Picture a classic hunting lodge off in the woods, minus all the severed heads. Imagine a large room with beautiful exposed ceiling beams and hardwood floors, a stunning, casual-chic simplicity in both decoration and ambiance, and you have Piazza.
They look and act like a fancy restaurant, but inside they are more of a fancy private home with really hospitable hosts. There's a rustic chandelier that looks like it should hold a hundred candles and another that twinkles with a million crystals and lights, spun with orbiting rings for a modern spin. The service is spot-on, and the open kitchen is welcoming, always buzzing with hustling chefs.
It's a casual night, and pizza is where it's at. The crust is fluffy and hand-tossed thin, and the pies are out-of-the-oven gorgeous. We start with a Pear and Gorgonzola, sweet slices of pared pear and alternating chunks of mac nuts and gorgonzola. I would have liked a little more gorgonzola and a little less balsamic as the vinegar finishes bitter under such high heat, but in their defense, the ingredient balance is pretty darn close.
The House Italian Sausage might be the best pizza I've ever had. The house-made sausage is sweeter with a gentler spices that compound with o-rings of fragrant fennel. Supple balls of mozzarella (they make their own!!!) are milky and smooth, punctuated by parmesan, sweet peppers, and tomato.
I LOVE that pizza. I've never had a pie that sticks to my memory like that one, and I don't need to try the others to know that Piazza makes the best pie in Kauai. Princeville seems to have a paucity of affordable, non-pretentious restaurants, but even if Piazza is the only one that's worthwhile. Piazza is worth it every time!
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