Here's the Four Stars feature on Rochester area pizza -- chew on it and tell me if you have other favorites.
Everyone’s an expert on pizza, but Luca Papini, like other Italian nationals in Rochester, has the inside track.
Papini, a native of Tuscany, knows pizza. “In Italy, everybody has their own way of making pizza and their own taste for it,” he says. “For me, the best pizza is very simple, the crust is very light and when you eat it, it should melt in your mouth.”
Papini, who’s director of facilities and operations at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church and has lived here for two years, is a big fan of the new Pi Wood-Fired Pizza restaurant in northwest Rochester. So am I, which is why we’re chowing down on pizza for this month’s Four Star feature.
Pi, which bears more than a passing resemblance to the Punch Neapolitan Pizza restaurants in the Twin Cities, is a game-changer in the Rochester pizza world, and it’s time to assess the landscape with that in mind.
Papini also likes the thinner-crust pizza at O’Neill’s, in Crossroads Center. It’s more like Roman pizza, as opposed to the thicker crusts and lighter sauces in Naples. “Basically, in Italy, you can ask for the Naples type or the Roman type.”
Historians may disagree on whether Naples is the birthplace of pizza, but Neapolitans clearly know something about pizza, and so do the folks at Pi, which Papini considers a more Neapolitan approach.
What makes Pi special? Fresh everything. Fresh crust, of course, but also fresh tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese made fresh daily on the premises, authentic Italian taste combinations and the lightly singed, wood-fire taste.
It’s the oaky, smoky taste that makes Pi pie distinctive, says Hillary Evans, the 24-year-old manager, who had culinary training in Florence, Italy, prior to the restaurant opening a few months ago. “Once the pizza’s in the oven, it takes only 90 seconds,” she says. “We finish it at the top of the oven, which gives it the smoky flavor and crisp bottom.”
Here’s what I was looking for, as I prowled area pizzerias:
• A hearty, homemade, hand-tossed style crust — chewy and fresh, tough enough not to turn soggy just a few minutes out of the oven, and absolutely nothing like the frozen pizzas I have at home.
• Fresh-tasting homemade sauce — and lots of it — with distinctive herbs and spices.
• Fresh veggies — no canned mushrooms, please, and pickled artichokes only if you must.
• Judicious use of quality meats and cheeses. If Grandma can’t chew through the cheese, there’s probably too much of it.
For our purposes, we only considered sit-down restaurants, not take-outs or take-and-bakes. In the latter category, Papa Murphy’s would be hard to beat. We also zeroed in on places where pizza is the star of the show, not just another member of the cast.
Among my favorites that didn’t make the Final Four: O’Neill’s (529-1200), which also has great U.K. beers on tap, and Paradise Pete’s in the Miracle Mile Shopping Center (287-8700), which has an awesome gyro pizza, among others.
Other long-time favorites include the Redwood Room, which does just about everything well, including gourmet pizzas, and Bilotti’s. I’ve heard Liberty’s Restaurant and Lounge in Red Wing is first-rate, as well as the Smokin’ Oak Rotisserie and Grill, on the north side of Red Wing.
If you’re a fan of these or any other pizzerias, send a note and I’ll pass it along in next week’s Four Stars Feedback column. Also check out the Great Taste blog at Postbulletin.com and add a comment.
Pi Wood-Fired Pizza
3932 Marketplace Drive N.W., Rochester
424-3885
You don’t have to know how to work a slide rule to know that Pi is the best pizza in Rochester. Maybe not for everyone’s taste — if you’re looking for gobs of cheese and a side of ground beef on your pizza (and everybody does, sometimes), this isn’t the place for you. But if you’re after light, hand-tossed crusts, only fresh ingredients and traditional Italian toppings, you can’t go wrong. Top choices: the peppery Serrano Ham and Arugula ($7.95), which also features goat cheese, Prosciutto and Basil ($7.95) and the simple-is-best option, the Margherita ($5.95), covered with big basil leaves. The Moretti beer is fine, but Peroni would be even better.
Green Mill Restaurant and Bar
2723 Commerce Drive N.W., Rochester
282-4222
Yes, it’s a chain restaurant, but it’s OUR chain restaurant. The original is only about 85 miles north of here, in St. Paul, and no place in Rochester offers more and better types of crusts, toppings and combinations. Plus, an encyclopedic selection of beers on tap and one of the very few raw bars in Southeast Minnesota — may I recommend an oyster shooter before you order? Favorites include the Ultimate Sausage and Pepperoni, with hot Italian sausage, provolone, fontina and Parmesan ($7.99 for a 12-inch thin crust) and the Hawaiian, with Canadian bacon, ham and pineapple on a puffy hand-tossed crust ($15.89, medium).
Mr. Pizza North
4040 28th St. N.W., Rochester
252-9400
OK, I’m double-dipping on Mr. Pizza (the north one), which was among our walleye sandwich winners a few months ago, but the pizza is good, reliable, fast and hot, with plenty of enticing combinations. Go with the double-dough crust and the Mr. Pizza Special, with burger, spicy Italian sausage, pepperoni and onion. Points lost for canned mushrooms, but otherwise a winner. A P-B editor who shall remain nameless swears by the Chicken Alfredo pizza — can’t say I care for the alfredo sauce, but to each his own.
BB’s Pizzaria
3456 E. Circle Drive N.E., Rochester
424-3366
Three-year-old BB’s was among the surprises for me. It has a few knockout pies, including the BBQ Chicken ($13 for a 12-inch medium), with generous cuts of chicken breast and a Buffalo chicken-like sauce, and a dash of cheddar cheese as well. Co-owners Jason Brehmer and Tom Boxrud also sell a lot of taco pizzas, topped with chips, all in a casual atmosphere with beer, ballgames on TV and just across the parking lot from the Chateau 14 theaters.
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