Diavola Pizzeria & Salumeria, Geyserville

[tom246]

My wife and I are from New Jersey so our standards for pizza are pretty high. Most of the recommended pizza joints out here in Ca. are… well lets be nice and say their different :)

Enter Diavolo Pizzeria and Salumeria in the little town of Geyserville. This is certainly the real deal, an assortment of specialty pizza that could convert some die hard NJ’ers :)
Besides the pizza, Diavolo offers a nice array of appetizers, pasta and mains.
Last night 4 of us ordered 3 apps and 3 pizza and shared everything.
Starters were Vegetable Antipasto, tutto beans, marinated butter beans & sea salt, Cauliflower with pinenuts, golden raisins and anchovies, marinated red beets.
Octopus salad with potato, arugula, fennel, oranges, celery hearts and EVOO.
Roasted red beets with goat cheese, oranges, faro, arugula, herb & lemon vinaigrette.
All the apps were full of flavor yet light, excellent start to the meal.

The pizza were just as varied: margherita with mozzarella, basil and tomato. Cicciona was a meat lovers delight with beef brisket, pork belly, sausage, pecorino & onion. Next was the Diavola with roasted red peppers, house made Sicilian meatballs, pinenuts, currents provolone and arugula.
All were delicious, hard to pick a favorite.
We finished the feast with a frozen cannoli or something resembling one and it was also very good.
Washed it all down with a 1992 Ridge Geyserville and a 1998 Spottswood Cab. Both wines were great and still quite young.

If your near the town of Geyserville, Diavolo is well worth the detour of Rt 101.

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Diavola
21021 Geyserville Ave, Geyserville, CA 95441

[tom246]

Four of us enjoyed a variety of food (and wine) last night at Diavola. Starters included sweetbreads, frito misto and grilled veggie platter. Had two pizza, the Diavola and Inferno with an egg added for some protein :)

Didn't need dessert but that never stops us, cheesecake with berry jam, a stout beer float and an order of make your own Smores finished us off. Excellent food and a relaxing evening.

[Melanie Wong]

Very late post, but I have some photos taken November 2011, two months after you were there.

Here's the Diavola pizza, same as you ordered - Roasted red peppers, provolone, arugula, house meatballs with raisins and pine nuts. $16.50.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/melaniewong/6440480747/

And a look at the upskirt - the bottom is just about perfect for my tastes, but one side of the topside was over-fired.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/melaniewong/6440483447/

To draw a comparison to the better known wood-fired pizzas in the Bay Area, I'd say it's closest to Oakland's Pizzaiolo/Boot & Shoe in crust, execution, and style of seasonal toppings.

We also had a winter vegetable salad . . . and winter never tasted so good. Local arugula, winter vegetables, house cured pancetta, fried butter beans, parmigiano and cherry tomato vinaigrette, $12.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/melaniewong/6440494859/

I loved those crisp, creamy beans, here's a close-up. The little touches like this are what make Diavola so special.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/melaniew...

[tom246]

Great time to revive this thread, we are back for a couple of weeks and Diavola is on the list to go back to. Tough for a NJ boy to say he is looking forward to Ca. pizza :)

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Diavola
21021 Geyserville Ave, Geyserville, CA 95441

[Melanie Wong]

Welcome home! Are you working crush?

I love adding the housemade chili oil to the pie.

[tom246]

Wish I could say it is home, not yet but will be in 6 months or so. Your a mind reader :) wife and I will be helping with our son's crush, for me hopefully in the next week or so.
Diavola would be a great place for a small group. The pies are big enough for 5-6 people to get a healthy taste and you can order 6 different ones.

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Diavola
21021 Geyserville Ave, Geyserville, CA 95441

[Melanie Wong]

Very cool, do sign up for the chowdown groups. North Bay's not so active these days but we can change that.
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/668213

Something I meant to mention in my original post is that Chef Dino was not in the kitchen the night I ate there. So I have to give extra kudos to his team for a great job.

[moto]

everything we've tried at Diavolo was very good to excellent. they have the best Tuscan style tripe we've found in this country. did not eat at Santi until its last few years in Geyserville (Diavolo was just getting started), but we found Diavolo's food (in a more casual ambience) more to our tastes, as much as we enjoyed Santi. we always take home a couple varieties of sausage for the freezer -- they are like no one else's.

[Melanie Wong]

The tripe was a long time favorite at Santi. I'll have to order it at Diavola the next time I feel nostalgic. When I've been rebuffed by the wait time, I grab some sausage from the case to take home for an immediate meal. I love the Calabrese. And I noticed jars of Sugo in the case now, will try that next.

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Diavola
21021 Geyserville Ave, Geyserville, CA 95441

[moto]

this past Sat they were selling quart containers of the tripe and the pork cheek ragu from the deli case in the front ; of course we bought one of each for the freezer, along with a chunk of pancetta and some sausage. our lunch there included a roasted beet salad, which was a light, refreshing, and delicate version with citrus slices, and an absurdly good panini with roast pork loin, eggplant, and skordalia.

[Melanie Wong]

Mmm, a quart of tripe from Diavola is sounding so good on this grey day in the wine country.

The display case had a couple of smoked hog jowls when we were there. We tried to buy them but apparently they weren't for sale.

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Diavola
21021 Geyserville Ave, Geyserville, CA 95441

[Melanie Wong]

Wanted to say that I've been enjoying the trippa alla fiorentina this winter. The first time, I was amazed at the tiny mirepoix, knifework worthy of a Michelin 3-star! And of course, the tripe was delicious. The second time, the preparation was more rustic, but still tasty. Quite a bargain at $10 per quart from the take-out case.

[upvalley]

Got there at 3 in the afternoon last week and picked up a Diavola and a Cicciona to take home. Added a little of their homemade salami to one of the pies. Bottom line - absolutely terrific. Great crust, toppings of remarkable integrity and taste, and yum from first bite to last. Not to be missed if you're in the area.

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Diavola
21021 Geyserville Ave, Geyserville, CA 95441

[The Librarian]

Did you reheat them or were they take and bake? Always looking for a decent take and bake!

[upvalley]

I just reheated them. By the way, I froze half of one and had it a week later - hard to believe it was ever frozen it held up so well. And the service was wonderfully friendly as well.

[Melanie Wong]

Gosh, has it really been three years since Diavola opened?
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/539891
And more baffling, that long for me to return? Not without trying, but the wait has been too long each time I made an attempt on the spur-of-the-moment. My luck changed last week though when driving by with my house guests. We sent one in to see how long for a table, and got an immediate text message back, "Table now". Woohoo!

Three of us shared two items.

Bambino pizza, Sicilian-style thick crust baked in a pan and topped with housemade salami, black olives, oregano, and fresh mozz. Guess I prefer the thin-crust, though this was fine if too salty for my taste.

Potato gnocchi with braised local rabbit, funghi, green olives, and pancetta was the dish that knocked me out. Little tender potato-y pillows tossed with perfectly balanced slow braised, cured, earthy, bright, briny flavors in each bite. My Italo-phile friend commented that he'd never had this dish in Italy but it tasted truly Italian to him. For me, it brought back the spirit of Santi once more.

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Diavola
21021 Geyserville Ave, Geyserville, CA 95441