Giovanni's Coal Fire Pizza

Giovanni's cooks its pies in one of three coal ovens, taking rounds of dough to extreme temperatures and submitting them to the kind of heat that persuades crusts to form delicious blackened air bubbles and to develop strips of charring on the bottom. A large pie will run you $13.95; toppings cost $1.95 each, and a half bottle of Chianti Ruffino is $13 from a big list of California and Italian bottles. The pizza's excellent: a simple, tangy marinara and part-skim mozzarella topped, say, with juicy sautéed mushrooms and thin slices of salty pepperoni curling hotly around the edges. Ratio of crust to topping: excellent. They also offer a Sunday dinner, a feast of baked ziti, salad, and dessert priced at $29.95 for four people.