Italian Long Table Dining Series at Prima Strada

Last night we had dinner at Prima Strada on Bridge Street - it is walking distance from our home.   We once again had good pizza and good gelato.   A bit more about their pizza at the end.

While we were there we saw this long table set up with place setting - it looked like a long reserved table, I thought nothing more about this.   Turns out this was the table for the Italian Long Table Dining Series.

They hold this event on the last Wednesday and Thursday of the month and focus on the cooking of one region of Italy.    Everyone sits at one table and gets the same menu and wine pairings.   This month it was Campania.   On August 24th and 25th the region will be Sicily.

The cost is $50, which given the cost to have a decent meal with wine in this town is normally much higher is a good deal.

I have been thinking about the idea of a communal table and how it would be interesting to have a restaurant in this town have this as a set up for some meals to allow foodies to get to know each other.   With the Italian Long Table Dining Series, we will have a chance to try out regional food and talk with people who are likely to be just as much into food as we are.

Our intention is to go to one of the dinners soon, though we do not know if we can go in August.

Back to the pizza - they use a flour called Caputo 00 flour from Italy.   Apparently it is seen globally as the best flour to make pizza with.   The big difference seems to be that it is actually not that high in protein, only 11-12% and not 14-15% that most bread flours are.   It seems to be especially important for wood fired ovens.  I do think the dough in their pizzas are not like any others I have had, so there may be something to this flour.