Restaurante Ashly

Zavino is a new pizzeria

and wine bar located at the epicenter of the city´s trendy Midtown Village neighborhood. The restaurant features a seasonal menu, classic cocktails, an approachable selection of wine and beer and some of the best late night menu offerings in the area.

The restaurant´s interior looks great – it has a simple, rustic feel with an original brick wall, large picture windows, a long bar and a large outdoor cafe coming this spring.

And the menu is great too – it boasts affordable snacks ranging from pizza to pasta to charcuterie to satisfy diners’ hunger, and then cocktails, including Italy´s venerable Negroni and Bellini, and an ever-evolving assortment of wine and beer offerings, to quench their thirst.

Menu items vary seasonally, as is customary in Italy, and may include: House-Made Beef Ravioli with brown butter and sage; Roasted Red and Golden Beets with pistachios and goat cheese; Roasted Lamb with fried eggplant and mint; a delicious house-made gnocchi; and traditional Panzanella, a tomato and bread salad. There is also a nice selection of cheese and charcuterie available a la carte.

The Pizza

The gourmet pizzas are baked in a special wood-burning oven that reaches temperatures of up to 900 degrees. The pizzas are approximately 12 inches in diameter. And Chef Gonzalez describes the crust as neither too thin or too thick, but rather somewhere right between Neapolitan and Sicilian, “crunchy and tender, and just exactly right.”

Three classic pizzas will be available year-round: Rosa, with tomato sauce and roasted garlic; Margherita, with tomato sauce and buffalo mozzarella, topped with fresh basil; and Polpettini, tomato sauce and provolone cheese with veal mini-meatballs.

The specialty pizzas that are on the opening winter menu include: Philly, with bechamel, provolone, roasted onions and bresaola; Kennett, with bechamel, claudio´s mozzarella, roasted onions with oyster, cremini and shitake mushrooms; Sopressata, with tomato sauce, claudio´s mozzarella, sopressata olives, pickled red onion and pecorino; and Fratello, with bechamel, broccoli, roasted garlic and claudio´s mozzarella.

Pizzas vary in price from $8 to $12.