Cooked at 550F
Comfort food doesn’t have to be about rich warming stews, your Mum’s trifle, or a mug of soup on a cold day.
It can be about ritual as well. Something that gives you comfort.
I am lucky enough to be able to travel a lot on holiday. Something neither myself or my partner take for granted, so bear with me when I say, on landing into Las Vegas, what we look forward to is a little bit of comfort, as was the case this Christmas!
The day would have started early with a trip to London Gatwick in the dark and cold. A satisfactory breakfast in the terminal, followed by a 10 hour flight. I like airline food, which is a blessing, but on arriving in Vegas we know what we want.
Checked in to the hotel, transatlantic travel showered off, we walk along the strip breathing in the cold, non-conditioned air, heading for the Aria hotel.
Inside Aria is a pizza joint called Five50. Five50 referring to the temperature of the wood fired oven in which the pizza is baked.
There is an impressive list of craft, draft and bottled beers, and the wine is reliably good. As with a lot of American menus there is a tempting array of starters and cheese and meat sharing plates. We know by now to avoid these as we don’t want to fill ourselves up too much.
The star is the pizza of course! Our go to is the Gotham. As described on the menu – “Not just a mythical city where Batman saves the day. This pizza is layered, covered and spread with spicy, rich, meaty deliciousness.”
Pepperoni, sausage, salami, mozzarella, and grana padano cheese sitting on a hand stretched light crispy base. Best enjoyed at the bar with a cold beer.
From the bar we could see the chefs working the pizza dough and the seemly never ending queue of people wanting just a slice. Not hard to see why.
In Vegas there is an unlimited choice of food, but sometimes it is the simplicity of a perfect pizza that you have been yearning for that really hits the spot! Tomorrow will be another day, and another set of choices, but for tonight Aria Five50 pizza was the perfect comfort food.
