Omnivore - A visit to Fritti, news about Beleza and Cuerno

I’ve been craving pizza all week, so we visited Fritti Thursday night. While I got my favorite Napoli — made with bufala, wild oregano, capers and anchovies — Wayne ordered the calzone, which arrived at the table looking like a gigantic crab, larger than the plate on which it was served.

Wayne admitted that it put the first calzone he ever tasted — when he was 10, in Columbia, S.C. — to shame. Light, crispy and creamy, it was filled with ricotta, mozzarella, salame and cotto ham. He accepted the offer of a dish of marinara on the side. It didn’t need it, but he never says no to extra food.

We also ordered my favorite starter, the fried mushrooms.

As we finished our meal, restaurant owner Riccardo Ullio arrived on his motorcycle. (Yes, we know one another.) Riccardo also owns Beleza, the groovy Brazilian cocktail lounge. He said that he is in the process of changing the menu there to all raw food. It won’t be just vegetarian food. Ceviche, carpaccio, tuna crudo and such will be on the menu, along with vegetarian dishes like the grains the spot is already serving.

Meanwhile, Cuerno, next door to Beleza, is featuring live flamenco at 7 p.m. Sundays. The show features guitar, dance and singing. If you’ve never seen authentic flamenco, you need to go. As far as I know, Cuerno remains the only Spanish restaurant in our city and the paellas estan fantasticas.