Due Forni in Summerlin Serves up Pizza & More

Due Forni Signature Neopolitan Pizza[/caption] Due Forni is more than just a pizza restaurant in Summerlin.  They offer two styles of pizza from their special pizza ovens that heat to a blazing hot 900 degrees.  If you're looking for a New York style pizza, our favorite is Grimaldi's in Boca Park, but we've heard so much about Due Forni in the year since they opened, that we finally had a chance to try them with some of our clients. They offer a Roman crust pizza, that is paper thin.  Our waitress said it is the thickness of a cracker.  Our group opted for the Neopolitan style pizza that has a crust that is both soft and chewy.  Before the pizza we tried some appetizers.  A special for the evening was Roasted Beet Salad.  It was nicely presented and complemented by the Simi Russian River Chardonnay. We shared the appetizers "family" style.  

The waitress had suggested we try some of their fresh baked bread to go with the appetizers and we were happy she did.  The bread was cut into triangles with melted parmesan on the center.  Along with the bread our next course, the Popette (turkey meatballs in tomato with melted parmesan) arrived.  These were the most tender, flavorful meatballs we've had.  The tomato sauce they were served in was just right for dipping the fresh bread in. The one appetizer we weren't as thrilled with was the Semolina Gnochi.  It sounded like a great combination of flavors with smoked Nueske's Bacon, peas and Black truffle crema.  Unfortunately, the bacon was too smoky to taste any of the other flavors.  We love black truffles and found it very disappointing to have such a delicate flavor over-powered as it was in this presentation.  We'll probably order this dish again without the bacon, although they have so many other options to try... 

For the entrees, we tried two types of Neopolitan pizza.  The first was the signature Due Forni, although having tasted the over-powering smokiness of the bacon with the gnocchi we had them skip it on the pizza.  It was terrific without the bacon and was especially good with the taste of the fresh basil used.  The other pizza we decided to split was the Piccante, a simple pie with tomato sauce, buffalo mozzarella, sopresata and "fresno" peppers.  Again, it was a hit.  Although, we did find the "fresno" peppers were milder than we expected on a pizza named "Piccante".  A bottle of Hitching Post, Julia's Vineyard 2006 Pinot Noir was the perfect wine to wash down the pizzas. When I first moved to Vegas, one of the few things I missed from California was the neighborhood restaurant because the majority of the restaurants off the Strip were either chains or video poker bars in those days.  Even then, I had a feeling that with all the great, world class chefs on the Strip, that sooner or later we'd see some of their staff decide to open their own restaurants in the neighborhoods. Due Forni is exactly what I hoped for when I moved here ten years ago.  This is the creation of partners Alex Taylor and Chef Carlos Buscaglia.  Both had experience at Fiamma in the MGM Grand, and other Casino jobs, including Taylor's time as Executive Director of Food and Beverage at Encore.  Even in a tough economy, they seem to be off to a great start.  We'll definitely be back, even to have one of their salads with the fresh baked bread for lunch.  And we're following them on Twitter and Facebook to stay tuned for some of the great specials we've heard about.