pizza

If I were to give out awards to pizzerias for having the greatest variety of styles to choose from, Chester Cab on Park Avenue would certainly be on the list. They're known for their Chicago-style stuffed pizza, but they also offer "regular" pizza, "crispy New York style" slices, "thick Sicilian style," and "thin cracker crust," as well as low-fat pizza, and calzones. Oh, and the "Poor Man's Pizza," which is a regular pie topped with sauce, Parmesan, and herbs.
That wide variety has led me to make several visits to Chester Cab, and so far I've reported on one of their slices and on their stuffed pizza. On my most recent visit I gave the thin cracker crust a try.
I ordered my pizza - plain cheese - in person, and I was a bit dismayed when I heard they had to "go get one" of the crusts. The obvious implication was that the crusts were premade, and sitting in a storeroom, refrigerator, or freezer.
But - keep an open mind. The end result is what matters, and I'm not prepared to say that a premade crust can't be good.
The pizza that I got was, well, accurately described. The crust was thin, dry, and, indeed, crackerlike. It was crunchy, and a bit flaky, with a very thin, slightly charred edge.
The pie was more saucy than cheesy, which was probably a good thing. The sauce helped add some moisture to the dry crust, whereas a lot of cheese would've just made the whole thing chewier. The sauce had a straightforward, canned-tomato flavor (with sauce, by the way, canned tomatoes are often better than fresh, so no problem there). The cheese was a little sparse but well melted.
I ended up eating some of this sandwich style, with two slices put together, crust side out. That was actually pretty good.
This reminded me of what is sometimes called "bar pizza," meaning very thin pizza that you get in a bar, either off the bar menu or for free at happy hour. The idea is that it's so thin that it will make you more thirsty than full. But bar pizza is typically greasy and this wasn't (which would probably make it even less filling).I'm not going to rate this pizza, because it was exactly what the menu said it was, and I really can't compare it to anything else around here. You either like it this way or you don't. So even if I didn't like it, I couldn't complain, since I knew what I was ordering all along.
I thought it was OK, though I don't think it's something I'd be apt to order again. I like a more pliable crust with more of an interior. But no real complaints, and it's an interesting alternative to most other pizzas you'll find in our area.
Chester Cab Pizza, 707 Park Ave., Rochester 14607
Tel.: 244-8211
Hours: Mon. - Tue. 11 a.m. - 9:30 p.m., Wed. - Thu. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 11 a.m. - 11:30 p.m., Sun. noon - 9 p.m.

This sponsorship is brought to you by Smorgie.com who we have partnered with for this promotion.

There's a new website you may want to check out, Smorgie.com. It allows you both to search for local restaurants and to create your own lists of go-to places in your home town or places you've traveled. I've played around with it a bit and it's pretty easy to use. A search for local pizza or Italian places yielded a pretty solid list of establishments, any of which I could add to my own personal list with a mouse click. And it was easy to add places myself, which other users can read about and add to their own personal lists. You can also easily share your lists with friends through facebook, twitter, email, or on smorgie itself.
There are all sorts of ways to research restaurants in various cities, and they can be hit or miss in terms of their reliability. Some sites seem mostly like a magnet for people who have had bad experiences, while others are full of suspiciously rave reviews ("A+++! The best!"). So the more research tools, the better - you'll get to know which are trustworthy or not.
The ability to create personalized lists helps differentiate Smorgie's from other sites. One of Smorgie's best features is that it allows you to put your entries into whatever categories you choose, like "pizza," "lunch places," "bars," "romantic restaurants," "places to check out" - it's up to you.
You can also search by category, although it may take a while for Smorgie, which is still in its beta stage, to refine that aspect. A search for "sports bar" in Rochester did yield some relevant results like The Distillery and Matthew's, but also Dog Town, which is a hot-dog place (perhaps there was some confusion with the Dog House bar on West Ridge?). But I think that as more user input comes in, that will work itself out.
For Rochester-area pizza, of course, there's no better resource than where you are right now , but I rely on as many search tools as I can find in trying to hunt down local pizzerias, as well as on those occasions when I want a break from pizza. I'll be checking out Smorgie for both.

I sometimes get requests, or recommendations, to go back to a place after I've given it a less than stellar review, and Sonny's Deli is one of those places.
The last time I went there, I was less than impressed with my one cheese slice, which I found overcooked and dried out.
But some readers insisted that Sonny's made good pizza, so I figured maybe I just hit them on a bad day. I also decided that next time I'd order a pie, since part of the problem with my prior slice seemed to be that it simply sat in the warmer for too long. So on a recent visit, I ordered a 14-inch (medium) cheese pizza.
As before, the underside showed screen marks. No surprise there, and although I'm generally not a fan of pizza screens, no big deal. It was rather pale, though, especially compared to the very dark brown of the slice I got last time. I did show up about five minutes before they told me it would be ready, so maybe they took it out of the oven a bit sooner than they otherwise would have.
The slices were fairly soft and foldable, although the edge was crisp. They were not greasy, but there was just a bit of oven soot underneath. The crust was thin, also as before.
The pie had plenty of sauce, which had a cooked-tomato flavor, with some herbs as well. The sauce was not noticeably salty or sweet.  
The cheese was not particularly smooth, and the shreds had not melted together completely. It may just be that there wasn't enough of it to really blanket the pizza (which is fine with me - I don't mind some areas of sauce poking through), or maybe another minute or two in the oven would've helped it melt more, or maybe it was the cheese itself, as some cheeses do melt better than others. I wondered if this was part-skim mozzarella, which due to the lower fat content will not melt as well as the whole-milk variety.
The entire pie was lightly dusted with dried herbs. The thin lip along the edge was crisp and relatively dark, with some nice toastiness. The dough itself had a reasonably good texture and flavor.
This was not bad pizza, and in some ways it was better than my previous slice, but it had a few flaws. It was a decent thin crust pie, not exactly New York style, but kind of a thin-crust version of traditional "Rochester style" pizza. While the slice I had before was overdone and dry, this seemed a bit underdone, and the crust was too soft for my taste. The cheese also left a bit to be desired. So for somewhat different reasons, I'd say it was about the same as before, a bit below average for around here, and I'll again give it a C-minus.
Sonny's Deli, 494 N. Landing Rd.
Tel.: 288-7820
Mon. - Thu. 9 a.m. - 8 p.m., Fri. 9 a.m. - 9 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m. - 9 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m. - 8 p.m.

While pizzerias are easy enough to find, there's plenty of pizza out there at local restaurants, where you wouldn't necessarily expect to find it. One such place is Towpath Cafe in Fairport.
This location was formerly Fairport Village Coffee, and like that establishment, Towpath Cafe features coffee, wine, and live music. But it's added pizza to its menu, which I don't think was offered in its previous incarnation.
The pizza, which is described as "fire grilled," comes in five varieties, which I'll let you read on the Cafe's menu. As I often do, I went with the "Margarita," which is topped with "garlic & oil, tomatoes bruschetta, mozzarella and fresh basil."'
My pizza had a very crisp crust that was on the thin side of medium. The outer edge was crunchy and a bit oily on the surface, with some interior chewiness. The underside bore prominent grill marks.
The menu's use of the term "tomatoes bruschetta" is a fairly apt description. This reminded me of bruschetta, the name of which comes from the Italian "bruscare," which means "to roast over coals," a reference to the bread, which is typically drizzled with olive oil and grilled, and topped with tomatoes, garlic, basil or other toppings. This was topped with finely diced tomato, bits of chopped garlic, and flakes of basil, on a bed of stringy, chewy cheese. I found the overall flavor quite good, with some herbs in the background. The tomatoes weren't fantastic, but they did have some tomatoey sweetness, which puts them ahead of a lot of fresh tomatoes around here at this time of year.
Besides pizza, Towpath Cafe offers burgers, paninis, wraps, and salads. The atmosphere is laid back and casual, kind of a cross between a coffee house and a restaurant, with outdoor seating overlooking the canal in the warm months.
This was decent pizza. It had a pretty good overall flavor, and the crust wasn't bad, with a bit of external crunch and some grilled toastiness. And importantly, it was distinctive. I'll give it a B-minus.
Towpath Cafe, 6 N. Main St., Fairport, 14580
Tel. 377-0410

Mon. - Thu. 8 a.m. - 10 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 8 a.m. - 11 p.m., Sun. 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

I was recently sent two sample-size "review" bottles, of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, from The Olive Tap, an Illinois company that specializes in high-end oils and vinegars from around the world.
The bottles were about the size of one of those little liquor bottles that they sell in liquor stores, so I wasn't about to just toss it into a salad dressing or use these in a dish where they'd get drowned by other flavors. Instead, I made a crusty, homemade "rustic" style bread, the better to taste both.
I got these for free - I want to make that clear - but they may have been the best olive oil and balsamic vinegar I've ever tasted. Not that I'm a connoisseur of either, but I use and consume them on a fairly regular basis. These were head and shoulders above the stuff I've been using till now.
The oil was The Olive Tap's Tuscan Herb Olive Oil, which is flavored with a proprietary blend of several herbs including oregano, basil, garlic, and rosemary The flavors of the herbs complemented the rich flavor of the oil, without overwhelming it, and the underlying, almost sweet flavor of the oil shone through, making this a great oil for dipping. I've also used it on homemade pizza, with excellent results - it's especially good on white pizza, the better to allow its rich and subtle flavors to come through.
The vinegar was also a revelation. I always have balsamic vinegar on hand, and I thought I'd been buying pretty decent stuff, but this one, from Modena, Italy, had a richness of flavor that I'd never experienced before. Sweet but not cloying, it too was great soaked into bread, along with the oil, and terrific on a simple salad.
I wish I could say that these products are available around Rochester, but the nearest Olive Tap store or satellite location is in Medina, Ohio. Their products are available for purchase online, though. It's not cheap (a 375 ml bottle of the Tuscan Herb olive oil - about 35 servings' worth - goes for about $16), but, well, this isn't cheaply made, and the prices are pretty reasonable considering the quality of the product. And again, this isn't necessarily stuff you'll be using for ordinary cooking, where the flavors are apt to get drowned - you can use the basic brand for that, and save this for dishes where you and your guests will be better able to appreciate it.
The downside of this is that I'll never be quite as happy again with "ordinary" olive oils or vinegars. But if it's not too late, Santa, I'll gladly take a bottle or two of these in my stocking this year.

I'd driven by Hugo's Italian Bistro in Henrietta once or twice, but only recently did I learn that they were serving pizza. That's probably because until this past October it was known as Hugo's Market Cafe, which, I think, didn't serve pizza.
So the other day I made it there with some friends, one of whom got a pizza, so I was able to sample hers as well as mine.
I was torn between the Margherita ("homemade pizza sauce topped with fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, basil and oregano") for $8.59, and the Traditional ("fresh made red pizza sauce with mozzarella, oregano, basil and pecorino Romano and the choice of one topping") for $7.59.  I ended up going with the latter, with the addition of roasted garlic and green olives. One of my friends also got a Greca pizza, topped with "a blend of pesto and red sauce, mozzarella, roasted red peppers, fresh roasted garlic, kalamata olives, oregano and basil topped with feta cheese."
Each of our pizzas was about the size of a dinner plate. The crust was on the thin side, golden brown underneath, and medium firm on the surface. The slices were quite pliable and easily foldable.
Both pizzas tasted good, although I have to give the edge to my friend's Greca for overall flavor. I didn't pick up a whole lot of flavor from the sauce on my pie, and the mozzarella cheese dominated. The cheese lent the pizza a bit of tanginess, and the salty olives and the garlic were welcome additions to what otherwise would have been a lackluster pizza, due to the relatively soft crust.
The Greca had the same crust, but more flavor. I'm always wary of feta cheese on pizza, because it can so easily dominate a pie, but this was well balanced, with the slightly sweet peppers, savory olives, herbs and garlic acting as a counterweight to the sharp, salty feta. I actually liked it better than mine, which seemed a bit boring by comparison.
Hugo's other pizza offerings include a bianca, with olive oil, roasted garlic, oregano, basil, Romano and a topping of your choice, and a verde, with pesto sauce, roasted garlic, mozzarella, baby spinach, Ricotta, basil, oregano, Romano, and Gorgonzola. But it's far from just a pizza place, with a wide variety of Italian dishes on the menu (unfortunately I don't have their full menu handy and it looks as if their website isn't entirely up and running just now, so I can't go into detail about the menu). There's also a full bar on one side of the dining room.
I really liked the flavor of these pizzas. And although some of the pizzas on the menu sound rather "busy," with lots of toppings, Hugo's seems to know how to use combinations that work well, and to use enough restraint that the pie doesn't get overwhelmed with the toppings.
I was less impressed with the crust. It wasn't bad, but it was only what I'd call serviceable. It got the job done, to act as a base for the toppings, but it wasn't very crisp or bready, and lacked the subtle complexities of flavor, aroma and texture that make for a great pizza crust. That's often the case with restaurant pizza - I suspect the ovens have a lot to do with it - and it was the case here. So all in all, good, and good enough to order again, but not quite great. I'll give these a B-minus.
Hugo's Italian Bistro, 3259 S. Winton Rd.
Tel.: 427-0540
Mon. - Thu. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 11 a.m. - 11 p.m.

I love potatoes. For some time, I've been intrigued by potato pizza, a style that (or so I've read) is prevalent around Rome. After pizza, my second favorite food would have to be french fries. And on vacation, I've been known to make side trips to tour the local chip factory.

So I eagerly accepted a review copy of 300 Best Potato Recipes:  A Complete Cook's Guide by Kathleen Sloan-McIntosh. And yes, there was a recipe for a potato pizza, although not what I had expected, and for fries, and I tried them both.

Why an entire cookbook devoted to one ingredient? Well, in the case of potatoes, why not? They're remarkably versatile, they lend themselves to cooking in any number of ways, and they can be enjoyed on their own or in a supporting role.

The book starts off with a useful introduction that covers a bit of history, an overview of cooking methods, and the wide variety of potatoes that are available today, most of which I'd frankly never heard of before. From there, it moves on to some recipes for classic standbys like mashed potatoes and English "chips," before going on to soups, salads, sides, "mains" (Sloan-McIntosh is Canadian, so her writing tends to use Britishisms), breads, and desserts. If there's a dish using potatoes, chances are it, or something close to it, is in here.

The first thing I did on receiving the book, of course, was to look up "pizza," which led me to the recipe for "Potato-Crusted Margherita Pizza." Sloan-McIntosh states that this is "a traditional recipe style from Apulia, in southern Italy," and that she's enjoyed it at a sidewalk bakery/cafe in the city of Lecce.

Unlike Roman-style potato pizza, which is a pan-baked pizza topped with thinly sliced potatoes, this recipe uses cooked potatoes in the crust. I know from bread baking that potatoes will tend to soften the crust, and that's what happened here. The pizza did have a soft crust, and yet I can't say that I didn't enjoy it. Imagine a regular pizza crust infused with mashed potatoes and you'll get an idea of what it was like. Not something I'd want every time, but not bad, and rather unique.

The fries - hmm. It took me a little while to find the recipe I was looking for. The entry for "French fries" read "See fries and frites." Under "fries and frites (chips)," I found subheadings for "deep-fried," "fat for," "oven-fried," and "shallow-fried." I figured "deep-fried" was what I was looking for, but there were eight separate entries under that subheading, which were listed only according to page numbers, so I had to go through them one by one to find what I wanted - "Frites a la Kingsmill," named for a friend of the author.

While my fries did come out caramel colored, as described in the book, I wasn't thrilled with them. My ideal french fry is more golden than brown, with a delicate exterior crispness enveloping a fluffy, potatoey interior. These were darker and oilier than I wanted. There are other recipes in the book that I have yet to try, but the use of the term "frites" in this one led me to expect something closer to classic French fries, more golden than amber. Perhaps the recipe for English chips will come closer to my ideal, as it recommends the use of a "floury" potato, whereas the "frites" recipe called for Yukon Golds. My research indicates that floury potatoes, like russets, are best for french fries.

But the temperature recommendations may play a role too. Like a lot of frites recipes, this called for two fryings - for reasons that are debatable - but this recipe calls for an initial frying at 375 degrees, followed by a second frying at 400. Most other sources I've consulted recommend much lower temperatures for the first fry. I'm no food scientist so I have no idea what effect that had, but it must have some effect on the finished product.

Despite my less than perfect fries, I found a lot to like in this book. It's good for flipping through to look for ideas, especially after you just bought that 50 pound bag of potatoes at the Public Market. And there's a lot more here than just simple spud recipes. How does a dinner of smoked haddock with Yukon Golds in mustard beurre blanc sound, topped off with sweet potato cheesecake with pecan praline crust and caramel cream? Even if you're not that ambitious, if you like potatoes as much as I do, this is a worthwhile addition to your kitchen bookshelf, especially if you'd like to move on past the usual fried-baked-or-mashed variety.

300 Best Potato Recipes by Kathleen Sloan-McIntosh. 448 pages. Pub. by Robert Rose 2011.