On my recent trip to Rochester NY, I was looking for something comfortable and familiar. I decided to go back to Veneto Wood Fired Pizza. I had a craving for a really good pizza. To my surprise Veneto Wood Fired Pizza is now called Cristo’s Wood Fired Pizza. Walking in, I was greeted by one of the new owners. She told me she and her fiancé had bought the restaurant. Her fiancé was one of the Chef’s under the previous owners, so the recipes were the same, the only real change was the name.
The first time I visited Veneto, truth be told, if it had not been recommended, I’m not sure I would have stopped. The old saying is, don’t judge a book by its cover. As Veneto was before it, Cristo’s is a must visit Italian restaurant. There is a lot to be said about a restaurant where the food is made fresh in a kitchen where you can watch your food being prepared.
One of the things that struck me when I first visited, was that Veneto was packed on a Wednesday night. I was lucky enough to find an open table. They have live music on Wednesday nights, but I’m certain that it was the food that was drawing in the crowd.
Veneto; now Cristo’s, isn’t your standard pizza joint. The menu reads as if you are eating at a finer dining Italian restaurant with selections such as Pasta con Funghi and Prosciutto with Peas Alfredo. I’m not sure if Lasagna is something you would expect to be served in a fine dining Italian restaurant, but it’s definitely not on their menu. The first time I visited, it took me a while to decide what I wanted, but I finally settled on the Veal Piccata special.
The Veal Piccata at Veneto’s is not a menu item. Fortunately for me it was one of the specials the night I visited. Veal Piccata is simple, yet a complex dish. The thinly slice veal, is breaded and cooked to a golden brown, then laid over pasta. They finish the dish by coating the veal with a buttery, tangy lemon sauce with capers. In Veneto’s rendition of Veal Piccata, they have added spinach. This was a perfectly balanced dish. The veal was cooked to perfection and I could not get enough of the sauce. Veneto makes Bucatini pasta in house. With the center of the Bucatini pasta being hollow, allowing the sauce to penetrate the pasta. This makes for an exceptional bite.
My only complaint was that I ate a full-sized salad and was not able to finish my Veal Piccata. While waiting for my food, I was watching some of the other dishes being served. There are a lot of meals I want to try. At the top of my list is their Wood Fired Pizza. Pizza was the reason I went to Veneto in the first place.
On my second visit, I was not going to be denied one of their Wood Fired Pizza’s. They have a selection of artisan pizzas. Just to name some of their offerings, their menu lists a Traditional Margarita pizza, a Mediterranean pizza, a Pollo, and an Amante della Carne pizza. I chose the Amante della Carne. The pizza is topped with fresh Italian sausage, pepperoni, salami, red onions, provolone and a mozzarella blend and Asiago cheese. Seeing the I’m not a fan of onions in general, so I asked the waitress to hold them.
From the first bite my taste buds were singing, flavor! It was a complex bite, but balanced. One of things I look for in a pizza is seasoning in the sauce. Cristo’s pizza sauce is lightly seasoned, not overpowering, but enough where you know this is not plain tomato sauce. The crust is not exactly a thin crust, but you could still fold a slice and eat it like a thin crust pizza, which NY is famous for. The unintended benefit of ordering pizza while on the road was that I had breakfast.
It may come as no surprise, I highly recommend Cristo’s Wood Fired Pizza. If you are in the Rochester area check them out. Have you been to Veneto? Do you have a favorite Italian Restaurant in the Rochester NY area? Please leave your comments below.
