This started out as a simple blog post. As I got going, it grew into a behemoth. So, I’m breaking it into multiple parts. This is part 1 focusing on Sarasota & Venice, Florida.
Since buying the pizza oven in Florida, we’ve slowed down our pizza purchases this past season. But, we still purchased pizza 8 times in 6 months; some slow down! I review An Italian Holiday – Pizza Food Truck and Pizzeria Della Nonna.
Full Purchased Pizza Table of 93 Pizzeria Reviews (click here).
But let me start with a Nebalatan Word of the Day and a quick Post Office Update.
Nebaletan Word of the Day
Bazanagol (or Basanagol or Basanicol’, pronounced – baa-zaa-naa-GOAL) basil (Italian basilico) (see link)
- Used in context with Ma (Grandma Joanne)
- Ma – “Michael go out to the garden to get some bazanagol”
- Me – “Ma, why don’t you use the dried stuff in the shaker?”
- Ma – “I won’t use that caca. Vafangoo!“
- Me – “Ok, Ma,” and I run out to Grandpa Tony’s garden and return.
- Ma – “Finamen!” (see last blog post)
Florida Post Office Offices – Part 1
Before I started the “Great Pizza Search (GPS)” while riding my bike, I was already “Hunting for Post Offices” in the “Great Post Office Search (GPO)”. So, since this blog posting is about Florida Pizzas, I’ll add a few of the more interesting Post Offices I found this season also.
Old (Original?) Venice-Nokomis Post Office
- This is located on Tamiami Trail (Rt. 41) between Nokomis and Venice. It’s a rather interesting building.
- it has many of the same attributes of many old Northeast US PO’s with a middle front door flanked by large windows, and both the door and windows have rounded tops
- If you zoom in on the picture, and look under the NOKOMIS lettering on front, you will notice that there is an outline underneath saying “VENICE-NOKOMIS POST OFFICE” etched into the stucco facade.
- I could not find a cornerstone. It was either:
- covered by the stucco
- or covered or removed by the right part of the building which seems to be an addition (it’s architectural details, though close, don’t match the left part of the building).
- There is conflicting information about the building’s date:
- The Florida Postal History Society (website) has a document (click here) that indicates the Nokomis PO was established in 1917, but it’s not specific to a Venice-Nokomis location.
- Currently, the building houses the Evergreen Cafe (website) which indicates that the building was built in 1923.
- I could not find a cornerstone. It was either:
- Based upon the dates, it’s likely that this building was designed by James Wetmore who was the US Treasury’s Supervising Architect at that time. His designs tend to be symmetric further indicating the right portion of the building is an addition (similar to the Bartow PO in the next blog post)
Sarasota, FL Purchased Pizzas 22-23 Season – Part 1
Full Purchased Pizza Table of 93 Pizzeria Reviews (click here).
An Italian Holiday – Food Truck, Sarasota, FL – 3/31/23
| Style | Rating | Go Back? | Dough | Sauce | Cheese | Presentation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thin Tuscan | Good | Yes | Not lots of flavor, but nicely cooked, semi-crisp | Good | Much cover | Generic box | Nice guy, from Milan (unfortunately) Great price at $10 each Special Treat – Tiramisu made in a cup to go!!! |
Pizzeria Della Nonna (website) – Palmer Ranch, Sarasota, FL – 11/22/22
| Style | Rating | Go Back? | Dough | Sauce | Cheese | Presentation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No discernable style, maybe NY Style? | Good | Maybe | A little flat, no crunch | Very good tomato taste | Much more than last time | Generic carboard box | We did go back, (after a previous positive visit), but it’s still not special. Table service seems to be shutdown since last visit |
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