Delfina's and The Magic Hat

It's not Pazzia's pizza, for sure, but Delfina's is a fun place. The pizza is very good, but the antipasti are even better, especially the
...Tricolore Salad, which has radicchio on the left, endive in the middle and arugula on the right, dressed with a lemon vinaigrette and slices of Gran Padano cheese.

Sometimes the Magic Hat works. Plotnik does not get reimbursed for the food he eats when reviewing a restaurant, so he and Ducknik always try to order food that won't cost more than what he earns for photographing and writing up the place.

They ordered a Pizza Margherita and Pizza with Broccoli Rabe, filled with ricotta, almost like the inside of a calzone on top of a very thin pizza crust, plus a yummy tray of warm olives and a small dish of spicy cauliflower for antipasti, and two glasses of wine. But when the waiter and owner saw the Magic Hat ...they began to ply the Plotniks with complementary platters. The delicious pulled mozzarella cheese with more arugula and crostini. That fantastic Tricolore salad. The Hazlenut Cannoli for desert to go with the Meyer Lemon Crostada.

Ah, The Magic Hat. Often when Plotnik puts it on, the first person that sees it walks up to him and starts complaining about his internet service. Other times, restauranters are nasty and too busy to notice.

But if they're smart, and nice people, they understand that being nice to reviewers can often lead to reviewers feeling nice about the place they're eating, and that may in itself turn into excellent, free publicity for the restaurant. On those rare occasions, good things happen to the gentleman wearing the Magic Hat. Last night good things happened, yum. They are really nice people at Delfina's Pizzeria, and oh man, that cannoli.