Coppa – No.14
November 7, 2019
Coppa – meaning ‘cup’ in Italian. Â I asked Clark if he wanted to go to brunch at an Italian restaurant. Â “Sure”. Â Not an overly enthusiastic reply. Â “They do a hangover pizza” I mentioned. There it was, he looked up with those crazy ‘feed me’ eyes and tongue licking the lips that says my food suggestion is the right one. Â Much better, I think he even said to fully appreciate the hangover pizza, he may have to drink a few more beers the night before. Â OK then!
A morning Mary
Where to start?  Bloody Marys are a great accompaniment to any brunch, but I mostly order my Mary as a virgin.  The reason?  I can’t really taste the vodka with all the spice that’s going on, so I figure what’s the point?  That was until our recent trip to Kentucky, where we encountered a Kentucky Morning Kiss…a Bloody Mary with bourbon instead of vodka.  Ok, now I can taste the alcohol, and what a great combination.  Even though they didn’t have bourbon in this restaurant, we both decided to experiment; Clark with a gin Mary and me with a Mezcal Mary.  Ding ding ding jackpot!  Mezcal in a Mary is inspired as the smokiness of the Mezcal really compliments the spicy tomato…I think I’m onto something here.  I tried the gin Mary and asked Clark his opinion.  Shit and Does not work, to which I agree.  Bourbon and Mezcal though are a great option.
Is it really Italian?
Coppa is an Italian, so we thought we needed to sample a few typical dishes to gauge their Italian-ness (I think I just made that up). Â What could be more Italian than meatballs and arancini; just a little nibble to keep us going until the much anticipated pizza.
The meatballs were amazing. Â The sauce was amazing and these were probably the best meatballs we’ve had (and we’ve lived in Italy). Â The arancini were also beautiful with really soft cheesy rice inside a really crisp breadcrumbed outer and I have no idea how they got them so perfectly round. Â The only problem? Â There were 3 of each and they were all bigger than golf balls. Â Is that a problem? Â No, not really. Pizza and Coppa Hash next (we can always box).
The Hangover Pizza
What should be on a hangover pizza? Â We were thinking a fried breakfast on a pizza with an added bonus of cheese. Â We weren’t far off; the Coppa hangover pizza came with bacon, sausage, prosciutto and fried eggs and I’m guessing it was a winner as the plate was completely clean at the end. Â My Coppa Hash came with charcuterie that I saw being carved at the bar. Â The egg, which should have been over easy, had my absolute bug bear hate, wobbly white, so unfortunately had to be sent back for further cooking, which resulted in a non-runny yolk. Â Oh well, the rest of the hash was really good.
Test number two for an Italian restaurant. Â Do they serve a proper Italian espresso? Â Definitely Yes. Â Small, thick and strong.
