Della’s Wood-Fired Pizza & Cocktails
Della’s is sister restaurant to its neighbor, The Hatch Rotisserie & Bar and owned by Maggie Cameron and Eric Connolly. Both restaurants have great ambiance for a nice dinner out in wine country.
My partner is an avid pizza fan, so he and I have been wanting to try Della’s for awhile as one of the most appealing options around the main square downtown. We haven’t yet had a chance to fully explore the pizza offerings of the Paso area but can compare to our experiences at Blast & Brew just down the block, Via Caravaggio 147 in Paso Market Walk, Opolo Vineyards’ pizza oven, and Griff’s in Templeton. Having enjoyed a dinner at Hatch, Della’s seemed like a promising choice.
I started out with a zero ABV cocktail, the Spring Fling (berry-tarragon shrub, soda). It was served over ice with a cucumber garnish. I’ve come to really appreciate the increased mocktail offerings at restaurants these days, and I really enjoyed the Spring Fling. While pale in appearance, the fruity flavor wasn’t watered down, it was pleasantly but not overly sweet, and the cucumber added a refreshing air.
As a starter, I ordered Cam’s Caesa (romaine, Grana Padano, caesar verde, garlic breadcrumbs). I didn’t order this initially, but caved since Caesar salads are such a classic pairing with pizza, and I wanted to give theirs a try. The presentation was lovely with fresh, crisp, full romaine leaves topped with generous shavings of cheese and breadcrumbs (served with a steak knife for easier serving/eating). There was also plenty of the caesar verde dressing. I wasn’t sure exactly what caesar verde was, and I probably should have asked. My best guess is that it was pureed with some sort of herbs (parsley?) or avocado. For me, the crumbled topping, mixed with the caesar verde yielded a bit of a pastiness that lacked the bite and saltiness which is what I typically enjoy in caesar salads. I had noticed it didn’t list anchovy as an ingredient, and while not for everyone, I also appreciate the umami-rich flavor they add and was also missing from this salad. Overall, I’d say it was good, but didn’t quite hit the caesar craving I had. If you order, just be prepared for something slightly different than a caesar, and it was plenty enjoyable.
As the namesake, we of course had to try a couple of pizzas for the main. My partner and I shared the Girl Crush (mozzarella, tomato sauce, pepperoni, jalapeño, hot honey) and the Chicago Fire (mozzarella, tomato sauce, meatball, whipped ricotta, pickled Fresno chiles, lemon). We also both ordered a side of the spicy marinara for dipping crust. We definitely appreciated their array of dipping sauce options.
He really liked the Girl Crush and commented that he wants to try putting honey on his next pepperoni pizza. While I thought it was good, I think I prefer more of a classic pepperoni pizza. The ingredients were high quality, but I was also a bit disappointed by the sparse toppings. I’ve now seen some photos in other reviews showing similarly sparse toppings, while the Della’s photos (maybe from an earlier time) show the toppings much more filled out.
The Chicago Fire seemed like a sure winner for me from the description. I’m always a sucker for meatballs and ricotta and also enjoy a chili kick. But, something about the combinations of flavors in this pizza just didn’t work quite right. My partner commented on the lemon zest with the ricotta cheese, and I think he’s onto something. We tend to prefer a honey-chili ricotta when we do these kinds of pizzas at home. Lemon aside, the ricotta was a bit off for me in flavor (I can’t quite put my finger on what about it) and was also a bit heavy-handed. The Neapolitan style crust didn’t hold up very well to the weight, making the pizza a bit messy to eat. And again, the sparse toppings were a bit of a disappointment. The “meatball” toppings were more small pieces of meatball and barely a piece or two on each slice and overpowered by the amount and flavor of the ricotta.
Overall, both pizzas were executed well on quality of ingredients and cooking, but the flavors just didn’t quite hit the mark for me. I think next time I would try the Straight Up Now Tell Me (buffalo mozzarella, tomato sauce, basil) to get a better feel of their overall pizza execution and come a bit more open-minded on flavor combinations being a bit outside of the norm, and perhaps we would have enjoyed it more. For more of typical pizza flavors, I think Via Caravaggio still tops my list for Paso, but we need to return there to confirm.