Chicken Pizza: Baked chicken breast, mushrooms, and a fresh basil, garlic, tomato sauce with mozzarella cheese from Zachary’s Chicago Pizza in Berkeley, CA.
Zachary’s Chicago Pizza
1853 Solano Ave.
Berkeley CA 94707
Phone: (510) 525-5950
Trattoria Corso, Berkeley
Back in 2004, I was lucky enough to study aboard in Florence, Italy, where, like anyone would, I fell in love with the food, the wine and the culture. But it wasn’t until just a year or two ago that I was introduced to Trattoria Corso in Berkeley and felt like I’d finally discovered a local restaurant with food truly reminiscent of Florence. (Side note: If you are familiar with Rivoli, also in Berkeley, you’ll most likely enjoy Trattoria Corso as well – same owners).
Even the restaurant itself feels authentic, with framed menus from Italy adorning the walls and an open kitchen with pots, pans and utensils in seemingly constant motion. Here are the dishes I sampled on this particular visit to Trattoria Corso:
The funghi pizza was covered in mozzarella and fontina cheeses and topped with mushrooms and white truffle oil – if you ask me, it really doesn’t get better than this! I had to stop myself from eating too much of it so I could enjoy the pasta dishes that I knew were coming up – and I was glad I did!
We tried the pappardelle (made in house!) with braised rabbit ragu as well as the orecchiette con salsiccia, a pasta dish with house-made pork sausage, little neck clams and rapini. Even I was unsure about the combination of the clams, pork sausage and rapini but I was amazed to find that this was by far my favorite dish of the day. I was literally using bread to soak up every last bit of the sauce on this dish! The pappardelle was delicious too – you just can’t go wrong with homemade pasta and sauces.
Trattoria Corso has officially become my go-to for when I’m craving that homemade Italian comfort-style fare that I loved to eat in Florence. Now I’m curious – does anyone know a place like this in Sacramento? If so, please share by leaving a comment below.
Trattoria Corso
1788 Shattuck Ave
Berkeley, CA 94709
(510) 704-8004