Have you seen this bella donna around Dallas, trailing smoke and steam? If you have you came this close to the latest rolling contraption to hit Dallas' mobile pizza scene. Bellatrina Neapolitan Pizzeria and Cucina promises Neapolitan pies anywhere a square of pavement can support a Freightliner.
The rig boasts a wood-fired oven that adds another 1,000 pounds to its bulk, according to owners Tracy Sanford and John Cooper, but it gives them the ability to turn out Neapolitan pizzas and other baked goods as readily as any traditional Italian restaurant.
See? Pizza. I ordered this one just off McKinney Avenue in Uptown after a failure of a meal at a nearby tavern. The pie was in and out of the oven in just over a minute, and sealed up in this box in just a few seconds more.
If you're a Neapolitan purist -- a real pizza pie asshole who evaluates every last nuance of sauce, crust and cheese with exacting detail -- you're not going to be completely pleased with Bellatrina's pizza. You'll note the sauce is a little salty and the mozzarella is a little gummy with the first faint spots of brown that mark an improperly cooked pie. You'll notice the crust is unevenly cooked, well-charred on one side but a little pale on the other.
If, however, you've had a beer or two and you're hungry, you'll likely see the brighter side of things. The crust has an exceptional light quality that shows pizza with promise, and it's got that well-aged tang that comes from dough that's made with patience. Not to mention there's a pizza truck you might be able walk to on the way home from your local, and it's open till after the bars discharge their drunks.
And Bellatrina's certainly sells better pizza than most pizza delivery places, which are the only other options at this hour. Actually, now that I think of it, I wonder how many miles that truck gets to the gallon? If you could pick up the phone and have this thing at your doorstep, you'd freak.
