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Fat Clemenza's: Food for the Whole Mob

12273 U.S. Hwy. 98, Holiday Plaza, Destin, 650-5980
Hours: Open M-F for lunch, 11am2pm, M-Sat for dinner, 5pm

and specials of the day, pasta dishes, calzones, and a list of about a dozen pizzas. The appetizers — bruschetta, caprese, calamari, and antipasti — were tempting, but word of mouth led my friend and I to split a pizza as an appetizer. We chose a “diavola,” with tomato sauce, mozzarella and hot salami. Other choices were pepperoni, margherita, mushroom, prosciutto, vegetarian, sausage, and assorted named combinations of cheese, artichokes, olives, peppers, spinach, anchovies, and herbs. Instead of trying to dream up your own combination, I suggest you pick one from the list, and let the kitchen do the rest.

The pizza arrived smoking hot, and didn’t need a thing except to be consumed. The salami was very lean, crisp and salty like bacon. Hot and gooey cheese and just the right amount of tomato sauce made one slice just lead to another. We forced ourselves to stop to save room for the main course.

At our server’s suggestion, I got one of the daily specials from the chalkboard, chicken baked with spinach and prosciutto under a blanket of fontina cheese. My friend got cheese ravioli with a bolognese sauce, also a special. The regular menu lists ravioli with other sauces.

When we had finished the pizza, our server brought out the main dishes. Service throughout the evening was friendly, attentive and efficient. Wine was poured, water glasses filled, leftovers boxed, and questions answered. A manager circulated among the tables, keeping watch and helping to serve and clear. Looks simple, probably isn’t.

The chicken was worth the recommendation.

A large breast was nearly buried in browned fontina, which was both chewy and toasty.

The spinach and prosciutto gave a salty and slightly bitter balance to the richness of the dish. My friend’s ravioli were plump and creamy, with plenty of sauce for that extra basket of grilled bread we requested from the server.

In addition to the pizza and specials, one can get lasagna, chicken marsala and parmigiana, cannelloni, pasta alfredo and carbonara, and calzones the size of small dogs. The latter — calzones, not dogs — come stuffed with tomato, mozzarella, ham, salami, or chicken and roasted garlic. They are big enough to share.

Then there’s dessert. As I’ve written before, Italian cooks have mastered the hidden art of making desserts that look overwhelmingly rich, but satisfy without cloying. I ordered one of the specials — torrone gelato, and my friend had cannoli. Other choices that night were cheesecake, tiramisu, and spumoni.

Torrone is an old-fashioned Italian confection, a kind of nougat tasting of honey and almonds. It makes a world-class gelato, which was served like a sundae with whipped cream and a drizzle of chocolate sauce. The cannoli, thankfully not served ice cold, was creamy and crunchy, not too sweet.

Fat Clemenza’s, named for a character in Mario Puzo’s The Godfather, bills itself as a “brick-oven pizzeria.” Much of what we saw served that night was pizza, both dine-in and takeout. Enjoy the pizza by all means, but there’s more to the place than that. You could eat at Fat Clemenza’s for quite a while and never have a pizza. But, that would be a shame.

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With the number of Italian restaurants that open every year around here, reviewing one can be a little troublesome. Moreover, high-quality pizza is everywhere, which makes it even trickier. Is there a difference between the super-efficient national pizza chains and your local outlet? Like its soul mate, beer, pizza has more to it than its proletarian reputation would indicate. One can eat pizza all week, and get used to the same old excess, double this and that, crazy toppings and dipping sauces. Or one can do what I did. I hadn’t had a pizza since sometime last fall — not intentionally, that’s just how it happened — and broke my fast at Fat Clemenza’s.

It’s a cozy place, dim and comforting, with two dining rooms, a tiny service bar, and both tables and booths. Most tables were taken when we arrived, and business didn’t slack off. Management has decorated the walls with the usual Italian flags and espresso posters, but they also have a set of black and white photos of the “old neighborhood” variety. Mobsters, both real and fictional, stare down at diners while they eat. When you consider the number of hoods that got knocked off in restaurants, it’s fitting. If you’re feeling hunted, get a table against the wall.

The menu offers appetizers, salads, soup

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Fat Clemenza’s makes food you can’t refuse

I didn’t ask whether that was the origin of the name for the restaurant, but it would make sense. Clemenza knows how to make a good pasta sauce, and is credited with the line, “Leave the gun; take the cannoli.”

Good pasta sauces abound at Fat Clemenza’s. We had a wonderful marinara, finished with a hint of cream, adorning tender gnocchi pillows. Rigatoni was taken to new heights with a tomato-based vodka sauce. Pasta carbonara with prosciutto is exceptionally creamy and has big chunks of meat.

Baked pastas include rich and wonderful lasagna filled with flavorful meat and cheese, excellent stuffed shells, and cannelloni with spinach and veal.

Meat dishes include marsala and parmagiana dishes made with chicken or veal. The marsala was lovely with a hint of orange zest adding interest.

My friend who liked the pizza was absolutely right. Fat Clemenza’s makes superb pizza in wood-fired ovens. The crust is tender and packed with flavor, with just the right amount of chewiness.

Simple works with a good pepperoni pizza and the margherita. Or the capricciosa gives you lots of toppings including mushrooms, onions, pepper, hot salami, ham and spinach. My favorite was the prosciutto, not because it was better than the others, but because I like proscuitto.

Calzones are also excellent.

While you are waiting for all that good food, try one of the antipasti. A good choice for the table to share is the Italian olive salad, a plate of Italian olives and Fontinella and fresh mozzarella cheeses served with dipping oil and bread.

Tender calamari fritti is outstanding with an almost impossibly thin crust. Bruschetta is loaded with tomatoes and plenty of garlic.

Be sure to save room for dessert. Spumoni had a good creamy texture and wonderful flavor. Fat Clemenza’s version of tiramisu is classic and sets a standard for the dish with a good balance of espresso syrup, ladyfingers and cream.

Our cannoli had a nice crisp shell. A divine panna cotta had a bit of sour cream for another layer of flavor, and just enough gelatin holding it together that it quivered when set on the table.

The staff at Fat Clemenza’s makes diners feel like they are part of the family. That service paired with exceptional food is why people crowd into the restaurant most nights. I would happily eat there often, and would follow Pete “Fat” Clemenza’s direction and take the cannoli … and the panna cotta, and the lasagna, and the gnocchi, and the pizza!

Fat Clemenza's Brick Oven Pizzeria
Holiday Plaza/ Highway 98
Miramar Beach, FL 32550
(850) 650-5980

Hours
Lunch: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Dinner: 5 p.m. to close
Closed Sunday

Price range
Lunch: $4-11
Appetizers: $5-9
Salads: $3-7
Pasta & entrees: $10-18
Pizza: $10-14
Dessert: $3-5

Additional information
- Children's menu
- Accepts major credit cards
- Handicap accessibility
- Reservations accepted

April 3, 2007

MIRAMAR BEACH – I had the most pleasant surprise when reviewing a restaurant recently.

I had planned to review O Sole Mio Pizzeria, the casual pizza, pasta and sandwich place that opened in Holiday Plaza when the more upscale O Sole Mio moved from there to the new Summit building. I had been there a few times, and had enjoyed some of the pasta dishes, but had not been a fan of the pizza.

I was preparing my column when someone told me about the really great pizza they had there recently, and I decided to go one more time to see if something was different. Everything (except the location) was different.

When we arrived, I noticed the brightly colored New Orleans-themed artwork (from a previous restaurant in that location) had been replaced by blackand-white photos that set the Italian restaurant theme, and two large blackboards listing some wonderful sounding specials. Tablecloths dress things up a bit.

The most immediately noticeable change was that the restaurant was packed, making for a fun and lively atmosphere.

While perusing the menu I noticed that the restaurant had a new name: Fat Clemenza’s Brick Oven Pizzeria (the old O Sole Mio sign remains outside while a new sign is being produced). If the name Fat Clemenza sounds familiar, it is because it is the nickname of Pete Clemenza, a character from Mario Puzo’s “The Godfather.”