New Italian Cafe in Camden

[Shooley]

Went to a new Italian cafe in Camden--Paolina's Way--with 6 others and a baby the other night. It's tucked down around a corner off Bayview Street, near Atlantica. Best pizza I've had in Maine for some time. Paolina is the owner's grandmother (not present); the owners are New Yawkers (as I think Passadumkeag calls 'em) who have vacationed here for years. They've hired a couple of guys from Italy (southern Italy, I believe) who do most of the cooking. One is Stefano, a very sweet guy. I was impressed with the quality of the ingredients, the wait staff and despite its kitchiness, the ambiance. The waitstaff especially, considering we were there on their fourth night of operation. The owners are very committed to "green" service, use all local ingredients as best they can, and are keeping it simple. Mostly wood oven-fired pizzas and some pastas. One of us had the lasagne, which was very light and heavenly. The rest of us had pizza, which are a bit expensive--$18-20 (my only complaint, besides the tiramisu, which was not so hot). It was cracker crisp, thin crust (yeah!) like I've had in Italy. Oh, and the wine list needs some additions (They're trying to do all organic so it may take a bit of time to find the right wines.) So, we went through several bottles of their one Chianti, DaVinci. We tried one simple green salad which was just well-dressed greens with a few blueberries sprinkled on top. Good. The homemade gelatos are very good, too. Anyway, check it out...