revisiting riva

There are some meals that are worth revisiting. Especially those that have induced a tear or two, those which have haunted me in my dreams, or those which lead to an overjoyous stuffing of the mouth resulting in a meal spent (mostly) in silence. Oohs, aahs, mmhs, and soooo gooood don’t count as dialogue.

Now, pizza is not something I generally go crazy for. It’s good when it’s good. But so many times it can be downright awful – doughy, chewy, sitting heavy in the belly. It’s rarely amazing. The pizza at Riva in Munich is not only amazing but is one that definitely requires revisiting. Over and over and over again. The base is super thin, crispy, and never soggy. The crust is crunchy. The tomato sugo is rich and fruity. The toppings are immense. The first time we came here to eat, I had the goat’s cheese pizza which was so good I cried. For several reasons. Because it was so good. Because it would be over far too soon. Because I knew we wouldn’t be coming back for dinner.

It seems a little shameful to admit that the German and I will willingly travel the 100km there and back only to eat pizza. So we come up with excuses that will land us in the vicinity of this glorious, severely Italian, pizzeria. Today’s excuse was “we need to go all the way to Munich to pick up some travel books”. To be fair, we really did buy some travel books. But we ate at Riva first.

Following my own (stupid, stupid) rules, and because my German is better at making quick decisions, I didn’t order the goat’s cheese pizza. He did. I ended up with gorgonzola and prosciutto. If you ever do get a chance to eat here, skip the rest of the menu and just order the goat’s cheese pizza. In this case, my rule about ordering something different should not apply. It really is just standing in the way of happiness.

My pizza was truly delicious but I was staring across the table at every forkful going into my German’s mouth. He clocked on to this quite early on – it’s quite hard to concentrate on your own food when someone is staring down every bite you take. I am always apologetic in the end but in the heat of the moment, I do find it quite hard to control myself. And my wandering eyes. I’m not really sure what made him give way – the relentless staring, or the fact that he knew how happy it would make me – but he left me the most perfect last piece of his goat’s cheese pizza. Come to think of it, I’m not entirely sure I thanked him for it. I was too busy eating and enjoying and lamenting the fact that our lunch was coming to an end.

There was a minute or two where we both contemplated ordering another pizza to share. Not because we were still hungry, but because we are greedy gluttons. We managed to keep our greed in check and left before we could change our minds. But now that we’re home, 50km away from the tastiest pizza we’ve both ever eaten, there is the slightest bit of regret that we didn’t.

Riva, Tal 44, 80331 München