NY-style pizza place spices up Midd

Author: Sarah Shaikh

Step aside Neil and Otto's - there is a new pizza place in town that is making local news headlines. Most Middlebury students are familiar with the Middlebury Discount Beverage Store fondly referred to as "Bev Co." and known for its wide range of beverages (mostly of the alcoholic variety). Well now when you head over to Bev Co., keep your eyes peeled for Ramunto's, the new pizza gem. The restaurant was initially opened in August 2004 as the Backhome Kitchen by David Nienow who has been working in the Middlebury Food business for over 25 years. The Backhome Kitchen specialized in BBQ, sandwiches, burgers and other sort of home-cooked staples. However, like many new first-years, the Backhome Kitchen struggled through its first Middlebury winter. Nienow confessed, "We didn't send a message about what we were doing. We needed to start paying attention to the parking lot. Once we did, we realized what people wanted was something that was 'Hot, fast and delicious in 2 minutes.' Nienow focused his energy towards finding something that fit that description and from this, Ramunto's opened in Middlebury in early April.

Nienow said, "Many of the students and people who move to Middlebury come from urban areas and understand urban style pizza. It is something needed and wanted. And what everyone eventually learns in the food business is that as a chef or even as a manager you have to give people what they want but also something you enjoy giving. I really enjoy making the pizzas. They are all very individual. It's like being a potter - a potter does everything to make sure that the pot is beautiful when it comes out of the kiln, that's the same approach I take towards making pizzas."

Ramunto's specializes in Sicilian and New York style pizza, but it also serves up excellent calzones. Along with the traditional pizzas, such as cheese and pepperoni, Ramunto's offers many alternatives to a traditional pizza pie such as the "California Dream," which combines basil and pine nut pesto with seared sweet Red Peppers, California ripe olives, artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomatoes on top of four cheeses. Or try Ramunto's Famous Garlic Knot Pie, which consists of a NY-style crust circled with garlic knots and brushed with olive oil and fresh garlic and then topped with tomato sauce, mozzarella and American cheese. Ramunto's also offers large New York Style slices, which are perfect for a quick bite.

"People love pizza, and with slices people can have a bit of what they love without having to buy a whole pie," said Nienow. And the best thing is that not only is the pizza excellent and the portions huge, Ramunto's also provides every Midd-kid with an extremely reasonable priced alternative to dinner in Atwater.

If you like pizza and have not yet been to Ramunto's, it is a must for all Middlebury students. On Monday afternoon, I ventured there with two friends and we were overly impressed with their kindness and excitement about their restaurant.

Nienow would not stop giving us food - we had everything from pesto, garlic dough balls to samples of the "fancy" pepperoni that Nienow kindly chopped up especially for us to sample and have on our wonderful pizza. We were overwhemed - and full - after our afternoon experience at Ramunto's. We're definitely going back with the coupon given to us by Nienow for another free pizza. But if you don't trust us, listen to a fellow student, Alyson Bourne, '07.5, who said, "The pepperoni is so good. It's fast but it's not fast food. It tastes so good. It's definitely gourmet!"