To celebrate Mother’s Day this year, one of our sons took my Bride and me to the second location of Pizzeria Biga. This is a very fine gourmet style pizzeria started by a stellar chef named Luciano Del Signore. We have followed Luciano and his great approach to the culinary arts since the days of Fonte D’Amore in Livonia. As far as I was concerned this was one of the best kept secrets in the Metropolitan Area for Italian food. Luciano would take time to talk about food, and wine, passions for both of us. Luciano introduced me to many Italian wines that he thought that I might miss off of his wine list.
Fonte D’Amore was closed, so that he could open an even finer dining experience called Bacco Ristorante. This restaurant will be a subject all to itself, and if you ever get the chance to go there, go there. It is an experience for the food and one of the best selections of Italian wines you will ever encounter under one roof.
Now back to Pizzeria Biga, the first location is about two blocks away from Bacco, and on occasion you might even catch Luciano on a Segway going back and forth. Luciano came up with one of the lightest pizza crusts you will ever have, and that is the start of his pizza, not to mention the finest of toppings, including his own charcuterie. He also brought back, much to my Bride’s happiness his Roasted Garlic and Eggplant soup. We would go to Fonte D’Amore and buy a half-gallon of this soup along with his bread, put it into a chafing dish, and just let people dunk the bread into the soup, as a casual appetizer.
We tried two different wines, while we were there. One as a MarrraMiero “Dama” Montepulciano Di Abruzzo. This is a fine district in Italy, which is underplayed compared to the more famous areas. We also had a Mendoza “Carelli” Malbec from Argentina that was very full bodied. These two wines were good choices for our pies.
I would also be remiss, not to mention a door that was upstairs in a loft area that caught my fancy. I had discussed using wine crates as siding in my cellar, well at Pizzeria Biga they had a door that was paneled with the wood from shipping crates.
The Wine Raconteur 
What did you pair the Malbec with? I am always slightly at a loss there…except for steak.
We actually paired the Malbec with pizza, and it was a good match. Sometimes with exotic toppings, a deep red is what you need. In the old days, Chianti was the wine of choice with pizza, so I don’t mind trying two strong tastes together. I have found Malbec goes well with a lot of casual dinners, as long as there is red meat on the plate.
That’s a good idea. Never even occurred to me…Thanks!
Any time, I love to talk about wine and food. Some days I even feel like pushing the envelope. After all, even if you make a mistake, it is a learning experience. Thank you for your comments.