Vero Amore: Vero Good

It's amazing how universal pizza has become. Practically every culture eats this on a regular basis and have developed their own form of the food. Some Japanese restaurants cook it with squid and seaweed as toppings and even some Americans use BBQ sauce as the base instead of tomato sauce. However, it's hard to find pizza in Tucson made the way it was when it was originated back in Italy hundreds of years ago. Something simple but delicious.

That wait is over. Vero Amore (3305 N. Swan Rd., 520-325-4122) has arrived in this fine city and should awaken plenty of palates to show them exactly why pizza became the favorite dish of many.

My girlfriend Breanne and I took the drive last Wednesday night over to this restaurant to find out what exactly these chefs were preparing that was so special. We had both been craving pizza and we heard wonderful reviews about Vero Amore, so we decided to give it a shot. The drive over to the restaurant was slightly arduous considering we didn't realize it was in a strip mall and spent some time driving up and down Swan Road looking for a small Italian place. It was, in fact, next to the Basha's supermarket, and thankfully Breanne's eagle eyes saw it. I pulled a U-Turn and headed over to the place.

Upon parking and walking inside, we couldn't believe how nice it was for the surrounding location. Rustic tables, heavy chairs, and beautifully stained glass lighting really make the ambiance of Vero Amore very enjoyable. The chefs were in the back pulling in and out pizzas from a wood oven as a very friendly waitress came forward to greet us and help us with the menu. Quickly looking over the menu, we chose the anima pizza, ($9.95), which comes with andouille sausage, smoked mozzarella, parmesan and the house tomato sauce. We decided to both drink water. After ordering, we sat while talking and waiting for our delicious dish to arrive.

See, what makes the pizza here so traditional is the way it's prepared. All of Vero Amore's pies are prepared by the Verace Pizza Napoletana's strict standards. This organization sets the guidelines for the way pizza is to be made the way it was in the old country. This means that the sauce is made from plum tomatoes, the dough is made from finely ground flour, and all the dough was stretched on a marble slab. The wood oven and fresh buffalo mozzarella also are guidelines the chefs follow very closely. You're not going to find a fajita pizza or a dessert pizza here. This is what Italy tastes like and they truly respect the tradition.

Our pizza was delivered and I had never seen Breanne eat so fast. She absolutely loved the pizza and so did I. The crust was light but still chewy. The sauce was tangy but not overbearing. The cheese and sausage both complemented each other extremely well and it was phenomenal. After devouring the pie, we decided we were still hungry and ordered dessert. We decided on their panna cotta ($5.50), which is a white chocolate gelatin based dessert with raspberry sauce garnished across the dessert and the plate. This dessert was heavenly and not too heavy, but still had very strong flavors. The raspberry sauce screamed of freshness and everything felt wonderful to the senses.

The service was amazing as well. Our chef came over twice to make sure our meal and dessert were prepared constantly as our waitress was constantly filling our water glasses and getting used plates out of the way. I couldn't believe how wonderful everything, from the service to the food to the atmosphere, at Vero Amore was.

Synopsis: Vero Amore is making pizza the way it ought to be made and tried by every Tucsonian. Put down the phone and stop calling Papa Johns tonight and try what was the basis for the most popular dish in the world.