The Cove Trattoria Restaurant (480) 951-8273, best brick oven pizza in Scottsdale.

Cove Trattoria crafts a great gourmet pizza

By Tony Natale

Scottsdale Views

THE COVE TRATTORIA

Scottsdale Seville Mall

7001 N. Scottsdale Road

(480) 951-8273

Fax (480) 951-0379

Hours: Lunch -- 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Dinner -- 5 to 9 p.m. Monday through Sunday

The first thing you should know about The Cove Trattoria is that its owner, Vincent Monica, does not consider his north Scottsdale restaurant a pizzeria - although nearly all of the items on the menu are pizzas.

Trattoria, Monica explains, means "less formal" in Italian. "We try to add little touch of elegance," said Monica, who opened the restaurant in the Scottsdale Seville Shopping Mall, 7001 N. Scottsdale Road, six months ago.

"We're not a pizzeria in the Americanized sense of the word," Monica said. "If you want to describe us, say we specialize in gourmet pizzas, but we have other items, too.

He underscores his point by noting that every table in the restaurant has a white rose, something you'd never find in chain operated pizza houses in the Valley.

Each day, he offers special side dishes such as pastas, chicken and shrimp as well as a variety of salads.

The salads range in price from $4.95 for a side order to $7.95 as an entrée and contain touches such as cashews, walnuts, blue cheese, basil, Portobello mushrooms and balsamic vinaigrette.

But it's the 13-inch pizzas (only 13-inch, none larger or smaller) ranging in price from $9.95 to $12.95 that lead the parade.

I ordered the Piccante pizza for $11.95. It contained sweet Italian sausage, pepperoni, mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce, garlic and fresh, sweet basil.

Sounds like your basic pizza, right?

Well, it may have contained the same ingredients, but it was not your everyday pizza.

The crust was the best I've ever

tasted, and I've eaten a lot of pizzas in my life. It was thin, tender to the point of being nearly flaky and tasted almost sweet.

The pepperoni's flavor was just enough when combined with the sweet sausage, which was tasteful but not overbearing.

The mozzarella cheese was unlike the kind you buy wrapped in plastic in the store, and the basil added the perfect topping.

I learned that nearly all the basic products used in my pizza were made from scratch.

"The crust was made with a blend of white flour," Monica said.

The final touch was the way the pizza is baked -- in a brick oven using cedar wood. No gas or electricity.

The other pizza selections include the same kind of "gourmet" items, same made with chicken and spinach, feta cheese, goat cheese, blackened chicken, caramelized onions and artichoke hearts.

The Cove Trattoria is a clean restaurant with a patio that overlooks a small pool and fountain. Soft music from the 1960s and 1970s plays in the background.

Monica started in the restaurant business in his hometown of Hoboken, N.J., 25 years ago. Before opening the family operated Cove Trattoria, he owned a restaurant downtown at Fifth Avenue and Scottsdale Road for five years.

The Cove Trattoria menu says: "Each pizza has a unique and distinct flavor!"

Using my Piccante pizza as a basis for judging the others, I'd say:

"That's for sure!"

-- Scottsdale Views reviews locally owned restaurants in Scottsdale. Readers can suggest a restaurant for review by calling (480) 970-2375.