Petrella's, Dewey Ave., Greece - CLOSED

Petrella’s opened recently in the space formerly occupied by Slapshot Pizza & Subs in the Dewey-Latta Plaza. I never got around to Slapshot, but I stopped into Petrella’s the other day.
This is one of those places, like Carmine’s, where whole pizzas come by the (round) pie, but individual slices are rectangles cut out of a sheet pizza. I just wanted something for lunch, so this review is limited to those. I’ll have to go back sometime for a pie.
I got two slices and a drink for $4.50 + tax, which wasn’t a bad deal. The slices were pretty thick, with a slightly oily underside, all of which is typical of a sheet pizza. The medium-brown crust was dotted with airhole craters, evidencing a long rise in the pan before baking. It had some crispness, and a crunchy edge.
The sauce, which was moderately applied, had an acidic bite to it. I don’t mean that in a bad way, it was just acidic from the tomatoes. I didn’t get the impression that Petrella’s adds any sugar or other sweeteners to the sauce, which is fine.
The cheese seemed to be straight processed mozzarella, and was melted but not browned. The surface was crisscrossed by rivulets of oil that had seeped out of the cheese.
As I said, whole pizzas here come in pies - 10, 14 and 16 inches - as well as half and full sheets. For now, the toppings list is relatively basic, 12 in all, and there are four specialty pizzas - chicken wing, steak, veggie and BLT. Other options include calzones, wings, burgers, hot and cold subs, sandwiches, pasta, chicken (french and parm, plus eggplant parm), salads, sides, and “plates.”
There’s some room for eating in, though for the time being at least, the space is pretty austere looking. I’m sure they’ve got better things to worry about right now than decorating the walls, though there is WiFi. They also deliver.
These slices were pretty straightforward and basic: decent crust, tomatoey sauce, melted mozzarella. But they were well balanced, and well made overall. Keeping in mind that Petrella’s hasn’t been open long, and that I have yet to try a pie from there, I’ll give them a somewhat provisional C+.
Petrella’s Pizza Plus, 4425 Dewey Ave. 663-1210
Sun.noon - 9 p.m., Mon. 4 - 10 p.m., Tue. closed, Wed. 4 - 9 p.m., Thu. 11 a.m. - 9 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.

Acme, Monroe Ave.

Given the affinity between beer and pizza, it’s a little odd that there aren’t more bar/pizzerias around. There are certainly restaurants that both serve pizza and have full bars, and there are a handful of bars that are next door to pizzerias, but genuine bars that make pizza are a surprisingly rare breed.
One of the few exceptions that I can think of around here is Acme Bar & Pizza on Monroe Avenue. If memory serves correctly, Acme started out, I’m guessing, ten years ago or so, as sort of a sister establishment to Richmond’s downtown. There have been some ownership changes since then, but from the start Acme has been serving thin, New York-style pizza to its customers.
I stopped by recently to pick up a large pie to go. It had a very thin crust, and the slices were kind of floppy, with an underside that was rather pale, just lightly browned, that didn’t have much crispness, though it wasn’t greasy either. It tasted OK, but was not particularly bready. The outer lip was thin and somewhat tough. There was a bit of oven soot on the underside, and one black, burnt unidentifiable blob stuck to the inside of the box.
The cheese, which had a tangy flavor and had congealed by the time I got the pizza home, was fairly heavy for a pizza this thin, adding to the floppiness of the individual slices. The sauce was thinly applied, and didn’t have a very noticeable presence. The pepperoni was of the cup and char variety, was moderately applied, and had a decent flavor.
Acme doesn’t really do specialty pizzas, other than white pizza, and the toppings menu is pretty basic. They also make calzones, as well as a full range of standard bar food, from wings (pretty good ones, in my experience) to burgers, grilled chicken sandwiches, hot subs, salads, fried munchies, chili and homemade soup. There’s a modest but interesting lineup of beers on tap, and over 75 beers by the bottle. Another plus is that food is served right up until the 2 a.m. closing time, seven nights a week.
I’ve always thought that Acme turned out some pretty good pizza, even if it’s not in quite the same league with some of the other local purveyors of New York style pizza. The crust just doesn’t seem to have quite the flavor and texture that makes for truly great pizza, but all in all, it’s certainly not bad, and I can easily put away several slices of this stuff without complaint.
Which reminds me: as I was enjoying this pie, it occurred to me that what this really was, was good bar pizza. If you’re a bar owner, you don’t want to be serving up some thick pan pizza that’s going to get the customer full after a slice or two. This is the kind of stuff you can eat several slices of, for some time, without getting too stuffed to keep on drinking. I’m not endorsing excessive drinking, but truth be told, that’s probably what a lot of your customers prefer, too. On its own, I consider Acme pizza to be better than average, but not outstanding, so I’ll give it a B-.
Acme Bar & Pizza, 495 Monroe Ave. 271-2263
Mon. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 2 a.m., Sun. noon - 2 a.m.

Brio, Monroe Ave., Pittsford

Pizza Guy Note: since this post was written, Brio has closed. This location is now home to the second location of Pomodoro.
Today I'm writing about another place that does pizza in a wood-fired oven: Brio.
Before I get to the details, though, let me apologize for the poor quality of the photographs on this one. I thought I could get away with the "indoor" setting on my camera and no flash, but the light in the restaurant was just too dim. I prefer not to use the flash, because it tends to flatten out the picture, and at close range it can cause lighter areas, like the underside of a crust, to white out completely, but clearly it would've been preferable here. But though the photos may not win any Pulitzer Prizes, they should be good enough to illustrate my description.
Brio is a full-service restaurant specializing in Italian food. It’s more upscale than your basic, red-sauce type of place, but it’s not particularly cutting-edge or chichi, either. Think of an Italian chain restaurant, now make it a notch or two better than that, and you’ll have a pretty good idea of what Brio is all about.
Brio opened in 2002, so for around here at least, they’re a relative veteran of the wood-burning oven scene. I ordered a Margherita pizza with a white (as opposed to whole wheat) crust.
When it came, the crust had a slightly charred appearance, as expected, but it was surprisingly soft. It wasn’t greasy, but I got the impression that this was a short dough, in other words, made with a fair amount of shortening, which will result in a softer crust. The slices were not crisp, were instead quite pliable, and despite the charring, I got no “crunch” when I bit into them. The crust was thin, but had bubbled up into big, puffy airholes here and there. The outer lip was also light and puffy, enjoyable but again not very crisp or breadlike.
These were very cheese-dominated slices. Some Margheritas, especially the more “artisanal” types, come out of the oven with just a few islands of melted, fresh mozzarella atop a bed of crushed tomatoes, but this pizza was covered with a think blanket of stringy, processed mozzarella that took center stage. Bits of shredded fresh basil added some welcome herbal flavor to cut through all that cheese. The oven-roasted tomatoes (also unusual, in my experience, for a Margherita pizza), were good, but except when I got a good chunk of one, they didn’t add much flavor to the pizza as a whole, compared with fresh tomatoes, which have a less concentrated flavor, but more liquid, so that their flavor tends to spread out more over the entire pizza.
Brio’s other six varieties of pizza run the gamut from basic sauce, mozzarella and pepperoni to chicken and pesto, seafood, and grilled vegetables. The rest of the menu features several pasta dishes, steaks, and fish. Some Spanish influences also creep in, as in the chorizo pizza and the paella, which is incongruously listed under “Pasta.” There’s also a kid’s menu, and though it’s not your typical family-type place, it’s noisy enough to bring the kids without worrying about bothering your neighbors.
This isn’t the first time I’ve eaten at Brio, and my experiences there have generally been good. Casting a more critical eye on the pizza this time, though, I was a bit disappointed. It was all right and all, but here’s another place that features a wood-burning oven, yet doesn’t seem to be taking full advantage of it, at least where the pizza is concerned. Look, I’ve had wood-fired pizza that was too crisp, to the point that it was like nothing so much as a giant round cracker, but c’mon guys, you’ve got a tremendous heat source there, don’t be afraid to use it!
I don’t know - maybe it’s got something to do with the fear that diners in this area will be put off by the sight of what some might see as “burned” pizza, and maybe I’m overestimating the sophistication of local pizza lovers’ palates, but I think we’ve gotten past that point where this kind of pizza needs to be dumbed down for it to go over with the public. Wood-fired pizza places have been popping up all over here lately, and I’m guessing that what might not have flown six or seven years ago would be embraced by a lot more customers today.
I don’t mean to come down too hard on Brio - as I said, the pizza was OK - but I just think how much better than OK it could’ve, and should’ve been. Of course, it’s altogether possible that I’m in a distinct minority here, and that the overwhelming majority of Brio’s customers wouldn’t change a thing, but I’m giving this one a C+.
Brio Wine Bar and Grill, 3400 Monroe Ave., Pittsford. 586-7000
Mon. - Thu. 11:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 - 11:00 p.m., Fri. 11:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 - 11:00 p.m., Sat. 4:00 - 11:00 p.m., Sun. 4:00 - 9:00 p.m.