Restaurant Pizza "La Gioconda"

1, Rue Brochart 75015, Paris, 01 42 26 75 29
18, Place Carles Fillon 75017 Paris 01 42 26 75 29

A group of us met at the house of V and her daughter E for apperitifs before dinner. They had just bought the most adorable little fluffy kitten.

V had reserved a table for us on the outside terrace of a local pizza restaurant, "La Gioconda". We were each kindly given a complimentary glass of kir as an apperitif and we ordered a plateful of copa and bread to nibble on whilst we perused the menus.

I ordered a pizza 'calbrese' which I don't recall ever seeing on an American pizza menu. The pizza was closer to an Italian pizza than anything I have ever tried Stateside. Made of dry white dough that tastes best when it is cooked to a crisp, this version was unfortunately a little doughy for my taste. But the calbrese topping of bacon, mushroom and mozzarella topped with a soft egg was superb. F was drooling over his spaghetti carbonara and he still talks about it a couple of months later.

We finished the evening with the most perfect Irish coffees I have ever tasted. The alcohol at the bottom, the coffee in the middle and a creme fraiche topping were all precisely separated into three clear horizontal stripes. The adults were all so satisfied with this warming drink we had to each have another after we'd finished our first. 11 year old E, kept herself amused as the grown-ups chit-chatted by drawing a very accomplished and flattering portrait of me. I think we have a little artist in the making.

The jovial evening was finished back at V's where we enjoyed a final vodka nightcap.

Restaurant Pizza "La Gioconda"