Back to Branca

One of the better food blogs out there is Chris Lindstrom's Food About Town. In addition to his blog, Chris also writes for City Newspaper, and he has spent some time learning the pizzamaking craft at one of our area's best pizzerias, Fiamma, under the tutelage of owner/pizzaiolo Giuseppe Paciullo.  So the man knows his food, and his pizza. And he's a good writer.
I've met Chris before, and he recently invited me to join him and his wife for dinner at Branca in Bushnells Basin. Branca specializes in Neapolitan style pizza baked in a wood-fired oven.
This was my second visit to Branca.. I reported on my first visit in August of this year. At that time, I thought it was pretty good. I did have some issues with the pizza, particularly concerning the crust, but you can follow the link to read further.
This time around, there were four of us - a coworker of Chris came along - and we decided to share three pizzas. As it turned out, we ended up with four pizzas, due to some confusion over the first pizza we ordered. In short, we got the first one for free, plus the three that we wanted.
I'll start out by saying that they were all pretty good, but in hindsight I wish I had agreed to my companions' suggestion that we order the tartufata pie, which is topped with mushrooms, mozzarella, Pecorino cheese and truffle sauce. (In one form or another, truffles figure very prominently on Branca's menu - I counted seven dishes with truffles.) I nixed that idea partly because I don't like mushrooms, and also because I wanted to try Branca's marinara con acciughe pie, with tomato sauce, anchovies, garlic, oregano, and extra virgin olive oil. At that point we'd already settled on the first two pies, plus I didn't realize that we were going to end up with a fourth pie.
The upshot is, we ended up with four red pies. Despite my general antipathy toward mushrooms, a white pie, even with mushrooms, would've been a welcome alternative. But there are worse things in life than trying four different red pizzas. Next time I'm there, I'll try the tartufata.
OK - on to the pizza. First up was the Margherita. This is what I had on my prior visit.
First impressions: an attractive pizza, with a uniform, well-formed cornicione, a moderate layer of bright red sauce, and a smattering of nicely melted, fresh mozzarella, with a few shreds of wilted basil.
An inspection of the underside showed that the crust wasn't as spottily charred underneath as I would like, especially from a wood-fired oven. There were a few darkened areas, but it was mostly light brown throughout.
And though nicely formed, the cornicione (i.e,, the edge or lip) was not as bubbly as I would've liked. It wasn't unleavened, certainly, but the air holes were uniformly small, and it lacked the textural complexity that adds interest to a crust.
Chris first called attention to this, but I had to agree that the crust seemed a little bland, mostly due to a lack of salt. With some pies, after I've worked my way through the toppings, I enjoy the cornicione at least as much as the rest of the pie. With this pizza, the "bones" were more of an afterthought. Not bad, but on their own, just not that great. If I'd had a sauce of some kind - marinara, blue cheese or hot pepper - I would've been dipping.
Having said all that, the pie tasted good. The sauce had a bright, tomatoey flavor, lightly accented with herbs, the cheese was melted just enough to reach its peak of liquidity without turning it rubbery, and the basil was wilted but not burned.
Next up was the bufala e pachini, with tomato sauce, water buffalo mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, and basil. If that sounds close to the Margherita, it was. This goes back to the ordering mixup, which resulted in us getting two very similar pies.
And while overall the two pies were much alike, the crust on the bufala pizza, which arrived a few minutes after the first, was a little darker underneath, and a little stiffer along the edge. Perhaps it was baked in a hotter part of the oven, or for a bit longer. It also had a pronounced but not excessive aroma of burnt toast, which I consider a good thing. That aroma adds to the overall mix of flavors and aromas that I love.
As I indicated, the toppings weren't much different from the Margherita. Same sauce, and the cheese wasn't noticeably different either. The cherry tomatoes were nice and sweet, but seemed superfluous on top of the tomato sauce.
Next up was the Rughetta e prosciutto San Daniele, with tomato sauce, prosciutto San Daniele, mozzarella and arugula. I've never been a big fan of pizzas with raw greens on top, because to me, the greens just don't get well integrated into the pizza, but this was an enjoyable pie. The prosciutto was very good, lean but not overly chewy, with a lot of flavor and enough salt to balance out the relatively bland crust. This was more of a knife-and-fork pizza, but if you don't mind that, the arugula added a textural dimension and a subtle but welcome bitterness to the pie. Think of taking a forkful of salad with each bite of pizza.
It was at this point, I think, that we began to realize that the relatively unsalted crust made some sense, or at least that it worked well with some of the pizzas. That was borne out by our final pizza of the night:  the Marinara con acciughe, with tomato sauce, garlic, anchovies, oregano and extra virgin olive oil.
This was my choice, which I wanted to try because of its similarity to the tomato-and-anchovy pies that used to be favored by local Italian immigrants, long ago. I liked it, although by this time I was getting a bit satiated, and a little maxed out on red pizza, particularly since the sauce seemed to be the same on all of these pies.
Even more than with the Rughetta, I appreciated the relative blandness of the crust. The anchovies were quite salty, as anchovies tend to be. So the crust helped offset some of that salinity.
We generally agreed, though, that this pie was flavorful but one-dimensional. The anchovies overwhelmed the other toppings. Our group discussed what could be done to counterbalance the anchovies, and the thoughts ranged from olive oil to a hard, grated cheese like Parmesan or Romano, to hot peppers. I wonder, too, if the anchovies could've been desalinated a bit - supposedly, soaking them in milk helps, although the one time I tried that, it didn't seem to have much effect.
I guess I can't complain, since this pie was what the menu said it was, an anchovy pie. But while I remain intrigued by anchovies as a pizza topping, you'd better like them a lot to order this pizza.
My other observation about this final pie of the evening is that it was unevenly baked.  Blackened and blistered in one area, but quite pale underneath on the opposite side.
So - overall impressions? I like Branca. I plan to go back, and I'd like to try more of their pizza. But on this visit, it was a little inconsistent.
The crust on these pies was, for the most part, pretty good, nicely baked along the perimeter and softer in the middle. But they tended to be unevenly baked, and the dough didn't have quite the flavor or texture to rise above being much more than a base for the toppings. Not bad, just not great.
The toppings were good. I appreciate that Branca sticks to a pretty traditional menu. No Buffalo wing or taco pizzas.
Menu selection is important here, though. I wouldn't spring for the extra three bucks to get the Bufala e pachini pizza over the Margherita. And unless you're a true lover of anchovies, I'd stay away from the Marinara.
In the end, I guess the key question is, do I want to go back? Yes, I do. Branca has several more pizzas that I want to try. Frankly, I'd like to work my way through the whole list.
I've been to Branca twice now, and I liked it both times, although neither time did I think the pizza was among the best I've ever had. So I can confidently recommend it, but I can't rate it among the very best in our area. With a little attention to detail, it can get there. For now, I'd say it's very good, and well worth a visit, but not quite top-notch, so I'll give it a B.


Branca, 683 Pittsford-Victor Rd., Bushnells Basin
585-310-7415

Mon. - Thu. 11 a.m. - midnight
Fri. & Sat. 11 a.m. - 2 a.m.
Sun. 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.

Branca, Bushnells Basin

If nothing else, the current trend of wood-fired pizza is giving local pizza lovers more options to choose from, and it's giving me more and more places to check out; sometimes more than I can keep up with. One such is Branca in Bushnells Basin, which opened this summer in what had been a Great Northern Pizza Kitchen location.
It’s funny how some new places get so much more buzz than others, but I guess I shouldn’t have been too surprised when on a recent Sunday around 5:30 my wife and I showed up and were told that Branca could “not accommodate walk-ins until 8:30.” Branca was opened by the owners of The Revelry, a Rochester hotspot, and it’s in Bushnells Basin, which I described to my wife as “Pittsford on steroids.” Put those together and you’re talking about a place where you don’t just walk in and expect to get a table right away, even on what’s an off-night for many places. (We left and went to another place not too far away, which I’ll report on soon.)
Several days later, the opportunity again arose for use to go out for dinner, and this time I made a reservation. So with some smugness on my part, we sauntered past the ignorant masses waiting for a table and were quickly ushered to our seats.

We were seated not too far from Branca’s oven. I didn’t take a photo, since you can see several good views of the oven on Branca’s Facebook page. But the fire was blazing, and pizzas were steadily going in and out.
There was no question that I was going to get a pizza; it was only a matter of which one. Aside from the Tartufata (it’s got mushrooms - a no-go, for me), they all sounded good, but I went with my usual Margherita.
Initial impressions:  thick, blistered cornicione, very thin interior, some spotty charring on an otherwise pale underside. The cornicione was chewy, pleasant enough but a bit bland, and I found it a little wide and thick, relative to the overall size of the pizza. I like a good outer crust, but this was a little much for me.
The interior crust was supple, thin, and chewy. I understand that Neapolitan pizza is typically not crisp and crackly, like New York style pizza, but I found this pie just a bit soupy. Branca’s oven runs at about 900 degrees, which can evaporate some of the water in a sauce, but the sauce here was a little more liquid than I would’ve liked. 
But the sauce, which is made from San Marzano tomatoes, was flavorful, and the dollops of fresh mozzarella were nicely melted. I could’ve used a little more basil, but what basil there was had been added at the right time to wilt it and bring out some flavor, without drying it out or browning it.
I should mention that the rest of our meal was very good. I started with a Panzanella Toscana salad, with heirloom tomatoes, bread, cucumber, red onion, and red wine vinaigrette, which made for a nice combination. I think I may have set a personal record for carb consumption, between the pizza, that bread-based salad, and the crusty complimentary bread that we were given for starters. My wife enjoyed her salad with goat cheese, and her vegetarian, farro-based main course proved to be an excellent choice as well.
As long as this is turning into a full-blown review, I’ll say a bit more about the place in general. No complaints about the service; the staff did a good job at keeping up with the crowd, and our server checked in on us from time to time. The feel was upscale casual, but don’t go here for an intimate dinner. Tables are close together, and although my wife and I didn’t find conversation difficult, the noise level was fairly high. Branca claims to evoke the spirit of "Old Hollywood watering holes," but I'm not sure if I even know what that entails, much less whether it's an accurate description.
So is Branca worth the hype? Hard to say, after just one meal, but it’s certainly worth a visit.  I tend to avoid rating pizzas until a place has had some time to sort itself out, so let’s just say that at this point, I’d recommend checking it out, even if I’m not yet putting Branca on my must-do list. Just make a reservation first.

Branca, 683 Pittsford-Victor Rd., Bushnells Basin
585-310-7415

Mon. - Thu. 11 a.m. - midnight
Fri. & Sat. 11 a.m. - 2 a.m.
Sun. 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.

Pontillo's: Bushnells Basin vs. Alexander St.

One thing that bedevils smaller pizza chains is lack of consistency from one location to another, and one pizzeria that I've seen that complaint leveled at in particular is Pontillo's. Part of the issue with Pontillo's seems to be that each shop is independently operated, without a lot of central control or oversight. At least that's the contention I've seen raised on occasion.
So I decided to conduct a little test, by visiting two Pontillo's locations and comparing their slices. First, I went to the Bushnell Basin Pontillo's, which consistently gets high marks for its pizza. Then I stopped at the Alexander Street Pontillo's, about which I've read a fair amount of negative comments.
If you've never been to the Bushnells Basin Pontillos, be aware that, this being a tony East Side suburb, it's not marked by any big red-and-white signs as at other Pontillo's. Instead, you'll find only a discreet sign above the door to let you know that this is a pizzeria and not a real estate agency or a chiropractor's office.
Inside, it was quite busy, with a knot of customers around the counter awaiting their slices from the several types of pies sitting on racks on the left. Service was friendly and efficient, however, with pies emerging from the ovens to keep pace with demand.
My pepperoni slices had a thin-to-medium crust that was somewhat crisp and slightly charred underneath. Some oil from the top of the pizza had seeped down around the edges, although the underside didn’t seem greasy otherwise.
The toppings were all moderately applied, in good balance with each other and with the crust. The sauce had a slightly sweet flavor, and the mozzarella was nicely baked, just enough to brown a bit without losing its so well-baked as to tighten up or lose its "meltedness." (Anybody got a better adjective for me there?) The slices were lightly dusted with what I took to be Parmesan.
The edge was formed into a small lip, which was enjoyable. The dough in general had pretty good, bready flavor.
The Alexander Street Pontillo's is located half a block from East Avenue, in the heart of the East End. It's open late on weekends, so clearly much of its business comes from patrons of the many bars in the area. But it's open during the day too, which is when I stopped by.
Unlike the Bushnells Basin location, this Pontillo's was not busy at all on my lunchtime visit. In fact I was the only customer there. Again, I'm sure it's a different scene altogether at 2:30 on a Saturday morning.
There were, I think, four types of slices to choose from, cheese, pepperoni, Buffalo wing, and veggie. I took a pepperoni slice. 
Rather than two ordinary size slices, here I was given one big one, although I was offered the option of having it sliced in two, which I declined.
Otherwise, the biggest difference between this slice and those I got at Bushnells Basin was that the underside was considerably more charred, with some nearly black areas scattered around the bottom.  
The crust was medium thick, about the same as at BB. It was, however, of uneven thickness, with some spots noticeably thicker than others.
Given the charred bottom, it was no surprise that when I folded this slice, it broke right down the middle. The underside was dry and crackly, though it had a pleasingly toasty flavor, especially along the edge. Although not as pliable as I would've preferred, I did like the flavor and texture of this crust.
The sauce on this slice had a thick consistency, with a tomatoey flavor that was both slightly sweet and slightly salty. There was a noticeable flavor of dried herbs, though I'm not sure if that came more from the sauce or the sprinkling of herbs on top. The cheese was applied in a thin but pretty uniform layer, and the pepperoni was evenly distributed as well. Despite the well-cooked underside, the top was not so well done, and the pepperoni was more chewy than crisp.
So, what did this little experiment indicate? Well, this may not be a scientifically valid result, but I found the two locations pretty consistent with each other, and where they differed, I'm not sure that the Alexander Street Pontillo's came out on the short end. The only major difference was that the latter was more charred and crackly underneath, which may or may not be a bad thing, depending on your tastes.
I will say that the BB Pontillo's struck me as a smoothly run operation. Depsite the throng of customers, things were run efficiently, and the counter guy was courteous and friendly.
Service at Alexander Street was fine too, but I have no idea what it's like late at night on a weekend. Then again, the customers you get at that hour are not necessarily as easy to deal with as those you get at lunchtime. So I have to wonder if some of the complaints might have more to do with that than with the pizza itself. As far as the pizza's concerned, these were comparable, and though I wouldn't rate either among my favorites, they were both pretty good.
My inclination was to give them both a B, but I did give the Spencerport Road Pontillo's a B+, and I think these were about as good as that one, so for the sake of consistency I'll give them a B+ as well.