I am going on a hunch here, but my guess is that you and your family are ready for a break from the news? Yeah, us too!
So there is no better time to kick off our new Blog Series, The Goldluus. These entries will be from each of our team members; musings, trivia, personal stories and the like! You are going to love it.
As a result of the pandemic, my wife Elena and I needed a distraction from the news. And since we had to no choice but to stay at home, we decided to deep dive and go all in with our favorite activities: watching films and eating pizza!
As Angelenos, we are very lucky to have some notable pizza places that even rival that of New York and Italy (yes, I said it…). so, with my old school Netflix mail-In DVDs in hand, we queued up the best Oscar films to be regularly delivered to our home. Home-bound bliss!
The movie of the month is Marty and pizza from GTA (Gjelina’s Take Away Pizza) on Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice, CA.
Marty, played by Ernest Borgnine, is a film set in the 50s about a bachelor in his mid 30s, who works as a butcher, lives with his mother and is searching for love! But Marty strikes out constantly because he is not at all attractive and has very little personality.
These are our personal thoughts on the movie and the pizza:
Jessica: “I didn’t really want to watch this movie because I had seen it before and thought it was only, OK. But, this time around the themes and emotions really resonated with me. Even though it is from the 50’s and some of the language is cringe worthy, Marty’s journey of self discovery is something we can all relate to. When Marty pleads with his mother that he doesn’t want to go through more rejection, it is truly heart breaking.
I think anyone who ever has felt a little ‘different’ can relate to his struggles. I would highly recommend this movie to everyone! Beware: the theme song will be stuck in your head!”
PIZZA: “The ‘Guanciale’ Pizza at GTA is absolutely amazing. My favorite of those we tried.The combination of tomato sauce, olives, Fresno chiles and mozzarella is perfectly salty and spicy!”
Elena: “First of all, I am still singing, Hey Marty! The song is SO catchy. This movie unexpectedly made its way to the top of my list. The heartache Marty experiences brought me back to my own dating life (pre-Jessica) and made me so much more appreciative that I am no longer single and dating! I appreciated the simplicity, yet concise nature of the film, to depict a flushed out character looking for love. It is a tender story that really hit the spot for me!”
PIZZA: “As for the pizza, we tried a few: the ‘Napoletano-style’ pizza was perfectly charred (not overly burnt is key. Sometimes the char is all I can taste on Neopolitan pizzas).
The ‘vegetarian’ pizza of squash blossoms and burrata left me a bit underwhelmed since there was no textural difference between the crust, the cheese and vegetable.
However, GTA recovered with the ‘Guanciale’ pizza. The peppery notes in the tomato sauce with perfect bites of paper thin and crispy guanciale provided unctuous satisfaction! The pizza achieved that great balance of fat from the guanciale and acid from the tomatoes. Highly recommend!”