Piazza Sorrento a slice of gluten-free Italian heaven in Hershey, Pennsylvania

Restaurant: Piazza Sorrento, Hershey, Pennsylvania

Traveling is one of the hardest things for me to do and find a place that I can trust to serve me food that won’t make me sick.  Honestly.  It can be quite nerve-wracking.  Put on top of that the added pressure of having a half marathon the next day and the last thing you want to do is eat something that might send your GI track into an unhappy rage.

Well, that was the situation this past weekend.  I was heading to Hershey, Pennsylvania to run in the Hershey Half Marathon on Sunday morning.  My journey began by going to my friend Jenn’s in Ohio, and then she, my roommmate, and I all headed up to Pennsylvania the following morning.  Now, Jenn loves me lots and has a gluten-free pantry shelf of stuff we can eat when I am in town.  Good friends are awesome!  But, here we are on the road!  However, because she loves me, she got on Find Me Gluten Free and found a little Italian place in Hershey, Pennsylvania with what looked like an extensive gluten-free menu.

As I have found that my best races so far have been after I have eaten gluten-free pizza, finding a gluten-free Italian place that has not only gluten-free pizza, but pasta, starters, subs, salads, entrees, and yes…desserts…right where I was going to be running a long, big race was probably one of the happiest finds ever.  To top it off, a friend of mine didn’t live far from the resort where we were staying, and she just happened to know the owners of this amazing restaurant.  So…we all had plans to meet up and go and enjoy a fantastic, safe (for me), Italian meal.

Let me tell you…with my lunch-on-the-go consisting of Chobani yogurt and a KIND bar, I was ready for some real food.

The place that we selected to eat was Piazza Sorrento, located on Briarcrest Square in Hershey.  From what we had discovered online, this was a independently run local restaurant, where the owners and staff dedicate themselves to providing the Hershey area with the finest service, food, and wine at a fair and competative price.  While striving to keep the history of the dish and region that it stems from intact, they provide regional and classic Italian cuisine using only premium ingredients.  Part of that process is by sourcing local ingredients from the local commerce of the Hershey area.  I loved that.

What I also loved was the extensive gluten-free menu that came up on their Web site.

After arriving in Hershey and heading over to Hershey Park to pick up my race packet and walk around the little expo that was attached, Jenn, Cathy and myself headed over to Hershey World to see what was going on, what prices were for things we were interested in doing, and to do some preliminary shopping in the gift shop.  That took a little bit of time, so when we finished up, we hopped back into the car, checked into our resort, and just sort of relaxed while waiting on Kathy (yes…another one, different spelling) to arrive so she could direct us to the restaurant the four of us would be dining in.  She arrived early…and we were okay with that because we were hungry!  Heading out, we met up in the garage of the resort, and she offered to drive to show us the sights of the area.  A sort of grand tour if you will.  But first…food.

We arrived just a little before 5 p.m. at Piazza Sorrento and headed inside.  We were greeted by a very friendly hostess who asked if we wanted to dine in the restaurant or the pizza shop.  We weren’t aware there was a difference, but we decided on the restaurant in the end.  It took only a moment for them to ready a booth for the four of us, and we asked for one gluten-free menu for me.  She happily complied, and went and took us to our seat, letting us know that our server, Lydia, would be with us shortly.

Lydia did arrive rather promptly to the table to see what we would like to have to drink.  As I was running, I was all about the water.  And it seemed everyone else at the table felt that way too.  So, water it was.  She came back and went over the specials on the menu, noting that since I had a gluten-free menu, to mention what specials were gluten-free…and this included soups.  I loved how knowledgeable she was.  It really put me at ease.  And the fact that I didn’t have to give my, “I’m a Celiac…” speech was a nice change of pace.  She went to ready the bread basket and asked me if I would like a gluten-free roll.  I was so shocked that it took me a moment to answer.  But I answered correctly.  “Yes, please.”

She returned with the bread basket and two plates of herbs for dipping.  The one she set down in front of me was the gluten-free one.  All we had to do was add the oil.  My roll wasn’t out yet, but my dinner guests waited until it was delivered to the table before they dug into the regular bread basked.

This roll looked fantastic.  The plate that it was sitting on came with a tag, marking it as one of Piazza Sorrento’s Gluten-Free Options.  I love that they have a labeling system.  With oil poured onto my herbs, I reached down and tore a hunk of my gluten-free roll off.  A little steam rose from it and it smelled amazing.  Fresh.  Delicious.  I took my first bite without the oil and herbs.  I wanted to savor the roll and enjoy it on its own first.  Really just draw my opinion from the bare bread itself.  It was…fantastic.  Very light.  Very soft.  Warm.  Fresh.  I wanted to devour it and ask for another one.  But, I behaved.

And soon, Lydia was at our table preparing to take our orders.  Cathy wanted to get one of their House Specialties, so she asked Lydia if she had to recommend one item on the menu…what would it be.  Lydia said she couldn’t limit it to one, but she could tell her some of her favorites and house favorites.  Which she proceeded to do and then, left Cathy to ponder for the time it took the rest of us to order our meal.

Jenn went with the small order of Crab and Tortellini ($16.00).  Kathy opted for the Chicken Piccata ($18.00).  Cathy finally decided on the Pappardelle Bolognese ($17.00).  As for me…I needed pizza to fuel my run.  So after going back and forth between a couple of the vegetarian, gluten-free options (because…yes…there were lots of options), I settled on the Gluten-Free Old World Pizza ($9.00).  Lydia went to put our orders in and we had plenty of time to talk about Hershey, the park, the race, and just get caught up on what was going on with whom and why and it was the perfect little get together.  Great setting too.

When food arrived at the table it looked absolutely delicious.  My pizza was once again marked with one of the slips of paper declaring it to be a Piazza Sorrento Gluten-Free Choice.  Food labeling makes me feel at ease.  This was the smallest little touch…and yet, it meant the world to me.  With our food in front of us, we all just dove right in.  Sort of.  I had to take pictures and both my phone and my camera were acting up.  But…I got it sorted and photographed and then wasted no further time before lifting my first slice of pizza and taking a bite.

The Gluten-Free Old World Pizza from Piazza Sorrento is the classic Old World Style pizza.  It is the crust, with a layer of provolone cheese, then topped with tomato sauce and finished off with a sprinkling of Romano cheese and some oregano.  I had never tried an Old World-style pizza before and this was one of the House Specialties on the menu…so I figured why not try something I haven’t been able to get anywhere else.  I’m glad I did.

The crust on the pizza was a thin crust pizza, probably of a rice flour base.  It cooked up crispy…with a little softness to it.  So…just right for me.  I love a thin crust pizza anyway…always have.  Gluten-free pizza crusts are usually quite thin, so this transition has been easy for me.  The hard part is finding one that is really fantastic on its own.  Piazza Sorrento has a really delicious one.  The Gluten-Free Pizzas only come in the 10 inch size, which is pretty normal of any establishment that serves gluten-free pizza.  I knew there would be leftovers…meaning my friends and I would have pizza for dinner the following evening…as our resort suite had a fridge and a microwave.  SCORE!  But I am digressing…

Let’s return to the star of the table at the moment…the food.  My friends all really enjoyed their meals.  And I happily downed two slices of my Gluten-Free Old World Pizza.  The provolone cheese on the bottom was melted to perfection.  The sauce over it was packed with flavor.  Not bitter at all.  The tomato flavor really shined.  And the light dusting of Romano and oregano really just topped it off.  I probably could have eaten more, but I didn’t want to stuff myself to the max in case…there was room for dessert.

And with us…there normally is.  Especially when there are gluten-free options available.

Lydia brought out the dessert tray and went over the what each item was and explained which ones were available as gluten-free.  Both Jenn and Kathy opted for the tiramisu (one of the gluten-free options) ($7.00).  Cathy went with her favorite Italian dessert…cannoli ($3.50).  As for me…I went with the Gluten-Free Ricotta Cake ($8.00).  It just looked…really yummy.

The Ricotta Cake is basically a very light sponge cake that was drizzled with white vermouth and topped off with Ricotta cheese and fresh fruit.  It is one of the favorites among customers…and now I know why.  When dessert arrived…I couldn’t wait to dig in.  I picked up my fork and slid it easily through the cake.  It was like a hot knife going through butter.  So creamy.  So soft.  So moist.  I was already anticipating my first bite.  And when I took it…I think I melted.  Seriously.  This had to be the best cake I had ever bitten into.  I had to share a bite with my friends.  I honestly did.  Because it was that amazing.  Had Piazza Sorrento been open on Sunday, I probably would have stopped in just for cake.  In fact, my friend Jenn had mentioned doing just that because even she fell in love with it at the one bite she had.  We both said that it tasted like cannoli in cake form.  Honestly…super good.  Just melt-in-your-mouth delicious.

After dining there, I tried to e-mail the restaurant to see about getting the recipe…but the e-mail kept bouncing back to me.  I finally settled on messaging them on Facebook…but have yet to receive a response.

There is nothing bad I can say about Piazza Sorrento.  Honestly it has been one of the best dining experiences I have had, coupled with one of the best meals I have ever eaten.  I didn’t need to worry about if the food was going to react poorly with me, especially before such a big race day.  I felt confident in the competence of Lydia and the rest of the staff there.  And the food was great…and I didn’t get sick at all.

Whoever said that gluten-free was boring and lacked variety and choices hasn’t been through Hershey, Pennsylvania and tried out Piazza Sorrento.  I encourage you, whole-heartedly, that if you happen to be in the land of chocolate…or within driving distance, to check out Piazza Sorrento and see for yourself.  The gluten-free menu will blow you away, the service and safety the staff take will astound you.  But it will be the taste of the food that will make you wish that you had this place in your own hometown.  I envy the people who live here…because this has joined the ranks of one of my favorite places to eat.  But when you live in Indiana…it means returning won’t happen too often.

Oh…I also encourage you, should you go to eat at Piazza Sorrento, to try the delicious Gluten-Free Ricotta Cake.  It’s worth saving room for…or finding room for.  Trust me.