Rennie Review: Rockin’ Food at the Larkspur Pizzaria

We learned pretty quick in this journey to trust in the Rennies’ judgments when it comes to the best digs, dives, hole-in-the-wall places, the cheapest and most decent hotels and motels, the best thrift stores to shop, the coolest headshops, and pretty much anything you would use as an excuse to get out of camp. There’s always that one seasoned Rennie in the campground that knows it all, word gets around, and certain places become infamous for experiencing a Rennie Take-Over.

Some towns, like some in Pennsylvania, don’t care much for us and treat us like a bunch of hippiefied gypsies. Other towns, like Larkspur, CO, loved us and welcomed our business with open arms.

There’s only half a dozen business lined up along Larkspur’s single road through town, and the one that stands out most in my mind (that I wish I had right now, sitting in the gloomy rain in Pittsburg) is the Larkspur Pizzaria [insert link to their website].

They serve some of the most delicious food I’ve ever had in my life. We tried several things (blew at least a couple paychecks there) on the menu. They have a few sandwiches, served usually with fries, most of them delicious paninis. There are pastas, most notably the cheese ravioli and the lasagna, and I personally recommend that if you order either of these dishes, to order them with the creamy basil pesto sauce.

As an appetizer, the garlic sticks are garlic cheese sticks and are the cheapest appetizer. The garlic knots, served drenched in garlic olive oil and parmesan cheese, are absolutely heavenly. The veggie calzone is stuffed stupid, just like it will stuff you stupid.

Yet the crowning star of this menu is hands down the barbque bacon cheeseburger pizza. The taste is well worth the extra few dollars you shell out. It’s 18 inches of thin-crust, hand-tossed pizza smothered in sweet tangy BBQ sauce, covered in chunks of crispy bacon ends-and-pieces, grilled hamburger and blanketed in a blend of yellow and white cheeses. If you don’t care for hamburger, order it with fried chunks of chicken. Either are equally delicious. This pizza also scores at the top of the charts when it comes to eating it cold or the next day.  I recommend, that if you order this pizza, order it sometime in the evening, because in my experience, the evening cook fries the bacon extra crispy, which makes the whole experience of converging flavors all the more phenomenal.

You can order beer here, too, and wine. The selection is not large, but they feature Leinenkugel Sunset Wheat beer, which is our favorite paired with the BBQ bacon cheeseburger pizza. (of doom) While in Colorado, we preferred to order our drinks at the Pizzaria, rather than at “The Spur” (“The Spur of the Moment” in Larkspur. They also served food, but closed their kitchens early, and it took forever to get a beer on a Sunday night) down the street. Our usual plan of a Sunday night was to eat at the Pizzaria, have a couple of drinks, then wander over to the bar to visit with friends and possibly do a little dancing.

I think that dude from “Diners, Drive-In, and Dives” should do a show on The Larkspur Pizzaria. The food is utterly phenomenal and a place I will be patronizing for years. Oh, and they have wireless internet, too, and live bands twice a week.

I’m going to be typing forever if I don’t stop coming up with reason why I give The Larkspur Pizzaria FIVE STARS in The Rennie Review.

Peace!

Texas is Burning Down

Picture Taken 9/6/2011

While we’re over here on the east coast putting up with days on end of rain, Texas is slowly burning down. Recent arrivals from the state reported 115 degree weather and little fires everywhere on the road. Part of Scarborough Faire burnt down – The Junk (where we hung out on site and ordered food, drank beer, and listened to local musicians) is no more, along with severl booths that happened to be near it. One person died in that fire – Will, “The Pickle Guy.” I have yet to hear the details of his death.

Parts of “Toon Town” – a well-known part of the TRF (Texas Rennaisance Faire) campground – are gone, including several semi-permanent houses there. Ryan has a house in Toon Town and he’s been checking regularly on the status of the fires there. So far as I know, his house is fine, along with his home forge.

I heard that already, over one thousand homes have burnt to the ground, leaving one thousand families without a place to return to. Thousands more have evacuated, waiting in angst for the fire to burn out without anymore damages done. I have yet to get ahold of the family we stayed with in Scarborough, to see how they and their ranch are faring. Perhaps they’ve evacuated, too???

And while Texas is burning down, parts of New York are flooding due to the hurricane down south. The hurricane is pushing a huge storm system right up against the side of the Appalachian Mountains, the worst of it headed straight for New York. The Tuxedo Ren Faire shut down and evacuated about a week ago (this being Sept. 9th when this post was actually written), and I’m concerned about my friends who were trying to start a booth up there. Did they actually make it? Did they have to evacuate? Where are they now?

Until I learn more, or all of this crazy weather blows over, I keep my friends and fellow transients in my thoughts and prayers. Stay safe, you guys.

Peace.