Double Zero

I liked Double Zero Napoletana in Sandy Springs when they first opened... The drinks were pretty decent and the food was above average. The inside was spacious, perhaps a bit too spacious and swanky for a "pizza joint"... While the dining room had good traffic, I have never seen the bar full, ever. The location was easy to get to but the parking was either painless or a real pain in the ass. This was not a spot that you would casually stop by for a drink and a bite, it had to be planned out because there were too many moving parts involved. I don't like complicated anything... Especially, with women's underpants. I like to get in and out as quickly as possible. I like my 'ZA like my broads... Quick, hot, juicy, lift up the skirt, easy to pull apart, fold and eat. I have no fucking clue what that means but it's getting me hungry... And horny.
So, after a few years and the building sold, they decided to move the concept to vacated space in Emory Village where Ink & Elm once dwelled which I liked. I like what they did with the space, they didn't totally change the entire space but just enough to make it feel different than before. There's still 3 different spaces, the bar area, a lounge area and the dining area. They also put in two brand new Ferrara ovens and the two from the original space into storage... What? Come again? Why would you buy two brand new ones when you have two perfectly seasoned you already own... Maybe it's the whole logistics of disassembling it, moving it and rebuilding it in the new space... But I heard they may be saving it for another spot, who knows. Anyways, I like the whole set up in here. It flows nicely. But beware of a couple tables that are hidden in the dark that gets no light... I hate tables that are in the dark, you can't see what the fuck you're eating. It could be platypus or placenta, who the fuck knows..
Enough bullshit talk, let's get down to business... Will the new downsized menu work in this area full of students or will it be revamped in two months... Let's go check it out.

OXTAIL, celery root, kataifi, egg yolk, frisée, grapefruit. They were out of the octopus, so I had to pick another dish STAT... Oxtail it was. And I'm glad I did... This dish was visually impressive. A ring of kataifi sitting on top of fork tender oxtail which was already forked apart. This was a good dish all around... Had the different textures, flavors and colors.

GRILLED KALE, arugula, radish, fennel, ricotta salata, roasted garlic vinaigrette, gremolata. C'mon, pouch, you kidding me? A fucking salad? Wait, a fucking kale salad? Yeah yeah... But I shit you not, this was a pretty damn tasty salad. Would I get it again? Prolly no but I had it once and it didn't make me puke.

ARANCINI, smoked brisket, cheddar, mushroom, honey truffle aioli. How boring can you be, pouch? Arancini balls? What a snoozefest... Look motherfucker, everyone loves balls in their facehole. Quit hating da balls. These were heavily flavored with smoked brisket inside, no doubt about that... Very tasty but the thing that made this dish was the mushroom sauce/puree thinger... It's like an amped up Campbell's mushroom soup undiluted with truffles. Love that sauce, it made the dish come together.

TONNARELLI, pork cheek ragu, Grana Padano, lemon oil. I love that they didn't chintz on the pork cheek but c'mon, dude, don't skimp on the pasta... It's a fucking pasta dish for crying out loud. If I order pasta, please make sure there's enough pasta in there to be called a pasta dish... Plus, pasta is so damn cheap. Give me lotsa cheap gluteny carby filler for fuck sake... Not a pair of shoe laces. But besides that, this dish was pretty good... Who doesn't like pork cheek? I was kinda surprised by how tasty it was.

M.P.A. PIZZA, San Marzano tomato, basil, fior di latte, prosciutto, arugula. I didn't want to get all fancypants with the 'ZA since they just recently opened and the two Ferrara ovens have been barely broken in and seasoned. And I wasn't getting suckered into another white 'ZA again after the dismal display at Vero pizzeria. I'm sticking with the standard red sauce Napoletana pie...With a bunch stuff on top. Yeah. So, this comes out... Looks damn decent. The blisters on the crust was spot-on, poked at the crust and it had a nice bounce to it. The prosciutto and arugula gave it some visual height and heft. The soft creamy fior di latte cheese melted nicely randomly around. The only thing that was obviously not up to snuff was the red sauce... It was watery as fuck. I stuck my finger into it and it wet and oily. The sauce needed to be tighten up a lot. The flavor of the sauce was in between bland and acceptable. But if you ate all the part together (a folded up slice), the 'ZA wasn't bad at all. The crust was nice, maybe it coulda used another 15 seconds but it had nice little blisters all around and a good pull. The upskirt coulda used a lil more color but totally acceptable. In it's current state, it would be considered a decent pie in the city but a good pie in this area... Well, mostly because there's nothing else around here comparable. If it wasn't for the watery sauce this woulda been a really nice specimen. As we all know, it only takes one part of the pie to bring it down... But in this case it was still pretty tasty overall because of the quality ingredients.

I like the place and vibe, I like the downsized menu to focus more attention on the execution of each dish... Some needed more attention than others but I was generally impressed by the samples I've had on this visit. The booze menu seemed awfully similar to Ink & Elm's... Shit, they were selling off their booze inventory for up to 50% off to anyone before they closed... So, I'm betting Double Zero got a lot of their inventory for dirt cheap... I like their extensive offerings (a bit overpriced) but the cocktails need a little work. The beer options are ok but it works. I think they will do just fine in Emory Village even though most students will never come here but the richie riches that live around here will more than make up the slack and support this joint... I ain't rich but I would definitely come back and try the rest of the menu. 

1577 N Decatur Rd
Atlanta, GA 30307
http://doublezeroatl.com/