I ate at Il Ritrovo in Sheboygan this evening.

Was fortunate enough to be sitting at the bar and have a conversation with the owner Stefano who is from the area and did a stint (non-cooking) in Chicago for awhile. He is looking to open a restaurant near Il Ritrovo that will feature all local/near local Wisconsin food. In speaking with him it was obvious that he had a real passion for the craft he was producing, it was very refreshing. We talked about all the choices of cuisine that us Chicagoans are so fortunate to have. He also had heard about Pizzeria Bianco and wanted to get out to Phoenix at some point to try. He is also assisting in opening a Neapolitan pizza shop in Chicago.

For a starter I had the bruschetta. The tomato used was wonderfully flavored however; picture a nice slice of white crusty Italian bread with a lone 1/3 of a tomato in the center and some Italian parsley, garlic and olive oil over the rest of the bread. More tomatoes are needed, plain and simple. I felt quite cheated by this starter.

The Magherita pizza is what I normally would have chose but the special pizza of the day, a sauce less Neapolitan pizza with some smoked mozzarella, pancetta, porcini and chanterelle mushrooms (which were in season) called out to me. GREAT CHOICE!! The mushrooms being in season were outstanding along with the slightly smoked cheese. I was not that thrilled with the dough, I wanted more crustiness. Stefano said any diner can simply request that their pizza get crusty a bit and the chef will hold the pizza up closer to the wood fire to get it crispier. I will certainly do that next time.

I was too full to try anything else but am thinking of stopping by on my way home tomorrow evening even though it is an hour out of my way.

Il Retrovo
515 S. 8th St
Sheboygan, WI 53081