor ordered at a restaurant known for pizza, pasta and other home-cooked "serious" Italian fare?

The suspense was causing me to gnaw at a table leg.

Then, within about five minutes, the chef handling the table placed a black bowl with a big spoon before him along with a piece of garlic bread which, naturally, he had ordered with the garlic removed.

Climbing inconspicuously up one of the natural wooded beams which give the place a modern warehouse ambiance, I was able to snap the photo you see above. Then I climbed down from my perch, twitched my nose and began to scour the menu for a clue on what it was that had been served.

Nothing matched. In fact, there were no soups at all listed on the lunch menu. Yet, clearly, this was a soup he was ladling into his prim and proper face. A closer look and I saw spinach, Parmesan cheese strands and sliced meatballs floating in a creamy white broth.

Why, I thought, that is Italian Wedding Soup! By Cooper, Sa-Za's is serving a soup that is not on the menu! Apparently, you have to wink, nod or ask for it by name.

After he finished I was astonished by what I saw next. Our Finicky Lawyer finished the entire bowl with no complaints, placed seven dollars ($7) on the counter and left. My investigation revealed that the cost of the soup with bread is $5.50. Wow, I thought, that is pretty reasonable. And he was in an out in about 20 minutes. Speedy service.

Before the staff could clear away the bowl I had a little taste from the remnants. Wow again. This is really good. Very very good.

As I write this back at GGP HQ, I still have a warm glow in my belly and a desire to have more of that fine soup. My report is now in and the quarantine period has passed. I can officially declare the Italian Wedding Soup safe for LITG members and their fans.

Enjoy.

Your friend.

Squeak.

Shut the Carp Up! Sa Za's Tattoo Parlor Gets Raided...er... Rated by B-Diddy and the Pup!

There are already two reviews of this place on Sup In The Gump: A preliminary review from the first night Sa Za's opened in October and a more recent review from Dec. 6, but the idea of following links on a blog is obviously foreign to the Cornbread Carp of the Trailer Park, so let B-Diddy and I satisfy his/her recent challenge by providing semi-witty reviews:

The Shadow Pup's Take:

No, they do not serve cornbread! This is NOT a meat and three. There is not even any fried chicken for the local trailer park trash! (Excuse me, I mean "manufactured housing dwellers.") At 130-A Commerce (across from Renaissance and in The Alley) it's "serious" Italian food with real garlic, olive oil, meatballs and pasta all served by people adorned with "serious" tattoos no doubt all over their wormy bodies. (Erase mental picture and move on....).

Some important tips from the Pup: First, unless you have large cahones do NOT even try to order the Calzones on the lunch menu 'cause there A'INT ANY! Why? Because they are "too much trouble" according to Joe DiMaggio, Jr.--the guy in the NY Yankees hat at the counter and co-owner of the place. [Yes, he is a distant relation to "The Yankee Clipper"] And--although sitting at the Chef's Counter is a treat--do NOT ask Joe: "What do you recommend?" because he will most likely retort, honestly, "Since I do not know you I do not have a clue what to recommend for you to eat." (He is, after all, a New Yorker). Do NOT be offended when he hands you your tab with the statement: "Now let me rip you off." Finally, do NOT ask him about all the tattoos on his body or why he likes to hire staff with tattoos. That's a story you do NOT really want to know....

Notice just the hint of tat on the right "gun."

Actually, DiMaggio has spent a lot of time working Italian restaurants boy and man. And here I mean Italian restaurants in Italy--which is the home of Italian food I think. DiMaggio is a key-man for this place to be a success. He has also written a pretty good blog post about running restaurants that is funny and informative. It concerns me a little that he has also been named chef at restaurant in White Plains NY as of 2/16/2009. When he leaves Sa Zas' in the Gump, things could suffer. But keep in mind that Ken Register (Olive Room and Down the Street) is an owner so once Joe D gets them square, it should continue to be a quality place. So far, however, Joe-D has been in the kitchen every time I have eaten there. With him in charge the food is authentic and--for that reason--different from other Italian restaurants in the Gump. Take, for example, the use of marinara with extra virgin olive oil, chilies, reggiano cheese, fresh herbs and Sa Za GARLIC sticks for dipping. The stuffed hot peppers are truly a choice treat, with a blend of three meats, carrots, onion, fresh mozzarella, and cognac, all stuffed into Anaheim chilies, slow roasted and topped with more fresh mozzarella. Shipped in from Jersey are traditional pastas with such as angel hair served with Maine lobster meat, chopped shrimp and spinach in a chardonnay, exploded garlic and olive oil sauce. Another favorite pasta is the rigatoni Bolognese, a rich sauce made from carrots, celery, onion, veal, beef, pork, and cognac, then roasted for five hours before they hit it with cream, Carmelina's san marzano tomatoes and tossed with fresh herbs and rigatonis. Your Shadow Pup does not understand all this but likes the way it tastes. I do understand and like Pizza and it is very good at Sa Zas.

Joe-D doesn't wear a baseball hat or show his "tats" when with his "peeps" like Tony B.

That having been said, let's get down to the "serious" Italian food. I would say I have eaten at Sa Za's 7-8 times already and not once have I had a bad experience with the food. And, because I am such a loner like "sad girl," I never have to wait to get a seat at the Chef's Counter where I can pretend to know all the other loners sitting up there. However, if you are in a hurry and want a table for 6 you better gird for a wait because the place is still packed during normal lunch hours. The upside of this little problem is that it is packed because the food is way above average and, if you order smart, can be reasonably priced. One way to order smart is to get pizza by the slice during lunch or to order one of the "chopped" salads with smashed chicken. About $8 each and not too much food. Now the "meatball" sandwich is also a favorite in that category but is so large no one but--maybe Tojo--could eat the whole thing at one sitting.

Today, yours truly was joined by B-Diddy and B-Mack as we hoofed it in for lunch. The place is open for lunch 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. M-F. At 12 noon the place was packed. "Zeke" (the runaway "Buds" doorman) was there in his natty glasses and tats. There were no seats at the bar or Chef's Table and there was a large group of fatigue-clad Maxwell Country Club Members waiting in the lounge. After a 10-minute wait, however, three spots opened up at the bar (which is on the far side of the restaurant from the kitchen) and we bellied up where we were waited up by Jennifer the barmaid. B-Diddy ordered the stuffed peppers ($8) and B-Mack ordered pizza slices ($3 a pop). I ordered the sausage, onions and peppers sandwich ($9). It took a while so I popped another Valium and enjoyed the company and watched the flat screens. (Looks like Tiger/Cheetah's marriage is toast. The model is no longer wearing her wedding ring. She'll survive, just like we would survive the wait. But I, like Tojo, digress).

B-Diddy's dish looked really good but see his review below for the details. I have had the stuffed peppers before and they were good appetizers. My sandwich, however, was way too big and had no sauce at all on it. I mean, when they say sausage, peppers and onions they mean those things only. Why, I am lucky I got the bread. The bread is good but something was needed to hold the middle parts together. This did not stop me from eating every morsel, I should add. Couldn't tell if B-Mak liked her pizza or not. Regardless, the service was decent given the crowd and the fact that Jennifer had to fill all drink orders for bar patrons and the floor. (By the way, someone was hitting the wine bottle pretty hard. Hope it wasn't the Maxwell crowd or, if so, they aren't going to be on the trigger anytime this afternoon).

So take this, Cornbread Carp of the Trailer Park, with "Joltattin' Joe" at the helm Sa a's is really all it has been cracked up to be. You should make the effort to go and take your Valium for the wait like a normal person. Your humble pup would rate the place the best Italian restaurant in the Gump, or even in West Shorter and the land beyond the by-pass. At least, until Joe-D and Ken Register depart--which I hope is not soon--I rate Sa Za's at three of four paw prints (That's all I have). See B-Diddy's similar take below....

Bodiddly's Take:
Being the rabid Yankee fan I am, though he claims to be a distant cousin (here in Alabama you don’t get distant to a cousin unless it’s the 5th down the line), there is no way to convince me the proprietor of Sa Za’s, Joe Dimaggio, Jr., is related to THE Joe Dimaggio. But “Chef”, as he likes to be called, has hit a homerun with the food in the restaurant.

To digress a bit, while I enjoy the “banter” of a New Yorker and can “bust the chops” with the best of them, I must defend others who have gone to Sa Za’s and found “Chef” unaccommodating, rude and downright nasty (you can do this in New York where your customer base is 20 million, but in the Gump, say something to the wrong person(s) and you can find yourself out of the restaurant business fast---note the term “word of mouth”).

Back to the story, if you can, you need to ask to sit at the bar area where the food is prepared. “Chef” patrols the area and enjoys telling you how great he is, how great the food is and why you ought to be thankful he even let you come to his restaurant to eat. That aside, he is entertaining, makes helpful suggestions and will indulge you with stories about “his momma’s” recipes. But ask him how many homeruns his “cuz” hit, he has no idea.

Most of my eating at Sa Za’s has been done during lunch, but on occasion I have traveled with the Mrs. to partake of the “serious Italian food” and the draft Peroni and Chianti. When I sat down today at the bar-the real bar and not the one which Chef parades around-something kept sticking in my mind about the Gumpsters visit to the Green Papaya and the fact I couldn’t join Tojo and friends to celebrate his “coming out” of his hunger strike. Sticking with the mental thought of quantities of food and spiciness, I order the stuffed hot peppers and 2 glasses of water (I’m a big spender and why not go for the gusto and get 2 glasses instead of one). While the word “hot” has many different connotations to palates, to mine, it better mean my brow starts sweating when I smell the aroma. While this was not “hot” by my standards, it had a “kick” to it and the meat stuffing was really great. It is not one of the larger portions on the menu (try eating a sandwich in one sitting and you’ll see what I mean). With tax and tip, it was 11.00, so it fell close to the Gumpster Guidelines. I’d give it a three run homer by Dimaggio standards. Chef says it was at least a grand slam, but who listens to him anyway.

SaZa's Needs Rating from LITG

Looks like we can no longer ignore the SaZa's phenomenon at 130-A Commerce. I saw where that mutt without opposable thumbs Shadow Pup rated the place at "Sup in the Gump" and I know Fat Tojo has spoken of it on the Lunch in the Gump Facebook page. It's also getting very high reviews on Urban Spoon. Do we think that if we ignore it then it will go away? I know it is not technically a local eatery, but it is just a much a local place as Dreamland or Wintzells. Somebody take the ball and write something witty!! Chop chop!

Corsino's

Corsino’s is an old-school Italian place with parking problems and location problems. The food is definitely good, but just as definitely not great. The neighborhood is a little threatening. A few people have been shot near Corsino’s over the years – some made it and some didn’t. Yet Corsino’s is still there, and we hope, not going anywhere.

Many family-owned joints moved east, following the money, or so they thought. Most of these smarties got picked off by the franchises, the chains, the themed-out, high-concept “casual dining” establishments with absentee owners, absentee flavor, absentee service and absentee senses of community. Corsino’s? Hell, no. Corsino’s stayed put in a mostly run-down neighborhood, convenient to the diverse downtown crowd, serving Italian comfort food, and their signature dish for the past several decades is the “Dago Salad.” No PC bullshit at Corsino's, you can bet your ass on that.

Anyway, as a return visitor I knew better than to park in front of Corsino’s next-door neighbor, the Capital City Sharpening Shop. CCSS will have you towed or slit your throat. Or both, I guess. So I parked across Court Street next to some nutty-looking End-Time Prophecy Church with burglar bars on the windows. Crossing the street I was comforted by the two State Trooper cars parked in front of Corsino’s. Once inside, I let my eyes adjust to the dimly lit interior and then found the LITG group sitting at the table right next to the Troopers. I sat down with the fellas, confident that none of us would get whacked.

Our waiter, obviously a Bama fan, laid a decent Auburn joke on us. I don’t remember the whole joke but the punch line was “Officer, I’m just trying to help this goat get over this fence!” The waiter gambled and won! Lunch in the Gump is usually about a 50-50 Auburn/Alabama mix, but today it was 100% Bama! The usual 20% minimum LITG tip shot up to between 25% and 30%.

We knew most everybody in the restaurant -- lawyers, realtors, cops, bankers, professors, more lawyers, pharmaceutical reps (hubba hubba), lobbyists, broke asses, captains of industry and others. Yet nobody was schmoozing. I guess we will all schmooze next time we meet at the Capital City Club – today is just lunch without pomposity.

Our local District Attorney came in with a crew of investigators, deputies, flunkies, etc. Seems they were all packing heat (note to self… before returning to Corsino’s, renew the carry permit). Between this crowd and the Troopers we felt real safe. We chatted with them on the way out. The DA commented to one of the Gumpers, “Didn’t I just see your picture somewhere?”

“I hope to God not in your office,” he replied.*

Anyway, we paid the check, thanked everybody, spoke to a number of friends and acquaintances still there, then left.

Outside, we ran into a few more friends coming into Corsino’s. We chatted for a decent interval, and then dutifully gave up our parking spaces.

Oh, almost forgot. The lunch was real good.
* Editor’s note: the DA had seen our Gumper (a known socialite) in the “Whirl” section of the Montgomery Independent. He is not wanted.

Scouting: Mr. G's Ristorante

Since it is not open on Monday's and is dangerously near Bell Road it is doubtful that "Mr. G's Ristorante" would ever temp the secret LITG gang to violate parole and visit what may be the only Greek/Italian Restaurant in Alabama. Question: Are these really cuisines that go together? Is it like-maybe-Thai/Chinese or Indian/Moroccan or some other example of our mixed-up crazy world? Even the two national flags (used on the menu to help you know the difference between the Greek and the Italian dishes--as if you would have a hard time telling your "Greek" salad from your "Ceasar" salad) have none of the same colors--except white (which is actually the absence of color).



Actually, there are a lot of Greek/Italian restaurants all over the country. The countries themselves are sort of in the same area and both lie in the Mediterranean. They are both fairly old cultures and have something to do with Western Civilization. At least that is what one of my teachers was babbling on about when I wasn't paying close attention.

Looks like from this map Italy is stomping Greece with its heel. However, since we all know about the fighting prowess of the Italian army, most would view the map as Italy trying to kick Sicily out of the way while running away from Greece nipping at its heel, naturally, from behind.

You know the old story about the Greek and Italian who were arguing over who had the superior culture.

The Greek says, "We have the Parthenon."

Arching his eyebrows, the Italian replies, "We have the Coliseum."

The Greek retorts, "We Greeks gave birth to advanced mathematics"
The Italian, nodding agreement, says, "But we built the Roman Empire."
And so on and so on until the Greek comes up with what he thinks will end the discussion. With a flourish of finality he says, "We invented sex!"
The Italian replies, "That is true, but it was the Italians who introduced it to women."

One point for the Romans.

Well, all I can say for sure is that Mr. G's introduced the combination of Greek/Italian cuisine to the Gump and it looks like the Greeks won.

One point for the Spartans.

Located in the old CiCi's Pizza on the Atlanta Highway, the place is attracting hungry crowds because the food is good and reasonably priced. See http://www.mrgsmontgomery.com/text.htm for the prices. The Greek Spanikopita made a tasty appetizer and the Greek salads are really authentic. The Gyro sandwich, (Pronounced YEE-roo or YEE-HAW!) $5.75 (23 Shares of CNB stock) was supposed to be wrapped in grilled pita bread
freshly sliced gyro meat (what is gyro meat in an Italian/Greek restaurant anyway? Goat + Donkey?), seasoned and topped with Tzatziki sauce, tomatoes and onions. Unfortunately, the real thing was was bland and suffering from meat deficiency. To top it off it was very messy. Whatever you do do NOT take it out of the aluminum foil wrapping or wear a tie! The bottle of Chianti on the table was a tempting source of solace for the ruined neckware but I digress.

One thing you can say for this place is that the owner was present and attentive to every table and the service was fine. I would bet that most of the Greek dishes are what attracts the crowds.

Bottom line, Mr. G's is a decent place for lunch and probably a better place for dinner. As a lover of Greek food it is empowering to have an openly Greek restaurant come out of the closet here in the Gump. I give it 3.5 glasses of Ouzo! Opa!