In this week’s edition of Ladies Who Lunch, I will be telling you about my adventure to Michael’s Pizzeria, one of the top pizza places in Long Beach.  Also, somewhere that I had never been.

My dear friend works in the food business; it is important for her to stay up on all the restaurants around town. So, even though it was a Saturday, she was working, and I got to be her faithful and willing assistant!

We grabbed a table near the open kitchen so that we could converse with the chef, Julio.  You know when you get those déjà vu feelings that are for real?  This was one of those times.  It turns out that Julio had worked as a chef for Patina in the past and had catered at least one of my events (the catering kitchen was one of my favorite places at events, so I always met the chef).

Because I take my job as a lunch assistant very seriously, I needed a glass of wine and they had a great selection of interesting Italian white wines available by the glass.  The sweet, young waiter had a creative way of interpreting the wine list, but even though I had no idea what he was talking about, he was willing to bring a taste of this one and that one so that I could figure out which I wanted.

For food, we had the arugula salad.  I love an arugula salad.  This one was just simple and nice, arugula, a little cheese, and balsamic dressing.  It was the perfect compliment to the pizza we ordered, the Capricciosa on gluten free crust (it’s called teamwork people).  The Capricciosa has prosciutto, artichokes, mushrooms, olives, mozzarella, and tomato sauce.  Yum!  Even though the gluten free crust was not like a traditional, thin, crispy, wood-fired pizza crust, it was tasty.  We found out that it is Julio’s own, special recipe.

We also found out that he makes all of the mozzarella himself in-house.  And boy is it delicious.  But that’s not all!  Julio ALSO makes all of the gelato in-house.  And boy is it good.  I would usually have more savory food and skip dessert, but I will never skip the gelato here.  It made my life better.  The only downside was that we had decided to share, so I didn’t get my very own scoop of salted caramel gelato (I hadn’t known that I needed my own scoop, but now I do).

Now, my friend has furnished me with the supplies to be able to make my own gourmet pizza at home – special Italian flour, a big can of San Marzano tomatoes, and buffalo mozzarella. I’ve been meaning to give it a shot but haven’t been able to overcome the new thing inertia … maybe this post is going to be the kick-in-the-pants that I have been needing!

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I enlisted some friends who were intrepid enough to sign on even though I hadn’t bothered to explain the concept.  Which I realized when we were sitting down to eat, as there were questions about what this fried chicken and champagne thing was all about.  Naturally, my response was, “guys, it’s a THING.”  Then we took a moment to get all official about it, took bites of our fried chicken, then a sipped our sparkling wine.  It was delightful!

There is something great about fried chicken in the summertime.  Especially if you pick it up from Stater Brothers.  Seriously, it is very good.  I am sure that some people make incredible fried chicken at home, but I’m only southern on my husband’s mother’s side, so I feel that is something that I can get away with not doing.  I also have a “no frying at home” rule.  Well, “rule” is a strong word, but I have yet to come across something that I wanted to make enough to be up for frying it myself.

One of my friends picked up the chicken and made these amazing cheesy biscuits.  I enlisted another friend, who always makes the most decadent things, to bring the carb course.  She made the most incredible macaroni and cheese!  I think she said it was a Barefoot Contessa recipe (I think this is the right link).  It looks like you basically, start with four cups of Gruyere, then add more cheese. I’m drooling just thinking about it, this is the kind of macaroni and cheese that makes your life better.

So, what about the champagne you ask?  Ah, yes!  We didn’t get through all of the options, but the one that was a great pairing was J California Cuvee that another of my intrepid friends brought (what did I do?  I did the delegating, alright!).

The final member of our intrepid group brought yummy fruit and a good dose of flair to the table.  With the fruit and the citrus herb coleslaw we felt that there was a least a semblance of healthiness on the table that night.

By far, the healthiest part of the evening was getting to spend time with great friends, sharing a meal and laughing about life.

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