Alexandria, VA — Do you love pizza? Do you love Italy? For all of you looking for a taste of Rome without travelling to Italy, look for the 20’ trailer parked in a lot at 2016 Mt. Vernon Ave. in Del Ray.
Get Roman-style pizza in Del Ray by visiting Stracci. Tucked inside the cozy little trailer is Chef Tom Cardarelli, formerly of Vermillion. He starts his morning making love to milk and cream to produce fresh stracciatella mozzarella for his lovely Roman style pizzas. His Stracci pizza is topped with stracciatella cheese – the result of that painstaking work. Per their website, “Already rated 4 Michelin tires, Stracci Pizza showcases Chef Tom’s years of fine dining experience and love for artisanal baking and Roman-style pizza.”
Unlike many local pizza doughs, Cardarelli’s dough are super hydrated and fermented for 72 hours. There are five pizzas available. The Stracci is made with freshly-made stracciatella cheese, tomato, basil, and olive oil, the Brooklyner comes with pepperoni, sausage, stracciatella, ricotta, Calabrian chili, and honey, the Erminia with garlicky spinach, artichokes, and Fontal fontina cheese, the Brusseler is topped Carbonara style, guanciale (cured pork jowl), brussels, and a three cheese blend, and the Salty Mariner made with tomato sauce, anchovies, oregano, salsa verde, pecorino, and almost too much garlic (is there ever too much garlic?). Note that the home-made mozz is the added after the pizza is baked as it doesn’t melt well. Accompany your ‘za with healthy options such as the Late Winter Salad with organic Bloomsdale spinach, sliced fennel, gala apple, agrodolce onions, goat cheese, all tossed with a honey-garlic vinaigrette. Finish your meal with an olive oil cake or rustic Marcona almond tart.
Chef Tom and his wife Annalisa open the trailer Monday – Tuesday, 5 to 8 PM, and Wednesday – Friday, 5 to 6:30 PM, or until they sell out. They are closed on Saturday and Sunday so purchase your pizza during the week and follow their reheating instructions. You can preorder here.
