Amici's Gourmet Pizza in Berkley

While preparing vegan pizza is do-able, it can be difficult to actually perfect a dairy-free pizza on your own. That is why I desperately wanted to try Amici's Pizza & Living Room in Berkley, located on 12 Mile Road. Amici's gourmet pizza menu includes three different vegan pizzas, also offering a Gluten-Free crust as a substitute for any of the pizzas on their menu. Another attractive fact about this restaurant, other than receiving good reviews on Yelp and Urban Spoon, is that they have made terrific efforts to become a very environmentally friendly restaurant, using recycled paper products and energy efficient appliances. It seemed like a great place to grab an early Sunday dinner.

My brother, my sister, my friend Kayla, and I arrived at Amici's at around 4:30pm, only half an hour after they opened. The restaurant is sandwiched between two shops on a pleasant stretch of 12 Mile Road. It would be easy to miss this place if you weren't keeping your eyes peeled in order to find it. In fact, we would have passed it, continuing down the road, if one of us hadn't commented on the adorable little archway leading to the door of Amici's. We swiftly found a free 1-hour parking spot in a municipal parking lot behind the strip of local businesses.

Once we had entered the restaurant, we were a little confused at first. We entered on the carry-out side and were unsure of whether we should seat ourselves or wait to be seated or place our order at the carry-out counter. However, the perplexed looks on our faces were noticed by the staff behind the bar in the dining area, and they greeted us and told us to sit wherever we would like. Inside the Living Room, it was very modern-looking. The lighting was low and everything looked sleek, especially the fully stocked bar. Yet, the patio area was especially enticing and we opted to sit outside, in the warm air instead of in the completely empty and air-conditioned Living Room.

Outside was a lovely hidden garden. The walls surrounding the patio were covered in green ivy vines that stretched towards the sky. There were numerous colorful flowers and various plants that were potted all around the rectangular area. Blotches of pink, yellow, purple, and red excited my vision everywhere I turned. Also, leading out of the patio and into the parking lot was another archway, laced in vines and entwined in Christmas lights. I imagined how gorgeous this patio would look once the sun went down, when those twinkling lights would light up, joining the numerous lanterns that were placed on the walls.We sat in one of the eight or so patio tables, underneath a lime green umbrella. The weather was quite pleasant, luckily. It was warm, in the low 80's, with a gentle, rejuvinating breeze fanning our faces.

Shortly after we sat down, a waitress handed us menus. This Amici's location is known for its extensive list of martinis. While I'm not much of an alcohol consumer, I knew I had to try one. The waitress helpfully pointed out a few fan favorites for us. I decided to go with the Pama-tini, made with pomegranate liquor, grapefruit juice, and cranberry juice. My brother ordered a Mojito Martini, which was a new item on their menu. My other two companions were not 21 yet, so they simply ordered Coke. My Pama-tini was a bit strong, yet also sweet and tangy, the grapefruit flavor more prominent than the others, which I liked. It was quite good and very refreshing in the heat. I had a small sip of my brother's martini, as well, but I didn't care for it, finding the herb flavors a tad too pronounced for my liking. However, he thoroughly enjoyed it.

Though I had trouble deciding between the three vegan pizzas on Amici's menu, I decided to go with number 11, a pizza with pesto, roasted garlic, broccoli, slices of tomatoes, and tomato sauce. The rest of the crew wanted to experience a traditional plain cheese pizza, because, as Kayla said, "Trying a plain cheese pie is the best way to see how good a pizza place really is." She's from the East Coast, where pizza is taken pretty seriously, so I assumed she knew what she was talking about.

It did take a little while for our pizzas to get to us, maybe 15 to 20 minutes, but we did not mind at all. We were given complimentary bread sticks that seemed to be whole wheat and smeared in some sort of herb paste, served with house-made tomato sauce on the side. The bread was warm, doughy and complimented deliciously with the sweet, chunky tomato sauce. It was nice to try a slightly healthier bread stick option, contrary to the usual butter- and/or cheese-smothered slabs of bread that usually accompany pizza. While chomping on our bread, chatting, sipping on our drinks, and enjoying the weather, timed seemed to fly by.

   When the pizzas did arrive, they looked extremely appetizing. They were conveniently sliced beforehand, and each served with a handy pizza spatula so we could serve ourselves. The vegan pizza had crunchy broccoli served on top of a forest green pesto spread and decadently sweet tomato sauce. Some soft, flavorful roasted cloves of garlic and slices of juicy, red tomatoes were also arranged across the hearty, crunchy whole-wheat crust. It was a delightful combination. The broccoli was a very nice touch, with the tips slightly blackened, a pleasing, textured addition. Their tomato sauce was just perfect, in my opinion, so fresh and cleverly relying heavily on the natural flavor of the tomato. Though I didn't try any of the cheese pizza, the aroma tempted me tremendously. My brother, my sister, and Kayla all said that they liked it, but agreed that they have indeed had better.

Though I had found the vegan pizza to be scrumptious and satisfying, I think what made my experience at Amici's so fantastic was the wonderful outdoor setting. Periodically, either myself or someone else would comment happily, "This is just so nice, isn't it?" We decided we would return, only after sitting down for a few minutes in the gorgeous patio oasis. The prices of the pizzas and the martinis seemed to be a bit high when we received our bill. However, once we divided up the cost, it really wasn't that bad. Also, the waitstaff was definitely satisfactory, bringing refills and boxes without even being asked to do so. Like I said, I will be back, as I'm curious to try Amici's other vegan pizza creations and would love to kick back in that patio area again. I would surely recommend this place to other vegans who need a pizza fix.

Amici's Gourmet Pizza - 4 out of 5 stars