pizza

No, this post isn't about the worst pizza in Rochester. It's about WorstPizza, in Rochester. Let me explain.
I recently had the pleasure of meeting, and sharing some pizza with, the creator and publisher of WorstPizza.com, a very fine pizza blog out of South Florida that, despite the name, covers the full range of pizza, from worst to best. "Lapp" (his nom de blog) was in town for a conference, in anticipation of which he got in touch with me to see if I'd like to show him around some local pizza places. Well, twist my arm, why doncha?
When I travel outside the Rochester area, I'm always on the lookout for pizza places to check out, but I rarely blog about them, for a number of reasons. In that respect, Lapp takes a much more catholic approach, documenting and reporting on pizza wherever he travels. So for him this would be a "working" occasion.
Though he'd spent some time checking out my blog, Lapp didn't ask to visit any place in particular, but deferred to my judgment and familiarity with the Rochester pizza scene. This was a weighty responsibility, since we only had one night and one lunchtime the following day. Rochester may be a relatively small city, but it's impossible to do justice to our pizza culture in such a short time. The few hours that Lapp and I would spend together would form a lasting impression on him about the state of pizza in Rochester. I won't bore you with the details of how, with some input from Lapp, I settled on these places, but we ended up visiting Joe's Brooklyn Pizza, Tony D's, and The Pizza Stop.
To see what Lapp thought of his pizza at each of those establishments, I refer you to his website (if the reviews aren't up yet, keep checking back. He's generally got a pretty quick turnaround time). Some of my selections were things that I'd had before, like Joe's tomato pie and Pizza Stop's meatball parm pizza, but I did try a couple of new things as well. I've already posted about one of them, The Pizza Stop's spinach-artichoke pizza, and I'll be posting about the other, a tomato pie from Tony D's, soon.
As we worked our way through our respective pizzas, I came to realize a few things about Lapp, and about myself as well. First, he's something of a pizza purist. For him, it's pretty much crust, sauce, cheese, and little else. I like a good cheese slice as much as the next guy, and it's certainly the single best benchmark by which to gauge a pizzeria, but with a few exceptions (primarily mushrooms and eggplant) I'll happily eat pizza with a wide range of toppings, in any number of combinations.
Not so Lapp. One of my primary reasons for taking him to Joe's was that I thought that Joe's Sicilian grandma's pizza would come reasonably close to Lapp's favorite style, "upside down Sicilian," which essentially is simply Sicilian pizza with the sauce on top of the cheese instead of the other way around, but that idea fell through when Lapp found out that the toppings on the grandma's included shallots, a strict no-no for Lapp. While some might find his approach overly rigid or restrictive, I can respect that kind of pizza purity. This is a man who knows what he wants in pizza.
I also began to see that our divergent attitudes toward pizza toppings had a parallel in our pizza criticism. It quickly became apparent to me that Lapp has very exacting standards for his pizza; he's a much tougher critic than I am. Not that he didn't have anything good to say about his pizzas, but after listening to his critiques I began to feel like the Larry King of pizza reviewers.
Am I too easy on local pizzerias?, I wondered. Too generous with my letter grades? If this were college, would I be known as the professor who teaches the "gut" courses?
After thinking it over, several things come to mind. First, all criticism is subjective, especially with something like food, which literally is a matter of taste. I'm sure if Lapp and I shared 100 different pizzas, there would be some that he'd like more than I would. In fact I think I saw a hint of evidence of that concerning one of the places we visited.
Second, Lapp comes at pizza from a different background. He grew up downstate, where excellent pizza is practically a birthright, and world-class pizza isn't hard to find. And he informs me that South Florida is home to many terrific pizzerias as well, thanks in part to all the New York transplants down there. No knock on Western New York, where I was born and raised, but I think that the sum of my pizza experiences has probably led to my personal pizza bar being set a little lower than Lapp's.
When I mentioned that last point to Lapp, he responded that top-notch pizza should not be limited to one geographic area, and that there's no reason that pizza in Rochester should be held to a lower standard than pizza in New York City or anywhere else. True enough, I suppose, but I still maintain that one's background and experiences are bound to shape your tastes and standards in ways that you may not totally be aware of or able to control.
And, quite frankly, while rating pizza is anything but an exact science, I do grade, in part, on a curve, as my grade definitions make clear. An "A," for example, means "great," but it also means "one of the best this area has to offer." An "A" pizzeria here, then, might be a "B" or even lower if it were in New York City or some other pizza mecca.
Finally, there's the matter of personality. On his blog, Lapp also goes by a second pseudonym, "Pizza Expert." Now I do think that Lapp's tongue may have been more than a little in his cheek when he conferred that title on himself; ask him what makes him an expert on pizza, and Lapp will tell you, with a wry grin, that it's because he has a pizza blog and you don't. But as we were eating, it became evident that he tended to zero in on details concerning the crust, cheese and sauce that never would have occurred to me. The "Pizza Expert" moniker may be a little facetious, but I think there's some earnestness behind it too, in the sense that Lapp - who does in fact know a lot about pizza - subjects his pizzas to meticulous scrutiny.
Me, on the other hand, I've said all along that I'm just a guy who loves pizza, eats a lot of it, from a lot of different places, and writes about it. I've learned some stuff along the way, but I've never claimed to be an expert, and I still find it surprising, if not a little ludicrous, to think that this blog may make me appear to be such. So I probably do come at this more as a pizza lover than a pizza critic, to be a little generous with my grades, and to be a little more likely than some to forgive (or not even notice) a few shortcomings in the pizzas I consume.
I suppose, though, that there's as much room for diversity in pizza criticism as in pizza itself. That's especially true in the blogosphere, in which each blog is inevitably a reflection of its creator's personality. What's important, I think, is to set some standards for yourself and to try to adhere to them; to maintain a certain level of consistency in your reviews and integrity in what you write; and to speak with your own voice. I've tried to do that here, if not always as well as I'd like, but I'll keep on trying.
That would be a good place to end this post, but I do want to add one postscript. As I said, by visiting three pizzerias, we could barely scratch the surface of Rochester pizza. And while readers of this blog know how highly I think of both Joe's and The Pizza Stop, it was with some hesitation that I included them both on our mini-tour, since their pizzas are not only very similar to each other, but they also have more in common with New York City pizza than with any style indigenous to Rochester. (For that matter, Tony D's thin-crusted, coal-fired pizza also bears little resemblance to the bready, chewy pies found at more traditional, old-school Rochester pizzerias.)
But various factors, including simple time constraints and physical location, led us to visit those places, and while I consider all three of them to be among Rochester's top tier of pizzerias, there are a number of other establishments that are equally deserving of inclusion on any short list of Rochester's best. I regret that Lapp wasn't able to check out some of those as well before he returned to Florida.
I don't know if there will be a "next time" for Lapp, who had the misfortune to visit Rochester during a particularly dreary stretch of gray, cold, damp and drizzly weather. But you never know. So if you're reading this, Lapp, I want you to know that if you do find yourself back in these parts someday (preferably in summer, which I guarantee you'll find preferable to South Florida's), look me up. We've got more pizzerias to hit.

Just a quick post on a new (to me, at least) variety I tried the other day at The Pizza Stop. Pictured here is a slice (cut in two, for sharing with my lunch companion) of what is listed on The Pizza Stop's menu as their "spinach, artichoke hearts, & Ricotta" pizza.
I say it's "listed" that way because in fact there's more going on here than just those three toppings. Besides torn spinach leaves, marinated artichoke hearts (no hard, unchewable leaves), and several dollops of Ricotta, this slice was also topped with shredded Asiago cheese, a bit of chopped garlic, and cracked black pepper.
For me, white pizza's always been an occasional thing. Nothing against it, particularly, I just really love the flavor that tomatoes bring to a pizza, and that way that it complements the crust and cheese.
But this was good. I found the toppings well chosen, and thought they worked very well together, giving this pizza a complexity that made this more than just a pizza minus the red sauce.
One of my other complaints with some white pizzas is that I sometimes find them too heavy on the cheese, as if the pizzeria's trying to compensate for the lack of sauce by piling on the cheese. Not so here. The relatively light-textured Ricotta, and the restrained yet distinctive tanginess of the Asiago gave this pizza good cheese flavor and mouthfeel without that heavy, sinking feeling in the pit of one's stomach afterwards.
And of course I need hardly mention at this point The Pizza Stop's signature crust underlying it all, with its near-perfect balance between crisp and chewy. It's another "A" for this downtown institution.
The Pizza Stop, 123 State Street, Rochester 14614 Tel. 546-7252 Hours: Mon. - Thu. 10:30 a.m. – 7 p.m., Fri. 10:30 a.m. – 9 p.m. Closed weekends.

Park Point, the retail / residential development that opened a few years ago at RIT, has several dining choices available, including a full-fledged pizzeria, Paradiso.
But Paradiso is not the only place at Park Point where it's possible for a person to purchase pizza (how's that for alliteration?). Pizza's also on the menu at Lovin' Cup, a restaurant / bar / coffeehouse that features several personal-size pies on its menu. I had lunch there recently.
Though I really dislike cutesey names for dishes, I sucked it up and ordered a "Stroll Around the Moon," which is a Margherita in everything but name.
Before I get to the pizza, I must digress for a moment to say that I've no idea where they came up with the name for this pizza. A lot of menu items at Lovin' Cup - which itself is named after a Rolling Stones song - are taken from popular music, like the "Blue Suede Shoes" pizza and the "White Rabbit" burger (which is not made with rabbit meat, by the way). But googling "Stroll Around the Moon" did not turn up any songs of that name; the closest I got was "Circling Around the Moon" by John Mellencamp, "Walking on the Moon" by the Police, and several variations of  "Ring (or Rings) Around the Moon," by a number of artists.
At any rate, my pizza (which I will henceforth refer to as a Margherita) had a thin-to-medium thick crust, which was a little charred here and there underneath. It was very firm, and quite crunchy along the edge.
This is strictly my subjective impression, but to me there was something about this crust that seemed pre-made. Probably it was that firmness - the slices weren't really supple at all, and though they were a little chewy on the inside, they lacked the fresh-bread aroma and texture that marks what I consider a great pizza crust.
The crust seemed to have been given a light coating of olive oil, atop of which lay finely diced tomatoes, thinly shredded basil, and a layer of melted mozzarella. The menu describes the cheese on this pie as fresh mozzarella - the only pizza here given that "fresh" designation - and it was good cheese, with a smooth, creamy texture, but it was not the bright white fresh mozzarella that's typically applied in sliced rounds. It was beautifully melted but was gooier and spread more uniformly across the pizza than the fresh mozzarella I'm used to seeing. Maybe I just need to learn more about the different kinds of mozzarella.
Overall, this pizza was pretty flavorful, with a certain tanginess and a prominent flavor of basil. I frankly wasn't thrilled with the crust, but my impression was that the pizzas here are more about the toppings than the crust.
Lovin' Cup is a good-sized place, with a large dining area and a full bar, which features a well-chosen, oft-changing selection of microbrews. The rest of the food menu runs toward soups, salads, and hot and cold sandwiches, and there's a wide variety of coffee drinks available. I liked the place; the pizza, well, it had its ups (good cheese, good flavor, albeit a bit heavy on the basil) and downs (stiff, lifeless crust), which kind of cancel each other out, so I'll give it a right-down-the-middle C.
Lovin' Cup Bistro & Brews, 300 Park Point Dr. Suite 101 (at RIT).
Tel.: 292-9940
Hours:  Mon. 11 a.m. - 11 p.m., Tue. & Wed. 11 a.m. - midnight, Thu. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 2 a.m., Sun. noon - 10 p.m.

[Photographs by Adam Lindsley]

Katie!
Katie, if you haven't done so already, please email me your mailing address at rochesternypizzaguy@gmail.com and I will send you the certificate. You will receive one large pizza from Cimino's menu (I'm not sure if that includes specialty pizzas - better ask before you order).
Congratulations and thanks for participating. And my thanks again to Cimino's for donating this certificate!

Since this is the last day for readers to win a free pizza from Cimino's in Spencerport, I figured it's a good day for a Spencerport review.  And this continues my occasional exploration of local Buffalo chicken pizza, which has lain dormant for a while now.
I picked up a slice of Buffalo chicken pizza from the Spencerport Pontilllo's a while back. Pontillo's slices aren't massive, but they're pretty big, with about a 10" radius, so one slice and a drink can make for a decent lunch.
The crust was thin to medium, and the underside a golden brown. The latter was a change from most Pontillo's slices that I've tried, which have tended to be well charred underneath, with a toasty flavor. Maybe this was baked in a pan rather than on the oven deck, or maybe it's got something to do with this being a Buffalo chicken pizza, which can be rather oily. But whatever the reason, the bottom here was slightly oily, with some shallow bubbly craters. It had some crispness, though, and wasn't soft or spongy. The edge also displayed a certain breadiness that I enjoyed. It would've been interesting to get a plain cheese slice to compare the crusts and see if this crust was typical of the Spencerport location, or was more particular to the Buffalo chicken pizza.
The toppings were pretty spicy-hot, as Buffalo chicken pizza goes. Chunks of spicy breaded chicken lay atop a thin layer of browned mozzarella. There also seemed to be a thin coating of orange, oily or buttery hot sauce between the crust and the cheese, unless that just had exuded from the chicken and cheese. But there was no tomato sauce, and the heat on this pizza clearly came from more than just the chicken. The other noticeable flavor was salt. This wasn't too salty for me (then again I like salty food), but it was definitely salty. Blue cheese, however, was absent.
Like most Pontillo's, the Spencerport location had a pretty good selection of slices available. There were a few tables available, but I think most of the business is takeout and delivery.
It's in a pretty competitive area, pizzawise, with Cam's and Leccese's nearby, and Cimino's just up the road. Pontillo's is also not particularly prominent, visually, with just a narrow storefront in a small plaza, wedged between a dry cleaner and a family restaurant. But it's been there for some years now, so it must have a loyal following.
Again, no rating on this one. Buffalo chicken pizza varies so widely from one place to the next that it's difficult to draw comparisons, and any attempt to grade it would depend to a great extent on one's personal preferences in terms of sauce, blue cheese, and so on. In other words, I haven't found any ideal against which to measure this style. And frankly, this will never be one of my favorite styles of pizza, so I'm not sure that I could ever be objective enough to give any Buffalo chicken pizza a useful rating. But it's a popular style around here, so I would like to let readers know how it's prepared at different pizzerias in the Rochester area. What I will say is that Spencerport residents are fortunate to have several good pizzerias to pick from, including Pontillo's.
Pontillo's, 500 S. Union St. (Rt. 259) near Rt. 31 intersection.
Phone:  352-8111
Hours:  Sun. - Thu. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 11 a.m. - midnight

As part of my occasional forays into Buffalo-area pizzerias, here's a look at Just Pizza, a small chain with about a dozen locations mostly around Buffalo, but with one in Florida (for the snowbirds, I guess).
Just Pizza boasts "Over 75 Varieties" on its menu, which sounds good, but ... ever go to a Chinese restaurant and see 300 dishes on the menu and think, "They can't possibly do all of those well?" Maybe pizza's that way too. I got a Buffalo chicken slice, thinking, well, if there's anywhere to get a good Buffalo chicken pizza, Buffalo should be it, right?
Well, perhaps. But this one didn't thrill me.
The slice was thin, and rather oily. It had a fried-dough texture and aroma, and I'm not talking about the deep-fried dough they sell at carnivals. This was more like a pancake that had been cooked on a griddle with too much melted shortening on it. As you can see in the bottom photo, the crust didn't hold together well, and despite being fairly soft, it broke when I folded it, suggesting that the gluten wasn't well developed, or perhaps again the oil had something to do with it.
Sauce is a key component with Buffalo chicken pizza. There are three basic categories:  tomato sauce, hot sauce, and blue cheese sauce, or some combination of those. I haven't settled on a preference, so it's interesting for me to try different approaches. This sauce was was topped with a blue cheese sauce, blended, I think, with a bit of mozzarella. The cheese was well browned.
Somewhere in there was some heat. I didn't see any hot sauce, but I could taste it. Small bits of chicken were interspersed across the surface of the slice, so maybe the chicken had been tossed with some hot sauce. Or perhaps there was a thin, but not particularly visible, layer of hot sauce under the cheese. But the heat/chicken/blue cheese balance was pretty good.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again, but to me, good pizza starts with the crust. I'd rather have a good crust with skimpy or not-so-good toppings than a poor crust with tasty toppings. Sadly, this fell into the latter category. The overall flavor wasn't bad, if you like blue cheese, which I do. I might've preferred thicker chunks of chicken, but that's just a quibble and that's just me.
But this just wasn't a good crust. And I don't think that's just a matter of personal preference. I can't imagine anybody taking a bite of this and saying, wow, not that's a good crust!
Then again, I can't imagine anybody actually liking raw oysters, and yet I know some people do. Or maybe some people just don't pay much attention to the crust, as long as the toppings are good. I don't know. But as American Idol judge Randy Jackson has so eloquently, and so often, stated, this just wasn't good for me.
I am not rating Buffalo establishments, since I know I will never come close to covering the Buffalo pizza scene. But this was somewhere below average.
Just Pizza, 2350 Delaware Ave., Buffalo
Sun. - Thu. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 11 a.m. - 11 p.m.
871-5700