(Mod: this post is made in response to a post in the thread ‘Let’s introduce ourselves and get to know one another better’ regarding Kensington eateries.)
I know Kensington. Narsai David used to have a restaurant on Kensington Circle. Is it still there?
No, his restaurant was already closed when I moved here 10 years ago. We have two restaurants at the circle now: Benchmark Pizzaria (a regular in my restaurant rotation for its seasonal salads and homemade pasta) and Kensington Circus Pub (a great place to sit at the bar, drink a Boddingtons, and chat with neighbors).
I just had a great Benchmark pizza, take-out: Corn, cherry tomatoes, padron peppers, and mozz. No tomato sauce. I added salami.
While I like the chewiness of the crust, it usually seems a bit underbaked. Floppy I can live with but this tastes doughy. Asking for “well-done” has dried out the cheese so I finish slices in a hot skillet at home. Did this w/ this pie and it was terrific.
Good idea on the pizza-I order it once in a blue moon mostly because I’m not a pizza person. I usually get the pasta. They have a killer pesto pasta with cherry tomatoes right now.
Currently, every bottle of wine on their list is $15 on Thursdays. It’s quite the deal. Three of us split a Lambrusco and then a Navarro pinot noir.
Speaking of Navarro, their cheese stand at the Sunday farmers market sells Navarro wines (and gives tastes). I don’t recall the name of the cheese stand, which is not Navarro.
There seems to be a lot of good prepared food at the farmer’s market. Ippo Ramen is a regular, for one.
I was seriously tempted by that pasta, I love pesto. Thanks for the tips!
