Celebrating First Saturday and the Feast of San Francesco di Paola with Pizza and Paulaner

Paulaner on tap at the Schnitzel Haus

Sadly, for the third year in a row, our Annual Feast of San Francesco di Paola Pizza and Paulaner Party was called off. The previous two were due to Covid restrictions and Good Friday, respectively. This year we cancelled because of our memorial dinner for the 100th anniversary of the death of Blessed Emperor Karl I of Austria. Thinking it would have been an imposition to have people come out two nights in a row, we chose the centenary over the yearly fête.

As with the previous two feasts, I still intended to keep the observance alive and celebrate privately. However, Build Back Better struck again and I was unable to find any Paulaner on the store shelves this year. Giving up all hope, San Francesco (or perhaps the Blessed Emperor) had other plans. At the Blessed Karl dinner on Friday I unexpectedly discovered that the bar actually had Paulaner bier on tap—so I knew where I was going Saturday night. 

Good pizza, like good beer, is a gracious gift from God

As for the pizza part of the celebration, I went beforehand to nearby Amunì ristorante for some sfincione. Unable to eat meat, eggs or dairy for Lent, I enjoyed the delicious Sicilian style pizza with tomato sauce, toasted breadcrumbs, and anchovy. 

Besides the fact that I enjoy an occasional German bier, the reason we drink Paulaner is because it was first brewed in Munich by the Order of Minim, an order of mendicant friars founded in 1435 by San Francesco in Calabria. The name Paulaner itself is derived from Paola, the town in Calabria where our glorious patron and wonderworker was born. Why we eat pizza presumably needs no explanation. Evviva San Francesco di Paola!