McQuaid Jesuit

Yes, you read that title right. I'm reviewing school cafeteria pizza.
But not just any high school, or any school cafeteria. Let's cut to the chase - McQuaid Jesuit, a Catholic, male-only school, is not only a fine educational institution, it also has some of the best pizza around.
I discovered this through one of my readers, whose husband David DelGaudio runs the food program at McQuaid. I was skeptical, but figured, OK, why not?
It took a couple of phone calls to make arrangements - I didn't want to just show up one day and start wandering through the hallways, given our sadly necessary concerns these days about security - but I made it without too much trouble, and met both Dave and Director of Communications Sean Mullen, who guided me to the cafeteria.
I got there just before the lunchtime crush, and was very impressed by the wide variety of slices available. There were several thin-crust pies, from plain cheese to pepperoni and more, as well as a Sicilian pizza and something I hadn't run across before, panuozzo. This is basically a folded-over pizza dough with fillings inside.
But let me start with the thin slice. I went with a basic cheese slice, which was thin but not paper thin, nicely charred underneath, and supple, with just a bit of bite on the exterior of the crust. The crust was very good, but I think it was one of those that would be even better with reheating, to really crisp up the bottom.
There was some oil on the top side, from the cheese, but nothing excessive. The mozzarella was added in proportion to the thinness of the crust, and was melt-in-your-mouth creamy. A thin layer of basic, tomatoey sauce rounded things out.
Thin crust remains my go-to pizza, but the Sicilian here was a standout, with a bottom crust marked by a bubbly pattern that revealed its pan-baked character, but with no more than a slight feel of oil on the surface. The interior was chewy and breadlike, and the slice was topped with a generous helping of sauce and blistered dollops of fresh mozzarella.
Next up was the panuozzo. This cousin of a calzone is regularly offered here, but the fillings vary from day to day. On this occasion, the fillings were a basic pepperoni, sauce and cheese. The entire thing was baked as one giant loaf, and then sliced. The crust was nicely browned on top and bottom, and enclosed a steaming-hot interior, with smooth, stretchy cheese oozing out along the sides.
Dave informed me that all three of these offerings were prepared using the same dough and sauce, which made for a fascinating study of how the same ingredients can yield very different results, depending on how they're prepared and baked. And all three were baked in a large commercial pizza oven, with a gas flame in back providing some radiant heat.
My one regret is that I didn't speak to any of the students to get their take on the pizza. I got my slices at just about the time that the students swarmed into the cafeteria, locust-like, but minutes before I finished eating, they vanished just as quickly to go back to class.
But if any McQuaid students are reading this - you've got it good, at least as far as the food is concerned. I hope you know that. Not to sound like an old timer ("Why, when I was a lad ..."), but in my day, school pizza was pretty awful, although I suppose we still looked forward to it, given the alternatives. And I suspect that even today, few schools offer pizza that's even close to this good. If I were a McQuaid student, I might try to keep my grades down, in the hopes of repeating a year, just for the pizza. Something tells me it wouldn't work, but I'd consider it, anyway.
I could pick a nit here and there about this pizza. The thin-crust slice was a little pale along the edge (which also had a large bubble in it), and as I mentioned, it was a bit oily on top. But all in all, this was excellent pizza, well made, with quality ingredients, and it rates an A from me.
If you'd like to try McQuaid's pizza, it can be done. The cafeteria is generally not open to the public, but on school days you can order a 20-inch pizza to go; visit their website for details. A 20-inch pie is a lot of pizza, but I don't think you'll end up with many leftovers.
McQuaid Jesuit, South Clinton Ave. at Elmwood Avenue.
Pizza catering available on school days between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Sneak Preview: Pizza Stop's Frozen Stuffed Pizzas

Even occasional readers of this blog probably know the high regard that I have for The Pizza Stop on State Street in downtown Rochester. One of my first blog posts was about The Pizza Stop, and over the past three years I've sampled and reported on their New York style, Sicilian, and stuffed-crust pizzas, as well as various toppings, and I've yet to be disappointed.
Now there's no substitute for going to The Pizza Stop to get a hot slice or pie right at the source, but I know that for reasons of geography and time constraints, that's not always feasible for everybody.
But if you find it difficult to get to The Pizza Stop, I've got good news. At least one of The Pizza Stop's wares may be coming to a store near you.
Owner Jim Staffieri has been at work for some time now on perfecting a frozen version of his stuffed pizza, and what I'll call the beta version is currently being tested. Jim was kind enough to let me try three of these pies recently, each with a different stuffing:  sausage and banana peppers, pepperoni and Italian sausage, and chicken and Ricotta.
Each pie measured about 7" across. While that may sound small, these pies were hefty, and each could easily make an entire meal for one person, or serve as a shared entree for two people, with a salad or other side.
Jim prebakes these pies, then adds sauce and cheese before freezing. He recommended a quick thaw in the microwave before popping into a 375 degree oven for 15 minutes or so. I gave mine 20 minutes on a pizza stone, and they came out very nicely - hot throughout, with well-melted cheese on top.
The underside of these pies was dry and slightly crisp, although obviously these are not going to be as crisp (nor would you want them to be) as a thin-crust, New York style pizza. What was especially nice about these was that they had a fresh, bready aroma and texture - not at all what you would expect from a frozen pizza. The sauce also liquefied nicely in the oven, without making the top crust soggy.
The stuffings were all well heated after 20 minutes in the oven, and if I had to pick a favorite, it would be the sausage and banana peppers. But I'm a hothead, pepperwise, so no surprise there. My 8-year-old daughter polished off nearly the entire sausage and pepperoni pie herself, but she's got a thing for pepperoni. Must be in the genes. Basically, whatever you like on your pizzas, could be put into a stuffed pizza, so it comes down to a matter of personal preference.
I wish I could tell you that these are now available at local supermarkets, but they're not. Not yet. Business and legal details remain to be dealt with before that happens. In the meantime, ask Jim about them next time you're in The Pizza Stop, and he may have some on hand. If so, grab 'em. You'll want a stack of these in your freezer.
The Pizza Stop, 123 State St., 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.

Cam's, Mt. Hope

A couple of people have asked me to review the Cam's on Mt. Hope Avenue near Elmwood. I've made a couple of stops there, so here's a report.
I have found Cam's to be pretty consistently good. As regular readers know, I'm no fan of chain pizzerias, but I have been impressed with the job that Cam's does of turning out reasonably good, New York style pizza, at numerous locations. And this was, generally, no exception.
On one visit, I got a cheese slice and a stuffed slice, something I don't remember seeing before at Cam's. It may have been there all along, I just never noticed.
The cheese slice was decent, with some spotty, light charring underneath. It did seem unusually thin, so much so that the crust lacked any bready interior, except along the edge. Maybe it was just me, that day, but although there was a bit of toastiness underneath, the crust also seemed a tad bland, as if there wasn't enough salt in the dough.
A good New York style slice should strike a balance between crispness and pliability. This came close, but the needle seemed to be tilting a little more toward the "pliable" end of the scale. So while the crust was OK, it mostly served as a platform for the sauce and the cheese.
Speaking of which, the sauce and cheese were pretty good. The sauce was slightly sweet, with some herbs in the background, and the slightly browned cheese had a slight tanginess that balanced it out well. (Cam's menu says that they use Grande® mozzarella, which many pizza connoisseurs consider among the best.)
Next up was a slice topped with cheese and pepperoni, and stuffed with sausage and pepperoni. As you can see from the cross-section photo, it wasn't as heavy, or thick, as it sounds. The bottom, and top, crusts were paper-thin, almost as if they'd managed to take the thin crust from my cheese slice and slice it in half horizontally. And the stuffing, while certainly noticeable, wasn't, well, overabundant. Don't get me wrong - it was a tasty, well-balanced slice. I'm just saying, don't confuse this with a deep-dish or casserole-type pizza.
That said, this was a heavier slice than the cheese slice, since it was mostly meat. The cheese layer was also thin but solid, covering the entire slice. Neither it nor the underside were as browned as on the cheese slice. The pepperoni slices on top were hardly necessary, but added some additional flavor.
On a separate visit, I got a Buffalo chicken slice, and a white-pizza veggie slice, which made for a more nutritionally balaced duo than on my other visit. The former came with finely diced chicken, tossed in a medium-hot Buffalo sauce, along with Ken's blue cheese dressing and mozzarella. A smattering of banana pepper rings added a vinegary edge and a bit more heat, although the overall flavor profile still hovered around medium. If you're tolerant enough of spicy food to be ordering one of these, then I'm sure you'd have no problem with the heat level on this one.
At first, I thought the veggie slice was Cam's take on a Margherita, but no, that's not basil, that's spinach, and that's feta, not fresh mozzarella.
Cam's veggie pizza is described as being topped with "fresh spinach on a bed of garlic butter & Grande mozzarella with your choice of tomatoes or artichokes, finished off with feta cheese crumbled over the top" (obviously this one had tomatoes). Those made for an enjoyable combination.
When I was a kid, I loved Popeye cartoons, but they never convinced me to eat spinach. In fact, I've long thought that Popeye cartoons were pro-spinach propaganda, but now I realize that they probably did more to turn me off spinach than anything else. I knew that if ate spinach (canned spinach, no less), my biceps wouldn't really blow up like a balloon, nor would I be able to turn an alligator into a matching set of luggage with one punch from my cinderblock-size fists, but I did get the impression from those cartoons that kids were expected to hate spinach, so I refused to touch the stuff.
Of course, the spinach on my family's dinner table at that time was usually the frozen kind, which is about as appetizing as the stuff you clean out of your gutter in late fall. So it was a revelation for me to discover, as an adult, that fresh spinach leaves are actually not bad. Not on my favorite-foods list, but not bad, and they contributed a nice flavor here, which was well complemented by the sharp, salty feta, garlic butter and tomatoes. Even the tomatoes were reasonably good - they looked to be Roma tomatoes, which in the off-season especially, are often a better choice than so-called "slicing" tomatoes.
I'm not going to individually rate all these pizza slices. I will say that in general, they were typical of Cam's - reliably good, if not quite top-tier, thin-crust pizza. The crusts were decent, reasonably crisp, with some light charring, and the toppings were of good quality and tasty. I'd say these average out to about a B-plus.
Cam's Pizzeria, 1290 Mt. Hope Ave., Rochester 14620
Tel.: 256-7437 (PIES)
Hours: Mon. - Sat. 10 a.m. - 11 p.m., Sun. noon - 10 p.m.

Vinny's Bakery: Potato Pizza

Last August, thanks to a helpful reader, I discovered Vinny's Bakery & Deli in Fairport. I got a pepperoni slice, which was OK, and a Sicilian slice, which I really liked.
The other day, I returned to Vinny's, and got to do the two things I set out to do:  try their potato pizza, and have a chat with the owners.
Vinny and his cousin Venera came here from Sicily 50 and 40 years ago respectively, and have been in the bakery/pizza business since the 1970s. For many years they had a place in East Rochester, and moved to their present location on Fairport Road last year.
While baking is a family tradition in Sicily, Vinny also learned his craft outside the home. After some years of formal schooling, he went through hands-on vocational training in a number of areas, including farming, winemaking, construction (some of which involved the use of high explosives), and baking.
After arriving in this country, Vinny spent some time in the construction industry before opening his shop. I've no doubt he was a good construction worker, but I think we're all the richer for the switch. One look at the breads, cookies, and other delectables on the shelves and in the refrigerator case at Vinny's, and you'll likely agree.
Not to toot my own horn, but on my prior visit to Vinny's, I had a definite sense that their Sicilian pizza was the real deal, even before I found out that Vinny and Venera do in fact hail from Sicily. I was curious, then, when I spotted potato pizza on the menu posted on the wall (it doesn't appear on the print menu, but you can order it), because from what I've read, potato pizza is a style associated with Rome, not Sicily.
Well, apparently Sicily has a version all its own, because Vinny assured me that this would be a very typical pizza to find back in Sicily. And in fact it's nothing like the photos I've seen of Roman-style potato pizza.
The most striking thing about this pizza (which I got in a quarter-sheet size, the smallest available) was that it had both a top and bottom crust. The bottom was more browned, with a few bits of burnt cheese (which I actually like, as long as it's not blackened, which this wasn't), but both top and bottom were firm and well browned, with no excess oil.
You could, I suppose, eat this one crust at a time, but that wouldn't give you the full effect, so I at mine sandwich-style (which makes it a very filling pizza, so keep that in mind).
Working our way down this time, the underside of the top crust had been given a light coating of tomato sauce, which did not taste heavily seasoned, although flecks of dried herbs, including rosemary and oregano, were visible. That was followed by a relatively thin layer of mozzarella cheese, and finally a thicker stratum of sliced, al dente potatoes and slivers of onion.
Between the crust and the potatoes, this is clearly not a pizza for anyone on a low-carb diet. But it sure was good. The aroma alone had me hooked, and it got better with the first bite.
Bread and potatoes may not seem like an obvious pairing, but they worked very well here together, making this pizza something like a cross between scalloped potatoes and a grilled cheese sandwich. It brought to mind the neverending debate about what is or is not "true" pizza (usually in the context of a discussion of Chicago-style deep-dish pizza), but whatever you want to call this, I liked it.
Now as I mentioned, there's a lot more to Vinny's Bakery than potato pizza. There's that Sicilian pizza, which is topped with tomato sauce and Pecorino, a variety of bread loaves, meats (which you can try in a sub made with one of Vinny's fresh-baked rolls), and cookies, which are a treat in themselves - I'm a particular fan of the almond cookies, but just trying to pick a favorite is half the fun.

In speaking with Vinny, it became evident that he has a strong belief in himself, and a certain pride in what he and Venera have accomplished. Asked what he thinks of most American pizza, Vinny said with a smile that it's "giving [him] a bad name," as it's just not up to the standard of what he considers good pizza.
While that might sound like Italian chauvinism, Vinny was almost equally disparaging of the current state of pizza back in Italy, where, he said, the younger generation no longer wants to learn the craft, and - it pains me to say it - chains are moving in.
In some people, such an attitude could easily slide into arrogance, but Vinny's plainspoken manner dispels any such impressions. He turns out good pizza and he knows it, that's all. And it's a good thing he knows it, because without that touch of attitude, he probably would have tried to adapt his menu completely to American tastes, with or without success, and I wouldn't be sitting here writing about how good his potato pizza is.
I can't promise you're going to like it as much as I do, but Vinny's potato pizza should be on any local pizza lover's must-try list. While I hesistate to rate a pizza in a style that I'm not too familiar with, I don't think Vinny's potato pizza could be much improved upon, and I'll give it an A.
Vinny's Bakery & Deli, 1350 Fairport Road, Fairport 377-4200
8 a.m. - 8 p.m. daily
Free delivery for orders of $50 or more within a 5-mile radius.

Chester Cab: stuffed pizza

Over a year ago, I did a post on Chester Cab Pizza,
which specializes in Chicago-style "stuffed" pizza. I didn't try the stuffed pizza on that occasion, because I had simply stopped in for a slice, and stuffed pizza at Chester Cab is only made to order, and they need about 45 minutes to do it.
So instead, I got a regular slice, which I gave a B-minus. It was purported to be a New York style slice, but it seemed more like a thinner version of Chicago-style pizza.
But since Chester Cab's claim to fame is its stuffed pizza, I knew eventually I'd have to go back and try it sometime. Last weekend's Park Avenue Festival presented me with a rare opportunity to get a single stuffed slice, but I thought it would be better to get a fresh, whole pizza, so this week I picked one up.
Chester Cab's stuffed pizza comes in mini, small and large sizes, which are 8, 10 and 12 inches in diameter respectively. For one person, a mini is plenty, so that's what I got, with spinach and roasted red peppers.
At first, I was inclined to think of this as a deep-dish pizza rather than a stuffed pizza. To me, stuffed pizza has a crust on the top as well as on the bottom. At first, this did not appear to meet that description. On closer examination, though, there was a thin top crust under the sauce and cheese. So from the bottom up, you had bottom crust, spinach and red peppers, top crust, cheese and sauce.
Still, it's the depth of the pie that makes this pizza distinctive. While many people may think "thick crust" when they see or hear the words "Chicago pizza," the bottom crust on this was not particularly thick, only about 3/8 of an inch or so. It's the sides of the pizza that are the key, because they form a bowl that hold a casserole-like layer of toppings.
I'll get to those toppings in a minute, but first a few more words about the crust. It was well browned on both top and bottom, but the flavor was not toasty, like a good New York style pie, nor - fortunately - did it have the cooking-oil flavor of some pizzas. Instead, it had a slightly sweet, almost caramelized flavor.
Both in that respect, and in terms of the texture, the crust was reminiscent of a cobbler, though not as sweet, certainly. It did not have the gluteny, chewy texture of most pizza crusts, and while it held together well enough while eating, it was more crumbly in the mouth, like a shortbread.
Both the mozzarella and the sauce were added in abundance. The cheese had a melted, chewy texture, but it was the sauce that really dominated. It was chunky, with a sweet, herbal flavor. While that same flavor didn't work too well on the "New York style" slice I had last time, here it seemed a better fit with the slightly sweet crust and the thick layer of cheese.
The roasted red peppers and spinach, sad to say, tended to get lost among the other components. For one thing, there was simply a lot more of everything else, and besides that, I think their flavors - the peppers especially - were simply too subtle to stand up to all that sauce. Each topping on a mini adds another $1.05 to the total, so I'd either skip them or get something with a bolder flavor, like pepperoni or hot peppers.
So, the verdict? Well, even though I generally lean toward thin crust, I liked this pizza. And yes, it is pizza, contrary to what some purists might argue. Unlike NY style pizza, this isn't something I could see myself eating every day, but once in a while, yeah. The flavors were good, and despite its more-of-everything approach, the components were generally in good balance with each other.
It's been a few years since I was last in Chicago, so I'm not sure how close this comes to the real thing, but in its own right, it was pretty enjoyable. It's a little tough to rate, since it's so unlike any other pizza I've had around here, but I'll give it a B.

Cimino's, Spencerport - CLOSED

Pizza Guy Note: Cimino's is no longer in business.
As I’ve said before, I’m never sure if it’s a good idea to go to a place right after it’s opened, but sometimes curiosity gets the better of me. Such was the case last week when I visited Cimino’s Pizzeria & Birdland, which is in the Village Plaza in Spencerport, in a space that until recently was home to Cordello’s.
I picked up a plain cheese pie on a late Friday afternoon. Calling a brand new pizzeria on a Friday after work is asking for trouble, but to their credit there were no mistakes with my order. It took 10 or 15 minutes longer than predicted, but they were extremely busy and I considered that negligible.
The pizza had a medium thick crust, with a dry, nearly charred underside that was firm and slightly crisp. It was not especially airy inside, but not dense either, and had a pleasant flavor and chewiness. The edge was somewhat thick, a little crunchy, and enjoyable if not particularly bready.
This was a pretty saucy pizza. The sauce was generously applied, and had a slightly sweet flavor with some herbal notes. It was not very salty or acidic, compared with others that I’ve had, and it had a medium consistency, neither watery or oily, nor cooked-down.
The cheese was a bit browned, but not dried out, and had a nice, melted texture. It seemed to be all mozzarella. It was moderately applied, in good proportion to the other components as far as I was concerned, though cheese lovers might want to ask for extra cheese here.
Cimino’s offers five specialty pizzas, plus a “Chicago Style Deep Dish” pie, stuffed pizza, and calzones. There are fifteen available toppings, nothing too exotic. The dough and sauce are made fresh daily.
Chicken also figures prominently on the menu - hence the “birdland” moniker - in the form of wings, chicken fingers, and both fried and baked chicken dinners. They also offer hot and cold subs, burgers, bombers and hots, a couple of pasta dishes, fish fry, and salads. There are four booths, and a TV in the dining area, though on my visit there didn’t seem to be any air conditioning, and I would’ve found it a bit warm to eat there.
This was a pretty good pizza, more or less in the traditional Rochester style, but with a little less cheese and a little more sauce than usual. It was well made and the flavors were good. For a small village, Spencerport has an abundance of pizzerias, but based on this pie, Cimino’s is a welcome addition to the scene. I’ll give it a B.
Cimino’s Pizzeria & Birdland, 47 Slayton Ave. (Village Plaza), Spencerport 352-9800
Mon. - Thu. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 11 a.m. - midnight, Sun. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.

Pizza Stop: Sicilian and Stuffed Pizzas

Although my blogging activities have kept me from stopping in as often as I'd like, eventuall y I always end up back at Pizza Stop on State St. I stopped in the other day and, as much as I love their NY style slices, I decided in the interests of research to try something different, so I got a corner slice of their Sicilian pie, and a sausage-stuffed pizza.
The Sicilian slice had a very crunchy crust, but this wasn't a "fried" kind of crunch like you get with many sheet or pan pizzas. The underside wasn't greasy at all.
The dough was well risen and fairly light in texture, with lots of air holes inside. The browned cheese was moderately applied, a bit thicker perhaps than on the NY style pies, but in balance with the crust. The thick, tomatoey sauce tended to collect in the folds of dough on top, so that some bites were "saucier" than others.
There was a slight sheen of oil on the top of the crust, along the edge. The edge was particularly crunchy but not dry. All in all, a nice, well balanced slice of pizza.
Moving on to the stuffed pizza - I honestly don't know if I'd ever had stuffed pizza before this. I've certainly heard of it, seen it on menus, but it's not the sort of pizza that I'd be apt to try. Being mostly a thin-crust guy and a traditionalist, in theory it sounds like it should be the antithesis of what I think of as good pizza. A layer of dough on top of the pizza? What is this, some Chicagoan monstrosity? (Personally I think deep dish "pizza" is a joke that Chicagoans foist on unsuspecting tourists, while they go back and secretly eat their thin crust pies.)
But this looked kind of good, so I tried a slice, and lo and behold, it was good. Very good. (Admittedly, I was hungry, but even taking that into account, it was good.)
It had a crisp underside, which, like the Sicilian slice, had some crunch but no grease. It wasn't charred or toasty like Pizza Stop's NY style pizza, but instead well browned, in a mottled pattern, something like the bottom of a pancake.
The cheese was definitely on the heavy side here, but again in good balance; this is a pizza that needs a heavier hand with the cheese.
The meatball stuffing worked very well with the other components of this pizza. I was never much for meatballs on my pizza - they just seem too "heavy" for me, usually (though I have to admit, I do like the meatball parm pizza at, where else, Pizza Stop) - but here they blended in and complemented the other components, rather than weighing down or overwhelming the slice. It made for a very tasty, satisfying slice, certainly a bit more filling than the average cheese slice, but light enough to eat with one hand. This was not some enormous, lead-heavy pizza that had to be eaten with a knife and fork.
So Pizza Stop, which is deservedly known for its authentic, NY style, thin crust pizza, shows that it's not a one-trick pony, and that they can turn out some very good thicker variations as well. Probably nothing will ever make a full blown, thick-crust convert out of me, and on my next visit to Pizza Stop I'm pretty sure I'll be back to the thin crust, but their Sicilian and stuffed pizzas are not to be ignored. I don't imagine I could ever like them as much as Pizza Stop's NY style pies, but for what they are, I found them considerably better than average, so I think a B+ sounds about right.