Pizzamania

When I spoke a while back about Alcúdia being like Blackpool, or rather The Mile being like Blackpool (24 January "Walk A Mile In My Shoes"), I didn't touch on the restaurants along and off The Mile. To hear or read some comments, you would think that it is burger and chips the whole length of the Bellevue strip. Now burger and chips there are, but there is a whole load besides. The Mile's restaurants may not be your typical Mallorcan in that they don't tend to go in for goat, vegetable tumbet and arroz brut to any great extent (in fact not at all), but there are still some fine examples of good troughing to be had.

The Mile is top and toed by two examples of different food but both of good quality. S'Amfora, which is actually on the main carretera, is a long-established restaurant that is arguably the closest you might get to authenticity in The Mile in that it offers tapas as well as some fine grill dishes. At the other end of The Mile, down by the Siestas, is a new place, L'Italiano, which, as the name implies, is Italian. But it is not your everyday pizza joint, even if they do do pizzas. The menu is far more varied and what you might expect of a proper Italian restaurant.

Alcúdia is weighed under by "pizzerias". Many though are misnomers because, although they have pizzas on the menu, they do more besides. The pizzeria name can often give a false impression. Somewhere like Luna's Grill along The Mile shouts out "pizzeria", but most people who have ever been there will talk about the giant kebabs for which it is far more renowned. A place with "grill" in its name creates for itself an unintentional problem by confusing matters with the pizzeria tag. But, as most parents will know, the availability of pizza is all-important, and so the restaurants co-opt the description in order to cover all bases. At least one presumes that is why they do it. La Traviata, off The Mile, is another case in point. It is a tad more exclusive than other restaurants in the zone but it also embraces "pizzeria" alongside its steak house and "asador" (grill, or spit to be more accurate) persona as well as its tapas and paellas.

Despite the apparent abundance of pizza, The Mile is far from being a Blackpool of fast foodism and grease and chips. The often used Greasy Mile moniker does perhaps allude to a sub-standard level of cuisine, but it is misused; indeed it is wrong in most instances. Authentic Mallorcan no, but good what one might call "international" food, yes.

And a restaurant of the week, here's a shout for L'Italiano:

Where: Avda. Pedro Mas y Reus 40, Puerto Alcúdia opposite Bellevue.

What: Genuinely Italian cooking. Pastas and pizzas yes but also meat and fish dishes. The menu of the day a few days back offered osso bucco. Top quality wines as well. Evening special menus during the season.

When: Every day.

Who: Sandro and Domenico. They are Italian. Not the greatest command of English but they manage, though I had to point out on their menu of the day board that you don't say "frieds squids". But hey, they're Italian.

Why: Classy sort of joint. Good-sized terrace for the warmer weather. Italian-run, you can be sure this is the real McCoy or maybe that should be Maccoieo or some such.


QUIZ
Yesterday - Leonard Cohen. Today's title - album by a DJ who, at the time, was known under a different name.

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