Beckerz Bites - Metro Detroit: Royal Oak's Bigalora

This week we are featuring one of those places that we have driven by 100 times and wondered “what’s that place all about”? We know it is a pizza place . . . but is it good? Well we finally decided to meet some friends for lunch in Royal Oak and this is where went. We are talking about Bigalora Cucina. At first I thought, ok it’s a wood fired pizza place, there are hundreds of those these days. We have actually become quite the connoisseurs of the wood fired pizzas, when our son Dylan worked at Tony Sacco’s years ago. More recently, he bought a Ooni pizza oven, which is not wood fired, but cooks the pizza the same way, quickly and with a nice thin yet crisp crust.

Not knowing anything about the place, our first thought was “is this just another pizza place?” or “is it a chain?” After dining there, the answer is NO! it is not just another pizza place and while there are multiple locations around town (Ann Arbor, Plymouth, Southfield and Royal Oak) it is not a chain. It is owned and operated by Luciano Del Signore. For those of you who are Livonia residents, or familiar with Livonia, you may recognize the name Del Signore, since Luciano’s parents owned an old time Livonia favorite eatery Fonte D’Amore - which was located at 32020 Plymouth Rd between Merriman and Farmington, the current home of Sapporo Hibachi Steakhouse and Sushi Bar. Luciano Del Signore was also the Chef/Owner of Bacco in Southfield on Franklin and Northwestern Hwy which was Hour Magazine’s Restaurant of the Year in 2013 and he is a 3 times James Beard Award nominee.

Had I known all of this going into it, my expectations would have been off the charts. So going in blind was the best way to get our unbiased opinion. As previously stated, we went for lunch, and got there early so there wasn’t a wait for a table. However, it filled up quickly. It is larger inside than it appears from the outside, since there is a 2nd upper level dining area as well. They have a nice menu with something for everyone’s taste and diet, featuring Gluten Free and Vegan dishes which are clearly marked on their menu. It is broken into Small Plates, Salads, Soup, Red Pizza, White Pizza, Pasta, Entrees and Dessert. The also offer beer and wine.

We started with the Risotto Balls, which are made with saffron rice, mozzarella and peas, served with Bolognaise and Marinara sauce. They were good, but not the standout dish of our lunch. There were 6 of us so we ordered 3 pizzas: a Pepperoni, Margherita Buffala, and the Salumeria (pepperoni, pancetta, bacon sausage and toasted fennel) as well a Wood Roasted Beet Salad. While everything was delicious. I enjoyed the Salumeria the most. The flavor combination was well balanced and the toasted fennel pulled it all together. We also really loved the simple yet complex flavors of the roasted beet salad. It had roasted beets with arugula, sliced olives, walnuts, red onion, goat cheese and balsamic vinaigrette. It hit all the taste profiles: sweet, salty, savory, a little bitterness from the arugula and creaminess from the goat cheese. We have now become completely obsessed with beet salads! The offered a lot of dessert options, but we were full, so maybe next time!

The owner even gave us a demo of the Prosciutto slicer . . . and a sample that was amazing! Check out this video!

We highly recommend this place, and as I mentioned above, they have locations in Ann Arbor, Plymouth and Southfield, as well as Royal Oak. The Plymouth location is shared with the Arbor Brewing Company, where the old Box Bar used to be. We definitely plan on trying the Plymouth location as well.