Dining Out: MidiCi at Assembly Row

It's my first restaurant review of 2020!

On Friday night, I met up with two of my favorite gals at Assembly Row in Somerville, MA. When the plaza was first redeveloped, we were regulars at the movie theater, Earl's, Tony C's and of course, JP Licks. 

This weekend, we met up at one of the newer additions, MidiCi. For those who have been to Assembly Row, MidiCi is directly across the street from Southern Kin. 

When I walked in, I was struck by how enormous the space is. They have a long bar, with every seat facing the two gilded, Neapolitan pizza ovens. There are tables at the front (before the bar) and even more seating at the back. This would be a great place for a group dinner - not only is there ample seating, but the noise level is super low. Yes, I am old now and care about those things. 

We began the evening with wine. MidiCi's list of wines by the glass is excellent. We opted for Malbec. 

The appetizer section of the menu has several Italian classics: meatballs, burrata, bruschetta and garlic knots, all perfect for sharing.

We decided to dive right in and start with pizza. Across from me, a friend ordered the house specialty called From the Garden. It was topped with generous slices of mozzarella cheese, spinach, red and yellow peppers, red onions, cherry tomatoes and black olives.  

After the first slice, she commented, "This pizza tastes great, especially the mozzarella. I do wish it had a bit more oomph . . . maybe BBQ sauce?" 

I decided on the Truffle & Vegetable. It's a white pizza (no red sauce) with mushrooms, black olives, cherry tomatoes and what felt like an entire bag of arugula on top! 

I loved the crust on this pizza. It was blistered from the Neapolitan oven, but still chewy in that really satisfying way. For me, it lacked flavor. I felt the need to sprinkle the entire thing with crushed red pepper. 

Next to me, a friend ordered the same pizza, but on gluten-free crust. MidiCi allows you to order any of their pizzas on the gluten-free crust, a major win for those diners with that specific food sensitivity. 

Half way through her pie, she raved, "This is one of the top two gluten-free crusts I've ever had! GF crust can be too chewy, but this had a nice crisp." She continued on to say, "I wish the arugula on top of the pizza had been dressed. Maybe in olive oil with some pepper? Or balsamic?" 

Across the board, all three of us had wished our pizzas had more flavor and seasoning. 

We decided to stop when we were half way through each of our slices so we could save room for dessert. MidiCi is famous for their Nutella calzone, but we went with the affogato - vanilla bean gelato topped with espresso. 

At most of the Italian restaurants where I've ordered affogato, they make a show of it. They bring the gelato and espresso separately and pour it over right at the table (or let you do it). In MidiCi's version, the dessert arrives in a stemless martini glass, already swimming in espresso. 

The ratio of gelato to coffee was perfect and made every spoonful taste like the world's creamiest ice coffee. This was the highlight of the meal for me! 

While I wasn't totally blown away by the pizzas we ordered this time, I would definitely be up for tasting my way through more menu items. 

Have you been to MidiCi? Do you have a go-to pie?