A while ago, I spyed on my reels on Instagram from the team at Tratto Avalon Park. I was happy and had a smile. There was hip hop. And yes, in the end there was pizza.
However, there was a pornographic porn of dough before a Detroit-style pie with pepperoni was pulled out of the oven and laid out on a smooth, black skin, reaching the part carved into the segment by the sparkling blade of a mega mezza luna.
Definitely xxx.
Said Dough: He co-stars with Tratto Chef/Owner Mabel Munoz.
You can see her spiraling in the mixer before she pulls its fantastic toffee pull-sized rope from the bowl. A quick cut is made to her fingertips, which can be seen through the elastic translucent fabric. Then she forms it into a ball. After a while, oil it on the sheet pan and spread it in a cheerful way. It swells shy. Shine, shine. Not embarrassing, all games.
The next cut, a fully baked pepperoni pizza, is considered a money shot (the cheese pull is pretty spectacular as the greasy rectangle is lifted out of the pie), but that was what I did for me.
I shared this reel with my partner. With pizza and everything else.
“Look at this fabric,” I wrote. “I mean, look!”
He was also intrigued.
I ate at another restaurant a few weeks before I finally reached the trat (date night outfits allowed me to look great in pizza), but all the while I was thinking about the dough and how it would feel to finally sink my teeth.
And what about traditional pie? The charming crust in the caramel tint looked very good in teeth. Mature. Will the flavor be what I expected?
it was.
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I would like to talk about Munoz’s journey.
Something like her and her boyfriend/business partner Alvaro Ramirez met at culinary school in her hometown of Maracaibo, Venezuela. Or she is a second-generation South American Italian whose grandmother Alicia Santili has moved from the Trastevere district of Rome. Or, she is only 26 years old and cooks her heart in her own restaurant. But I’m fighting myself.
Because I want to continue talking about pizza.
Munoz does so with pleasure.
Her Biga Cold Ferments 24 hours a day, during which time it gets stronger, she says.
“The flavor changes and becomes richer. And once we prepare the dough, we wait another 2-3 days before using it.”
And while the Detroit style may not be what the Indigenous people of Motor City have come to expect, it’s a solid homage. The cheese all the way to the edge of the bread turns into the only one that holds this airy thing down. It is a powerful concentration of frico in both flavor and crunch. This pie is a pillow with an oiled crisp foundation, soft in the center and topped with whatever you like.
The new take in the American version of Italian was Ramirez’s idea.
“I was thinking about the menu while I was doing the renovation,” she says. “We had this huge oven of four (levels) and we had to bake pizza and other things and do something with it. And we’ve done a lot of things in a very traditional way, we make fresh pasta and make sauces like from home, but we wanted to incorporate the influences of other cultures. Why? Because we’re immigrants! My grandmother was a Venezuelan immigrant. Now I’m in the US.”
So the trat opened its doors on July 4th, 2024.
Munoz laughs at the timing.
“It was interesting because everyone was cooking and traveling outside with their family. We liked three tables that day. But that was an American dream.”
That pizza appears in my dreams.
Detroit-style spicy pepperoni with goat cheese and hot honey is like a dream. So, a traditional tartufo, a white pie with beautifully cooked mushrooms and drop pesto.
On the way home visit and I went to Detroit again (new companions, another opinion – that’s the excuse I’m rolling), this time roasted tomatoes on fire with simpler Genovesa, red pie with plague, and caramelization with sweetness against campfire marshmallows. Whatever your favorite topping is, do it. But that crust? wonderful. Also.
I sampled Munoz’s Panna Cotta on my first visit. The dessert is her grandmother’s recipe and is a favorite on the small menu.
“We had five at first, but now we only have three because Panna Cotta, Cannoli and Tiramisu are busy.”
The latter is served in plenty of squares and is delightful for post-meal coffee. I’m forced to save the room and enjoying some cheesy seafood risotto. Munoz says they are top sellers.
“The scallop version is lemon. Porcettawan has truffle oil. And seafood, we add a bit of bisque to make sure you taste more seafood-Y.”
A suitable plate to stack shrimp, squid and mussels and share again. Butternut and blue cheese were similarly in the recipe for Grandma Alicia, whom Munoz surprised, and that’s how it was. Customers may over-order, but hey: leftovers are a joy.
Garlic is baked to order, stacked with pesto and palm and beautifully reheated at home. And I’ll do that pizza too. It’s cold.
But Tratto has nothing but warmth. There, all the hard work in that open kitchen still feels like a dream come true.
“Cooking is the first job for so many people,” she says of the short cycle from student to cook to chef/restaurant. Pricing, training, relationships with providers, staff and customers. You are trying to gain more knowledge about everything, good and bad. And you will keep this dream in your heart. ”
If it’s all the same for her, I’ll keep it in my belly. If you have the chance
Do you want to reach out to me? Find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram @Amydroo or the Osfoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com. Join Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook Group for more foodie fun.
If you’re going
Tratto Avalon Park: 425 Avalon Park S. Blvd. In Orlando, 407-440-2140; trattomoderialian.com
