Pizza has always had a special place in my heart (and stomach). As a child, I was always excited when I came home from elementary school and saw the red and brown box on the dining room table with the generic PIZZA! logo splattered across the top, the cardboard wet from a combination of grease and steam. Whether my parents wanted pizza themselves, or simply didn’t have time to cook, it didn’t matter to me. I hoped for pizza every night.

My little sister and I would always play with the white plastic ‘pizza saver’ (you know, that circular plastic thing that goes in the middle of the pizza to prevent it from sticking to the top of the box). We would set it down on the hardwood floor and pretend that it was a teeny tiny table for a mouse family who would be sitting down for their own pizza dinner, just like us. When mom finally OK’d us to dig in (after we had our paper plates, napkins, and filled our plastic glasses half-full with Coca-Cola) we would tear open the little packets of Parmesan cheese and sprinkle them carelessly onto our individual slices – stuffing our faces immediately after. Only once did I mistake a crushed red peppers packet for Parmesan. I gave that piece to dad.

Pizza dinner, in my household, is code for “family time.” My family is one that doesn’t often take the time to sit down for family meals. We, more often than we should, let our busy lives take precedent over family time. But on pizza night, it’s always been different. When there’s a pizza on the table, we tend to sit down, enjoy our Cokes, open our Parmesan packets (pushing the crushed red peppers toward dad's plate), and appreciate each other’s company. In my house, pizza has always brought my family together. We sit down and talk about our days, we laugh, and we take a break from our busy lives to enjoy our special treat with one another. Pizza attended every birthday party and sleepover, and it provided a quick fix to a burned dinner. It was both a last resort and a special occasion, but most importantly, it was an excuse to spend quality time with my family.

Now, as a full-time student (and a part-time adult) living hours away from home, I don’t get many opportunities to spend time with my family. But on the rare occasions that they come from Seattle to visit me in Bellingham, we always go out for a pizza night at La Fiamma Pizza. The casually rustic, and slightly eclectic, décor gives off a feeling of family-friendly comfort. It’s the kind of place where you can take your toddler and let him have a seat to himself, or tell a joke to that family member who laughs embarrassingly loud. It’s non-judgmental and quaint, which is one of the reasons why my family keeps going back. When you eat at La Fiamma, you don’t have to sit up straight, keep your elbows off the table, and know how to pronounce “Sangiovese” (unless, of course, you want to). The bright colors of the walls, and the way that the servers simply wear jeans and a ‘La Fiamma’ t-shirt lets customers know that in this pizza joint, they can come as themselves, and as a family.

And it’s not just the décor that says “family dining.” The “Glossary” section on the back of their heavy, tri-folding menu conveys the idea that you don’t have to be in a suit to enjoy a gourmet meal. I don’t know about you, but I find that often when I venture out to a new restaurant, looking over the menu can sometimes feel like trying to read in another language. I end up feeling like an unsophisticated fool, having to ask the server what “capers” are, or what “fontina” is. La Fiamma is so anti-snob that any strange foods that might not be in your cupboard (or vocabulary) are explained right on the back of the menu. No embarrassing inquiries required. And even though they realize that foods like “Chevre Montrachet” and “Asiago” might not be in everyone’s repertoire, they find a way to use these gourmet ingredients and create elegant dishes without actually being a “fancy” restaurant in the conventional sense.

Even with all of the luxurious toppings La Fiamma offers, my family always ends up going for the Hawaiian. There is nothing better than biting into a slice of La Fiamma’s Hawaiian pizza. They add a subtle twist to a classic Hawaiian pizza by throwing coppa ham on there instead of the traditional Canadian bacon. With the amazing pizza, and the quirky yet family-friendly environment, La Fiamma keeps us coming back for more time after time.

*Drool*

There is nothing better than sitting at La Fiamma with a big Hawaiian pizza in front of me, and being able to look across the table at my family as they talk about their days through mouthfuls of delightfully greasy pizza. I love thinking about all of the wonderful times we have had together with a pizza in between us. As ridiculous as it might sound, for me, pizza is a way of life. It allows me to take a break from my busy schedule, sit down, and do nothing but enjoy the moment with the people I love most.