Tasting Fresno...and recording it on video

An Introduction

I consider myself fairly excitable; when I'm excited, I talk a lot. A lot. And I talk fast.

At least, I thought that was the case. But a friend recently told me that I'm kind of mellow—that my "excited" is not very...excited. So instead of putting my not-so-excited face in another video, I asked her to host a series for TasteFresno.

With that, I introduce you to Alisa Manjarrez. Alisa is a fellow tweeter, a budding entrepreneur, and a self-described food and wine enthusiast. She's identified some of her favorite places to eat, and will be going to each to learn more about the people and stories behind the kitchen doors.

Episode 1: Michaelangelo's

Pizza is pizza—right?

I mean, it doesn't really matter where its creator was born, does it? Sure, toppings and crust can vary, but who's to say someone who's not Italian can't make a decent pizza pie? Or pasta? Or...well, I think we all know where this is going.

Meet Jose Rosales, owner of Michaelangelo's Italian Restaurant & Bar in Clovis (map). He was born in Mexico City, though an untrained ear like mine could swear his accent is Italian. After 27 years of service managing quality control for Me and Ed's, Jose decided to cook up something different.

Michaelangelo's has now been open almost 11 years, and while Jose has help from his wife and kids, he's still cooking. That's Rosales family pictured at the end of the video.

Michaelangelo's offers a full menu including pastas and salads, but Jose is proud of his pizza, and claims he makes the biggest in town—over 30 inches, in fact. Better yet, you can order a 30" pie to go. He says we'll need 15-20 people to finish one (I'm up for the challenge).

Watch the video, and get to know Jose. Then go in and try the food!