One of the friends I made while in Belgrade told me about a pizza place which competes with Italian and other European pizza chefs and wins. He told me about all the interesting types of pizzas and the wall covered in awards. The restaurant is in Pirot Serbia, it’s about two and a half hours south east from our Airbnb in Boljevac Serbia. We decided to take the mountain roads through some of the most amazing sights. Farm land, adorable villages, incredible monasteries, exquisite gorges, beautiful wild flowers and waterfalls were some of the amusements along the drive. Due to our many stops it took us five hours to arrive at the hidden gem of a pizza place.
My friend described the place as not looking like a restaurant would be located at the site. Off the main road a warehouse, or storage looking place is where the parking is located. A big sign that reads Momma Rossa stands on the left of the flat roof. We walked up the stairs to find a charming open area within an apartment complex where a stray building with the cutest façade is set in front of the apartment building. The ambiance is straight out of a red and gold colored Italian restaurant in Naples Italy. White and red checkered table clothes and all!
The pizza choices were in two sections, the traditional section which included a scramble egg and cheese option which Fiorella was drawn to. The second section was what I was after. My friend told me about braised lamb pizza, lamb with local cheese and delicious sauce was the pizza my friend raved about. The owner waited on us and asked if we would like to try the traditional pizzas, I said no, we are here from hours away to try your special pizza. He laughed and I ordered two options for my mom and I to try. We had the lamb and the pizza Pirot which included smoked and cured meats topped with fresh local cheese and a side of spicy creamy cheese. Both were terrific!
We returned to our Airbnb on a different rout which took us over three mountain tops. The drive was incredibly beautiful. We passed by Niš, but decided to take the trip back to explore the city when we have more time before dark.