Gotta Have a Gimmick

Sicilian Olive Oil at Freddy's

I think it was before Joe brought us a slice of pizza (and I'll get back to this in a second); my wife sez, "are you gonna write something about Freddy's". "I would", I say, "but what?" Then, we sampled the little cup of olive oil that Joe had brought us over earlier to try. "From Sicily."

Granted a bit of olive oil is not as big a bribe as say 3 balls of burrata he gave us last lunch, but variety is good (and later he made up with the pizza!). I finishd my breaded chicken sammy--how's that for a before Passover meal, a sandwich AND something breaded and my half of the (first) pizza, so I tried the olive oil. OK. Somethign to blog about.

My wife, the aptly designated Condiment Queen has been on an olive oil kick a bit of late. At Fox & Obel a few weeks ago, it seemed like she spent a good 3o minutes sampling expensive olive oils. When an olive oil impresses her these days, that's an impressive olive oil. This one did. We find olive oils, good ones, to be either buttery and rich or strong and herbal. This one leaned buttery, but it had a good kick of green flavor too. Before leaving Freddy's my Queen sent me in to purchase a bottle. She (and I) were quite impressed when the liter bottle came to only $14.99. And it was organic too boot. It's Paesano unfiltered, cold pressed.

Now, the pizza. Long time Freddy's eaters know that Freddy's make two type of thick Chicago pizza: pan pizza (always for sausage) and sheet pizza for the other toppings including breaded eggplant. Lately, he's making a third pizza, a more classic Neapolitan, with a thinner-chewy/crisp crust. It does not have the bells and whistles of the new breed of notable Chicago thin crust pizza places (Coalfire, et al.), but it sure tastes good. We had ordered the Margherita-ish version made with conventional cheese. It rose above. Freddy's just has a way with grains. See also their breads. The capricossa (sp?) that he brought over, with ham, artichoke hearts, crappy olives and fior di latte was just as good.

New pizza. New olive oil. New Freddy's post.

Freddy's
1600 South 61st Avenue
Cicero, Illinois 60804