Blu, Pixley Road

I don't know what the breakdown is in terms of what sort of establishments sell pizza in Monroe County -- full-fledged pizzerias, convenience stores, supermarkets, restaurants and bars, and whatever other vendors are out there -- but there are more bars and restaurants offering pizza than you might think. It's not as commonplace as, say, chicken wings or burgers, but you can find pizza on quite a few menus around town.
Which brings us to Blu, a restaurant and bar that opened about three years ago on Pixley Road in Gates, not far from the Buffalo Road exit off 490. They offer several varieties of pizza, and I went there recently for lunch with two companions.
One of my friends got a burger - which looked, and according to him, was very good - and the other got a basic pepperoni pizza. I opted for the "Westside Margherita," which was topped with garlic oil, red sauce, tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella, with a drizzle of a reduced balsamic-vinegar sauce.
First, the good news. Where they had toppings, the pizzas were fairly tasty. More on that later. Now the bad news. The crust wasn't so good.
Both the menu and our server made a point of emphasizing that the dough for Blu's pizza is made in house, but you could've fooled me. I'm not sure what the explanation is, but the one adjective we agreed upon for these crusts was "dry," and the interiors lacked the puffiness that I like to see with freshly made dough. I don't know if Blu is making their own dough and then freezing it, but that's a possibility, to judge from these.
Now I'm not saying that the crust was godawful, or that it was bone-dry, to the point of being crumbly; the crust just lacked the aroma and liveliness of freshly made dough. It was serviceable, but no better than that.
The pies did taste good. The pepperoni pie was appropriately simple, with nicely melted mozzarella and crisp, meaty, spicy cup-and-char pepperoni. If only the toppings had been spread more fully around the pie, which had in some areas a wide area of naked crust along the perimeter. A little thicker application of the basic, tomatoey sauce might also to some extent have offset the dryness of the crust.
As for my Margherita, it was atypical but enjoyable. This isn't the first time I've had a pizza with a balsamic vinegar sauce, and I'm not complaining about it, since I knew from the menu that the pizza was drizzled with balsamic vinegar, but it's not traditionally associated with classic Margherita pizza. It did add an interesting flavor twist to the pie, with its sweet-yet-acidic tang playing off the other toppings, and the added liquid was particularly welcome atop this crust.
Flavorwise, the other dominant feature of the Margherita was the garlic oil. I love garlic, and the flavor here was prominent, but not harsh.
The red sauce and mozzarella were, I believe, the same as on the pepperoni pie, although the cheese seemed a bit more scattered than on the pepperoni pizza.
The sliced tomatoes were nothing special, but in fairness, one can't expect terrific fresh tomatoes around here in December. But if I might make so bold as to offer a suggestion to pizzeria owners, consider skipping both the sauce and the fresh tomatoes, and substituting canned tomatoes, of high quality. Crushed, drained and lightly seasoned, they'll more than make up for the absence of both the sauce and the fresh but flavorless sliced tomatoes.
That leaves the basil. This pie was dusted with tiny bits of basil. I think it was fresh basil, but it was chopped very finely. It did add a little background flavor, but I would've preferred some larger bits of shredded basil, added at the end.
Blu offers a few other specialty pizzas, including a beef on weck pie and the "J.M.G.," topped with garlic oil, banana peppers, spinach, asiago, ricotta, and fresh mozzarella. They also have an interesting selection of mac & cheese, from bacon cheeseburger to lobster.
Having written this review, it may appear to be more scathing than it should. I don't want to slam Blu too much. While based on this visit, I can't advise going there for the pizza, my friend's burger was good, and I can't speak to the rest of the menu.
Maybe, if anything, this points up the issue of places that don't specialize in pizza adding pizza to their menus. Good pizza takes time, effort, and expertise, in a way that some other menu items may not. So while I would be fine going back to Blu sometime for one of those meaty, half-pound burgers, the pizza was a disappointment. Perhaps with some tweaking, they can get it right.
In terms of a rating, well, it's always easier to point out a pizza's flaws than its strengths. And again, these pizzas tasted pretty good; the flavor wasn't really the issue. The biggest problem was the crust, which was not so great, but not so bad as to ruin the pizza either. So while I can't say these were average, a "D" seems a little too severe. Let's call these a C-minus.

Blu, 250 Pixley Rd., Gates

(585) 247-0079

Tue. - Thu. 11 a.m. - midnight
Fri. 11 a.m. - 2 a.m.
Sat. 4:30 p.m. - 2 a.m.
Closed Sun. & Mon.

Morey's, Canandaigua

I thought I'd mostly covered the Canandaigua pizza scene until I ran across a reference to Morey's, which is on a side street and had thus far escaped my notice. So off I went, around dinnertime with my daughter.
I got a small (9") pepperoni pie, and my daughter got a sub (which she liked, as she usually does).
The medium-thick crust was pliable but on the crunchy side, with a pale golden-brown bottom. Morey's offers pizzas in several sizes, on up to sheets, which suggests that they make and stretch their own dough, but this wasn't a great crust. It may have been made from fresh, just-stretched dough, but it was more reminiscent of a frozen or parbaked crust.
As for the toppings, they were generously but not overly applied. The healthy dose of tomatoey sauce helped provide some liquid to the slightly dry crust.
The cheese, which seemed like straight mozzarella, was well melted and stringy, but slid off the crust quite easily, probably because of all the sauce underneath. It was slightly browned and was concentrated toward the center of the pie, leaving a strip of sauce between the cheese and the outer crust. The pepperoni was pretty basic, I had no complaints, but it was nothing out of the ordinary.
Despite its name, Morey's Pizza & Subs isn't just a pizza/sub shop. It's more like a diner that serves pizza. Or maybe it's a pizzeria that serves diner food.  The pizza is available in 9-, 12- and 16-inch sizes, plus 12"x16" sheets and "party" pizzas twice that size. A relatively modest ten toppings are available, and they do four specialty pizzas.
Morey's also does wings, hot and cold subs and sandwiches, and breakfast items until 11 a.m. I'd be happy to go back sometime for some of those, but I don't think I'd get the pizza again. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't particularly good. The crust just didn't do it for me, though it was redeemed, a little bit, by the ample tomato sauce and the nicely melted cheese.
I've been trying not to use pluses and minuses in my pizza grades, but I'll make an exception here. I can't say this was an average pizza for this area. It was a little worse than that. But it wasn't quite a "D," either, which means, it's really pretty bad but it's good enough to eat, once you've paid for it. This wasn't that bad. So I'll give it a C-minus. Next time at Morey's, though, it's a burger and fries for me.

Morey's Pizza & Subs
113 West Ave., Canandaigua, NY 14424
394-4410 or 394-4939

Veneto Revisited, Plus a Conversation with a Fellow Food Blogger

I recently had the pleasure of meeting Chris Lindstrom, the author of Food About Town. It's a terrific new blog covering the Rochester area food scene.
I've seen food blogs come and go, but I think this one is going to stick around for a while. Chris is passionate about food, and about food writing.
And about pizza, in particular. In fact, he's been apprenticing at Fiamma, an outstanding pizzeria on Rochester's west side that I've posted about before.
Chris and I met at Veneto, an East Avenue wood-fired pizzeria that I hadn't reviewed since 2009. We had a very pleasant conversation that touched upon food, food blogging, pizza, and other topics, including his passion for curling. I've never participated, but I've long had a soft spot in my heart for curling, dating back to my childhood when we picked up CHCH-TV out of Hamilton, Ontario, and I used to watch curling on days when I'd stay home from school, either actually or faking sick.
Let me start with the pizza. We shared two pies, a Margherita and a Rustica.
I was surprised that the Margherita had no basil. On checking the menu, I see that it is described as a pie with "pomodoro sauce topped with mozzarella cheese." No mention of basil. So I can't complain about false advertising or anything of that sort. Still, there are certain terms, and "Margherita" is one of them, that suggest a certain type of pizza, and this is the first time I've had a so-called Margherita that didn't include basil.
Having said that, I obviously should've checked my own prior review of Veneto, where I noted that I had to specifically ask for basil. So I'll take the blame for that.
OK, so let's forget about the name, and focus on the pizza. Was it good?
Yes, ... and no. The crust was disappointingly bland and boring. The underside was rather pale; even along the edge (which is often blackened with wood-fired pizza) the crust was not all that well cooked. It wasn't undercooked, in the sense of being gummy, like raw dough, but it wasn't as well baked as it could've and should've been. And I did get a hint of raw flour, perhaps from the dusting of flour that the underside picked up from the pizza peel.
The crust also hadn't risen much, and was lacking in both the big air holes that make for a good, chewy crust, and the flavor that develops during a long, cool rise. The Rustica's crust was a little more well done, but not much better.
As for the toppings, the Margherita was all right, as far as it went, but it was basically just a tomato sauce and cheese pizza. When I order a Margherita, I'm hoping for fresh mozzarella, and crushed tomatoes or a very simple sauce. This was just an ordinary sauce, with a "cooked" flavor, and ordinary processed mozzarella cheese. It was OK, but call it what it is - cheese pizza - not a Margherita.
The Rustica is described as topped with "pomodoro sauce topped with Italian sausage, green peppers, caramelized onions and mozzarella cheese." Which it was, and it wasn't bad. Often, with wood-fired pizza, I want my toppings on the minimal side, so as not to overwhelm the typically thin crust. But this crust wasn't so good to begin with, so I welcomed the flavorful toppings.
More broadly, these pizzas pointed up a problem that I often have with wood-fired pizza. By going to the trouble of using a wood-fired oven, a pizzeria should produce something that's qualitatively different from "regular" pizza. Not necessarily better, but different, and, it should go without saying, good. If you're using a wood-fired oven, in other words, you should learn how to maximize its potential to turn out some truly great pizza.
But too many places get by on that phrase alone:  "wood-fired pizza." As if that makes the pizza inherently better.
Not so. I have never baked a pizza in a wood-fired oven (although I have baked a pizza in a superheated charcoal grill, on a pizza stone, at temperatures in excess of 800 degrees, so I have some idea of the process, minus the flames), but I've had enough wood-fired pizza to know that these ovens can, in the right hands, produce some fantastic pizza. But if not properly utilized, they can also turn out a very mediocre product, no better and sometimes worse that what you would get from a conventional gas or electric oven. In short, wood-fired heat is no guarantee of good pizza.
As demonstrated here. These weren't bad, but they were certainly disappointing. The thin crust was underdeveloped, bland, pale and lifeless. Good enough to eat, but they fell far short of what I think were my legitimate expectations.
Now that I've vented about the pizza, let me return to my dinner with Chris. Thanks in part to one of my posts about Fiamma, he has become a regular over there, and has been doing what amounts to an apprenticeship, where he handles some prep work and learns various aspects of the pizzamaking process. If I could squeeze a few more hours out of my days, I'd love to try it myself. Until then, I'll have to be satisfied with following his blog, and I invite you to do the same. If nothing else, he's inspired me to try to keep my own blog interesting, and to that end I have some interviews lined up that I think my readers will find interesting.
Chris and I shared some thoughts about food, blogging, and pizza. And we agreed on a number of things. We are both, I think, passionate about our topics of interest. For me, it's pizza; for Chris, it's food in general. There's no other way to do a blog like this and keep it going, and I've found that successful blogging is as much about perseverance as anything else.
Second, we are attracted to those who are also passionate about those subjects. So our favorite chefs, restaurateurs, and pizzaioli tend to be very dedicated to their craft. They're the kind of people whose eyes light up when you ask them about their trade, and who enjoy talking about it at length, at least if you're not interrupting them in the middle of their lunchtime crush.
Chris and I also agreed that to produce a top-notch pizza, one needs high-quality ingredients, dedication, and good technique, which mostly comes with practice. But there's no reason that any of those are outside of the average person's reach. No, your home oven may never approximate a wood-fired oven, but that doesn't mean that you can't use it to turn out excellent pizza. The hard part, for a home baker, is doing it often or regularly enough to hone one's skills. But for a professional pizza maker, there's no excuse for bad - or even mediocre - pizza.
And this was, I'm afraid, mediocre pizza. Maybe I walked in holding Veneto to a higher standard than I should've, but again, if you're putting yourself out there as a wood-fired pizzeria, I think you're creating certain expectations. Those expectations were not met here, as far as I'm concerned, particularly in light of my prior visit, when my pizza had a crust that was nicely charred and crackly, and good enough to rate an A-minus.
Which brings us to the grade for this one. As on some other recent occasions, I find myself having to resort to pluses and minuses, although I prefer to avoid those. A "D" means no better than "edible." These were better than that, certainly. But I can't say that they were as good as average, ordinary, "C" pizza, either. They were less than they should've been, and in my opinion not as good as typical Rochester pizza. I think I can most accurately peg these at a C-minus.
Veneto, 318 East Ave., Rochester
(585) 454-5444
Mon. 5 - 9 pm, Tue. - Thu. 11:30 am - 2:30 pm, 5 - 10 pm, Fri. 11:30 am - 2:30 pm, 5 - 11 pm, Sat. 5 - 11 pm, Sun. 4:30 - 9 pm

Caraglio's, Gates

I recently paid a visit to the Caraglio's in Gates, at the corner of Elmgrove and Lyell, where DiRosato's had been. I got a pepperoni slice.
Usually the first thing I check is the underside of the crust. But the first thing I noticed on this oversized slice was that it was a little skimpy on the pepperoni. You can see for yourself in the photo. It was good pepperoni, nice and crisp, but four little slices? Come on.
But on to the crust - it was pretty thin, with prominent screen marks on its browned bottom. I picked up a faint aroma of cooking oil.
This wasn't a particularly saucy slice. Given the thinness of the crust it was reasonably well balanced in that regard, but it was perhaps a bit over-evaporated. The sauce was pretty middle-of-the-road, with a mild tomatoey, if a bit bland, flavor. The mozzarella was well browned, a bit more than I like, and it too was on the dry side. Maybe this slice had been sitting out for a while. (And to those who tell me I shouldn't judge a pizzeria based on a slice, I repeat my usual rejoinder:  I'm not rating the pizzeria, I'm rating this slice. Take it for what it's worth. And if a pizzeria sells slices, they should see to it that they don't sell stale slices.)
This marks my third visit to a local Caraglio's. Generally, this slice fit the profile - big, screen-baked, a little floppy - but it differed in some ways from both the other two visits (on Dewey Ave. and in Hilton). The crust was OK, perhaps the best of the three, but it was rather dry and skimpy on the toppings, even for a thin slice. I'll give it a C-minus.
Caraglio's, 3869 Lyell Rd. 14606
Tel. 426-0270
Sun. - Thu. 11 a.m. - 9 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.

Rubino's, Webster

I've long been familiar with Rubino's, going back to when they had a location at the Midtown Plaza food court. I always thought they made pretty good subs, but Midtown's only a memory, and in recent years I kind of stopped paying attention to Rubino's. I think they also had a small place on State Street across from Kodak for a while, but that's gone too, and since I started this blog my sub consumption has declined precipitously.
So I owe some thanks to the reader who recently informed me that Rubino's has a place in Webster that serves pizza. Come to find out, their other locations do too, according to the menu on their website, but Webster's the one that I checked out.
I ordered a medium pepperoni pizza to go (the photos were taken immediately after I got it, so it was still fresh and hot). It had a thin to medium crust, with a soft pale bottom. It was a little doughy, and just a bit crisp along the edge. As is often the case with soft-crusted pizzas, I liked the crisp edge better than the soft middle.
The crust was topped by a thin layer of sauce, which had some herbal flavor, but was nonetheless on the bland side. The melted mozzarella was a little chewy and easily separated from the crust.
I haven't been to any of the other Rubino's, but the one in Webster is, I believe, unique among them in that it includes a sports bar. The atmosphere, at lunch anyway, was more deli than bar, and they close at 8 p.m., so it's not a place to go hang out all night, but the bar and numerous HDTVs make it a good option for watching a daytime or late-afternoon game over a cold pint and a pizza.
Or more likely, a sub. Rubino's is still primarily a deli, not a pizzeria, as one look at their menu confirms. It's dominated by the subs, which are far too numerous to list here, but they've got as wide a variety of hot and cold subs as you'll find in the area. And prices include up to seven toppings of your choice. I'm particularly intrigued by the "garlic subs" - which I guess means on a toasted, garlic-bread style roll. They also offer panini, pasta and salads.
The pizza? Well, it was OK. Not great, but good enough. But the subs are a better option here, and for pizza I'd probably go elsewhere. I'll give the pizza a C-minus.
Rubino's Italian Submarines and Sports Pub, 44 E. Main St., Webster
Tel.: 265-0870
Mon. - Sat. 10 a.m. -8 p.m.
Other locations at 343 East Ave. and 1659 Mt. Hope Ave. in Rochester, and 349 W. Commercial St. in East Rochester

Mario's

Rochester has an embarrassment of riches where Italian restaurants are concerned, with everything from old school, "red sauce" places to higher-end establishments that aim to take Italian food to the level of high art.
Mario's on Monroe Avenue falls somewhere in the middle, with items ranging from spaghetti and meatballs to pricier fare like osso bucco and cioppino, with a touch of steakhouse on the menu as well.
And pizza, which is what drew me here on a recent weeknight for dinner. Although it's listed under antipasti on the menu, I made an entree out of Mario's Margherita pizza, which is described as a "crispy thin crust stone oven style, [with] fresh tomatoes [and] fresh buffalo mozzarella."
The thin-to-medium crust was pale on the bottom, with some faint markings that could've been from a grill or other cooking surface. The edge was dry and crunchy, but the rest of the crust was lifeless, with little evidence of yeast activity, and a doughy flavor. I wondered if Mario's uses frozen crusts.
The slices of fresh mozzarella were evenly distributed, spoke-fashion, around the pizza, and were nicely melted, with a smooth, creamy texture. Although not mentioned on the menu, there was also a layer of what appeared to be low-moisture, processed mozzarella underneath. It was rather dry and didn't add a whole lot of flavor or texture.
Between the two layers of cheese were some thick slices of fresh tomato. Unfortunately these were quite bland, contributing little other than color. Some shredded basil, which appeared to have been added after the pizza came out of the often, added some complexity to the overall flavor profile, though most of it had been piled onto one side of the pie.
Overall, this pizza tasted all right, though it was a bit on the bland side. I was glad that I accepted my server's offer of some grated Parmesan.
But the biggest problem was the crust. It just had nothing going for it, in terms of flavor, texture or otherwise. That was disappointing, given the menu's reference to the crust being "stone oven style" (I'm not sure what stone oven "style" means, but it sounded promising.)
It was doubly disappointing because Mario's other food seemed pretty good. I only had a salad, in addition to my pizza, but I couldn't help stealing a few glances at my neighbors' plates, which looked quite appetizing, and for much of my meal I was treated to a wonderful aroma that I'm guessing came from Mario's grilled steaks (I meant to ask my server if she could identify it for me, but I forgot).
So while I would put Mario's on my mental list of places to revisit, I can't recommend it for the pizza alone. If they are using frozen crusts, well, not much you can do to improve those. But if they are using fresh dough, it seems to me it needs to rise a little longer, and be baked at higher temperatures, because this wasn't that great. I'll give it a C-minus.
Mario's Italian Steakhouse and Catering, 2740 Monroe Ave.
Tel.: 271-1111
Winter hours (Nov. 1 - April 30): Mon. - Thu. 5 p.m. - 9:30 p.m., Fri. 5 p.m. - 10:30 p.m., Sat. 4 p.m. - 10:30 p.m., Sun. brunch 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., dinner 4:30 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Summer hours (May 1 - Oct. 31): Mon. - Thu. 5 p.m. - 10 p.m., Fri. 5 p.m. - 11 p.m., Sat. 4 p.m. - 11 p.m., Sun. brunch 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., dinner 4:30 p.m. - 9 p.m.

Sonny's Deli Revisited

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.

International Food Market & Istanbul Market

A few days before Thanksgiving, I checked out two different, but related places serving two different, but related variations on pizza, with some interesting results.
International Food Market and Pizzeria in Henrietta opened recently in Jefferson Plaza, on Jefferson Road across from Southtown Plaza. It offers a pretty wide variety of packaged and freshly prepared American and Pakistani foods, and a 100% Halal menu.
I love exploring ethnic cuisines as much as the next guy, but as intriguing as some of the hot dishes looked, on this occasion I was there to investigate the pizza.
There were a couple of sliced pies on a warming tray. One was topped with pepperoni, and at first I wasn't at all sure what the other one had on it. It appeared to be a mixture of cheese interspersed with some unidentified, dark brown bits. Given the name of the place and the presence of various, more or less Middle Eastern items available, I thought perhaps it was some exotic topping that I'd never tried before.
So it was with some disappointment that I learned that it was simply mozzarella cheese that had been overbaked. The guy behind the counter explained that it got a little overly brown, so he put on some extra cheese to compensate, which gave the pizza an unusual, mottled light-and-dark appearance.
I kind of like browned cheese anyway, so I got one cheese and one pepperoni slice. The thin to medium crust was mostly soft, unevenly browned underneath, and screen baked. There was a little crunch along the edge but the edge also had kind of a tough, chewy texture.
The sauce had a thinnish consistency and a tomatoey flavor that was on the bland side. The cheese was as you'd expect, with some caramelized, burnt-cheese flavor mixed, on the cheese slice, with added, melted mozzarella.
The pepperoni was the best thing on this pizza. It had a good, meaty flavor and was just crisp along the edge.
So, not so great pizza, although the market looked to be well worth a return visit.
And most definitely worth a visit was International Food Market's sister establishment on Norton Street in Rochester. Istanbul Market is much smaller, with just a narrow storefront in a strip mall near Portland Avenue. And while it doesn't serve "American" pizza, they do offer lahmacun, a close cousin of pizza that's commonly found in Turkey and elsewhere in the Eastern Mediterranean. In fact, lahmacun is sometimes referred to as Turkish pizza, although the Greeks caused a bit of a stir earlier this year by claiming it as their own.
This was my first time trying lahmacun, but I don't think it'll be my last. A small ball of dough was stretched as thin as, maybe even thinner than a tortilla, to about the size of an average dinner plate, topped with a well-seasoned mix of ground lamb, tomatoes, onions, parsley and spices, and popped into the oven for a few minutes. So if you define pizza as a flattened layer of dough that's spread with toppings and baked in an oven, well then, this is pizza.
I try to avoid the word "delicious" on this blog - it's too cliched, and not terribly descriptive - but this was delicious, with a complexity of flavors and aromas that belied the relative simplicity of its execution. (The young woman behind the counter advised me, by the way, that lahmacun is often given a sprinkling of lemon juice before being eaten, but I had none on hand, so that will have to wait until next time.)
The very edge of the wafer-thin disk had charred nicely in the oven, giving it a crackly crunch right along the rim, though the rest of the crust remained pliable, thanks I'm sure to the protective layer of toppings, which covered nearly the entire surface. You could easily roll this up and eat it like a street vendor's crepe, but I chose to tear off and savor one bit at a time.
Regular readers of this blog will know that with pizza, I'm all about the crust. But while this "crust" (which doesn't seem like the right word, but it'll do) was fine, clearly its main function is simply to serve as a base, or wrap, for the toppings, which are the real star of the show. This was intoxicatingly aromatic and immensely - though not intensely - flavorful, subtle and complex at the same time.
And while, as with a curry dish, it was difficult to pick out all the constituents - cumin? mint? coriander? chiles, perhaps? - there was a certain underlying comfort level here too. I don't think it was the particular seasonings that were unfamiliar to me - I may well have them all in my kitchen - but they were blended in a way that I'd never had before.
Both of these markets offer an interesting selection of food items, and it's fun to browse their shelves and refrigerator cases as well as their to-go menus. Many of the packages are written entirely in Turkish, but an employee will be happy to translate for you, or you could just be adventurous and buy whatever looks good.
As far as the hot prepared food is concerned, I think my brief sampling tends to confirm the truism that when you go to a place that serves food, stick with what they do best. The pizza I had at International Food Market was passable - I'll give it a C-minus - but the lahmacun at Istanbul Market blew it away. It rates an A. (And let me emphasize that those ratings are for the two things I ate - the pizza and the lahmacun - not the markets themselves, both of which are worth a visit.)
Istanbul Market, 1388 Norton St., Rochester 14621
Hours:  Mon. - Thu. 9 a.m. - 7 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 9 a.m. - 8 p.m., Sun. 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Tel.: 342-2990
International Food Market & Pizzeria, 376 Jefferson Rd., Henrietta
Hours:  Mon. - Thu. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 11 a.m. - 11 p.m., Sun. noon - 8 p.m.
Tel.: 270-4004 (delivery available)

Livonia Shurfine

Following up on a reader's recommendation, I recently picked up a small pizza the Shurfine supermarket in Livonia. Grocery stores aren't typically known for having great pizza, but when I get a recommendation, I generally follow up on it sooner or later.
Since this was just for me, and there were no slices available, I got a small pepperoni pie. It was ready in about 15 minutes.
Shurfine advertises its fresh-made dough, which is certainly preferable to frozen dough or premade shells, but this wasn't a great crust, frankly. It was medium thick, with a golden brown, fried-looking bottom with bubbly concavities. The edge was a little crisp, but not particularly crusty or bready.
The components were well balanced, with a healthy dose of both sauce and cheese. The former had a very tomatoey flavor that was neither particularly sweet nor salty, just a basic, middle-of-the-road tomato sauce. The uniform layer of cheese, which seemed to be all mozzarella, was well melted and slightly browned. It had a good texture and seemed to be of high quality.
melted, slightly browned mozzarella. The wide and thin slices of pepperoni were just slightly crisp along the edge, but were otherwise unremarkable.
This was OK pizza, but frankly it didn't do a whole lot for me. Pizzas with that soft, slightly oily bottom generally are not to my liking, and the other components, though reasonably good, were pretty basic, and the overall flavor profile was rather on the bland side. So while I had no major complaints, I'll peg this one at just below average, for a C-minus.
West's Shurfine Market, 1 Main St., Livonia. (585) 346-3023
Market open 7 a.m. - 9 p.m. daily (not sure about the pizzeria hours)

Guys Pizza Co., Pittsford - CLOSED

(NOTE: This establishment is now closed. RPG)
I recently learned of a new pizzeria in Pittsford named Guys Pizza Co. It's a Cleveland- based chain, and this is the first Guys location outside Ohio. (It also has no connection with Five Guys, which is a chain burger joint with a handful of locations in the Rochester area.)
I generally don't get too excited about pizza chains, but hey, this is new to the Rochester area, and so far it's the only Guys location around here, so I was curious enough to take a drive to Pittsford to check it out.
I was planning on getting a slice, and when I arrived, I noticed that their flyers on the counter contained coupons for a free slice, no purchase necessary. So that worked out well. I did but a drink, though, just so I wouldn't feel like a total cheapskate.
Unfortunately, the cheese slice that I got looked as though it had been sitting out for a while, so it wasn't at the peak of freshness, but I still got a pretty good idea, I think, of what their pizza is like.
Which is to say, not all that great. This slice had a thin to medium crust, quite thin toward the tip, and maybe half an inch thick toward the outer edge. The interior was dotted with tiny air holes, and though it wasn't a bad crust, it wasn't very breadlike either. The underside was brown and slightly oily, with a pancake-like appearance. There was a bit of crunch along the edge, but otherwise the crust was pretty unremarkable.
The sauce and cheese were in pretty good balance with the crust, with a moderate layer of each. The sauce was characterized by a somewhat sweet tomatoey flavor, while the browned mozzarella was adequate but again nothing special.
And that's about it. Again, not a bad slice of pizza, just not particularly interesting.
One thing I must say about chains, they generally offer a lot of options, and Guys is no exception. There's a long list of pizza toppings, four different sauces, and 13 specialty pizzas, including a "Garbage Plate Pizza." From their website, it looks as though Pittsford is the only Guys location to offer that particular variety, so I guess they're making some effort to adapt to their local community, which is nice. (Didn't Nick Tahou's register the term "Garbage Plate" with the trademark office, though?) You can also order your pizza half one variety, half another.
Guys' pizzas come in small, medium, large and "New Yorker" sizes (which I take to mean extra large and thin), as well as half and full sheets. They also offer Chicago-style deep dish pizza, "take & bake" pizzas, and their signature item, the "Legendary Guyzones," which the menu describes as a "massively delicious variation to Calzones," though I'm not sure what the "variation" is; they sound like calzones to me. Maybe they're just bigger.
Other menu offerings include salads, wings, quesadillas, wraps, "Guyninis" (a "larger version of a panini sandwich" - I think I see a pattern here), and a few dessert items, including Guys' verision of s'mores (which surprisingly are not called "Guys'mores").
A lot to offer, then, and maybe some of those items are really good. Since they really trumpet their "Guyzones," I guess I'd like to try one sometime. But this pizza didn't impress me too much. It was a bit below average, in my opinion, and I'll give it a C-.
Guys Pizza Co., 18 S. Main St., Pittsford. 248-2222
Mon. - Thu. 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 10 a.m. - 11 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.

The Distillery, Mt. Hope Ave.

Continuing my occasional series of reviews of bar pizzas, today takes us to the Distillery on Mt. Hope Ave.  The Distillery is more than a bar, of course - it has a very long menu, and plenty of people go there to eat, not to drink - but it's certainly not a pizzeria, either, and I'd say this pizza falls into the general category of bar pizza.
Except for those places that have dedicated pizza ovens or otherwise specialize in pizza, most bars around here don't turn out particularly good pizza. There are bars that make good pizza, of course, but most don't, in my experience. So I can't say I was expecting much, but I tried to keep an open mind.
I ordered a tomato & basil pizza, which sounded roughly like a Margherita, topped with tomato slices, red onions, tomato sauce, mozzarella, Parmesan and fresh basil. All of the Distillery's pizzas are available on a "traditional" (white) or whole wheat 10-inch crust, and I opted for the white.
The crust was pretty thin, not very bready, but a little crunchy, with a golden-brown underside. It wasn't what I would call well integrated, by which I mean that it seemed more like a cooked flatbread with toppings added, than a pizza where the crust and toppings are all baked together. I don't know if this crust was prebaked at all, but that's how it seemed to me.
The flavor was fine, nothing out of the ordinary but not bad. The cheese and sauce, both of which had been pretty generously applied, consisted of melted mozzarella, Parmesan, and a basic tomato sauce.
The Distillery's other pizza offerings include plain cheese, pepperoni, a white veggie pizza, Buffalo chicken, and a Mediterranean pizza, with grilled chicken, pine nuts, basil pesto, diced tomatoes, green onions, and Kalamata olives. And as I mentioned, the rest of the menu is lengthy, ranging from bar food (including wings that are among Rochester's best, at least at the original Mt. Hope location) to more substantial entrees like grilled sesame ahi tuna and sirloin steak. And there is a full bar, with a decent, if not overly impressive, draft beer selection.
As far as the atmosphere goes, the Distillery is a sports bar, make no mistake, with TV screens everywhere you look, but unless there's a big game on, most of the crowd is there to eat and drink, not to watch sports.
This was not bad pizza, but it's not a pizza I'm likely to order again, except perhaps as a shared appetizer. The flavor was pretty good, and a slice or two could be a good warmup or accompaniment to wings or other bar food. But as an entree, it didn't quite match up to some of The Distillery's other menu items, such as the aforementioned wings, or just a basic burger with fries. The crust just didn't wow me, and the components didn't come together as well as they could have. So while I wouldn't turn it down if you offered me a slice, I'll peg it at just below average, and give it a C-minus.
The Distillery, 1142 Mt. Hope Ave., Rochester 271-4105
Other locations at 300 Paddy Creek Circle, Greece, 3010 Winton Rd. South, Henrietta, and 10 Square Dr., Victor.
Mon. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 2 a.m., Sun. noon - 2 a.m.

Parkside Pizza & Sub, Bloomfield

Having recently reviewed Hometown Pizza in Bloomfield, I got to looking around for other pizzerias in that area, which led me to Parkside Pizza & Sub, which is about three quarters of a mile down the road from Hometown. Parkside is a little mom 'n' pop shop that's been in business since 1999.
I ordered a large pie, half pepperoni, half sweet peppers. It had a very soft crust with a browned underside. Even the outer edge was soft, and that's often the one part of a pizza that will get crisp, even if the rest of the crust is soft.
Although the crust was medium thick, it didn't appear to have risen very much. The interior had a touch of sweetness, but a doughy flavor and not much breadiness.
On the plus side, the red sauce had a bright tomatoey flavor, and the cheese was applied in good balance with the other components. The sauce and cheese were both prominent, but not overdone, and with the pepperoni and peppers they gave the pizza a good flavor overall.
Unfortunately, though, they couldn't completely make up for the crust, which was just too soft for me. Some people may like it that way, but I'm not one of them. I know some pizzerias will attempt to accommodate you if you're like me and prefer a crisp crust, and next time I think I'd ask at Parkside.
Parkside does have an impressive lineup of specialty pizzas, including a cheeseburger pizza (red sauce, ketchup, ground beef, onion, tomato, pickles and American cheese), Buffalo chicken, Philly steak, and even a spaghetti pizza. At the time of my visit, they also had a Reuben pizza on the menu for only 10 bucks. Other items include wings, which are available breaded or sauced, hot and cold subs, and "broaster" chicken.
I wanted to like this pizza, as I love little mom 'n' pop pizzerias, but this crust just didn't do it for me. For what it's worth, my seven-year-old pronounced this pizza "delicious," but I'm beginning to suspect that her palate is less than discriminating where pizza's concerned.
Then again, maybe it's just me, that is to say, maybe it comes down to a matter of personal taste. I've been to a few pizza tasting events where I was amazed to see how some people genuinely seem to like, or at least don't mind, a soft crust. If you're one of them, you might really like Parkside; as I said, it tasted fine. But for me, soft crusts are hard for me to get past, no matter how good the toppings are. So while this wasn't among the worst pizzas I've had around here, I have to put it below average, and I'll give it a C-.
Parkside Pizza, 15 South Ave., Bloomfield 657-4440
Located one block off Rt. 5 & 20, just behind Elton Park
Sun. noon – 9:30 p.m., Mon. - Thu. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 11 a.m. - 11 p.m.

Rookies, Buffalo Road

I've noticed recently that more bars are advertising pizza on their menus. And with March Madness and St. Patrick's Day just around the corner, what better time to check some of them out?
Now before I get to today's establishment, let me just say that bar pizza is a tricky thing; you never know what you're going to get, particularly since not every bar that offers pizza is set up to make pizza from scratch. While a handful of places are equipped to prepare from-scratch, pizzeria-style pizza, others, I think, rely on premade crusts, which can be easily topped with canned sauce and shredded cheese, and popped into the oven for a few minutes.
One of the recent entrants onto the bar-pizza scene is Rookies, a sports bar with locations in Gates and Pittsford. I stopped for lunch recently at the original location in Gates.
Rookies has eight pizzas on the menu.  I went with the pepperoni pizza, figuring that it's one of the most basic, and probably the most popular.
My personal-size pizza wasn't bad looking, with a medium-thick crust, topped with wide, evenly spaced slices of pepperoni, melted cheese and a deep red sauce.
It was a bit disappointing, therefore, when my first bite revealed a dry, rather lifeless crust. It was firm, certainly - the slice stood out as straight as a ruler when I held it by the edge - and it was not greasy, which is also a plus, but it had no breadlike qualities, and precious little moisture. Not that I want my pizza crust to be wet, but this one seemed to have had all the moisture sucked out of it.
The toppings were a little better, at least. The sauce was amply applied, which was fortunate, given the desiccated crust. It had a sweetish flavor that was reminiscent of canned pasta sauce, but it wasn't bad at all.
The cheese was thoroughly melted, not browned, and was very stringy, which you may or may not like, but it seemed like high-quality mozzarella, with a bit of fat oozing out of it, and it also helped add some textural interest. The pepperoni was unremarkable but acceptable. The edge, unsurprisingly, was quite crunchy.
Besides plain cheese and pepperoni, Rookies also offers Buffalo chicken, veggie, and Philly steak pizzas, as well as their "signature" Greek pizza with Greek marinade, charbroiled chicken breast, Kalamata olives, red onions, tomatoes, spinach and feta cheese. The rest of the menu runs toward bar-food staples such as wings, burgers, and quesadillas, all grouped under sports-themed headings (for no reason that I can think of, pizzas are deemed "Second Quarter."
There's ample seating at Rookies, with a long bar facing one wall, booths along the other three walls, and tall tables and barstools in between. The walls are black, which might come off as rather gloomy were it not for the solid ring of TV screens surrounding the entire dining area.
This is definitely a male-oriented place, which is to be expected at a sports bar, I guess. On my visit, the wait and bar staff seemed to be entirely female, and the clientele almost entirely male, though a couple of women did come in for lunch just before I left. I'm guessing that on game days the aroma of chicken wings mixes with that of testosterone, and that you'd better get here early if you want a place to sit.
To borrow some sports terminology, Rookies didn't exactly strike out with this pizza, but it was far from a home run. It has some things going for it - decent sauce, nicely melted cheese, pretty good balance - but the dry crust was reminiscent of a frozen pizza, and not an especially good one at that. An infield hit, perhaps, but that's about it. I'll give this one a C-, and next time I'd opt for some wings instead.
Rookies Sports Bar & Grill, 2351 Buffalo Road, Gates 429-4665, and 3400 Monroe Ave., Pittsford 385-7665
11 a.m. - 2 a.m. daily.

Bernunzio's Deli, Penfield

When the new Yellow Pages come out, I always check the pizza listings, to see if there's anything new in there. There are always a number of places that have been out of business for years (how do they stay listed so long?), but often I also discover one or two places that are new or that I hadn't been aware of before.
This year's discovery was Bernunzio's, a deli just off Penfield Road. This is a very easy place to miss, as it's not that visible from Penfield Road, and until I saw the Yellow Pages listing I'd never heard of it, nor would I have expected it to serve pizza, had I driven by it. But the menu on their website says that they serve pizza, so I had to check it out.
On my weekday lunchtime visit, there were some plain cheese and pepperoni slices available, sitting in a warmer. I got one pepperoni slice, which was pretty good sized, a quarter of a pie, measuring about six and a half inches along the side.
The slice had a soft crust with a golden brown underside. It was well risen, with big air holes inside, and the dough was reminiscent of a soft dinner roll.
There wasn't much sauce on top, although it's possible that it simply seemed that way because some of the moisture in the sauce had evaporated or soaked into the crust. But there wasn't much cheese either, which can only mean that there wasn't much to begin with. Of all the toppings, it was the pepperoni that really stood out, not because there was so much of it or because it had a particularly strong flavor, but because of the relative absence of sauce and cheese. Paying close attention, I could detect some some concentrated tomatoey notes in the background, along with a faint touch of herbs, but the pepperoni was really front and center.
Finishing off the slice was the outer edge, which was formed into a thick, puffy lip. It too was pretty soft-textured, although it did have a little outer chewiness, if not crispness.
Bernunzio's is a deli, of course, and it offers a full range of hot and cold subs, salads, and baked goods, as well as some pasta, basic groceries, and ice cream in season. They also do catering.
As for the pizza, well, I really wanted to like this one, I mean I love running across these little mom-and-pop places, but this didn't really do it for me. I don't know what a fresh, made-to-order pie from Bernunzio's would be like, but on the basis of this one slice, I wouldn't be inclined to go back there for pizza. A sub, some pasta, or an ice cream cone? Sure. In fact a couple of their specialty subs (the "Alex's" and "Michele's") sound downright mouth-watering, and I'm a sucker for Perry's ice cream too. But this slice of pizza was just too soft for me, and it also needed more sauce and cheese to counterbalance the thick, doughy crust. It wasn't bad, mind you, but I'd say it was a notch below average, so I'm giving it a C-.
Bernunzio's Deli, 745 Penfield Road, Penfield 14625
(entrance is on Colonial Village Road - look for the sign with the American flag on Penfield Road)
248-0310
Mon. - Fri.: 7:30 a.m. - 7:00 p.m., Sat. 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Sun. 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

C & C Deli, Lyell Ave.

If you've ever gone to or driven by the Wegmans on Lyell Avenue in Gates, you may have noticed the big "PIZZA" sign in front of the plaza across the street. That would be the C & C Deli. It is primarily a deli, not a pizzeria, so I wasn't in much of a hurry to check out their pizza, but I did stop by the other day for a slice.
The only slices available on my visit were pepperoni slices, each of which was a quarter of a pie, in a warming case. I got one slice.
The crust was thin, which made it all the more remarkable how heavy a slice this was. Some of that, I suppose, was just the sheer size of the slice, but the toppings were on the heavy side too.
A generous helping of tomato sauce gave this slice a distinctive flavor. It had a thick consistency and a cooked-tomato flavor, with what seemed to be a hint of sharp cheese in the background. I liked the flavor of this sauce, which would've been great over pasta.
Alas, the rest of the slice was less enjoyable. The underside had that "pancake" appearance, with bubbly, shallow white craters surrounded by a golden-brown surface. The exterior of the crust, and in fact the entire crust, were soft and nearly buckled under the weight of the toppings. The interior was spongy and bland.
Atop the sauce, the cheese was a little browned, and had melted together into a solid mass that easily separated from the crust. The slice also appeared to have been sprinkled with what I would guess was Romano, which gave it a bit of tanginess in the background. The pepperoni had a nice meaty flavor and was more chewy than crisp.
The outer edge of this slice was formed into a medium-thick lip, which had some crunch. Maybe it was just very skillfully made, but it was so uniform in appearance that it resembled one of those slices that you'd get from a convenience store, which are obviously made from preshaped, maybe frozen crusts.
C&C does serve full pies as well as slices, but only in one size ("large" on the menu - I didn't measure it, but I would've guessed this slice to be about 7 inches along the side). Among the 14 available toppings you'll find hot and mild sopressata, prosciutto and bacon. They also offer chicken wing, veggie, white, meat, and garlic specialty pizzas.
Some of those sound good, but I have a hard time getting past this crust. I could be wrong, but subjectively, this crust seemed to me to have a certain "premade" appearance and flavor, and as I said, the slice as a whole was all too reminiscent of convenience store pizza. The sauce was clearly the best thing about it, and I'd gladly buy a jar of it to take home. But it would be much better served over a plate of spaghetti than atop this rather lifeless crust.
On the plus side, C&C is a very good deli, with a nice selection of meats and imported foods. You could have a fine time here some afternoon, sitting at one of their handful of tables, working on a meaty sub and a draft beer, watching a European soccer game on TV to help pass the time, but I'm giving this slice of pizza a C-.
C&C Deli & Grill, 2310 Lyell Ave., 429-7827
Hours unknown

CJ's Pub & Grill, Spencerport

You don't find a lot of pizzerias in bowling alleys, but hey, why not? Bowling and pizza seem like pretty good partners. If you're going to eat while you bowl, better a slice of pizza than a hot sauce-coated chicken wing - you don't want to be picking up a bowling ball with grease on your fingers.
As the name implies, CJ's Pub & Grill, which opened earlier this year in the same building as Spencerport Bowl, is not just a pizzeria, but it does offer a full pizza menu. It's not the first place in Spencerport Bowl to offer pizza; Pizzeria Nove was there for a while, but closed in March 2009. CJ's is in a different space within the building, and unlike Pizzeria Nove, which was mostly a takeout place, CJ's is a full-fledged pub with a bar and tables.
I recently stopped at CJ's to pick up a large pie with green (sweet) peppers and onions. It had a pretty thin crust, the underside of which bore an unusual cross-hatch pattern, something like grill marks, but more widely separated than I would expect from an ordinary grill.
The crust was, well, kind of odd. It was slightly oily to the touch, with a chewy, somewhat dense, doughy texture. It didn't taste like raw dough, it just had the texture of raw dough, as if the dough hadn't risen very much. One big air bubble (visible in the top photo at about 1:00) and a few smaller but still prominent bubbles suggested that perhaps the dough hadn't risen much before going into the oven, where the heat briefly sent the yeast into overdrive.
On the plus side, the overall flavor wasn't bad. The crust was topped with a bright-tasting, tangy sauce, and a moderate layer of slightly browned cheese. In general, the components were well balanced. The diced, fresh peppers and onions were not added in abundance, but enough to provide flavor and a bit of crunch. The outer edge of the pie was formed into a thin, narrow lip.
CJ's menu is pretty basic, as far as pizza goes, with eleven toppings and no specialty pizzas. There's also a full range of bar food, as well as more substantial fare, including steaks, pasta, sandwiches, and salads. There's a kid's menu as well.
I might go back sometime, but probably not for the pizza. While this pizza had pretty good flavor, the crust really wasn't so hot. There's a lot of pizza competition in the immediate vicinity of CJ's, including Cam's, Leccese's, and a Pontillo's (which I haven't been to yet). If CJ's were trying to make a go of it as a pizzeria, I wouldn't be too optimistic. Judging from their Facebook page, though, the pub seems to have a fair number of fans, and it may do very well, but at this point pizza is not CJ's forte, I'm afraid. I'm giving this one a C-.
CJ's Pub & Grill, 45 Nichols St., Spencerport 14559. 585-352-5772
Not sure of the hours, but I believe it's open daily for lunch and dinner, and the bar stays open late.