when only the best will do

When you're missing Italy and you want the best Italian-style pizza around, you need to satisfy your urges at Gialina in Glen Park. Nothing - except a return flight to Napoli - will do.

Warmed up some stomachs with a starter of salted cod cakes. The cakes are lightly fried so they're crunchy on the outside but not too greasy. Despite the name, the fish is not too salty and all but melts in your mouth. The sauce isn't too tartar-y (as in "dang, this sauce did NOT come out of a bottle!" Even the miniature side salad is nice... it's that sort of classy nice you get when your salad tastes good and it's not smothered in dressing.

If you don't know which pizza to get, I recommend my favorite: Amatriciana Like all pizzas, Gialina tops each pie as artistically as they are strewn in Italy and serves them on thin beds of pizza bread. Unlike the others, the combination of ingredients in the Amatriciana becomes something more than the sum of its parts. Tomato, chiles, and oregano form a savory base for pancetta, pecorino cheese, and a single egg. Once you get the pizza, use a slice (or a knife, as my ingenious companion pointed out) to break the egg and swirl it all over the hot pizza. This pie is a little salty, a little spicy, and very tasty... and this softly-cooked texture of egg is what converted me into an egg-eater. I love this pizza and I honestly would not mind eating it everyday.

Even when the Euro is dropping against the dollar, a trip to Gialina is far more economical than a 14-hour flight to Italy.