BROOKLINE, MA (Wednesday, February 9, 2000) – Figs in Brookline is truly where it all began, and for those of you who know us, you’ve heard this story before. Ahem, probably more than once. It was the night that I met Ron. I was waiting at the bar for my friend Terry, one of my only friends in Boston at the time. I had moved to Westborough, MA from Pittsburgh months earlier and, not knowing my way around, I left in plenty of time and was very early. As it turned out, my timing was fortuitous.

There was a horrible fire at an office building, which closed down Rt. 9 in Brookline. I missed the traffic pile-up because I was early, but Terry wasn’t so lucky. I was sipping a glass of wine and checking my watch repeatedly, but didn’t fail to notice Ron. He was at the end of the bar with a local politician having an animated conversation about the issues of the day. Handsome, smart. Hmmm. My phone rang. “Terry, I can’t help you get to Figs – I don’t know the area.” He reached out, “Hand me the phone, I’m from the neighborhood. I’ll help her navigate.” He continued by instructing Terry to take a particular route, indicated by north, south, east, and west, as opposed to left and right turns. That was it – we had our first fight. “For goodness sake, just tell her where to turn!” She made it to Figs in about twenty minutes, during which time the politician left, and Ron had offered me a piece of his pizza. The pizza was fantastic – topped with a spicy marinara, wilted arugula, and fried calamari. I joke that I’ve been following Ron around ever since.

CHARLESTOWN, MA (Sunday, February 10, 2019) – Nineteen years later, we were living in CT. To celebrate the anniversary of our meeting, we decided to return to Figs. Before making reservations I checked online, and the calamari pizza was still on the menu! However, we had to make reservations at Figs in Charlestown because the Figs in Brookline had since closed. We almost cancelled because our dear kitty, JoJo, was suffering from kidney failure and we feared that if we left for the day, he may not make it until our return. Despite our reservations, or perhaps because of them, we jumped in the car, hoping for the best.

We showed up at Figs, and it was closed! There were people milling around inside so we pressed our noses against the glass and beckoned. The guy who came to the door explained that they were closed for a private event. “But we made reservations on Open Table, and we drove all the way from Connecticut to have the same calamari pizza we had at Figs the day we met nineteen years ago!” So, he graciously let us in, and sat us at the table against the window, across the room from the party. He brought us wine and that spicy pizza and it was good. Not as fantastic as my memory had served, but good.

JoJo was still hanging on when we got home. We had to let him go the next day, but I’m glad he waited for us. 💔💔💔

ASHFORD, CT (Sunday, June 4, 2023) – Our friends, Gail and Bob, spend most of the summer at their lake house in Maine, and we wanted to spend some time with them before they left, so we invited them over for pizza. We asked them in advance which pizza toppings they’d prefer, and they each, separately, texted to tell us “No anchovies!” We planned to bake four pizza pies for the four of us, so I had an opportunity to get creative. Mushroom, green peppers, and onions were a given. I had some chorizo that would work with red and yellow bell peppers. And in honor of the fiery calamari pizza from Figs, I created a pizza topped with spicy marinara (made from our tomatoes from last year), wilted arugula and spinach (fresh from our garden), and roasted shrimp.

The conversation was lively, but the pizzas were just OK. I may try to hack the Figs’ Fiery Calamari and Arugual Pizza again, but next time I’ll do a few things differently. Next time I’ll add a lot more cayenne to the marinara and I’ll top it with a shower of Parmesan before adding the mozzarella. I’ll forego the shrimp and stick with calamari (albeit not breaded), leave out the spinach, and just barely wilt the arugula. I’ll roast the calamari separately in the side oven (or air fryer!), and gently toss the fully cooked calamari with the barely wilted arugula, Finally, I’ll top the pizza with the mixture after it comes out of the oven. More of a salad pizza, truer to the original.

So, no recipe in this post, but be sure to head over to my Sourdough Pizza Variations page if you’re looking for ideas.

P.S. When I served the pizza, Gail and Bob had to listen to our stories yet again, but I don’t think they minded. We’ll miss them this summer, but we’re looking forward to visiting them in Maine sometime in July.