Hankering for a Panizza at C'Italian

I woke up late this morning but I still got to squeeze in a few hours of work and somehow  managed to close a deal. Yay. :-)  If we hadn't bagged that event I would've been riddled with guilt for wasting half the morning away.  So all in all it was good day.  I'm feeling semi-accomplished.

On days like these, I'd usually ask my husband to take me out on a date.  But since he's feeling a bit under the weather, I guess an imaginary food trip would have to do.  

Let me take you to C' Italian Dining in Pampanga.  This restaurant is famously FAMOUS for their panizza.   Chef Chris is quite the celebrity too.   I'm telling you this place is well worth the trip.

I discovered this jewel through my brother and his girlfriend.  They heard from a friend about an amazing Italian restaurant in Pampanga.  We were coming down from Baguio at the time and driving back to Manila.  Since the traffic was so bad (Holy Week) we decided to take a detour and see for ourselves if the place lived up to the hype. 

It was an easy decision at that point since we'd been driving for almost 5 hours with all 6 of us crammed into one car together with all our bags, supplies, and what not.  The thought of getting out and stretching our already numb legs was heavennnn.

It was really tricky finding C' Italian since we only had a hazy recollection of a text message to go on for directions. After harassing quite a number of people on the street who only gave us a blank looks after mentioning "C'Italian", we were getting frustrated.

By some miracle we managed to land on Don Juico Ave. (which has been renamed to Fields? I think).   At this point my expectations were pretty low.  I've gotta say, the location is quite funny.  It's right outside Clark so I feel stupid now for being shocked the first time I went there.  Girly bars line the street with a generous scattering of scantily clad girls evenly interspersed with foreigners walking down the street.  I really thought we'd end up in some sleazy restaurant.  Thank God I was so wrong! The ambience is perfectly understated and elegant with dark stone walls and dim cozy lighting.  Turns out there are a few other restos in the area that are quite good (like Zapatas).  I've yet to try them out though.   

I digress.  Back to the Panizza.  Oh my gulay. The Panizza is SO GOOD.  It's a rectangular thin crust pizza sliced into long strips and served with a variety of toppings, and always with a bowl of alfalfa and arugula on the side.  My personal favorite is the Panizza Angelico.  This has chorizo, salami, bacon, mushrooms and mozzarella.

How to Eat a Panizza:
1.   Sprinkle your desired amount of alfalfa and arugula on your panizza strip.  Don't hoard everything.  Remember to leave some for your companions so that they too can enjoy the complete panizza experience.
2.  Roll the panizza, with your greens in between, until it's bite-size.
3.  Take a deep breath.
4.  Close your eyes.
5.  Bite into your panizza roll.
6.  Mm mmm mmmmmmm.

Just thinking about it makes my mouth water.  I know this is supposed to be a panizza entry but it would be sacreligious of me not to mention Roberto.  Oh Roberto.  Penne Roberto.  Creamy gorgonzola goodness.  I go weak in the knees for well made cream-based pasta sauces so this was memorable for me too.  Gorgonzola was melted into the cream sauce which coated the penne and chicken fillet strips.  Sun dried tomatoes, roasted garlic and an assortment of herbs was also in the mix.

I now leave you with these words:  Panizza and Roberto.

Try it. :-)


Buon Appetito!


~Mich :)




Here's the link to C' Italian Dining to help you out.  Make sure you call in advance to reserve a table because the place is packed and you could end up waiting in line for hours.