If you were lucky enough to buy the special Negroni Football T Shirt from Rudy’s online site earlier this month for £60 you would have been entitled to a pizza and a Negroni every time you visited one of the Rudy’s in Durham or Newcastle or throughout the north– as long as you wore the bright orange T Shirt when you dined. The offer was so successful that it sold out almost immediately when it went live, which is not so surprising as by your third visit any subsequent visit would have easily paid for itself.
For those who didn’t manage to secure one of the prized T Shirts there is still an opportunity to try a Negroni in various guises – there are four concoctions: Classic Negroni, Negroni AL Sole, Negroni Bianco and Pomegranate Negroni Sour. I must admit that the taste of Negroni is an acquired one, I found the taste rather robust and had to dilute my Classic Negroni with water to make it more palatable.
Starters and mains
An ideal starter is the Campana which is a charcuterie board, we shared a small one which was ideal; Bufala mozzarella, prosciutto credo, salame finocchiona, spianata piccante, wild rocket, oven dried tomatoes and warm house bread all made for a good starter to get in the mood for the mains,
Better still are the new pizzas on offer such as The Roquefort E Pera, if pineapple works on a pizza, then why not pear? If you have been to France, you might have already discovered Roquefort cheese – a raw sheep’s milk blue cheese which is a strong and pungent one – think of a good strong Normandy Camembert mixed with a good Stilton and you will get a good idea of what to expect. The sharp and complex saltiness balanced well with the sweetness of the sliced Conference pears, toasted walnuts, and warm honey. I have never had anything as different as this whilst dining in Italy – the uniqueness of this is probably another reason to give it a try at Rudy’s.
It might be autumn, but the L’Estate Caprese pizza translates as Summer Caprese, making the summer seem to go on slightly longer. Apparently, the idea of this pizza was invented in house by an employee at Rudy’s in Prestwich which brings the taste of Pisa closer to home. Tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella finished with black kalamata olive tapenade and fresh basil showcased seasonal ingredients at their best. Usually, you might get one dollop of buffalo on a pizza – this new one has several. I always find buffalo a little too mild, though my dining partner thought the combination of all the ingredients was a good one.
Something sweet
If you have room for something sweeter there are some tempting sweet treats such as the Panna Cotta Cheesecake – which comes in a glass! If that sounds different then, yes it certainly is. The rich red berry compote perfectly matched the vanilla Panna Cotta and crumbly biscuit base. They probably would not serve it in this fashion in Italy – at Rudy’s they like to do things differently.
Glancing around the restaurant as we left, although the restaurant was busy we couldn’t see anyone wearing their orange Negroni football shirts which are in short supply, luckily these specials go on until the end of September with plenty for you to discover.
