Oh my, how the summer flies…

So we’ve been traveling a bit this summer.  Not a lot, but enough to throw off the routine…enough to make us forget which day of week it is…and just enough to provide more photos and projects than I have had time to post.  (read: explanation for my lack of regular posts from this summer)  One of the things I love about traveling, and returning for visits to locations that are familiar is returning to some favorite spots, digging into a favorite dish that you just can’t find anywhere else.

We found ourselves in Minnesota for a few days, and I had to make sure we squeezed in a meal at Punch Pizza.  I am well aware that this is a chain…but it is local to Minnesota…and I think they have a great business model and an impressive product.

Their whole gig is Neopolitan Pizza…made like you are in Italy.  And in fact, it is the closest thing I’ve tasted to the pizzas I enjoyed in Rome when I traveled there in 8th grade.  Crust, San Marzano tomatoes, a few toppings and fresh cheese…that’s it.

It is amazingly fast, since the wood-fired oven remains at a toasty 800º Fahrenheit…and if you left a pizza in for more than 90 seconds…you’re pizza would be unrecognizable as food…and certainly inedible.

My favorite topping of all time is olives…and more recently…green olives.  I can’t get enough of them.  I ordered the Napoli and added green olives.

Woody ordered a Toscano – roasted red peppers, sausage, basil and cracked red pepper.

My only complaint with this place is that the experience is over so quickly…there’s hardly any time to really drool and anticipate your pizza being brought to the table…they’re just so damn fast.  And I wish they could open a location in Pasadena…is that really asking too much?