Pizza Romana Introduces Wine Night West Hollywood

By Samantha Dockser

Pizza Romana brings a taste of Italy to the East Side of LA. Owned by native Italian Alex Palermo, Pizza Romana is a neighborhood pizzeria on La Brea. If there’s one thing Alex loves more than his pizza, it’s the extensive collection of Italian wines. So, in an effort to make his wine list as accessible as possible, Pizza Romana is opening up their Wine Room every Thursday night for guests to step inside and enjoy complimentary wine tasting and small bites. The best part: all the bottles are for sale and 20% off!

Call me crazy, but I’ve never been a big fan of wine, or pizza for that matter, a fact that has given me grief all my life. But after attending last Thursday’s tasting, I am a changed woman. I tasted four wines, each of which was better than the next—two whites, a rose, and a red. The sommelier, a true Italian who moved here from Rome three months ago, was wonderful! He was so knowledgeable and eager to share his passion for wine with anyone who would listen.

For instance, I learned the first wine I tasted is from Campania, Italy. It has acidity because the grapes were planted between a volcano and the sea. It was aged in stainless steel, and is easier to drink when young. If you have a refined wine nose, I am told you can smell peach and apple. And this white wine is best paired with seafood and pasta.

I sound like a novice explaining what I learned, and I won’t do it justice. So rather than attempting to recount the descriptions of each wine I tasted, so you should make sure to head to next Thursday’s tasting.

And if wine isn’t enough for you, don’t worry. The food is exceptional as well. The sommelier explained the pizza dough is imported from Italy, and then Pizza Romana ferments the dough for 24-48 hours. The rest of their produce is from local farmer’s markets and gardens. Thursday’s wine tasting includes Pizza Bianca as well as an assortment of cheese and salumi.

If you aren’t full after that nosh, I suggest you order one of the two pizzas I tried. They were unreal. The first is the Buffalo Mozzarella Pizza topped with proscuitto and arugula.

The second is the 3 Meat Bolognese with beef, veal, and pork, as well as mozzarella and parmigiano reggiano. This pizza tasted like spaghetti Bolognese on a pizza. It was incredible.

I’ve also been told the Fried Chicken, Meatballs, and Gelato at Pizza Romana are all must tries. So I know I’ll be back week after week. I just found my go to pizza spot.