Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Trolling: Trattoria de Enrico's Pizza, A Trifecta of Frozen Yogurt, And Homemade Potato Chips

Sherri and her fiance have just moved deeper into Columbia from King's Contrivance into Hickory Ridge.   She submitted the first "trolling and pimping" post, and she started it off simply with her favorite pizza, her favorite dessert, and a spot for homemade potato chips and her favorite beer.  These "trolling" posts are meant to give you opinions other than my own, although I am linking to my prior posts if you want more.
The pizza at Trattoria de Enrico in Columbia: As a couple from a little farther north, it's tough to find pizza that reminds us of home, but the pizza at Trattoria de Enrico really makes us happy. The crust is crisp and chewy in all the right places, the way my mom always said they can only make in New York City because of the city's public water.  (She may be making that up, but it's my mom, I have to believe her . . .)  The sauce isn't too sweet, and the amount of cheese is juuuust right. The trip is more than a 30-second drive now, but it's more than worth the seven minutes to King's Contrivance.  I haven't had pizza this good since I was a kid!
Dessert at Tutti Frutti: I cannot get enough of this stuff, not the yogurt, not the mochi. I mix a trifecta of green tea, original tart and death by chocolate. I don't really like when my flavors interact, but I manage to eat the stuff so fast that they don't really have the opportunity to mingle too much. I top the chocolate with almonds, I top the tart and the green tea with mochi and more mochi. It's a good thing this place is "all the way" in Ellicott City because I've been there three times in 10 days. If it was closer, I'd have to buy new pants.
LeeLynn's in Columbia: When my book club meets at LeeLynn's near Dorsey's Search, my first order is the homemade potato chips. They're crunchy kettle style chips tossed with herbs and served with a chipotle ranch sauce. I follow that up with the chicken satay, an inexpensive yet filling five skewers of chicken doused in the best peanut sauce I've ever had. LeeLynn's is also one of the few places that has Rising Moon, Blue Moon's spring seasonal, and my favorite beer, on tap in the spring.
Trolling on Tuesday is my attempt at a series where readers would share three things with other HowChow readers -- favorite restaurant dishes, food to buy, food experiences, etc.  Click here for all the Trolling posts.  Click here for the explanation and the rules.  Anyone can submit.  

15 comments:

  1. TdE's was the center of my universe in high school. Haven't been in years (since moving out of town). Glad to hear they are still crushing it.

    Sev.

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  2. Nice write up, Sherri. You have set the bar high for Trolling and/or Pimping.

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  3. I haven't been to LeeLynn's or Tutti Frutti, but I love Trattoria's pizza as well. We're moving from King's Contrivance to Ellicott City in a month, and I will *seriously* miss being so close to them.

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  4. Jess,they have a Tratorria location right off 108 near Ellicott city so you won't be too far. It's near the Giant in that village center off 108 towards Clarksville..

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  5. Love LeeLynn's chips - and Tutti Fruitt's original yogurt (tart and wonderful!). I'll have to try Trattoria's pizza, but it's going to have to be better than Facci's to get my vote!

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  6. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Tutti Frutti is fat free. That's not to say calorie-free but still..!

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  7. Some nice trolling tales!

    I need to try out Trattoria de Enrico.

    BTW, the whole water in NYC thing is largely a myth. The pizza in NYC is "crispy and chewy in all the right places" because (on a proportional basis) more places in NYC understand how to properly cook a pizza than in other areas.

    Thanks for the trolling! --K

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  8. Thanks for the feedback guys! Maybe HowChow can give me another guest spot in the future!

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  9. So Trattoria de Enrico is owned by the same people as Trattoria Amore in Dorsey Hall? I didn't know that!I've been following the one guy at Amore around for at least 3 restaurants, since he was at the mall. Not on purpose, but he seems to show up where I hear the best pizza is.

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  10. Lee Lynn's is not far from us and we go monthly (i.e. whenever I can use a restaurant.com coupon). We too love the satay and the hummus is nice and tangy and huge. They have a cream of crab soup that is rich with good flavor and very comforting. I like the "small plates" idea, though Lee Lynn's small plates are not that small.

    I've been once to Tutti and enjoyed it, but found I was spending a lot more money there than at Rita's or Soft Stuff. The tanginess is a nice change from ice cream and the topping selection is dangeriously good. The danger is the big cup they use. I just want to fill it and thus wind up with a $6-7 dish.

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  11. vivinator (chowhound sn)April 29, 2010 at 11:24 AM

    Trattoria is decent. My favorite places in Hoco are coal fire and Roma's for slices. I've had Trattoria in kc and I think, dorsey search/ had pazani in elkridge as well. Roma's slice last time wass horrible for some reason. perhaps it had been outside for too long. the one time I had a pie was great.
    It's in Long Reach.

    http://www.insiderpages.com/b/3715667205

    they are a chain with other places in columbia and ec. I can only speak as to this location.

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  12. dzoey,
    I can imagine that the large cups can be very misleading. I often wish they had a smaller than small size so that I could see what I'm really getting. That large "small size" cup dwarfs everything inside it. A friend of mine told me that it's hard to go there with kids because they will just fill it up! Although, I did see a customer this past Friday with the large size bucket and it was mad full. Probably a fifteen dollar dessert.

    Fifteen dollars well spent though...

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  13. The Original Tart flavor at Tutti Frutti is my favorite. I have it at least twice a week.

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