In Inman Square, a pair of pizzerias please the palate, charm the diner
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Type: Italian
Hours: Tues.-Fri. 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Sat 10 a.m.-9 p.m.; Sun 10 a.m.-7 p.m.
Good choices: Pizzapomodori, pizzaputtanesca, calzone with portobello mushrooms, grilled panini with roasted eggplant, Caesar plain or with chicken.
Credit cards: MasterCard, Visa.
Access: Half-step at entrance; restroom not accessible.
Other establishment(s)
listed in this review:
LA CROSTA
1261 Cambridge Street, Cambridge
(Inman Square)
617-864-0111
Hours: Mon.-Sat. 4-10 p.m.
Good choices: Herb roasted half chicken with garlic mashed potatoes; pizza with tomato sauce and mozzarella; mixed garden greens.
Credit cards: Cash only
Access: Half-step at entrance; restroom not accessible.
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CITYGIRL CAFFE
204 Hampshire Street, Cambridge
(Inman Square)
(617) 864-2809
Restaurant reviewed 07/09/98 by Sheryl Julian
Roast chickens and other prepared foods are moving so fast every night out of Bread & Circus on Prospect Street, you'd think there wasn't a home cook left in all of Cambridge's Central Square. For that reason alone, two new pizzerias in nearby Inman Square will thrive in their neighborhood. But they'll do well because of something else: These proprietors couldn't be more charming or accommodating, and they're serving very good food and especially good pizzas. CityGirl Caffe is the more senior of the two places, opened last September by Meredith Moscato and Cheryl Schwartz, caterers from Somerville. Moscato, an Italian-American from New Jersey, always complained that ``you can't get good pizza here,'' says her partner. So she put her money where her mouth is, and the results are terrific. This pleasantly dense, chewy crust reminds me of the pizza from Emma's on Huron Avenue in Cambridge. CityGirl's pizza is remarkably thin, loaded with flavor from a highly seasoned sauce, topped with mozzarella. A 12-inch pizza ($7.95) amply serves two at lunch; a 14-inch ($9.95) would be the dinner size. Moscato and Schwartz use the pizza dough to make calzones ($7.95) and their diminutive version, calzonettes ($4.95). You can order any of the pizza toppings to go inside the calzone and any of the sauces - tomato, puttanesca, pesto, or roasted pepper. The roasted portobello mushroom with puttanesca and mozzarella is a winner and the crust is substantial enough to pick up and eat like a sandwich. The real sandwiches, panini, are also splendid. Roasted eggplant with fresh mozzarella, the bread pressed in a grill so it hugs its mesclun garnish, has just the right smokiness. Lasagnas are made with fresh dough and a milky bechamel sauce, both of which produce something considerably lighter than ordinary lasagnas. A square of spinach and mushroom lasagna ($6.95) is ample and so good it could grace the menu of an uptown restaurant. ``Mine is the best,'' said the lasagna-eating guest. ``No mine,'' said the woman with the calzone. ``No,'' said the man with his roasted eggplant panini in hand, ``mine wins.'' A skip away on Cambridge Street, Lisa Bergeron opened La Crosta. She worked front-of-the-house at Mistral, Upstairs at the Pudding, and Pignoli. Just over a month old, La Crosta is still finding its way, but Bergeron takes seriously everything she hears and sees. She appeared tableside when she saw I hadn't eaten the caponata on the antipasto plate. It reminded me of a story I heard many years ago when a California restaurateur would check the finished plates as they returned to the kitchen and almost weep when she saw uneaten food. The eggplant in the caponata was too hard and the salad was overwhelmed by celery. Of the other morsels on the antipasto plate ($5.50 and $8.50), the oven-dried tomatoes are the best. Bergeron dries them herself in a low oven for two hours. Other good ingredients - roasted peppers, fresh mozzarella, olives - suffer from an underwhelming presentation. Classico pizza ($7.50; $1.50 for each additional topping) is very flavorful, not too cheesy, thin, and worth returning often for. Greens with a fresh lemon and olive oil vinaigrette are simple and perfect. Bergeron's roasted half chicken ($11.50) comes with garlic mashed potatoes. Our chicken was too underdone, which won't happen again, I'm sure. This is just one of the little things that will get ironed out as the place evolves. Once roasted to doneness, the little bird was deliciously moist, its potatoes really lovely and smooth. Gus Rancatore, owner of Toscanini Ice Cream, who used to be the unofficial mayor of Central Square but has moved his territory to encompass Inman as well, dropped by to check up on Bergeron. ``Don't call me by name,'' I whisper when he wanders over to say hello. ``I won't,'' he says, sotto voce. ``You have that subversive look about you.''
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