Sara C.
Yelp
I had heard great things about Dolomiti, so when my husband and I were downtown to visit the Durham Museum, it was the perfect time to check them out!
The interior is so cute and fun, with pastel green everywhere, matching their logo and their adorable (and gigantic) pizza oven. There is also actual greenery everywhere too, with several plants in every nook and cranny. It definitely all works, with the wood tables and columns, as well as the exposed ceilings.
We were seated promptly, and our server Jess, was fantastic. She gave great recommendations and also chatted with us about how great working at Dolomiti is, which was nice to hear.
On her recommendation, we started off with the Brussels Sprouts app. They were not too tangy like some Brussels Sprouts can be, more greeny flavored and steamed style, with a small char on the exterior that was super tasty.
My husband also got a side of the Caesar salad (which came as large leaves of lettuce, so you do have to chop it up, but we didn't mind that!) I had a few bites to taste it, and it was top notch Caesar - and I don't even usually love Ceasar salads! The dressing was more thick than the normal Ceasar dressing you see, which I actually enjoyed as it sat super well on the lettuce and wasn't watery.
For another starter, we chose the Meatballs, and they were an excellent choice. They were a pork/beef mixture, and came atop a hearty tomato sauce with a handful of little focaccia crostinis. If anyone tells you they saw me making little crositni meatball sandwiches, they're lying!
We got two pizzas to try, but before I even tell you which ones we got, I have to tell you about this CRUST! I'm not a crust lover normally, but I was even eating the crusts of these slices. It's a sourdough crust that is full of flavor, not just bland bread flavor like you're used to. The Semolina flour they use is even imported from Italy (while other ingredients are sourced locally, which I love).
So now that you know how good the crust is, I'll tell you which pizzas we got on the delicious crust:
We obviously shared both, but my husband's choice was the Patata. It had thinly sliced potatoes (yum!), pancetta, carmelized onions, and parmesan. It was right up my alley, because I'm a potato lover. I am not a huge fan of onions (the texture), but they were so cooked down in this that it was only for flavor and the icky texture was nowhere to be found.
I got the Rustica and it was DIVINE. I saw that it had Calabrian honey on it, along with charred broccolini, spicy Italian sausage, mozzarella, and parmesan. The mixture of spicy, savory, and sweet really piqued my interest, and it definitely paid off! It was heaven in a pizza slice, and the honey added just a bit of sweetness - this is not a dessert.
One thing I noticed on the Rustica is that there were full garlic cloves as a topping too, but they completely melt in your mouth with each bite and aren't too garlicky at all, with the way they cook them down. Definitely recommend the Rustica!
Tim, the owner, came to talk with us after our meal to make sure we enjoyed everything (nice!), and we let him know we loved it. He told us about his travels in Northern Italy that inspired Dolomiti (with a mixture of Italian and New York styles to get the best of both).
Keep up the amazing work, Dolomiti! We will be back many times!