Charlie was at the private opening of the new Sicilian Oven in Coral Springs last night. The second location of the popular and (quite frankly) outstanding pizza joint is now in business at 10140 W. Sample Road, formerly home to DiSalvo's Pizza (which makes sense since that restaurant was owned by the family of Sicilian Oven co-owner Ralph DiSalvo). The official grand opening will be this Friday, February 19.
The turnout was great for the Oven's first official night in business, packed with huge parties trading bites of the Sicilian stack (the restaurant's signature fried eggplant dish) and shrimp Palermo, and couples sharing crisp, wood-fired pies.
Most of the staff from the Lighthouse Point location was at the
restaurant, including co-owner and head pizza chef Andrew Garavuso. I
recognized long-time servers entertaining regular customers; some noted
that they would be working full-time at the new store.
The
experience of the staff made the grand opening go off without a hitch.
Food flowed quickly from the kitchen, and the quality was definitely as
good as it is in Lighthouse Point. I ordered my favorite pie, a
broccoli rabe pizza topped with garlic and cervellata sausage. The
cervellata is cut small and cooks on the pie so it imparts a meaty
aroma on each slice. I'm still amazed by the texture and flavor of
Sicilian oven's crisp dough, sweet and yeasty with just the right
amount of char. The sauce is also top notch -- slightly sweet pureed
tomatoes pooled artfully on the top of the fresh mozzarella cheese.
The
menu is completely identical to Sicilian Oven's first location, with a
dozen or so specialty pizzas, pastas, a broad selection of wood-fired
starters, salads, and sandwiches on fresh-baked ciabatta bread. The
layout is practically a mirror of its sister restaurant as well, with a
long black granite bar covering one side of the restaurant and a wide
open kitchen framed by rustic brick. The two, stone hearths at the
kitchen's left end are framed by copper hoods and churn out those
amazing pies in just minutes.
Coral Springs is fairly inundated with pizza places already, but the Sicilian Oven is sure to stand out in the pack.
Sicilian Oven
10140 W. Sample Rd., Coral Springs
954-340-3001
Hours: Monday through Saturday 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.
thesicilianoven.com
