I was in the mood to try something different last night for dinner, so I told Bill I wanted to visit da Enzo, an Italian restaurant near our home in Jettingen.  I am ashamed to admit that last night was our very first visit to da Enzo, despite its proximity to where we live.  However, in my defense, the restaurant is located on a main drag through town that we rarely use because we take a different route to get to where we’re usually going.

One of the reasons I decided I wanted to try da Enzo is because I noticed that people have given it great ratings in reviews.  Then I took a look at the Web site and noticed how good the food looked in the pictures.  And then I noticed that this particular restaurant is in possession of a large pizza oven that appears capable of putting out some good pies.  Hot damn!

It’s actually been a pretty long time since I last had good pizza, even though I’ve been to Italy a couple of times within the last year.  We have at least one other Italian restaurant in our town, but I don’t care too much for their sauce because it tastes like they use a lot of onions.  Of course, there are also a couple of Turkish run doner places nearby that also have pizza.  But their pizzas are unsatisfying because they have really thin crust and scanty toppings.  It’s more like a snack than a meal.  I’d almost rather Bill come home with something from Pizza Hut on Panzer, which I know really sucks.

So anyway, I noticed on the Web site that da Enzo had a good pizza oven and the pictures of the pizzas looked awesome.  Then I noticed all of the other pictures of food and realized that if I felt like

having something else, I could.

A picture of the sign out front.  It’s not a very interesting looking building, but that says nothing about the food.  Out front, there’s a small outdoor seating area that a few folks were enjoying as the hour got later.  There were several free parking spots outside.

We showed up at the restaurant at about 7:00pm.  There was one other table being served.  It was a family and they had a little girl with them who was obviously having a good time.  I also noticed a pretty blonde who appeared to either work there or was a member of the family.  She had a little boy with her who looked to be about three years old.  He was “helping” the waiter, following him around with a plug in his mouth, carrying a tray and menus, and helping him light our candle.  The kid was adorable!

Obligatory shot of Bill, right after the cutie pie kid brought us our menus.

 

At the front of the menu, there were some chef’s specials.  Some of the prices seemed a little high.  Flipping through the rest of the menu, I noticed regular dishes that were a bit more moderately priced.  They had pizzas that came in 30 or 36 centimeter sizes and ran about 7 or 8 euros.  There were also pasta dishes, fish, meat, and a few vegetarian dishes.

I decided to try one of the recommended dishes.  It had an Italian name starting with an S that escapes me right now– Strolla-something.  It was priced at 19,50 euros.  I must have forgotten the name because of the generously poured red wine we enjoyed.  Bill was also going to have a special, but decided to try the pizza instead.

Our waiter brought out some piping hot pizza bread that tasted like it came straight from the oven.  It was excellent.

This was my dish.  It consisted of fresh pasta, Italian sausage, buffalo mozzarella, and a basil leaf.  The sauce was like a creamy tomato.  The pasta was fabulous.  It tasted like it was made that morning.  The sausage was mild and tasty.  And the mozzarella melted into a creamy bliss.  In all seriousness, I think this might have been one of the nicest Italian dishes I’ve had outside of Italy.  Sorry this photo turned out a little blurry.  

Bill was equally pleased with his pizza.  The crust was perfect; not too thick or thin.  It was served piping hot with spicy sausage and a delightful layer of cheese.  The sauce was also perfect.  We won’t be buying crappy snackbar pizza anymore.  From now on, Enzo gets our pizza business!

 

I was actually thinking about having dessert, but then more people started to come in.  They were distracting our waiter.  Several folks appeared to be regulars who were treated very warmly by the staff.  I also noticed that this restaurant was very kid friendly.  The little girl who was sitting with her family got some gelato that was presented to her with much fanfare.  I also noticed a number of kid made works of art hanging on the wall.

We mentioned dessert to the waiter as he took our dishes to be wrapped up for later, but the little girl from the other table came over and stole his attention because she was saying goodbye.  Da Enzo really is a very kid friendly place! When the waiter didn’t come back to finish talking to us after the little girl interrupted, we decided to have wine instead.  You can see him drawing it out of a barrel dispenser in the background.  On the shelf over the wine barrel, there appears to be a trophy sporting an aardvark.  Bill is watching one of the two TVs on the wall.  They had one tuned to the news, but later turned on football.

Generously poured wine makes me forget about panna cotta.

Stacks of firewood in the restaurant.  The dining room is very workable.  I was impressed by the restroom, too.  It was very clean and updated, with several stalls.  It looked like they spent some money on it.

 

All told, we spent about 47 euros on dinner before the tip.  The food was outstanding, so we will definitely be back.  I have a feeling we could even become regulars.  The very friendly chef bid us a cheery “Tschuss!” as we walked out and I was still raving on the short drive home.  I know Jettingen isn’t close to many local readers, but I have to admit, our town has a couple of great places to eat!  Enzo’s restaurant might be worth the trip for some folks.