In early April I was on a mission to get a Covid vaccine before my kids’ birthdays at the end of the month. I had trips to the zoo and a real live birthday party with actual attendees to look forward to. But, in the Madison area, appointments were getting snatched up in the blink of an eye and the only solution proved to be to branching out a little bit.
Thankfully, I’ve got the kind of wife who will wake up in the wee hours of the morning to scour the internet for available openings and she prevailed. The winner was right outside my old stomping grounds of Whitewater. None other than our ol’ dumpy next door neighbor Fart Asskissin (Fort Atkinson).
I got on the list for their Walgreens and within a few days I would take the scenic drive down highway 12 to Fart. I hadn’t been through Fart in a while, but when I starting thinking of that little town one place in particular peaked my interest.
Salamone’s Italian Pizzeria.
Once upon a time Whitewater actually had its own Salamone’s and so that pizza will always have a faint flicker in my bank of joyful pizza memories. I haven’t been to Salamone’s in over a decade so I figured if I was going to get poked with some vax, I might as well pick up a pie for the car ride home.
I went with their thin option (which really isn’t that thin). It’s about a quarter inch and kinda flimsy (think the thickness of a Tombstone Original crust). It has a light texture that is soft and gives a little chew.
The sauce gives Salamone’s it’s characteristic flavor and to my delight without asking for extra cheese, there was a plethora of it. I will admit that sauce and cheese combo gave me goosebumps of nostalgia (or maybe that was the vaccine?).
As proud Whitewater Alum all things Fart will always be second rate, but Salomone’s is most definitely their saving grace. It doesn’t live up to greasy legends of Whitewater, but if your eastbound from Madison and too lazy to go an extra 20 minutes to Gus’ Pizza Palace it’s a fine substitute.
This little trip taught me a simple lesson: Pizza is the best reward for doing all the things in life we’ve got to do, that we don’t really want to do. Salamone’s turned a two hour trip to get a shot into a pleasant trek down pizza memory lane.
The Pie of My Life 