Aria Malovany – A Business in my Neighborhood

In my neighborhood, this is an Italian restaurant called Al Di La. One of my favorite items on the menu is their salad pizza. This dish consists of the dough of a personal sized pizza cooked with a fresh zesty salad on top. When it’s cut into slices, a lot of the salad falls off as there is no sauce/adhesive to keep it on, but I don’t mind as it’s bursting with flavor regardless. I like to add feta cheese to the top to add even more flavor. My favorite aspect of the dish is how crispy the crust is and how I can feel the thin-ness of the crust since nothing is really cooked into the dough. Usually, cheese and sauce are cooked into the dough which can make it softer and less crispy, but in this salad pizza, the salad is placed atop the crispy thin bread. 

If I was a psychology major, I would ask La Di La why they don’t have an adhesive for the salad. For the benefit of the customer, the salad on the pizza should stay on the pizza, not fall off. Maybe they could make the crust thicker or the crust borders taller so there is less salad loss. As a psychology major, maybe I’d ask customers how they feel when the salad falls off the bread and if it would be beneficial to add a sauce so this doesn’t happen. If I was a journalism major, I would explain the process of how this pizza is made and write in detail about the many flavors this dish has to offer. If I was a mathematics major, I would analyze the quantities of each ingredient that goes into the pizza and maybe find an adhesive for the salad and find the perfect ratio of sauce/dressing to the pizza. 

Majors: Psychology, journalism, mathematics

Although I live in Manhattan now, I still consider “my neighborhood” the place I grew up. I didn’t think it was necessary to visit this restaurant as I’ve ordered this dish many times before. Right when I started writing, the details of the pizza immediately flowed to my head as I was reminded of one of my favorite foods.